People's Daily - August 24, 2026

"Fostering a Clean and Upright Political Ecosystem" (The People's Commitment of the General Secretary)

By: 本报记者 戴林峰 刘雨瑞

Creating a sound political ecology is a fine tradition and political strength of our Party. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on July 30 emphasized: "Taking the Party's political development as the guide, comprehensively advancing all aspects of Party building, fully stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the entire Party, and continuously realizing the Party's self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement." The Sixth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held on August 22 pointed out: "Firmly establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, strengthen political supervision, deepen political inspections, strictly enforce discipline for leadership transitions, unswervingly rectify conduct, enforce discipline, and combat corruption, and continue deepening the concentrated rectification of misconduct and corruption issues around the masses."

"Creating a clean and upright political ecology" is a foundational and routine task in strengthening the Party's political development. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to this, pointing out: "When the political ecology is good, the cadre contingent will be clean and upright, united and harmonious, and the social atmosphere will be positive and full of positive energy."

Just as the natural ecology should have clear waters and green mountains, so too should the political ecology have clear waters and green mountains. Continuously creating a clean and upright political ecology, letting the fresh and upright atmosphere of integrity fill the entire Party and society, stimulating Party members and cadres' enthusiasm for undertaking work and starting businesses, and pooling strength for advancing Chinese-style modernization.

Comprehensively governing the Party with strict discipline and having the courage for self-revolution, resolutely eliminating the sources of pollution in the political ecology.

"Corruption pollutes the political ecology and undermines the development environment, and must be severely punished." In January this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech at the special seminar for principal leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial level on studying and implementing the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

"A political party, a political regime, its future and destiny depend on the support or opposition of the people. Whatever the people oppose and hate, we must resolutely prevent and combat. What the people hate most is corruption, so we must unswervingly oppose corruption."

"Offending thousands, living up to 1.4 billion" — this embodies the determination to comprehensively govern the Party with strict discipline and have the courage for self-revolution.

After the 18th Party Congress, the self-revolution that turned the blade inward advanced with 雷霆万钧 (léi tíng wàn jūn - "thunder and ten-thousand jun," overwhelming and irresistible force). "Hunting tigers," "swatting flies," and "pursuing foxes" — the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision published the summary of nationwide cases of violations of the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulation for 154 consecutive months, and last year Party discipline and government sanctions were imposed on more than 260,000 people.

The fight against corruption always sounds the charge. Our Party persists without cease in strengthening conduct building. At this year's Spring Festival reception, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The fight for Party conduct and integrity and against corruption has achieved notable results, and the political ecology and social atmosphere continue to improve."

Managing and governing the Party, revitalizing and strengthening the Party, and creating a clean and upright political ecology.

"Bad customs are easy to develop gradually, but pure transformation is hard to restore." Purifying the political ecology, like restoring the natural ecology, is by no means achieved overnight; it requires comprehensive measures and coordinated advancement.

Elucidating the principles of interaction among comrades within the Party and the pro-clean and close government-business relationship, the General Secretary spoke earnestly: "Promote the formation of clear and candid comradely relations, proper superior-subordinate relations, and a new type of government-business relationship that unifies closeness and integrity, and be a leader, creator, and maintainer of a sound political ecology and social atmosphere."

The selection and appointment of officials is a weather vane that directly affects the direction of the political ecology. The General Secretary emphasized: "Use a clean and upright environment for employing people to promote the clear waters and green mountains of the political ecology."

Revealing the necessary conditions for nurturing the political ecology, the General Secretary explained in a way that was 深入浅出 (shēn rù qiǎn chū - "enter deeply, emerge simply," explaining profound ideas in plain and accessible language): "Intra-Party political life, political ecology, and political culture are mutually reinforcing. Political culture is the soul of political life and has a 潜移默化 (qián yí mò huà - "silent influence, subtle transformation," imperceptible and gradual influence) effect on the political ecology."

Both cleansing the toxins of the body and supplementing the calcium of the spirit, the General Secretary's attitude is resolute: "Take a clear-cut stand in resisting and opposing vulgar and decadent political cultures such as relationship studies, 'thick black' theories, officialdom arts, and 'hidden rules,' and continuously thicken the soil of a sound political ecology."

Grasping the dialectical unity of the political ecology and the development environment, the General Secretary profoundly pointed out at the second plenary meeting of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee: "Through the Party's self-revolution, promoting new and upright conduct, rectifying deep-seated maladies, creating a sound political ecology, motivating cadres to take on responsibilities and act, and rallying the hearts and strength of the people, we can continuously inject positive energy into economic and social development."

Under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, a clean and upright intra-Party political ecology has continuously taken shape and developed, opening a new realm of self-revolution for this century-old major Party.

Establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, and consciously become a powerful promoter of a sound political ecology.

Everyone is the environment; each individual is the ecology.

"To see whether a place's Party leadership and Party building level is high or not, an important aspect is whether the political ecology is good." In March last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping urged during an inspection tour in Yunnan: "Promote the continuous purification of the political ecology through your own exemplary actions."

A correct view of political achievements and a sound political ecology are mutually reinforcing. "Consciously becoming a powerful promoter of a sound political ecology" places higher demands on enhancing the ideological and action consciousness of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements.

Firmly standing on the people's side is both the fundamental requirement for nurturing a clean and upright political ecology and the value origin of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has taken the lead and personally guided, concretizing this in each model and hero, and in cadres' correct view of political achievements. At the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Shaanxi, the General Secretary paused, gazed, and reflected: "Sit squarely on the side of the people" and "only public servants are seen, not officials." At the Gu Wenchang Memorial Hall in Dongshan County, Fujian, the General Secretary said with deep feeling: "'Serving as an official for one term, benefiting one region' — only by taking this path is one on the right track of humanity."

Maintaining a clean and upright political ecology is a long-term task. As long as we remain sober and steadfast at all times, persevere with 锲而不舍 (qiè ér bù shě - "carve without stopping," to persevere unremittingly), continue to push forward, and work for lasting results, the political ecology will surely see "green mountains ever present and clear waters ever flowing."

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The energy饭碗 must be held firmly in our own hands.

By: 本报记者 汪晓东 邱超奕 邓剑洋

“Better coordinate both domestic and international imperatives, coordinate development and security, and enhance the ability to scientifically foresee changes, promptly discern risks, and effectively respond to challenges, ensuring that the giant vessel of the Chinese Dream cleaves through waves and sails steadily and far.” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is both a profound summation of the historical experience of the century-old Party and a profound declaration grounded in the present and oriented toward the future.

The Middle East conflict continues to drag on, global energy market volatility has intensified, and oil, coal, and electricity prices have risen several times. As the world’s largest energy consumer and importer, China has delivered a markedly different answer sheet—

At present, China’s energy supply and demand are broadly balanced, and prices remain broadly stable. A spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics stated that in July, crude oil output of industrial enterprises above designated size hit a record high for the same period in history, while natural gas output and electricity generation maintained relatively high production levels. In the first half of this year, China’s energy price increases were significantly lower than those of most major economies. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s comprehensive energy production capacity will reach 5.8 billion tonnes of standard coal, with further enhancement of security resilience.

“The global energy crisis has struck, and China’s years of planning have finally paid off.” The British Guardian observed that for many years, China has been preparing for rain before it comes (未雨绸缪, wèi yǔ chóu móu - “repair the roof before it rains,” to take precautions in advance), possessing an extremely strong buffer capacity to cope with crises.

Sound ideological guidance, far-reaching strategic planning.

As early as 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping, from the strategic height of national development and security, creatively put forward the new energy security strategy of “Four Revolutions, One Cooperation” (四个革命、一个合作), personally charting, personally deploying, and personally driving the energy consumption revolution, energy supply revolution, energy technology revolution, and energy system revolution, while conducting all-round international cooperation.

From putting forward the goal of “accelerating the building of a strong energy nation,” to the inclusion of “building a strong energy nation” in the recommendations for the “15th Five-Year Plan,” General Secretary Xi Jinping has, in accordance with changes in the situation, put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, making the preemptive move on energy security and fighting the proactive battle of the energy revolution.

How has China managed to hold its energy rice bowl steady? Recently, reporters visited energy production and supply frontline operations across the country to see how ideological power and strategic planning guide practice and shape advantages.

A drop of oil, reflecting bottom-line thinking

“On energy issues, one must always maintain a sense of urgency and crisis awareness”

The Strait of Hormuz, at its narrowest point only 33 kilometres wide, grips the throat of oil supply.

A report released by the International Energy Agency on August 12 shows that, affected by factors such as the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil market will see a supply-demand gap of 1.8 million barrels per day in the third quarter of 2026, more than double the previous estimate of approximately 800,000 barrels per day from the previous month.

“Over the past 50 years, we have experienced three energy crises: the oil crisis of 1973, the oil crisis of 1979, and the natural gas crisis following the Russia-Ukraine conflict four years ago.” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol warned that the amount of oil and natural gas lost in the current war far exceeds the total of the previous three crises combined.

The Middle East conflict has brought a major test to all countries—

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1983; in July, eurozone energy prices rose 10.0% year-on-year; the Indian government has called on the public to reduce use of gasoline and diesel; Japan has fallen into a naphtha shortage, with manufacturing affected…

The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report released in June projects that the Middle East conflict will slow global economic growth to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although a large proportion of China’s oil and gas comes from the international market, the French newspaper Le Monde commented on its website: “China has shown astonishing resilience in the face of this external shock.” Recently, the International Monetary Fund, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and other international institutions have bucked the trend and raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth, with the energy advantage being an important reason for their optimism about China.

At the Huangdao oil port area of Qingdao Port in Shandong, large vessels frequently berth at the 300,000-tonne-class terminal, continuously feeding crude oil into nearby storage tank areas.

As an important hub for China’s oil imports, Shandong Port accounts for more than 30% of the country’s crude oil imports. A relevant official from the Shandong Provincial Energy Administration explained that since the beginning of this year, crude oil from the Middle East has decreased somewhat, but the relevant importing enterprises were well prepared in advance, strengthening energy cooperation with Brazil, Canada, and other countries, and their business has not been significantly impacted.

To cope with the complex external situation, Qingdao Port has built in a “lead time” on energy infrastructure, constructing multiple new berths in recent years and multiplying tank farm capacity several times over. At present, Qingdao Port’s crude oil berths, tank farms, and pipeline capacity are sufficient, and after optimizing production organization, support capacity will be further improved.

Greater confidence lies in seeking increased output domestically.

Dongying, Shandong, by Longyue Lake. At the Laishen-2 inclined well in the Lai-113 block of Shengli Oilfield, using globally leading carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology, viscous crude oil is efficiently “washed” out of rock fractures deep underground. Across the entire oilfield, cumulative CO₂ injection has exceeded 1.4 billion cubic metres, and daily oil production from the block has leapt from 220 tonnes at initial commissioning to over 500 tonnes, achieving a dual synergy of carbon reduction and production increase.

In the 65 years since the discovery of Shengli Oilfield, through multiple phases of extraction, when outsiders thought its production capacity could hardly achieve further breakthroughs, the oilfield has continued to win new victories through tackling difficulties.

Independently mastering new chemical flooding technology has raised the oilfield’s average recovery factor from 42.8% to 52.7%; tackling world-class extraction challenges has increased shale oil drilling efficiency by more than tenfold; intensifying exploration and development efforts, the Shengli Jiyang shale oil has discovered resource volume of 10.5 billion tonnes, equivalent to discovering a “new Shengli”… In the past three years, Shengli Oilfield’s annual oil output has remained stable with slight increases, rising to 23.711 million tonnes last year, a record high in recent years.

In October 2021, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected and researched Shengli Oilfield, he emphasized: “Oil and energy construction is of great significance to our country. As a major manufacturing country, China must develop the real economy, and the energy rice bowl must be held firmly in our own hands.”

“The energy rice bowl must be held firmly in our own hands” reflects General Secretary Xi’s bottom-line thinking of being prepared for danger in times of safety and making preparations before it rains. “I often speak of bottom-line thinking; on energy issues, one must always maintain a sense of urgency and crisis awareness.”

Holding the energy rice bowl firmly is a strategic choice for responding to the century of profound changes.

Assessing the international situation, General Secretary Xi Jinping has a profound insight: “Food and energy security are the most urgent challenges in the field of global development.”

In today’s world, the international environment in the energy field is exceptionally severe, and the risks of energy issues being politicized, instrumentalized, and weaponized are intensifying. Many international political, economic, diplomatic, and military activities revolve around energy. Seize energy, and you seize the key link in national development and security strategy.

Profoundly grasping the underlying logic of the century of profound changes, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized adhering to bottom-line thinking: “In this century of profound changes, one thing comes after another—sometimes a gray rhino, sometimes a black swan. One must have a bottom-line awareness and crisis awareness toward the unpredictable situation.”

One who is mindful of danger in times of peace will never face peril. Lu Ruquan, Dean of the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute, analyzed that over the past decade or more, China has actively expanded overseas oil and gas cooperation, building four major transnational oil and gas energy corridors—the three overland corridors of the northwest, northeast, and southwest, plus the eastern maritime corridor—effectively dispersing the risk of any single corridor.

Holding the energy rice bowl firmly is a vivid practice of concentrating on running our own affairs well.

The more complex the external environment, the more we must anchor the strategic fulcrum of development on ourselves. General Secretary Xi Jinping has far-sighted vision: “Maintaining strategic focus, strengthening confidence, and concentrating on running our own affairs well is the key to responding to various risks and challenges.”

At the current stage, China’s per capita energy consumption level is only about two-thirds of the average level of OECD countries, and it will continue to maintain rigid growth for some time to come. The National Energy Administration estimates that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the average annual increase in national electricity consumption will reach about 600 billion kilowatt-hours. This determines that we must place greater emphasis on responding to the uncertainty of situational changes with the stability of domestic energy supply.

On consolidating the foundation of our own energy, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words were resolute: “We must hold our own rice bowl firmly, and make solid and down-to-earth efforts on foundational things such as manufacturing, food, energy, and strategic material reserves—this is the source of our confidence. Consolidating the foundation is the prerequisite for running alongside and leading the race; this is a matter of national significance (国之大者).”

Directly confronting the shortcoming of high external dependence for oil and gas resources, starting from 2019 China resolutely implemented the “Seven-Year Action Plan” for increasing oil and gas reserves and production, driving a historic breakthrough in oil and gas output. In 2025, domestic crude oil production reached 216 million tonnes, remaining stably above 200 million tonnes for four consecutive years.

“In the past two years, China’s external oil procurement rate has continued to decline, and this trend is expected to continue during the ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ period.” Lu Ruquan believes that there is still great potential for China to strengthen oil and gas resource exploration and development. By moving toward the deep blue, offshore oil has become a new growth pole, accounting for more than 60% of the country’s new oil production for five consecutive years.

Today, China has become the world’s fifth-largest oil producer and fourth-largest natural gas producer, with strategic petroleum reserve scale firmly among the world’s foremost, and significantly enhanced capacity for independent oil and gas supply security.

Viewed within the framework of building a new development pattern, holding the energy rice bowl firmly reflects General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound thinking on coordinating both domestic and international imperatives.

At the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the “Five Musts” (五个必须) of regular understanding for doing economic work under the new situation, one of which is “must respond to external challenges by honing internal skills.” The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held on April 28 this year emphasized, “Systematically respond to external shocks and challenges, raise the level of energy and resource security assurance, and respond to various uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development.”

Forge an indestructible body and hold fast the bottom line of energy security. Since the “14th Five-Year Plan,” China’s energy self-sufficiency rate has remained above 80%, and more than 90% of the increase in energy consumption has been independently guaranteed domestically, providing solid support for enhancing the country’s viability, competitiveness, development momentum, and sustainability, and for safeguarding the new development pattern with a new security pattern.

A network, embodying systematic thinking

“Energy security is a holistic and strategic issue bearing on national economic and social development”

The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia is the country’s largest coal chemical base. In the past, this place “relied on coal for coal”; today, through a more systematic and diversified energy strategy, it has achieved more reliable and efficient development.

Entering the Baofeng Energy circular economy industrial park on the east side of the base, electrolyzers, hydrogen storage tanks, distillation towers, and other equipment are neatly arranged. Previously, the production of polyolefin products here mainly used coal as raw material; now the enterprise has innovatively adopted “wind-solar-storage” green electricity to produce green hydrogen, and couples green hydrogen with modern coal chemical industry, achieving hydrogen-for-coal substitution and source-end carbon reduction and fixation, blazing a new path of green and low-carbon development.

Green energy not only flows through Ningdong, but is also delivered thousands of miles away through the large power grid.

East of Ningdong, in the coal mining subsidence area at the edge of the Mu Us Sandy Land, row upon row of photovoltaic panels form a “blue ocean” of 120,000 mu. This is one of China’s second batch of large-scale wind and photovoltaic power bases in the Gobi and desert regions (沙戈荒).

After the base was built, it improved the ecological environment of the Gobi, and the electricity it generates is entirely transmitted to Zhejiang, with annual generation equivalent to the total of more than 20 medium-sized hydropower stations.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has visited Ningxia three times, showing great concern for energy construction and pointing the direction for energy transition and diversified development from an overall perspective.

On June 20, 2024, when General Secretary Xi Jinping heard reports from the Party committee and government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, he emphasized that Ningxia’s modern coal chemical and new materials industries, clean energy industries such as wind power, photovoltaics, and hydrogen energy, and specialty industries such as wine and wolfberry, should be cultivated with precision and developed sustainably.

Keeping the instructions in mind, Ningxia’s energy construction has gradually moved away from the path of “relying solely on coal” and achieved systematic and structural upgrading.

Since 2021, Ningxia has successively built three batches of national-level “Gobi and desert” new energy bases. As of the end of June this year, new energy installed capacity accounted for 65.44%, making it Ningxia’s largest power source.

Plan one region with the whole in mind, and promote the whole with one region. The reinforcement of new energy has enabled Ningxia to better support the nation’s energy demand.

On June 1, Ningxia for the first time transmitted green electricity to Fujian on a medium- and long-term basis. Ten years ago, Ningxia’s new energy transmission ratio was less than 10%; now it has risen to 32%.

“For every 3 kilowatt-hours transmitted, more than 1 kilowatt-hour is green electricity. ‘Green electricity from the frontier’ has become Ningxia’s new calling card,” said Shao Lin, deputy director of the trading department of Ningxia Power Exchange Center Co., Ltd. Ningxia’s external electricity transmission and local electricity sales each account for about half, equivalent to creating another Ningxia electricity market for the whole country, with electricity covering East China, North China, Central China, and other regions, reaching 21 provinces.

Small province-region, large power grid, multiple energy sources, benefiting the whole country—the transformation of Ningxia’s energy embodies the systematic thinking of overall coordination and holistic policy implementation.

To guarantee the energy security of a major country, systematic layout is particularly important.

“Energy security is a holistic and strategic issue bearing on national economic and social development.” In terms of impact, energy is an important foundation and driving force for modernization, relating to industrial production, clothing, food, housing, transport, price fluctuations, and more—a single move affects the whole board.

In terms of supply and demand, China’s energy consumption structure is dominated by coal, lacking in oil and gas, with the world’s largest total scale of fossil energy development and utilization, and prominent ecological and environmental pressures.

In terms of distribution, China’s coal, wind power, photovoltaic, and other power generation resources are concentrated in the northwest and north, while the eastern coastal region accounts for more than 60% of the national electricity load.

An energy structure biased toward coal, tight environmental constraints, and uneven regional distribution—to find the optimal solution under multiple constraints, it is especially necessary to strengthen systematic thinking.

When working in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping already placed energy issues within the grand framework of the “Eight-Eight Strategy” (八八战略), pointing out that “in the long run, we must also consider adjustment of the power structure and vigorously develop clean energy, such as gas-fired power, nuclear power, hydropower, wind power, and tidal power generation,” and emphasizing “building our food bases, energy and raw material bases, and production and processing bases outside the province and abroad,” so as to achieve “developing Zhejiang by leaping beyond Zhejiang, and developing Zhejiang based on the whole country.”

These forward-looking reflections and holistic perspectives are logically consistent with the later implementation of the new energy security strategy and the building of a strong energy nation.

To address the imbalance in the energy structure, General Secretary Xi Jinping has applied systematic thinking to diagnose and prescribe—

“To promote the energy supply revolution and establish a diversified supply system is to ensure security through diversified domestic supply, vigorously promote clean and efficient use of coal, strive to develop non-coal energy, and form a multi-wheel-driven energy supply system of coal, oil, gas, nuclear, new energy, and renewable energy”;

“China’s energy development still faces a series of challenges, including enormous demand pressure, numerous supply constraints, and arduous green and low-carbon transformation tasks. The way out for meeting these challenges is to vigorously develop new energy.”

As early as 2013, China issued the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry. Since then, from launching the Clean Energy Consumption Action Plan (2018–2020), to issuing the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021–2035), to implementing the non-fossil energy decade-doubling action during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, an increasingly improved industrial policy system has driven the simultaneous development of wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear energy, effectively cushioning the shocks of international energy market turbulence.

A relevant official from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association remarked that more than a decade ago, China’s new energy industry was still in the passive position of being “dependent on foreign countries in three areas”—technology, equipment, and markets. In recent years, some Western countries have frequently wavered in their policies, whereas China, regardless of industry cycle fluctuations, has always safeguarded the leapfrog development of new energy with the policy determination of “painting one blueprint to the end.”

In just a few years, China’s wind and photovoltaic installed capacity has historically surpassed thermal power, new energy patents account for more than 40% of the global total, new energy vehicle production and sales rank first in the world, and renewable energy has become the most eye-catching growth pole in energy structure adjustment.

“China holds two trump cards: electric vehicles and renewable energy.” The New York Times recently published an article stating that against the backdrop of geopolitical conflicts exacerbating the global oil and gas supply crisis, China, with its forward-looking strategic layout, leads the global wind power track.

From “constrained by oil and gas” to “overtaking by switching to electricity,” strong new energy has become a new pillar of China’s energy security.

Solving the problem of uneven energy distribution also requires starting from the big picture and planning holistically.

From pointing out at the symposium held in Nanchang, Jiangxi, on further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt that “we must adhere to the national ‘one chessboard’ and continue to deepen energy cooperation between the upper reaches and the middle and lower reaches,” to requiring at the symposium held in Shanghai on deeply advancing the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta that “we must plan and build a new energy system and coordinate inter-provincial and inter-municipal electricity mutual assistance,” to emphasizing at the symposium held in Chongqing on promoting the large-scale development of the western region in the new era that “we must strengthen pipeline interconnection and enhance the capacity of ‘West-to-East Power Transmission,’” General Secretary Xi Jinping has systematically deployed the building of a new energy system and woven a nationwide “one network” of energy infrastructure.

Last year, China’s electricity consumption exceeded 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time, and electricity loads in many places repeatedly set new records, yet there were no large-scale blackouts. An important reason is that China possesses the world’s largest and most technologically advanced ultra-long-distance transmission network, strongly supporting optimal cross-regional allocation of energy.

On August 7 this year, the national electricity load set a record high for the fourth time since the start of summer.

Facing the continuously rising electricity load, the National Energy Administration has guided all localities and grid enterprises to strengthen inter-provincial and inter-regional electricity mutual assistance, effectively guaranteeing the public’s “air-conditioning freedom” and “electricity freedom” through the summer.

The “West-to-East Power Transmission” electricity expressway operates at full speed, supporting one-fifth of the electricity demand in the eastern and central regions; the “West-to-East Gas Transmission” project has been successively put into operation, with one-time pipeline gas transmission capacity exceeding 400 billion cubic metres; north-to-south coal transport and west-to-east coal transport surge forward, serving as the “black Great Wall” of energy…

“China has built an energy infrastructure network spanning east and west, running through north and south, and connecting overseas, steadily supporting the large energy market with a large power grid and large corridors,” said Liu Jizhen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

A piece of coal, confirming dialectical thinking

“The gradual exit of traditional energy must be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy”

Shaanxi ranks third nationally in coal production, with Yulin alone accounting for about 80%.

At the Jinjie Coal Mine of CHN Energy Shendong Coal in Yulin, shearers precisely cut coal seams, and rolling “black gold” is transported to the surface.

“This coal mine has an annual production capacity of 18 million tonnes. Besides local consumption, it is also sent to provinces such as Sichuan and Chongqing,” said Gao Dengyun, manager of the production management department of CHN Energy Shendong Coal. About 20,000 tonnes of coal are transported to power plants every day, converted into reliable electricity.

“We regard coal power supply assurance as our primary task and make every effort to generate whenever possible, operate steadily, and run at full capacity,” said Lu Pengfei, general manager of CHN Energy Jinjie Energy Co., Ltd. Since the beginning of this year, the power plant has generated more than 11.4 billion kilowatt-hours cumulatively.

A reporter learned from the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission that since the beginning of this year, Shaanxi coal enterprises have signed 224 million tonnes of medium- and long-term thermal coal contracts, with supply coverage spanning more than 20 provinces, effectively guaranteeing thermal power production and industrial operations across regions, and firmly shouldering the responsibility of a national key energy base.

More importantly, relying on the coal chemical industry, China has built a “coal-oil-gas-chemical” energy buffer barrier, effectively strengthening the autonomous and controllable supply of chemical raw materials.

Duan Libo, general manager of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd., gave an example: the polyester-grade ethylene glycol produced by the company through coal chemical means is an important raw material for chemical fiber, plastics, and other products. The electronic-grade dimethyl carbonate produced by the company can be used as a solvent for lithium battery electrolytes.

Anchored on the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, Shaanxi Province is promoting the high-end, diversified, and low-carbon development of the coal chemical industry, accelerating extension toward new materials and fine chemicals, covering four major fields—high-value-added materials, battery electrolyte solvents, biodegradable materials, and specialty oils—with more than 40 products.

In recent years, China’s new energy has shown strong growth momentum. Some voices argue that coal power has shifted from being the protagonist of power generation to a “supporting role” for peak shaving, and may gradually exit.

As the price advantage of thermal power weakens and environmental pressure rises, some localities once engaged in campaign-style coal reduction and carbon reduction, treating coal as a sunset industry and implementing “one-size-fits-all” and “de-coaling” approaches.

How should the role of coal in the coming period be viewed? How should the relationship between coal use and carbon reduction be handled? This is a mandatory question bearing on energy security.

On this, when inspecting Yulin in September 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping hit the nail on the head: “We must use the new development philosophy to guide development. For a considerable period of time, coal as the primary energy source is necessary; otherwise it cannot support national modernization.” The General Secretary pointed out dialectically that in the next stage of development, as an energy source, the amount of coal must be controlled, and in accordance with the direction of green and low-carbon development, benchmarked against the goals and tasks of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the path of transformation and upgrading must be taken.

During the 2022 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference sessions, when participating in the deliberation of the Inner Mongolia delegation, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated the dialectical view of coal energy and green development: “Green transformation is a process, not something accomplished overnight. We must establish the new before breaking the old, and must not break the old before the new is established. Rich in coal, poor in oil, and short on gas is our national condition, and the energy structure dominated by coal cannot be fundamentally changed in the short term.” “We cannot throw away the rice bowl we are eating from before we have a new one in hand—that will not do. We must have both a green and clean environment and ensure the normal conduct of our production and daily life.”

Within dialectical thinking lies the practical consideration of establishing before breaking.

“The gradual exit of traditional energy must be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy,” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thinking is far-reaching.

As of the end of June this year, wind and photovoltaic installed capacity accounted for about 48.3% of the national total power installed capacity, and in the first half of the year, total wind and solar power generation accounted for about one-quarter of total societal electricity consumption. It is evident that in the short term, new energy cannot safely and reliably substitute fossil energy.

Xie Kechang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that coal is the energy source with the strongest capacity for stabilizing the economy and ensuring independent supply. For a considerable period of time, coal’s position as the primary energy source will not and must not change.

With coal in hand, the heart is not anxious. As of August 13, coal stocks at national regulated power plants exceeded 210 million tonnes, with an availability of 28 days.

Within dialectical thinking lies the scientific method of adapting measures to local conditions.

In his early years in Liangjiahe, northern Shaanxi, Comrade Xi Jinping led the villagers in converting dry latrines, building biogas digesters, and developing new energy using limited conditions. The small biogas digester reflects precisely the exploration of adapting to local conditions and self-reliance in solving energy needs.

After coming to central work, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the methodology of “adapting measures to local conditions.”

In advancing the “dual carbon” work, should energy adjustments in various localities “march in lockstep”?

General Secretary Xi Jinping clarified the essential point: “The ‘dual carbon’ goals are viewed from the perspective of the whole country. Where to reduce, where to zero out, where to retain, and even where to increase as a measure for energy security—all must be weighed from the national perspective.”

For example, in the Yellow River basin, the role of coal is indispensable, which determines its important position in the national energy landscape. “The Yellow River basin is also known as the ‘energy basin,’ rich in coal, oil, natural gas, and non-ferrous metal resources, with coal reserves accounting for more than half of the national total. It is an important base for energy, chemicals, raw materials, and basic industry.”

Adhering to proceeding from reality, accurately positioning within the national development overall situation, each leveraging its strengths and complementing one another—only then can energy transformation advance steadily and in coordination.

Within dialectical thinking lies the practical requirement of persistent, long-term effort.

“Energy transformation is not simply about reducing coal output and consumption, but rather, on the premise of firmly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring national coal power supply, promoting clean and low-carbon development of coal, diversified utilization, and comprehensive storage and transport, accelerating research on green and low-carbon technologies, and driving the coal industry from low-end to high-end and coal products from primary fuel to high-value products.” These words of General Secretary Xi Jinping point the direction for dialectically viewing and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional energy.

From “black” to “green,” traditional industries can also develop new quality productive forces. The key lies in whether the determination to transform can be firmly maintained and carried through to the end.

In March this year, at China Huaneng Group, which has relocated to Xiong’an New Area, the General Secretary emphasized: “Coal power is the foundation of our energy assets and must play the role of underpinning support. We must firmly adhere to the path of clean and low-carbon development.”

“By long-term adherence to the path of clean and efficient coal utilization, China has built the world’s largest clean coal power supply system, with supercritical and ultra-supercritical advanced coal power units accounting for more than half, and coal-fired power generation is no longer the main source of atmospheric pollutants,” said Xie Kechang.

A piece of coal, a kilowatt-hour of electricity—bearing the responsibility of supply assurance, connecting to the warmth and cold of the people, and bearing on sustainable development. Persistently promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional energy is anchored precisely on achievements that build foundations, increase momentum, and benefit the long term.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Zhejiang’s “power shortage” problem was prominent. Of its 11 prefecture-level cities, 8 implemented rotating power cuts, and it was once the province with the most severe power shortage in the country.

On December 30, 2003, Comrade Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, said during a research visit to the Hangzhou Electric Power Bureau: “Better to let electricity wait for development than let development wait for electricity.” He personally deployed the “Five Major Hundred-Billion” projects, breaking the deadlock in Zhejiang’s development through the construction of energy infrastructure.

Large environmentally friendly thermal power plants such as Zhejiang Energy Group’s Jiaxing Power Plant rose from the ground; Qinshan Nuclear Power Station became the domestic nuclear power base with the largest number of units and the richest variety of reactor types; the province took the lead in building an “two AC, two DC” ultra-high-voltage backbone grid… Over more than 20 years, Zhejiang’s maximum electricity load has increased sixfold, and the medium-voltage power supply reliability rate exceeds 99.996%, with surging electric power effectively guaranteeing the people’s livelihood needs and economic development of Zhejiang.

In June this year, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Dezhou City, Shandong Province, he pointed out: “Establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements must ultimately be reflected in benefiting the people.”

“Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, from implementing the action plan to provide electricity to the population without power and completing the historic task of providing electricity to the entire population, to continuing to invest more than 800 billion yuan in deepening the implementation of the rural power grid consolidation and upgrading project, to maintaining relatively stable and people-benefiting electricity prices over the long term, energy development has always taken ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods as its fundamental starting point,” said Hao Yingjie, secretary-general of the China Electricity Council.

Latent achievements and visible achievements, the present and the long term—all converge in the view of political achievements in building a strong energy nation, manifesting the distinctive quality of seeking truth from facts and the value orientation of benefiting the people.

Under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new energy security strategy of “Four Revolutions, One Cooperation,” China’s energy sector has demonstrated strong resilience, the energy security of more than 1.4 billion people has been effectively guaranteed, and the country’s position as the world’s largest energy producer has become more solid. Thoroughly studying and implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions and directives, the National Energy Administration will do a good job in implementing the “15th Five-Year Plan” for Building a New Energy System, seize the momentum to comprehensively advance the building of a strong energy nation, and provide strong energy support for achieving decisive progress in basically realizing socialist modernization.

(Staff reporters Zhang Wen, Xiao Jiaxin, Dou Hao, Jia Fengfeng, Zheng Yangyang of this newspaper; reporters Su Nan, Qu Peiran, Wu Li, Zhang Zirui of China Energy News participated in the writing.)

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Harbin promotes high-quality development of industrial clusters (Making a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan)

By: 本报记者 崔 佳 方 圆

On the industrial front line in Harbin, Heilongjiang, a 热火朝天 (rè huǒ cháo tiān - "blazing fire, rising to the sky," bustling and fervent) scene of busy activity unfolds: in the Low-Altitude Economy Industrial Park in Pingfang District (平房区), machines rumble loudly and drone products 鱼贯而出 (yú guàn ér chū - "fish in a row, coming out," to emerge one after another in orderly succession) from the production line; in Xiangfang District (香坊区), the High-End Electrical Equipment Intelligent Manufacturing Base is about to be put into operation, and many enterprises are 紧锣密鼓 (jǐn luó mì gǔ - "tight gongs, dense drums," intense and hurried preparation) conducting equipment commissioning before moving in...

In September 2023, during his inspection tour in Heilongjiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Build a number of industrial clusters, and make the real economy bigger and stronger."

Deeply implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, Harbin has persisted in placing the focus of economic development on the real economy, anchoring on the directions of intelligentization, green development, and integration, accelerating the advancement of new industrialization, making bigger and stronger the hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters such as aerospace and high-end equipment, and striving to promote the high-quality development of industrial clusters.

Chain-leader guidance consolidates the foundation for industrial cluster development.

On the digital production line, robotic arms are precisely assembling drone components; on the screens of the command and control center, inspection footage transmitted from multiple drones in the field is clearly displayed... In the Low-Altitude Economy Industrial Park in Pingfang District, the Heilongjiang base of United Aircraft Group (联合飞机集团) is conducting research and development on low-altitude economy application scenarios.

Across the road, a quality inspector from the supporting enterprise Harbin Xinhua Aviation Industry Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨鑫华航空工业股份有限公司) walks toward the United Aircraft plant with blueprints in hand. The straight-line distance between the two enterprises is only 200 meters.

"By staying close to the chain-leader enterprise, we have entered the new track of the low-altitude economy," said Su Lankui (苏兰奎), general manager of Xinhua Aviation. The enterprise previously mainly provided supporting services to traditional aerospace enterprises. In February this year, it undertook the research, development, and production task for core components of the unmanned helicopter lift system from United Aircraft, and all have been delivered.

With United Aircraft as the center, within a 5-kilometer radius, more than 30 upstream and downstream enterprises have gathered, from new materials to precision machining, from thermal surface treatment to complete machine assembly, the entire industrial chain has formed a closed loop.

In Harbin, leading enterprises are becoming the "incubators" and "stabilizers" of the industrial chain. At the Harbin Aerospace Cluster Advancement Work Conference held in June this year, the Harbin Aerospace Industry Alliance (哈尔滨市航空航天产业联盟) was inaugurated. The compiled materials sorted out four lists: the supporting capabilities of 127 alliance enterprises, 745 cooperation demands, financing demands of over 1.1 billion yuan, and 59 scientific and technological achievements pending transformation. Enterprises, universities and research institutes, and financial institutions are clenching their fingers into a fist, which will further consolidate the foundation for the high-quality development of industrial clusters.

Collaborative innovation strongly empowers the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

In the production workshop of Harbin Xindafeng Forming Technology Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨新达峰成形科技有限公司), CR450 test train front-end components are being assembled in an orderly manner and coming off the line in batches, while metro supporting test pieces adapted for cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing are also being rushed into production and delivered simultaneously.

"The enterprise has sufficient orders, with both production and sales thriving, and we are confident in achieving our annual targets," said Wang Guofeng (王国峰), the enterprise's person in charge. In 2025, the company's output value exceeded 40 million yuan with a growth rate of over 50%, and in 2026, output value is expected to exceed 60 million yuan.

The enterprise's positive development is a vivid footnote to Harbin's promotion of deep integration between scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Harbin focuses on the development of key industrial clusters such as high-end equipment, continuously deepens government-industry-university cooperation, elevates the construction level of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems around Harbin Institute of Technology, and further promotes the local utilization of scientific and technological resources and the efficient transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

After Xindafeng Company moved into the Advanced Technology Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学先进技术研究院), it received full-chain transformation support: the institute assisted it in applying for special support policies, connected it with investment and financing resources, regularly conducted enterprise management training, and organized special talent recruitment sessions, effectively promoting the enterprise's development. Xindafeng's aerospace forming technology has been successfully applied in the rail transit field.

As an important engine of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem around Harbin Institute of Technology, the Advanced Technology Research Institute, established for more than two years, has cultivated 64 enterprises.

Refined services, working hand in hand to nurture the industrial ecosystem.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Harbin Electric Group Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨电气集团有限公司) doubled its operating revenue, reaching over 50 billion yuan in 2025. The continuous release of production capacity needs to be promptly absorbed.

"The High-End Electrical Equipment Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Xiangfang District is only 8 kilometers from Harbin Electric Group, and is mainly built around Harbin Electric Group's production capacity enhancement and industrial chain supporting needs," said He Jiankun (何剑坤), director of the Xiangfang District Bureau of Industry, Information, and Science and Technology (香坊区工业信息科技局). The base has sorted out a panoramic map of the industrial chain for Harbin Electric Group and achieved centralized docking with high-quality suppliers. For the first phase of the base, which is expected to pass completion acceptance in October this year, multiple production enterprises have already signed entry agreements.

"After the base is completed, it will leverage advantages such as short local supporting transportation distances and fast response to help enterprises expand production capacity," said Sun Zhongmin (孙忠民), deputy general manager of the Safety, Environmental Protection, and Quality Department of Harbin Electric Group. Not long ago, Harbin also specially held a conference on serving the coordinated development of the Harbin Electric Group industrial chain, organizing 120 supporting enterprises as well as university research teams and financial institutions to conduct in-depth exchanges with Harbin Electric Group on improving local supporting capabilities.

Bearing in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment, during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Harbin will leverage its advantages in science and education, integrate industrial resources, focus on moving toward innovation and excellence, continuously strengthen and supplement the industrial chain, expand a number of hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters, and strive to blaze a new path of high-quality development and sustainable revitalization.

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AI Boom: What Job Opportunities Will It Create? (Reader's Request · Common Concern)

By: 本报记者 李君强

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly capable and is now deeply integrated into our production and daily life. As AI continues to develop, what employment opportunities will it provide? How can ordinary people seize the new opportunities?
　　— Netizen question via People's Daily Online
　　The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on July 30 emphasized "deepening the implementation of the 'AI+' action and developing new forms of the intelligent economy."
　　When writing a proposal and unsure of the approach, ask artificial intelligence (AI) first; when launching new products in an online store, AI can help perfect product images in minutes; in some factories, repetitive tasks such as搬运 and sorting are efficiently handled by intelligent robots... AI is flourishing, entering people's lives and empowering a hundred industries and a thousand trades.
　　Change is both an opportunity and a challenge. What new industries and new positions will AI nurture? Will it replace people's jobs?
　　Consider a set of data. A report released by the World Economic Forum predicts that, due to factors including AI, by 2030 approximately 92 million jobs globally will be replaced, but at the same time 170 million new positions will be created.
　　Objectively speaking, AI will indeed bring about job adjustments. Some work segments that are highly repetitive and highly standardized are now increasingly completed with AI assistance, and the labor demand for certain positions is changing accordingly. But positions increase and decrease, and work content changes — this does not equate to an overall reduction in employment opportunities.
　　What deserves more attention is that, with the accelerated application of AI, the original employment structure and working methods are also changing. New opportunities come partly from the integration of AI with traditional industries and partly from the AI industry itself.
　　Not long ago, an e-commerce platform recruited "AI visual designers," requiring proficiency in AI tools and their integration into processes such as material generation and style experimentation. In the past, page design often took several days; now, with AI, multiple design proposals can be generated in a few hours. Designers are thus able to devote more energy to creative refinement, stylistic innovation, and brand image building.
　　Similar changes are occurring in many fields. In the legal industry, AI can rapidly screen compliance risks and sort through legal provisions, allowing practitioners to focus on complex case research; in manufacturing, cross-disciplinary talent with both engineering knowledge and digital literacy is increasingly sought after... AI is opening up more pathways for ordinary people to pursue cross-industry development and transformational growth.
　　At the same time, relying on the rapid expansion of the AI industry itself, a batch of brand-new professions has entered the public's field of vision.
　　Since 2019, among the 110 new professions released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, more than 30 are closely related to AI.
　　A typical example is the AI trainer. In 2025, in Shanghai alone, more than 10,000 person-times participated in the vocational skill level assessment for AI trainers. A person in charge of a relevant local enterprise said that what the market currently craves is precisely composite talent who understand both AI technology and vertical industry scenarios.
　　In addition, emerging positions such as robot product manager, digital human designer, and prompt engineer have also become new employment choices for many young people.
　　AI not only creates new job positions but also lowers the threshold for ordinary people to start businesses.
　　In the past, developing a digital product often required assembling a team, investing substantial funds, and expending enormous human and material resources. Today, with AI, one person can independently complete multiple tasks including code development, content creation, and operational optimization; some cross-border e-commerce practitioners also rely on AI to rapidly generate multilingual product promotional copy and automate online store operations, achieving "one person forming an army, independent entrepreneurship."
　　Looking across the course of human development, every major technological change reshapes the mode of production and inevitably gives rise to new demands, new industries, and new professions. The steam engine opened the prologue of industrial civilization, the internet drove the prosperity of the digital economy, and now AI is enabling the vigorous development of the intelligent economy.
　　Opportunities are increasing, and capability requirements are also changing. Rather than worrying, it is better to think one step ahead: in one's own work, which segments can be made more efficient with AI? Which professional abilities are one's strengths? For job seekers, every new skill actively acquired today may become a key that opens the door to a future career and secures a foothold in the workplace. Of course, vocational training and public employment services must also adapt to change, helping more workers keep pace with technological development.
　　苟日新，日日新，又日新 (gǒu rì xīn, rì rì xīn, yòu rì xīn - "If one can renew oneself for a day, let there be renewal day after day, and again renewal," a classical exhortation to continuous self-improvement). By actively embracing the wave of AI, improving our own abilities, and combining AI's high efficiency with the uniquely human capacities for thought and empathy, we will surely stand firm, find the right direction, seize new opportunities, and reap a new future.

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Photo Report

On August 23, the "End of Heat" solar term arrived. During the End of Heat period, crops in many places successively enter the critical stage of maturation, and farmers everywhere seize the farming season to work busily.
　　Pictured is the scene on that day in Henggang Community, Xingren Town, Tongzhou District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, where farmers operated self-propelled crop protection machines to carry out rice field management and protection operations.
　　Photo by Zhai Huiyong (Image China)

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Total demand for food cold chain logistics reaches 200 million tons

This newspaper Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Wang Donghui) — The reporter learned from the Cold Chain Professional Committee of the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing: In the first half of this year, the total business demand for food cold chain logistics reached 200 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year; the total revenue of food cold chain logistics service enterprises was 290.18 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.

New energy refrigerated trucks are accelerating their penetration, and the share of green transport capacity has reached a new high. According to estimates, in the first half of the year, refrigerated truck sales totaled 42,111 units, a year-on-year increase of 42.9%; among them, new energy refrigerated truck sales totaled 20,285 units, a year-on-year increase of 92.3%, maintaining a trend of rapid growth. The penetration rate of new energy refrigerated trucks reached 48.2%, up 12.4 percentage points from the same period last year. In the second quarter alone, the penetration rate rose to 54.7%, showing an accelerating penetration trend; for the first time on a quarterly basis, the penetration rate of new energy refrigerated trucks surpassed that of traditional fuel models, and the green transformation of cold chain transport has entered a stage of accelerated development.

Against the backdrop of a recovering and improving macroeconomic situation and resilient growth in logistics operations, compounded by factors such as the concentrated release of holiday consumption, sustained activity in online consumption, and steady growth in cross-border cold chain trade, cold chain logistics maintained a steady development trend in the first half of the year, cold chain consumption demand recovered moderately, and the green and low-carbon transformation accelerated.

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导读

Theory · Rational View of the Economic Situation
Our country's economic momentum turns toward the new, and the structure turns toward the better
Page 9

New Era Picture Scroll
Advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to go deeper and more solid
Page 8

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Rural Product Selectors on the Move Between Cities and Countryside (Decoding the 15th Five-Year Plan Special Programs)

By: 本报记者 郁静娴

Across the vast expanse of the land, there is a group of people who travel between urban and rural areas, connecting farming households on one end and commercial households on the other. They are an important pillar of China's agricultural product circulation system.
They are agricultural product brokers. The "15th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization" proposes that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the country will cultivate 30,000 backbone agricultural product brokers. What new changes are emerging among this group of agricultural product brokers? How should backbone brokers be cultivated? How can they empower industrial development in the future? A reporter conducted interviews on these questions.

Connecting small farming households with the big market, with increasingly prominent characteristics of professionalization, specialization, and organization
"Brother Guo, a client wants potatoes. I know you still have several dozen mu left to harvest." As soon as an order came in, Ma Zhongmi skillfully contacted grower Guo Xin. "What price will you offer?"
"The prices are all out in the open — whatever the goods, whatever the price." Guo Xin replied without hesitation.
"High large-potato rate, shiny skins, little dirt — 0.7 yuan per jin is no problem. If the defect ratio is high, the price will probably need to be lower, and it also depends on whether the client can accept it." Ma Zhongmi added, "Don't give the client any rotten or undersized ones."
"Let's dig a few sample spots in the middle of the field. The sooner we sell, the sooner we clear the field for the next crop." Having worked together for years, Guo Xin knows that following Ma Zhongmi won't lead him astray.
Ma Zhongmi, 47, is an agricultural product broker in Fuyu City, Jilin Province. He has specialized in potato production and marketing brokerage for 10 years, with rich experience and deep trust from clients. "We're not just 'middlemen' focused on earning commissions — we have to solve real, practical problems for growers and buyers," Ma Zhongmi said.
For production-marketing linkage, channels are the key. To find sales outlets for agricultural products, Ma Zhongmi has over the years visited agricultural wholesale markets and wholesale procurement platforms in many places to seek cooperation opportunities. "Only when quality meets the standard can we start talking business." Ma Zhongmi took out a stack of field notes containing his collected and organized atlas of potato pest and disease symptoms. Finding that some growers mixed large and small, good and bad potatoes together for unified sale, Ma Zhongmi also introduced grading and sorting equipment to meet clients' differentiated needs and achieve premium prices for premium potatoes.
According to estimates, the number of brokers who are active long-term in production areas and engaged in agricultural product purchase and sales services exceeds 1 million. In 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, jointly revised the National Occupational Standard for Agricultural Product Brokers, further clarifying their vocational competency indicators, service content, and professional practice norms, providing a basis for the professional development of agricultural product brokers.
"Agricultural product brokers are an important link connecting small farming households with the big market, playing a significant role in bridging agricultural production and demand, promoting industrial upgrading, and increasing farmers' incomes," said a relevant official from the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In recent years, agricultural product brokers have increasingly shown characteristics of professionalization, specialization, and organization.
In terms of occupational positioning, there has been a shift from spontaneous practice and experience-based operation toward a stable occupational form, with standardized operation, contract performance, and credit building increasingly becoming basic requirements. In terms of service content, there has been a gradual expansion from single information matching to quality standard implementation, grading and sorting, cold-chain logistics, and marketing. "Some brokers have also achieved resource integration, risk sharing, and coordinated development through industry associations, industrial alliances, or joint operations, further improving service stability and market bargaining power," said the official from the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Opening up the "main artery" of circulation to ensure stable broker operations
At the crack of dawn, at the Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, the vegetable stall of merchant Qiu Xinhang became bustling, with large and medium-sized box trucks bearing license plates from "Xiang" (Hunan), "Qiong" (Hainan), "Gui" (Guizhou), and other provinces coming and going.
During loading breaks, buyers frequently opened boxes to inspect the goods. Lifting the foam box lids, glossy green cilantro was stacked layer by layer, with uniform head sizes and clean roots. "The cilantro we purchase is grown in sandy soil, harvested without mud, and the color, length, and quality are all well controlled," Qiu Xinhang said.
Unlike Ma Zhongmi, Qiu Xinhang is a broker in the sales area. The Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market where he operates is one of the largest fruit and vegetable distribution centers in the country. Every day, more than 10 trucks from inside and outside the province come and go from his stall, with a daily throughput of 200 tons. In the entire market, there are seventy to eighty merchants selling cilantro, and Qiu Xinhang is one of the better-performing ones.
Vegetable prices fluctuate considerably by season. "Sales channels aren't a worry, but I need to keep a steady hand on market conditions." Qiu Xinhang has been in the vegetable business since 2013 and has experienced multiple ups and downs. He has signed order-based purchase contracts with farmers in production areas such as Qujing, Yunnan, to ensure a stable supply of goods, while transmitting the latest market information to the production front line. Every day, he also compiles the price information he has gathered from production and sales areas into WeChat official account articles for publication. The reporter randomly opened several issues, and each had around 1,000 reads.
Here, systematic data service capabilities help brokers broadly assess market supply and demand dynamics, avoiding blind stocking and trend-chasing operations.
"Relying on big data collection and publication helps break the information gap between production and sales ends," said Lai Yongjin, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market Management Co., Ltd. The market's testing center routinely collects circulation data such as fruit and vegetable prices and supply-demand structure, builds a standardized market price index system, and publishes market conditions in real time for merchants' pricing reference.
Freshness preservation is another major challenge in vegetable circulation. Qiu Xinhang explained that the company has invested in building 15 cold storage units around its cooperative production bases for post-harvest pre-cooling. At the Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market, if goods are not sold on the same day, there is also a 10,000-ton-class cold storage facility for temporary warehousing. In addition, food safety traceability, monitoring systems, electronic settlement, and other circulation and trading scenarios jointly help safeguard food safety on the tip of the tongue.
Opening up the "main artery" of circulation makes production-marketing linkage smoother. In recent years, China has accelerated the construction of a production-area market system for agricultural products. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has guided the digital development of 41 jointly built provincial-ministry markets and 663 designated markets, supported the construction of 78,000 field-side cold storage and freshness-preservation facilities, and continuously promoted the formation of a networked and chained cold-chain logistics system in production areas.

Improving vocational skill levels to better serve the high-quality development of modern agriculture
Theoretical knowledge examinations, on-site practical skill assessments, marketing roadshow presentations... In July, the 7th National Agricultural Industry Vocational Skills Competition set up an agricultural product broker skills competition for the first time. Five agricultural product brokers, including Shaanxi contestant Li Qian, won first prize in the competition. The cultivation of backbone brokers is just getting started.
From "making spreads and relying on connections" to "expanding markets and increasing returns," a new generation of agricultural product brokers is redefining this profession with knowledge and skills. In the competition, more than 46% of contestants held a bachelor's degree or above, demonstrating a distinct market-oriented and industrialization-oriented mindset. "Products may have sluggish sales, but mindsets must not be 'sluggish.'" Li Qian majored in international trade in university.
2022 was a watershed year in Li Qian's career development. Due to changes in supply and demand, kiwifruit prices rose after coming to market, but the market cooled rapidly after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Fruit farmers asked Li Qian to help sell their fruit. Because the local variety was priced on the high side, and kiwifruit has low firmness and does not store well, none of the several buyers he contacted were willing to take it.
After consulting with village cadres, Li Qian quickly organized fruit grading. For the fruit that had already softened, he contacted community group buying channels and nearby markets, selling at a loss of 3 yuan per jin to move it quickly — but this accounted for only a small portion. "Good fruit must not be sold cheaply and hurt farmers, but we also can't hoard stock and gamble on the market." Li Qian set his sights on livestream e-commerce.
Villagers co-starring in videos, livestreaming from the fields, picking and shipping on the spot... After repeated attempts, the authentic scenes attracted the first wave of traffic, selling more than 200 orders in one hour, with over half of the orders coming from Xinjiang — where, due to transportation and promotion challenges, the local kiwifruit market was still untapped. "This market opportunity must be seized." Li Qian immediately contacted logistics companies to negotiate freight solutions, and rushed to Urumqi overnight to coordinate with a local constant-temperature warehouse. After online shipping stabilized, he went to ranches around the Tianshan Mountains to do sales promotion. With the platform's push, 191,000 orders of kiwifruit were sold out in two months.
With the emergence of new business formats and models, more and more agricultural product brokers are using online precision promotion and other means to improve transaction efficiency and market matching, and are using multiple methods to link with and drive farmers, promoting mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. "The high-quality development of modern agriculture places higher demands on agricultural product brokers' cultural literacy and abilities in information gathering, market analysis, and other areas," said Han Yijun, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of China Agricultural University.
To help agricultural product brokers continuously improve their capability levels, many localities have introduced targeted cultivation and incentive measures. Zhejiang has recognized the winners of this competition as "Zhejiang Gold-Collar Workers," and Gansu has provided outstanding contestants with support including targeted traffic, exclusive IP building, and precise production-marketing matching. "We continue to improve the professional training mechanism for agricultural product brokers, carrying out systematic training in marketing, e-commerce operations, quality control, and other areas," said the head of the Market and Information Technology Division of the Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Shaanxi Province.
A relevant official from the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that the department has already worked with relevant units to build a database of agricultural product brokers and compiled the "200 Questions on Agricultural Product Broker Practice." This year, agricultural product broker cultivation has also been incorporated into the high-quality farmer cultivation plan. Going forward, efforts will be made from multiple dimensions including standards, competitions, training, finance, channels, and institutions to promote the professional, specialized, and standardized development of agricultural product brokers, and to intensify efforts to build a backbone broker team that understands agriculture, knows the market, upholds integrity, and links with and drives farmers.

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What Does 4.7% Economic Growth in the First Half of the Year Signify?

By: 钟才文

Wind and rain reveal true substance; tempering builds confidence. In the first half of the year, China's economy pressed forward under pressure, sustaining a development trend of overall stability and progress toward the new and the superior, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing 4.7 percent year on year. We effectively responded to changes in the external environment such as geopolitical conflicts and trade frictions, and successfully managed complex domestic situations including strong supply and weak demand and the overlapping of new and old problems, achieving results that were hard-won and all the more valuable.

Measured against the target, 4.7 percent is an economic growth rate that meets expectations. The annual growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent set by the Central Economic Work Conference and the two sessions was realized in the first half with a 4.7 percent rate within this reasonable range, conforming to the Party Central Committee's scientific judgment on the economy and its deployment requirements, and laying a solid foundation for a good start and sound progress in the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Key economic indicators operated steadily, with employment and prices remaining stable. The 4.7 percent growth rate is basically compatible with current conditions in factor supply, technological progress, institutional innovation, and other respects; it is a rate that is realistic and consistent with the potential economic growth rate. The major economic provinces generally grew faster than the national average, playing the role of carrying the main load. At the same time, in the first half of the year, China's financial risks continued to converge, local government debt risks were resolved in an orderly manner, and various binding constraints were loosened or tightened to an appropriate degree, leaving room to respond to uncertainty and improve the quality of development.

Looking at the structure, 4.7 percent is an economic growth rate with real substance. Behind the growth rate is the fact that China's economic drivers are shifting toward the new and its structure toward the superior, delivering a high-quality development report card with stability as its foundation and momentum as its driving force. The technological content is higher. New quality productive forces have accumulated strength and taken shape; chain-leading innovative enterprises with core technologies and specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises focused on niche industries are emerging and growing at an accelerated pace. In the first half of the year, new drivers contributed more than 40 percent directly to economic growth. Artificial intelligence is empowering a hundred industries and a thousand lines of business. Recently, a new generation of open-source large models has been released intensively, and China's proposals for AI ecosystem construction and governance order have been systematically put forward. Innovative achievements continue to emerge, with the number of authorized AI-related patents up 34.8 percent year on year. The green content is more substantial. The green and low-carbon transformation of energy has accelerated; in the first half of the year, clean energy accounted for 36.2 percent of power generation above designated scale. Green new drivers are growing faster, with lithium battery output up 39.3 percent and the cumulative retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles reaching 54.1 percent. Zero-carbon parks and zero-carbon transport corridors are being built in an orderly manner. The livelihood content is more solid. Actions to stabilize employment, expand jobs, upgrade quality, and increase social security efforts were implemented, and residents' incomes increased steadily. In the first half of the year, the per capita disposable income of national residents rose 5.2 percent nominally year on year. The consumer market continued to expand, with new growth points such as service consumption and experience consumption being continuously cultivated. In the first half of the year, service retail sales grew 5.3 percent, consumption in lower-tier markets such as counties led the growth, and holiday consumption and inbound consumption remained robust.

Pressing forward under pressure, 4.7 percent is an economic growth rate with strong resilience. With adverse external impacts deepening and overlapping with domestic cyclical and structural pressures, China's economy "rode the wind and broke the waves" to deliver a passing grade, demonstrating formidable capacity to withstand shocks and to self-adjust. Externally, geopolitical turmoil persists, and the war in the Middle East has impacted global energy markets, leaving many countries facing energy shortages and high oil prices. China made early arrangements for building a new energy system and petroleum reserve system and implemented a market diversification strategy, ensuring effective and forceful energy supply security and price stability. In the past six months, there have been no market shortages of oil products, and the confidence of energy security is growing. At the same time, against the backdrop of rising global trade protectionism and increasing tariff and non-tariff barriers, China's products, with their high cost-performance ratio, are winning favor among residents of more and more countries. Exports are strong, and the export mix is being reshaped by frontier technologies and original innovation, from electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics to artificial intelligence, robots, and innovative drugs. Internally, resolving risks accumulated over many years in local government debt, the real estate market, and small and medium financial institutions objectively exerts a certain contractionary effect on the economy, requiring some sacrifice of economic growth. But this short-term cost is exchanged for long-term stable and sustainable economic and social development. At the same time, from the perspective of market fundamentals, the contradiction between strong supply and weak demand remains prominent, and in particular, China's investment faces considerable pressure to stop declining and stabilize. The investment growth rate is closely related to the stage of development. The focus of China's current investment policy is not simply to maintain a certain speed, but to better adapt to the requirements of high-quality development and to place greater emphasis on investment quality and comprehensive benefits. In the first half of the year, China focused on strengthening the coordinated construction of the "six networks," promoting the upgrading of manufacturing, and filling gaps in water conservancy and urban underground pipeline networks, investing more resources in the future and in people's livelihoods.

Looking to the future, 4.7 percent is an economic growth rate with ample staying power. China's economic development has vast room for maneuver, enormous market potential, and strong resilience and vitality. Growth has potential. With continued increases in R&D investment, China's capacity for original innovation is growing day by day, and the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation is making innovation-driven development a powerful engine of China's economic growth. China's stock of talent is the largest in the world, and human capital is steadily shifting from a demographic dividend to a quality dividend. New production factors such as data and computing power continue to empower traditional factors, jointly supporting high-quality economic development. Reform has dividends. We focus on using reform methods to solve development problems, and the economy's endogenous momentum is continuously strengthening. The building of a unified national market is advancing in depth; prominent problems in local government investment attraction, market access barriers, and bidding and tendering are being rectified, which will expand the breadth and depth of China's market and further unleash the potential of the super-large market. Continuing to comprehensively rectify "involution-style" competition will shape a healthier market environment, force enterprises to move away from competition on the single dimension of price, and accelerate the shift from scale expansion and price competition to quality improvement and value competition. Policy has space. Compared with some economies that stimulate the economy through high debt and high deficits, China has not taken the path of over-reliance on strong policy stimulus. Aggregate policy remains proactive and effective, structural policies are precisely targeted, and a "policy dependency" is avoided. On the whole, the supporting conditions and fundamental trend of China's economy improving in the long run have not changed. The macro policy toolbox is ample, and the room for countercyclical adjustment remains large. China is well positioned to introduce practical and effective incremental policies as circumstances change and is capable of achieving the year's economic and social development goals and tasks.

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Let factories "run" in the digital world (New quality productive forces create new space for employment)

By: 《中国经济周刊》记者 谢 玮

Entering the Huagong Technology Industrial Park in Optics Valley, Wuhan, Hubei, a large screen displays a virtual workshop in sync with the real production line: every swing of a robotic arm, every shuttle of an automated guided vehicle, and the flow of every product on the conveyor belt are replicated in the digital world. This "virtual-real linkage" originates from a system known as the "digital twin."

The so-called digital twin is the 1:1 replication of a physical entity in the virtual world — it can be a production line, a workshop, or even an entire factory.

"Many people think the digital twin is just 'moving' the workshop onto a screen, but in fact its more important value lies in simulation and prediction," said Hu Shaoxiong (胡少雄), head of the Zhujing Product Department under Huagong Technology's intelligent manufacturing business segment. A few years ago, he was still a game development engineer at an internet company.

"The equipment on the virtual production line can link in real time with real equipment, mapping to each other, and can even control physical equipment in reverse — this closed loop is very interesting," Hu Shaoxiong said. This let him see the broader 用武之地 (yòng wǔ zhī dì - "a place to use one's weapons," a field where one's talents can be put to use) for 3D modeling and simulation technology.

Spotting the opportunity in manufacturing transformation, he chose to become a digital twin application technician. Today, Hu Shaoxiong has become a technical backbone in this field, and his career trajectory reflects the new trend of digital technology talent flowing toward the real economy.

In recent years, as intelligent manufacturing has advanced, the digital twin has moved from concept to the workshop floor.

In the past, when an enterprise built a new intelligent production line, it often had to first build a pilot workshop, install the equipment, and get it running before problems such as spatial interference or unreasonable takt times could be discovered. Going back to make changes then required multiple steps — shutdown, disassembly, and debugging — with long cycles and high costs. On the digital "twin," however, engineers can simulate operations in advance, identify problems, and optimize solutions, greatly reducing costs. "Without turning a single screw, we got a clear picture of the production line's problems," a client remarked at project delivery.

A digital twin must not only be "visible," but more importantly, it must be able to "calculate accurately." Hu Shaoxiong explained that taking cutting as an example, parts from different orders vary in shape, and the cutting methods and times also differ. Traditional simulation software can often only give an "average time," whereas with digital twin technology, the system can parse drawings in real time and dynamically calculate the specific path and time consumption for each batch of workpieces, thereby guiding production more precisely.

"The significance of the digital twin is not only to reflect the present, but more importantly to foresee the future." Hu Shaoxiong explained that by collecting equipment operating data in real time, the system can predict the possibility of failures. In the production workshop of a steel structure client, the digital twin system's advance prediction of cutting machine failures helped the production line avoid unplanned downtime, improving operational management efficiency by 5%.

Building digital twin systems has not only improved operational efficiency, but also expanded into new scenarios such as process verification, intelligent inspection, and virtual training.

"For example, virtual training is very popular with enterprises," Hu Shaoxiong said. In the past, new employees operating real machines faced the risk of damaging equipment or causing accidents, so training could only be scheduled outside production hours. Now, in a virtual environment, trainees can repeatedly practice high-risk or complex procedures without affecting production line operations or worrying about the cost of "trial and error."

In Hu Shaoxiong's view, the advanced form of the digital twin is an intelligent agent capable of "self-perception, self-decision, and self-execution," which depends on the co-evolution of sensors, artificial intelligence algorithms, and communication technologies.

More and more young people are joining this new profession of "connecting the virtual and the real."

"The average age of R&D personnel in our department is 28," Hu Shaoxiong said. From the Internet of Things, computer science, and industrial engineering operations research optimization to AI algorithm applications, young people from diverse backgrounds are converging on the front line of manufacturing digitalization.

According to a report, the proportion of university graduates employed in advanced manufacturing and modern services is steadily rising. The employment proportions of the class of 2025 bachelor's degree graduates in electronic and electrical equipment manufacturing, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and transportation equipment manufacturing increased by 0.8, 1.6, and 1.0 percentage points respectively compared with the class of 2021.

Letting technology take root in workshops, production lines, and equipment, young people have become builders of new industries. Every line of code they write is making factories "run" in the digital world.

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持续关注交叉领域新动向（专家点评）

By: 刘棣斐

A digital twin is like a "smart mirror" installed in a computer — it can not only accurately and synchronously reflect the operating state of the real world, but also, based on algorithmic models, analyze and predict potential problems. Once an anomaly is detected, it automatically formulates an optimization plan and feeds it back to the real world for execution.

Digital twin technology has been widely applied in fields such as manufacturing, transportation, energy, and healthcare. Taking intelligent driving as an example, in the past, algorithm training was highly dependent on real road data, with high collection costs and incomplete scenario coverage. Today, automakers construct high-fidelity virtual road environments through digital twins, enabling algorithms to undergo high-frequency iterative training in the virtual world, significantly enhancing safety in extreme scenarios.

Along with the wave of digital-intelligent development, the digital twin market has broad prospects. The digital transformation of manufacturing has become a growth engine, and the fields of smart cities and smart energy also demonstrate enormous application value.

The digital twin industry has also provided a new track for young people. For instance, in technological R&D and innovation, there is a need for system architects, real-time rendering engineers, simulation algorithm engineers, and so on; in application implementation and deployment, it brings positions such as digital twin product managers, application technicians, and operations and maintenance engineers. Young people should choose their development direction based on their own interests and strengths, continuously track the latest developments in the cross-disciplinary field of "AI + digital twin," constantly enhance their career competitiveness, and seize the opportunities of the era.

(The author is the director of the Digital Transformation Research Department of the Institute for Integration of Informatization and Industrialization, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (中国信通院); compiled and edited by Xie Wei (谢玮), a reporter for China Economic Weekly.)

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Photo Report

This summer, tourists' enthusiasm has run high, and cultural tourism is brimming with vitality. People are feasting their eyes on the magnificent landscapes, as "all-flavors" cultural tourism lights up the summer economy. The photo shows the tent season scene at the Zhaxika Grand Grassland in Shiqu County (石渠县), Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Hongjing (江宏景) photo

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Harbin promotes high-quality development of industrial clusters (Making a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan)

By: 本报记者 崔 佳 方 圆

On the industrial front line in Harbin, Heilongjiang, a scene of bustling, fervent activity (热火朝天, rè huǒ cháo tiān - "hot fire facing the sky," bustling and fervent) prevails: in the Pingfang District (平房区) low-altitude economy industrial park, machines rumble loudly, and drones come off the production line one after another (鱼贯而出, yú guàn ér chū - "emerge in a string like fish," to come out one after another); in Xiangfang District (香坊区), the high-end electrical equipment intelligent manufacturing base is about to be commissioned, and many enterprises are 紧锣密鼓 (jǐn luó mì gǔ - "tight gongs, dense drums," in intense preparation) carrying out equipment commissioning before moving in...

In September 2023, during his inspection tour of Heilongjiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Build a number of industrial clusters, and make the real economy bigger and stronger."

Deeply implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, Harbin has persisted in focusing the efforts of economic development on the real economy, anchoring on the directions of intelligentization, greenization, and integration, accelerating the advancement of new industrialization, making bigger and stronger the hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters such as aerospace and high-end equipment, and striving to promote the high-quality development of industrial clusters.

Chain-leader leadership: consolidating the foundation for industrial cluster development.

On the digital production line, robotic arms are precisely assembling drone components; on the screens of the command and control center, inspection footage transmitted from multiple drones in the field is clearly displayed... In the Pingfang District low-altitude economy industrial park, the Heilongjiang base of United Aircraft Group (联合飞机集团) is conducting research and development on low-altitude economy application scenarios.

Across the road, a quality inspector from the supporting enterprise Harbin Xinhua Aviation Industry Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨鑫华航空工业股份有限公司) walks toward the United Aircraft plant with blueprints in hand. The straight-line distance between the two enterprises is only 200 meters.

"By staying close to the chain-leading enterprise, we have entered the new track of the low-altitude economy," said Su Lankui (苏兰奎), general manager of Xinhua Aviation. The enterprise previously mainly provided supporting services to traditional aerospace enterprises; in February this year, it undertook the development and production task for core components of the unmanned helicopter lift system from United Aircraft, and has delivered all of them.

With United Aircraft as the center, within a radius of 5 kilometers, more than 30 upstream and downstream enterprises have gathered, from new materials to precision machining, from thermal surface treatment to complete machine assembly — the entire industrial chain has formed a closed loop.

In Harbin, leading enterprises are becoming the "incubators" and "stabilizers" of the industrial chain. At the Harbin work conference on advancing aerospace cluster construction held in June this year, the Harbin Aerospace Industry Alliance was inaugurated, and the materials compiled into a volume set out four lists: the supporting capabilities of 127 alliance enterprises, 745 cooperation demands, financing demands of over 1.1 billion yuan, and 59 scientific and technological achievements pending transformation. Enterprises, universities and research institutes, and financial institutions, clenching their fingers into a fist (攥指成拳, zuàn zhǐ chéng quán - "clench fingers into a fist," to unite as one), will further consolidate the foundation for the high-quality development of industrial clusters.

Collaborative innovation: strong empowerment through the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

In the production workshop of Harbin Xindafeng Forming Technology Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨新达峰成形科技有限公司), CR450 test train nose components are being assembled in an orderly manner and coming off the line in batches, while metro supporting test pieces adapted for cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing are also being rushed into production and delivered in tandem.

"The enterprise has sufficient orders and thriving production and sales (产销两旺, chǎn xiāo liǎng wàng - "production and sales both flourishing," thriving output and sales), and we are confident of meeting our annual targets," said Wang Guofeng (王国峰), the person in charge of the enterprise. In 2025, the company's output value exceeded 40 million yuan, with a growth rate of over 50%; in 2026, output value is expected to exceed 60 million yuan.

The enterprise's sound development is a vivid footnote to Harbin's efforts to promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Focusing on the development of key industrial clusters such as high-end equipment, Harbin has continuously deepened government-enterprise-university cooperation, raised the level of construction of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems around Harbin Institute of Technology and others (环哈尔滨工业大学创新创业生态圈), and further promoted the on-site utilization of scientific and technological resources and the efficient transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

After Xindafeng Company moved into the Advanced Technology Research Institute (先进技术研究院) of Harbin Institute of Technology, it obtained full-chain transformation support: the institute assisted it in applying for special support policies, connected it with investment and financing resources, carried out regular enterprise management training, and organized special talent recruitment sessions, effectively promoting the enterprise's development. Xindafeng's aerospace forming technology has been successfully applied in the rail transit field.

As an important engine of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem around Harbin Institute of Technology, the Advanced Technology Research Institute, established for more than two years, has cultivated 64 enterprises.

Refined services: working hand in hand (携手并肩, xié shǒu bìng jiān - "hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder," to work together) to nurture the industrial ecosystem.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Harbin Electric Group Co., Ltd. (哈尔滨电气集团有限公司) doubled its operating revenue, reaching over 50 billion yuan in 2025. The continuous release of production capacity needs to be promptly taken up.

"The Xiangfang District high-end electrical equipment intelligent manufacturing base is only 8 kilometers from Harbin Electric Group, and is mainly built around Harbin Electric Group's production capacity enhancement and industrial chain supporting needs," said He Jiankun (何剑坤), director of the Xiangfang District Bureau of Industry, Information, and Science and Technology (香坊区工业信息科技局). The base has sorted out and formed a panoramic map of the industrial chain for Harbin Electric Group, and achieved centralized connection with high-quality suppliers. For the first phase of the base, expected to pass completion acceptance in October this year, several production enterprises have already signed occupancy agreements.

"After the base is completed, it will leverage advantages such as short local supporting transportation distances and fast response to help enterprises expand production capacity," said Sun Zhongmin (孙忠民), deputy general manager of the Safety, Environmental Protection, and Quality Department of Harbin Electric Group. Not long ago, Harbin also specially held a meeting on serving the coordinated development of the Harbin Electric Group industrial chain, organizing 120 supporting enterprises as well as university research teams and financial institutions to conduct in-depth exchanges with Harbin Electric Group on improving local supporting capabilities.

Bearing in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment, during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Harbin will leverage its advantages in science and education, integrate industrial resources, concentrate efforts on moving toward innovation and excellence, continuously strengthen and supplement the industrial chain, expand a number of hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters, and strive to blaze a new path of high-quality development and sustainable revitalization.

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First international standard for solid-state batteries approved for development

Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Lin Lili) — The international standard proposal put forward by China, "Secondary lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle propulsion — Solid-state battery application guide, test items and conditions," was recently successfully registered as a project by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This standard is the world's first international standard in the field of solid-state batteries.

Solid-state batteries are regarded as an important development direction for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. Compared with traditional liquid batteries, they offer longer range, higher safety, and more stable performance. This standard, building on China's accumulated research and development in solid-state batteries, will clearly define the testing specifications for solid-state batteries. The standard will provide a unified "yardstick" for global automakers in the research, development, and production of solid-state batteries in the future, helping to accelerate the entry of safer, longer-range electric vehicles into thousands of households and promoting the rapid development of the new energy industry.

The standard was proposed under China's leadership, with experts from France, South Korea, Japan, and other countries participating in its development. The formulation of this standard is conducive to sharing China's advanced battery technology concepts with the world and contributing more Chinese strength to the technological upgrading of the global battery industry and the energy transition.

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Strengthen international cooperation on desertification control and advance global environmental governance

By: 本报记者 张朋辉

The Seventeenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") was held from August 17 to 28 in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Representatives from the Convention's 197 Parties, as well as delegates from relevant United Nations agencies, international organizations, civil society organizations, scientific research institutions, and enterprises, engaged in consultations and exchanges on topics including degraded land restoration, sustainable land management, drought resilience building, and grassland protection and restoration. Delegates at the meeting highly praised China's achievements in combating desertification, expressed their desire to learn from China's experience, and called for strengthening international cooperation on desertification prevention and control to advance global environmental governance.

"China has become one of the clearest large-scale examples of reversing land degradation"

Land desertification is a major global ecological issue affecting human survival and development. The latest data shows that approximately 40% of the world's land is degraded, affecting nearly half of the global population. Since 2000, the frequency and duration of droughts have increased by nearly 30%. Intensifying drought has left over 1.8 billion people worldwide facing water scarcity, and the annual global economic losses caused by land degradation, desertification, and drought amount to nearly 900 billion US dollars, far exceeding the scale of investment by countries in land restoration and prevention efforts.

The conference, themed "Restoring Land, Rekindling Hope," focused on four major priority topics: stepping up implementation to translate commitments into action; adopting integrated measures to protect and restore healthy land; bridging the financing gap; and protecting grasslands and rangelands. All parties agreed that action is the key to combating desertification. The Convention Secretariat made financing one of the primary tasks of this conference, as well as an important guarantee for implementing actions. To bridge the funding gap, the conference established a "Finance Day" and held a "Land Business Forum," among other initiatives, with the aim of unlocking greater investment potential in the field of soil protection.

The conference also dedicated special thematic days including "Water Day," "Land and People Day," and "Food Systems and Soil Health," reflecting the synergies between land, climate, and biodiversity, and integrating desertification control into broader economic and social policies. "China has become one of the clearest large-scale examples of reversing land degradation," said Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the Convention Secretariat. He expressed the hope that the conference would mobilize broad participation from all parties in the cause of desertification control and better connect political decision-making with practical solutions.

"Delivering multiple ecological, economic, and social benefits, and charting a path of sustainable development"

The "China Pavilion" at the conference showcased China's achievements in desertification prevention and control, becoming a highlight of the venue. The themed exhibition "Restoring Land, Rekindling Hope — China's Wisdom and Commitment in Combating Desertification," set against a vibrant green backdrop, displayed the innovative practices and results of the "Three-North" Project (三北工程) through various formats, sharing experience in grassland restoration, science-based desertification control, technological equipment, and livelihood development, attracting many visitors.

At the "China Pavilion," a water-retaining agent developed by Xi'an Meinan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. caught the attention of Ibrahim Dour, Mali Country Representative of the Center for International Forestry Research. This water-retaining agent can absorb more than 1,000 times its own weight in water, storing excess irrigation water, rainwater, and fertilizer and releasing them slowly, thereby reducing watering frequency and improving plant survival rates. "China's new desertification-control products have great market potential and wide applicability, offering more possibilities for desertification prevention and control," Dour said.

Mohamed Beghir, an official from Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went straight to the "China Pavilion" while touring the venue on the first day of the conference. After viewing the themed exhibition, he said: "We will earnestly learn from China's experience in combating desertification and deepen relevant cooperation."

After more than half a century of continuous governance, China has achieved a historic transformation from "sand advancing, people retreating" to "green advancing, sand retreating." The area of desertified and sandified land has continued to register "dual reductions," and China has taken the lead globally in achieving "zero growth" in land degradation, with 53% of treatable sandified land effectively restored. Over the past five years, China has completed greening of 36.6 million hectares of land, with forest coverage exceeding 25%, contributing approximately 25% of the world's new green area... One set of figures after another, one pair of before-and-after photos of desertification control after another, vividly record and demonstrate China's remarkable achievements and green miracle in desertification prevention and control.

Pradeep Monga, Senior Strategic Advisor to the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, has worked in the UN system for over 30 years and has long focused on ecological restoration in developing countries, witnessing China's efforts and achievements in combating desertification. "China has explored three-dimensional desertification-control models such as 'generating electricity on panels, planting under panels, and raising livestock between panels,' delivering multiple ecological, economic, and social benefits and charting a path of sustainable development," Monga said. "I hope to continue promoting the Chinese approach on platforms such as the United Nations to benefit more countries and regions."

"Providing solid support for the green development of developing countries"

During the conference, the Chinese side hosted nearly 20 thematic side events, including "Empowering Desertification Control with Science: Innovative Practices of China's Green Great Wall," to exchange ideas, technologies, and practices on desertification prevention and control.

"In 2017, China hosted the Thirteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, at which the Convention's Strategic Framework 2018–2030 was adopted, becoming an important milestone in advancing the global goal of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030," Thiaw said. "China upholds the global governance vision of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, actively participates in cooperation under the Convention framework, encourages enterprises and herders to jointly participate in desertification control efforts, and adheres to technology sharing, experience exchange, and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. China actively assists ecological development in Global South countries, providing governance experience, mature technologies, and practical solutions, offering strong support for other countries' land restoration, grassland protection, and ecological governance, and demonstrating the ecological responsibility of a major responsible country."

In September 2023, the China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center was inaugurated in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The center has been deeply involved in supporting Mongolia's "Billion Trees" plan, including assisting in the construction of ecological protection and restoration demonstration zones, promoting China's mature afforestation and desertification prevention and control technologies and models, and carrying out cooperation on sandstorm monitoring and early warning. In the view of Chuluunbaatar Enkh-Amgalan, founding director of Mongolia's Belt and Road Common Development Research Center, China actively promotes green cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, providing important assistance to Mongolia's desertification control and green development. "We look forward to taking the conference as an opportunity to strengthen Mongolia-China green cooperation, promote more practical outcomes from the Mongolia-China Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center, and help restore Mongolia's grassland ecology," Enkh-Amgalan said.

Abdulrahman Abutaleb, water resources expert and head of process innovation technology at the Saudi Water Authority, said: "Our team includes researchers from China, and Saudi Arabia has large-scale seawater desalination projects built by Chinese enterprises. China cooperates with Middle Eastern countries and other developing countries to promote photovoltaic-based desertification control and water-saving technologies, shares China's experience in desertification prevention and control, and provides solid support for the green development of developing countries."

(This report was filed from Ulaanbaatar on August 23.)

Layout design: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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Contributing China’s wisdom to global AI development (International Forum)

By: 邵 鹏

China will work with countries around the world to empower industrial upgrading through technological application, bridge the development divide through openness and cooperation, and improve global governance through extensive consultation and joint contribution, so as to continuously contribute Chinese solutions to global development in the intelligent era.

The 2026 World Robot Conference concluded in Beijing on the 23rd. With the theme "Human-Robot Symbiosis, Production-Demand Integration," the conference held over 70 supporting events including the World Robot Exposition and the World Robot Contest. From collaborative robots achieving micron-level precision on industrial production lines to humanoid robots capable of autonomously navigating complex road conditions, the dazzling array of new products and new scenarios serves both as a platform for centralized display of cutting-edge global robotics technologies and as an important window for observing the implementation of artificial intelligence applications and jointly promoting intelligent industry cooperation.

As one of the physical carriers of artificial intelligence technology, the level of development of the robotics industry tests the comprehensive capacity for technological application and industrial integration. In recent years, leveraging its complete manufacturing system and massive application scenarios, China has driven AI technology from laboratories to the front lines of production and daily life, forming a positive cycle of technological iteration, scenario validation, and industrial upgrading. At this year's World Robot Conference, a new generation of industrial robots with autonomous decision-making and human-robot collaboration capabilities accelerated the transition from technical validation to large-scale application; service robots for livelihood sectors such as elderly care, healthcare, and education saw accelerated adoption; intelligent companionship and smart inspection robot products precisely matched social needs; and application scenarios for specialized robots in agricultural harvesting and emergency rescue continued to expand—demonstrating the vast space for AI to empower a hundred industries and a thousand sectors. With its complete industrial chain advantages and rich experience in scenario implementation, China is becoming an important testing ground and accelerator for the transformation and application of global AI technology.

Innovation and openness are the genes and foundation of AI development, and also important pathways for lowering the threshold of technological innovation and application and promoting the inclusive accessibility of intelligent technology. In the industrial wave of AI-robotics integration, China has consistently adhered to open-source, open, and win-win cooperation, extensively carried out international cooperation in the AI field, and helped Global South countries enhance their technological capabilities and industrial development levels: providing industrial robots and visual inspection solutions to manufacturing factories in Southeast Asia to drive local industrial digital upgrading; deploying agricultural inspection and public service robots in African countries to help pave new paths for integrated digital and intelligent development; and in Latin American countries, Chinese enterprises have cooperated with local partners to deploy intelligent warehousing, logistics, and cleaning robots, assisting local e-commerce and manufacturing intelligent upgrading. China shares its robotics industry development experience with the world, jointly creating an open, equal, fair, and non-discriminatory industrial development environment, and promoting the development of AI and robotics technology in a direction that benefits all.

The healthy and orderly development of AI and robotics technology cannot be separated from a fair and reasonable global AI governance system. The main forum and concurrent events of this year's World Robot Conference also focused on topics such as safety governance, holding high-level dialogues including "Safety Governance and Ethical Guardrails on the Road to Robotics Inclusiveness." Behind this series of arrangements lies a global consensus: as robots accelerate their journey out of laboratories and into factory workshops and millions of households, how to coordinate technological innovation, industrial application, and risk governance has become a common issue of the times facing the international community. China has always proceeded from the common interests of humanity, advocated for the construction of an open, fair, and effective AI governance mechanism, and promoted the development of AI technology for good and for the benefit of all. From proposing the Global AI Governance Initiative, to promoting the consensus adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity building, from releasing the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All and the "AI+" International Cooperation Initiative, to jointly initiating the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization with 28 countries, China has continuously translated concepts into action, promoting the bridging of the global intelligent divide through concrete measures, and contributing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to AI development and governance.

Artificial intelligence is the crystallization of wisdom and precious asset shared by all humanity, and robots are an important bond connecting technology and society in the intelligent era. The development and governance of both concern the core interests of all countries and, moreover, the long-term future of human society. Looking ahead, China will work with countries around the world to empower industrial upgrading through technological application, bridge the development divide through openness and cooperation, and improve global governance through extensive consultation and joint contribution, so as to continuously contribute Chinese solutions to global development in the intelligent era.

(The author is an associate professor at the Party School of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee and a researcher at the Tianjin Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.)

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"Xizang has embarked on a path of high-quality development suited to its local conditions"

By: 本报记者 李 墨

Recently, a story-sharing event titled "Seeing Tibet: New Era, New Development" (看见西藏：新时代 新发展) was held in the lecture hall of Nepal's National Academy of Governance. More than 300 guests from China and Nepal listened to several Nepali individuals who had just returned from Tibet share what they had seen and heard.

In June this year, Kumar Acharya, former chair of Nepal's National Press Council, visited Tibet and attended the Second Tibet International Communication Conference (第二届西藏国际传播大会). He said that during the visit, he saw that cultural landmarks such as the Potala Palace, Drepung Monastery, and Yumbu Lhakang were well preserved, and that local people's traditional cultural life continues to this day. The ecological restoration of Lhasa's Riverside Park and the world cultural heritage protection of Norbulingka showed him the results of coordinated governance of the natural environment and human cultural resources. He said that the ethnic Pulu hand-weaving professional cooperative in Nêdong District (乃东区), Shannan City, connects traditional craftsmanship with the modern market, allowing intangible cultural heritage to move from static preservation to living inheritance; and that the 200-megawatt grazing-solar complementary photovoltaic power project in Doilungdêqên District (堆龙德庆区), Lhasa, combines solar power generation with highland animal husbandry, exploring development paths for industrial upgrading in high-altitude regions. "Tibet's history and modernity, culture and nature, traditional industries and technological innovation support each other and achieve each other," Acharya said. "Tibet has embarked on a path of high-quality development suited to its local realities."

Kundan Aryal, head of the journalism department at Nepal's Tribhuvan University, has visited Tibet many times. "Every field visit, I make new discoveries," he said. At the Dazi You Minba Ancient Tibetan Incense Cultural Industry Park (达孜优·敏芭古藏香文化产业园), he saw modern management techniques greatly improving the efficiency of traditional incense-making; in Zhaxiqoiden Community (扎西曲登社区), Nêdong District, Shannan City, highland villages are embracing clean energy and technological innovation with an open attitude. Aryal said that from intangible cultural heritage workshops to modern enterprises, from traditional communities to industrial parks, he felt that Tibet, while preserving its cultural roots, is opening a window to the future, achieving both inheritance and development.

The sharing event was co-hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, Nepal's Tribhuvan University, and Nepal's National Human Rights Commission. "The sharing event helps Nepali people understand the real development situation in China's Tibet. Tibetan people live and work in contentment (安居乐业, ān jū lè yè - "dwell in peace and delight in work," to live and work in contentment), and human rights are fully guaranteed," local citizen Pant told reporters. Through listening to the story-sharing, he understood that people's happiness in life is an important yardstick for measuring human rights. Sunuwar, a student from Nepal's L.R.I. International School, said the narrators' experiences and impressions in Tibet were refreshing to her (耳目一新, ěr mù yī xīn - "ears and eyes made new," refreshing and novel), "I hope I have the opportunity to go to Tibet and see for myself, to feel up close the vigorous vitality bursting from this magical land."

(Our correspondent Kathmandu, August 23)

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Wang Yi Meets with Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 23 — Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met in Beijing on the 23rd with Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Safadi, who accompanied King Abdullah II on his visit to China.

Wang Yi stated that President Xi Jinping cherishes the friendship and mutual trust established with King Abdullah II. This is King Abdullah II's first visit to China in 11 years, and he expressed confidence that the visit will achieve complete success. China appreciates the Jordanian side's firm commitment to a friendly policy toward China and its adherence to the One-China principle.

Safadi thanked the Chinese side for the warm and thoughtful arrangements made for King Abdullah II's visit to China, stating that the Jordanian side attaches great importance to relations with China and is willing to deepen cooperation with the Chinese side in various fields. The Jordanian side highly appreciates the positive and responsible role China has played on the Middle East issue.

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China, Arab States launch five-year action plan on drought, desertification and land degradation control

Ulaanbaatar, August 23 (Reporter Zhang Penghui) On the 22nd, the second expanded meeting of the Steering Committee of the China-Arab International Research Center for Drought, Desertification and Land Degradation and the China-Arab Cooperation Seminar were held in Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. The meeting adopted and released the "China-Arab Five-Year Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Drought, Desertification and Land Degradation."

The China-Arab International Research Center for Drought, Desertification and Land Degradation (hereinafter referred to as the "China-Arab Center") was formally established in August 2023. The action plan released this time proposes that in the next five years, the Chinese and Arab sides will rely on cooperation platforms and partnership networks such as the China-Arab Center, focus on key areas including desertification and degraded land governance, sandstorm monitoring, forecasting and early warning, grassland protection and utilization, biodiversity conservation, and wetland protection and restoration, and continuously deepen practical cooperation. By improving the China-Arab desertification control network, strengthening scientific and technological innovation and the transformation of achievements, and deepening international exchanges and capacity building, they will continuously enhance the cooperation capacity for desertification prevention and control between China and Arab states.

This meeting was held during the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, co-hosted by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (国家林业和草原局) of China and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, and organized by the Chinese Academy of Forestry (中国林业科学研究院) and the China-Arab Center. Representatives from China, the Arab League and its member states, as well as the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank and other international institutions attended the meeting, conducting in-depth exchanges on drought, desertification and land degradation prevention and control, and reviewing the work progress of the China-Arab Center. The meeting also released a series of cooperation achievements including the "Technical Manual on Desertification Control in China."

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"Better Seizing the Opportunities Presented by China's Development"

By: 本报记者 陈一鸣

“In the past, when people spoke of Brazil-China cooperation, the first things that came to mind were ports and large cities. Today, we hope to let more people see the potential of cooperation between Brazil's inland cities and China.” Margarida Salomão, mayor of Juiz de Fora, Brazil, said this in an exclusive interview with our reporter.

Juiz de Fora is located at the intersection of the three major metropolitan circles of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state, and is an important transportation and industrial hub in southeastern Brazil. Salomão introduced that this city,凭借 its higher education resources, technological innovation capacity, and regional radiating influence, has become an important development center in southeastern Brazil. Like many Brazilian inland cities, it is at a critical stage of industrial transformation. “We hope that through Brazil-China cooperation, we can elevate the city's position in the regional industrial chain and create more employment opportunities and possibilities for development for young people,” Salomão said.

Salomão believes that logistics is important infrastructure connecting Brazil-China trade, but what matters more is extending maritime transport capacity inland to form a supply chain service system covering both ports and inland cities. “If Juiz de Fora can achieve efficient connectivity with the Port of Rio, it is expected to form a land-sea intermodal transport corridor, reduce comprehensive logistics costs, and drive industrial agglomeration and development.”

“In recent years, Chinese enterprises including COSCO Shipping have continuously improved the construction of Brazil-China logistics corridors, promoted the effective integration of ports, shipping, and inland transport networks, and provided important support for the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries,” Salomão said. Chinese enterprise Anjun Logistics (安骏物流) has invested more than 750 million reals (1 real is approximately 1.3 yuan) in Brazil, employed more than 2,200 local workers, and established a logistics network covering Brazil.

“In October last year, the city of Juiz de Fora signed a letter of intent with Yueyang (岳阳市) of Hunan Province on establishing international sister-city relations. Both cities are regional industrial cities, transportation and logistics hubs, and famous historical and cultural cities, with highly aligned industrial development directions and broad prospects for cooperation,” Salomão said. During that period, she led a delegation to visit Yueyang, where the vitality of local economic development, well-developed infrastructure, and the level of urban governance left a deep impression on her. “We saw China's development speed, and we also saw the achievements of Chinese cities in industrial planning, infrastructure construction, and public services.” Salomão expressed her expectation to further deepen exchanges with Chinese cities in the future and explore more cooperation opportunities in fields such as hydropower, health care, trade, education, and technological innovation, “to better grasp the opportunities brought by China's development.”

“What I admire most is China's achievements in urban construction, technological innovation, and higher education development.” Salomão believes that educational cooperation is one of the most promising areas of cooperation between the two sides. “Learning Chinese is a priority. We hope more Brazilian students will learn Chinese and gain more opportunities through international exchange.”

“When cooperation extends from the coast to the inland, from ports to farms, more Brazilian cities and communities will be able to share the development opportunities brought by international trade and industrial upgrading,” Salomão said. “Brazil-China cooperation is upgrading: from traditional bulk commodity trade, it is gradually expanding to cooperation in education, science and technology, logistics, and innovation. Those inland cities and young Brazilians eager to communicate with their Chinese peers are becoming new participants in the Brazil-China relationship.”

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Igniting a Spark of Fire (The Finest Revolutionary Soldiers of the New Era)

By: 本报记者 李龙伊

The sea breeze carried salty, humid heat, gust after gust onto the beach. At a certain sea-training ground, a high-intensity exercise had just concluded. Officers and men of the 1st Company, a combined-arms brigade of the Army, removed their gear; their camouflage uniforms were soaked through with sweat.

"Comrades, back then, our company's soldier Shen Yuping braved wind and snow to lie in ambush for an entire night, was severely wounded, and died a heroic death. Today, we have maneuvered from the northern frontier of the motherland to the sea-training ground. The spirit of daring to fight and being certain to win passed down by our predecessors must not be diminished by even half a point!"

There was no prepared speech, no slides. The muddy beach was the classroom. The instructor was Wang Xiaoming, political instructor of the 1st Company. "I hope to ignite a spark that will help my comrades illuminate the road of charging toward battle."

"I want to plant loyalty to the Party into the hearts of every officer and soldier"

"Wang Qingrong!"
"Here!"

At every evening roll call of the 1st Company, the first name called was always this one. The officers and men shouted like thunder, as if the deputy company commander who had given his life had never gone far. This is a tradition of the 1st Company — to let the hero's name ring out in the formation every day.

Wang Qingrong was a combat hero of the 1st Company. In a battle back then, he was hit in the abdomen by a bullet, his right arm was shot through, and he collapsed in a pool of blood. After his death, his comrades found on him a letter of determination and 40 yuan. The letter read: "Please accept this 40 yuan as my Party membership dues, to show my loyalty to the Party."

"To give one's savings to the Party, to give one's life to the Party" — as early as when he was a platoon leader, Wang Xiaoming had read Wang Qingrong's letter of determination again and again. Every word and every sentence was nailed into his heart like nails, making him understand more and more deeply what "loyalty" truly means.

"I want to plant loyalty to the Party into the hearts of every officer and soldier," Wang Xiaoming said.

In January 2023, Wang Xiaoming, then a staff officer in the brigade's training section, was appointed by the brigade Party committee as political instructor of the 1st Company. Some comrades worried for him: "A military cadre transferring to a political cadre post, starting from zero — it's full of challenges." Wang Xiaoming's reply was crisp: "A cadre of the Party cannot bargain with the organization or raise difficulties."

The 1st Company is a Red Army company, with a profound history and heavy honors. On the day he took office, Wang Xiaoming stood before the barracks. A question lingered in his mind: Having taken up the relay baton of a heroic company, how should he carry on the bloodline and write new glory?

He wrote the answer into one education class after another.

In the honor room, a rusted tank shell casing lay quietly in a display case. Wang Xiaoming told the story behind it: "That battle was bitterly fought. Soldiers of the cooking squad crawled forward under artillery fire for more than 10 kilometers, using this shell casing to carry rice up to the front line. By the time the food reached the comrades, it was long cold — but everyone's hearts were warm."

After finishing the story, he posed a question: "Our predecessors braved a hail of bullets and held the position to the death while eating cold rice. How should we carry forward the spirit of hard struggle?"

Sergeant Cao Longjin was the first to stand up: "During field training, we're exposed to wind and sun. I used to think it was hard. After listening, I understand — this little hardship of ours is nothing compared to what our predecessors went through!"

The discussion was lively. Some said "hardship tempers the will," some said "enduring hardship is a spiritual inheritance," some said "if you can endure hardship in peacetime, you won't fear hardship in war"... Wang Xiaoming nodded: "Sweat one more drop today, endure a bit more hardship today, and at the critical moment you can be pulled out, sent up, and win!"

After class, a soldier wrote in his notebook: "Hard struggle means pushing for a breakthrough in every training session, going all out in every mission, and facing every challenge bravely."

How should one be a good political cadre? Time would give the answer. Wang Xiaoming wore the pages of the "red booklet" of regulations thin from turning, compiled the company's traditional historical materials into a volume, and whenever he encountered confusion, he pursued experienced political cadres for advice. By the end of the year he became instructor, the company Party branch was commended by the group army as an "advanced grassroots Party organization," and the company was awarded a collective second-class merit.

"In the tide of building a strong military, there are no bystanders — everyone is a combatant"

The smoke of the exercise had not yet dissipated. A live unexploded ordnance with its fuse exposed was stuck in a dirt slope. The air froze; everyone held their breath.

"Everyone, fall back — I'll handle it!"

Wang Xiaoming waved the soldiers beside him back and strode forward. He marked it, reported it, and disposed of it according to procedure. The setting sun stretched his silhouette long, like a wall standing between danger and the soldiers.

Afterward, a soldier asked him: "Instructor, weren't you afraid?"

Wang Xiaoming smiled: "Afraid? Of course I was. But I'm the instructor — if I don't go up, who will?"

Company commander Han Xu's tone was full of admiration: "Instructor Wang has always been like this. First to shoot in live-fire exercises, first to step up in assessments and competitions, first to charge in urgent and difficult missions."

This drive is carved into his bones. Wang Xiaoming often said: "The high ground is right there. If you don't charge, you'll never occupy it." As a platoon leader, he ranked first in group army training; as a staff officer, he ranked first again in pre-appointment staff training.

But just after he transferred to the instructor post, a moving-target shooting assessment dealt him a blow — he barely passed. A soldier tried to smooth it over: "The instructor just arrived; it's normal." Wang Xiaoming didn't take the out: "I'm the Party branch secretary and the political principal. If my training isn't solid, how can I lead the company?"

From then on, Wang Xiaoming entered "sprint mode." To practice infantry fighting vehicle driving, he trained on the simulator more than a thousand times; to practice coach shooting, he crawled into the vehicle under scorching heat, sweat soaking the seat cushion. In the end, he became the first political cadre in the entire brigade to earn first-class technical能手 qualifications in armored infantry shooting and communications, and a second-class technical能手 qualification in driving. In a 2024 superior inspection, he scored full marks in three subjects, and his coach shooting broke the brigade record.

Being excellent himself was not enough — the company had to be excellent too. Wang Xiaoming held firm to one principle: "In the tide of building a strong military, there are no bystanders — everyone is a combatant." In the 2025 group army assessment, the 1st Company took first place in tactical subjects, with a 100% excellent/good rate in the restricted route and obstacle course.

Behind the results, the entire company's officers and men, like Wang Xiaoming, were holding their breath and charging toward victory.

"A soldier's heart is like a water flask — if you pour hot water into it, it stays warm"

The night was as dark as ink, and snoring gradually rose in the field tents. After checking the last bunk, Wang Xiaoming quietly stepped out, returned to his own tent, took out his "heart-knowing notebook," turned to the page on "new recruit training injuries," and noted the recovery progress of a soldier nicknamed Xiao Hu.

Who has weaknesses in physical fitness, whose family has difficulties, whose thoughts are fluctuating — this "heart-knowing notebook" recorded the company's major and minor affairs, and also every step he took into the soldiers' hearts. He noted each matter as it arose and closed it out once resolved. The notebook grew older with each turning of its pages, but the officers and men grew closer and closer.

When he first took office, Wang Xiaoming also encountered "awkwardness": the moment he entered a squad room, the lively dormitory fell silent; soldiers greeted him politely, but there was distance in their eyes...

Wang Xiaoming didn't rush. Instead, he used a "simple method": during the day, he trained and crawled with them; at night, he moved his bedding into the squad rooms, "bunking" with them in turn, listening to them chat about daily life and speak from the heart. In spare moments, he told embarrassing stories about his own recruit training — walking with the wrong arm-swing, failing grenade throws — making everyone double over with laughter. That invisible wall gradually dissolved through day-after-day companionship.

"A soldier's heart is like a water flask — if you pour hot water into it, it stays warm." Wang Xiaoming always said this.

Senior soldier Cheng Yangguang remembered that pair of new shoes — after a long-distance march back to camp, Cheng Yangguang's feet had blistered. Wang Xiaoming squatted down to disinfect them, and before lights-out sent over a pair of well-fitting new shoes and a box of band-aids.

Private Lin Jiayu remembered that coat — during a winter live-fire exercise, he was thinly dressed, his hands too cold to pull the trigger, and his first round was a mess. Wang Xiaoming took off his coat and wrapped it around him, squatting beside him to explain the technique. His body warmed, and his heart warmed even more. In the second round, Lin Jiayu turned in an impressive score.

Sergeant First Class Xiao Yu remembered that "cursing" — on the company anniversary day, he had a headache but stubbornly endured it without saying anything, and by the middle of the night was burning with fever. When Wang Xiaoming discovered it during bed checks, he carried Xiao Yu on his back and ran to the medical company. Once Xiao Yu recovered, what greeted him was a scolding: "Stubbornly enduring illness is irresponsible to combat effectiveness — and even more irresponsible to yourself!" The words were harsh, but Xiao Yu's heart was warm...

Loving soldiers means also planning long-term for them. Junior sergeant Xiao Ye had worked in a hotel kitchen before enlisting. He couldn't keep up in training and wanted to transfer to the cooking squad to "hide from the hard work." Wang Xiaoming didn't go along with him: "Going to the cooking squad is a good thing, but using it as a shield to avoid training — that won't do."

Wang Xiaoming helped Xiao Ye re-plan his growth path and accompanied him as he made up his shortcomings bit by bit. Later, Xiao Ye broke into the top three in a superior professional training program, was successfully promoted to sergeant, and even became an assistant squad leader.

"A soldier's growth is like the little white poplars in the camp — if a branch occasionally grows crooked, just trim it in time." Under Wang Xiaoming's leadership, the company was rated an "advanced unit with four iron qualities" for three consecutive years, and its overall development always stayed at the forefront of the brigade.

Night deepened, and the sea breeze continued. The shouts from the distant training ground gradually faded, while the sound of waves crashing on the shore echoed through the camp. Wang Xiaoming closed his "heart-knowing notebook" and walked outside the tent. Moonlight fell on the combat vehicles, and also on the young, sleeping faces.

"A single spark, though small, can light the road ahead and warm soldiers' hearts," Wang Xiaoming said.

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A Green Commitment Spanning 26 Years

By: 本报记者 赵景锋 李祉瑶

After 26 years apart, a friendship spanning national borders opens a new chapter.

On August 23, after a journey of more than 30 hours of flying and transfers, American friend "Sai Kao Si" (赛考斯, real name Ronald Sakolsky) arrived at Ordos Ejin Horo International Airport in Inner Mongolia, reuniting with local desertification-control model Yin Yuzhen (殷玉珍).

In the afternoon, before Sakolsky's flight had even landed, Yin Yuzhen was already waiting early at the arrivals area, her gaze fixed firmly on the exit. She had tied up her neat long braid and specially chosen a fresh green jacket. "Making the desert grow more green is our shared wish," Yin Yuzhen said with a smile. Wearing this outfit, she wanted to tell "Sai Kao Si" that the once barren desert is now green as far as the eye can see.

Finally, Sakolsky came into view. Yin Yuzhen hurried forward to meet him, and the two embraced with tears in their eyes. This embrace, the two had waited 26 years for.

"More than 20 years ago, we were merely friends who met by chance; now we are as close as brother and sister," Sakolsky said, choking with emotion. "I want to express my gratitude for everything she has done for the ecological environment." Beside him, Yin Yuzhen had long since been 泣不成声 (qì bù chéng shēng - "weep without forming sound," to sob so hard one cannot speak through tears).

The story begins with a stretch of sandy land.

In 1985, Yin Yuzhen, who had married into the Mu Us Sandy Land (毛乌素沙地) in Inner Mongolia, faced the sky-filling yellow sand and made the vow, "I would rather die of exhaustion planting trees than be bullied to death by the sand," embarking on the long road of desertification control and afforestation. In 1999, Sakolsky, an American teacher who had come to China to teach, learned of the desertification-control story of Yin Yuzhen and her husband, and raised US$5,000 in donations through a foundation to support tree planting in the sandy land.

As the years passed, the seedlings — mainly fast-growing poplars and sand willows — purchased with those funds back then have grown into more than 50,000 trees, firmly rooted in the Mu Us Sandy Land.

This cross-national friendship, Yin Yuzhen has always kept engraved in her heart. In May this year, she searched for Sakolsky through an online platform, successfully made contact with him, and invited him to a "green appointment." Now, this in-person reunion that many people have been following has finally arrived as promised.

For this reunion, Yin Yuzhen prepared for a full two months or more. She specially invited relatives to her home to help, wanting to leave the best of everything for her old friend who had come from afar. She prepared many gifts for Sakolsky: 10 jin (5 kilograms) of mooncakes with rose filling and five-nut filling, symbolizing reunion and good fortune; a pair of hand-embroidered insoles — when Sakolsky was leaving in 2000, she had sewn a pair of embroidered insoles overnight and pressed them into his hands; a cross-stitch piece: green leaves and doves of peace encircling the Earth, with "One Earth, One Dream" embroidered above...

To communicate with her old friend, Yin Yuzhen also began learning English, mostly words expressing friendly feelings: brother (兄弟), thanks (感谢), miss (想念)... Until the moment before rushing to the airport, she was still practicing repeatedly in the hotel.

"The English I can now speak fluently consists of three sentences: the first is 'welcome to China' (欢迎来到中国); the second is 'brother' (兄弟); the third is 'more, more' (多吃点，多吃点)." Yin Yuzhen said with a smile that she planned to say the first two sentences when she met Sakolsky at the airport, and save the third for when they got home — "When the time comes, I'll make sure he eats a little more, and then a little more again, and properly tastes the delicious things grown in the desert." But when the moment of their actual meeting arrived, she could not utter a single one.

For this reunion, Sakolsky was equally excited beyond measure.

On the evening of August 21, Eastern Time, he departed by plane from Washington Dulles International Airport, flying to Beijing, China, to begin a 10-day trip to China. "As the moment of our meeting draws closer and closer, I feel both excited and nervous — it's almost like a dream," Sakolsky remarked before departing. "The closer I get to China, the stronger that butterflies-fluttering feeling in my heart becomes."

At 2:48 a.m. on August 23, Beijing time, Sakolsky flew into Beijing Capital International Airport. The moment he appeared, he smiled at the camera and, in not-very-fluent Chinese, excitedly repeated: "I'm back! This is my second home." Meanwhile, Yin Yuzhen had recorded a greeting video in advance and sent someone to deliver mooncakes she had made herself and tomatoes grown in the desert, so that her old friend could taste the sweetness from the desert the moment he landed.

"I want to see with my own eyes the forest Yin Yuzhen planted." Speaking of this trip to China, Sakolsky admitted that although he had seen it countless times in photographs before, actually standing there, touching those trees with his own hands, and then planting a new tree together, would surely feel completely different. In addition, he also looked forward to seeing his former colleagues and students. "For more than 20 years, I have kept in touch with some of the Chinese students I taught through email. Many of them, whenever they make progress in work or life, send me an email right away. Now they have all settled down and established careers, and I have even given English names to some of my students' children."

Through more than 40 years of unremitting effort, Yin Yuzhen and her husband have turned 70,000 mu of sandy land, step by step, into a vibrant oasis. This oasis, too, awaits the fulfillment of the "green appointment."

Desertification prevention and control is not an individual's battle. On this journey, countless other "Yin Yuzhens" have taken root and grown. Today, the Mu Us Sandy Land has a treatment rate of 85%. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Inner Mongolia has completed a cumulative total of 127 million mu of ecological construction tasks and 66.88 million mu of desertification prevention and control, ranking first in the country in total volume.

The reunion is not the end of the story, but a new starting point. In the coming days, Sakolsky will go to the Mu Us Sandy Land to plant trees together with Yin Yuzhen, and will also travel to Luoyang, Henan, to hold discussions and interactions with teachers and students of the school where he previously taught.

"The reason 'Sai Kao Si' and I could come to know and understand each other, and the reason this desertification-control story has drawn so much attention, is that we love the same planetary home and share the same green dream," Yin Yuzhen said.

"In this story, Yin Yuzhen is the true protagonist," Sakolsky remarked. "I also hope to use this story to let people know that no act of kindness is too small to matter, and no act of kindness is ever wasted. If you sincerely believe something is right, then do it. I hope the younger generation can realize that this world has never been 'about me,' but 'about us.'"

Goodwill can cross mountains and seas, and the green story of Mu Us continues. Protecting our shared planetary home and advancing global ecological governance has never been a matter of us and them.

(People's Daily Online reporter Liu Yilin (刘艺琳) contributed to this report.)

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Cross-Border Friendship Witnesses Green Achievements (Quick Comment)

By: 张一夫

Desertification-control model worker Yin Yuzhen (殷玉珍) and her American friend "Saikesi (赛考斯)" embraced tightly — this embrace, after 26 years, moved countless netizens.

The reason this cross-national friendship is so moving is that it is rooted in a real forest sea, bearing witness to a green answer sheet. The $5,000 from back then has grown into more than 50,000 trees. Looking at the whole country, desertified land has shifted from an annual average expansion of 5.15 million mu at the end of the last century to an annual average reduction of 10 million mu at present; "green advances, sand retreats" has turned from expectation into reality.

From Saihanba to the Mu Us Desert, from the Tengger to the Taklamakan, China has become the country with the most and fastest greening in the world, contributing one quarter of the world's newly added greening area. Behind these numbers are the silent dedication of many "Yin Yuzhens" who guard oases with their youth and sweat, and also the quiet convergence of goodwill that crosses mountains and seas. The 一诺千金 (yī nuò qiān jīn - "one promise worth a thousand gold," a solemn promise that must be kept) steadfastness, the growth of a forest, the joy of a reunion — this is the most moving green story.

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Chinese delegation formed for 48th WorldSkills Competition

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- (Reporter Zhang Xiaojie) With the approval of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (人力资源社会保障部), the Chinese delegation for the 48th WorldSkills Competition was recently officially established. The reporter learned on Aug. 23 that the Chinese delegation totals 220 people, including 71 competitors, who will participate in all 64 competition categories. The competitors come from 21 provinces, including 49 students and 22 workers. The average age of the competitors is 21, with the youngest aged 18 and the oldest aged 25.

Since China joined the WorldSkills Organization in 2010, it has participated in seven WorldSkills Competitions, accumulating a total of 93 gold medals, 41 silver medals, 28 bronze medals, and 71 medallions of excellence, ranking first in the world in both the gold medal table and overall team score for four consecutive competitions.

The 48th WorldSkills Competition will be held in Shanghai from Sept. 22 to 27 this year, with nearly 70 countries and regions and approximately 1,400 competitors expected to compete on the same stage. This WorldSkills Competition marks China's eighth participation as a delegation and its third time participating in all competition categories.

A relevant official of the Chinese delegation stated that the entire delegation will strictly abide by competition discipline, compete fairly and civilly, demonstrate style and demonstrate skill, and comprehensively showcase the exquisite skills and good demeanor of Chinese skilled youth in the new era.

In addition, the award ceremony uniforms and competition uniforms of the Chinese delegation have been released. The two sets of uniforms extract core design elements from the traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon structure (榫卯结构), highlighting the inheritance of craftsmanship and demonstrating cultural confidence.

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Photo Story

On August 22, the Panlong Tiandi street area in Qingpu District, Shanghai, was brightly lit and glittering with flowing colors, attracting many tourists to come and play. Local authorities are deeply tapping into indigenous cultural and tourism resources, continuously releasing consumption vitality.
　　Photo by Li Baoyang (Image China)

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Multiple departments hold joint consultations to deploy flood and typhoon prevention work

Our newspaper Beijing, August 23 (reporters Liu Wenxin, Deng Jianyang) — On August 23, the Office of the National Flood Control Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management organized a joint consultation among multiple departments as well as key provinces including Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Liaoning, to assess the development situation of Typhoon No. 18 "Shadel," Typhoon No. 19 "Zitan," Typhoon No. 20 "Jianlawi," and the heavy rainfall, and to deploy flood prevention and typhoon response work.

On the 23rd, in response to the impact of Typhoon "Zitan," the Office of the National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief and the Ministry of Emergency Management, together with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, allocated 20,000 items of central disaster relief materials including folding beds and summer quilts to Guangxi, and activated the emergency supplies government-society coordinated support mechanism, coordinating 10 foundations and social platforms to provide aid donations of 27,000 items of materials such as bottled water and instant noodles.

The Office of the National Flood Control Headquarters dispatched a working group to Guangxi to assist and guide flood prevention and typhoon response work.

A reporter learned from the Ministry of Water Resources: On the 23rd, the Ministry of Water Resources issued "one province, one list" (一省一单) targeted early warnings to 13 provinces and regions including Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Ningxia. Four working groups of the Ministry of Water Resources are currently on the front lines in Guangxi, Heilongjiang, and other areas assisting in guiding the defense against rainstorms and floods.

The Ministry of Water Resources maintains a Level IV emergency response for flood defense targeting Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.

Our newspaper Nanning, August 23 (reporter Pang Geping) — A reporter learned from the Water Resources Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: The autonomous region's Water Resources Department decided to upgrade the flood defense emergency response for Chongzuo City (崇左市) from Level III to Level II effective from 00:00 on the 23rd. On the 23rd, the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region issued a notice deciding to adjust the autonomous region's flood prevention and typhoon response (including geological disaster) emergency response for Fangchenggang (防城港市) and Chongzuo from Level III to Level II.

A reporter learned from the Guangxi Fire and Rescue Corps: As of 14:00 on the 23rd, the Guangxi Fire and Rescue Corps had assembled 459 fire and rescue personnel, deployed 114 emergency rescue vehicles and 80 rescue boats, and rapidly rushed to the disaster-affected areas to jointly carry out rescue and disaster relief work.

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Page One Editors: Hu Anqi, Yang Xu, Zhao Zheng; Page Two Editors: Lü Li, Zhang Anyu, Chen Zhen; Page Three Editors: Han Xiaoming, Jiang Bo, Guan Haoyu; Page Four Editors: Bai Zhiyu, Liu Jingwen, Yu Xuan

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Starting from Inquiry, Moving Toward the Future (People's Commentary)

By: 萧翊忱

The meaning of inquiry lies not in finding a universally applicable model, but in seeking reference and direction from others' successes, thereby stimulating the local spirit of striving for excellence and undertaking endeavors.

Ten years of breakthrough, a moment of brilliance — Unitree Robotics has reached its IPO moment. From founding to listing, the enterprise's rapid growth path is astonishing, and it also prompts more reflection: how can various regions cultivate their own "Unitree Robotics"?

Such questioning is not unfamiliar to us. When DeepSeek became a sensation, many cities with developed scientific and educational resources asked: why has our locality not cultivated a DeepSeek?

The inquiry itself is meaningful. From the "DeepSeek question" to the "Unitree question," the meaning of inquiry lies not in finding a universally applicable model, but in seeking reference and direction from others' successes, thereby stimulating the local spirit of striving for excellence and undertaking endeavors. In this sense, inquiry is precisely a logical starting point for comparing, learning, catching up, and surpassing, pointing toward an enterprising consciousness of striving bravely and daring to surpass.

Success requires luck, but the foundation of success is never luck. More than a decade ago, amid the inquiry of "why can't Shanghai produce a BAT," Shanghai seized the opportunity of internet development and actively implemented the "Internet+" action. Today, information transmission, software, and information technology services have leapt to become Shanghai's third-largest industry.

The "counterattack" of industry is never accidental, but the ripe fruit of strategic vision and forward-looking planning. Closely following the national strategy, deeply perceiving the trend of development, finding the precise move in the great chessboard, and identifying the development direction in the great current — the code of industrial upgrading is hidden precisely here.

Industrial upgrading concerns vision, and also concerns time. Some economic scholars have proposed a viewpoint: the more "winter" it is, the better the time to make arrangements on a larger scale, because "winter" investment costs are low. However, from "winter" to "spring" is not a process that can be casually reached. It requires the courage to be the first and the sedimentation of 厚积薄发 (hòu jī bó fā - "thick accumulation, thin release," to make full preparations before acting). Therefore, for a "promising government," it needs both strategic vision and strategic resolve. Take Hangzhou for example: with the patience of "tolerating ten years of silence, awaiting the 一鸣惊人 (yī míng jīng rén - "one cry startles people," to amaze the world with a single feat)" as it "accompanies the run," it enables more young people to achieve "young undertakings."

Cultivating and developing industry cannot be done hastily or in pursuit of "short, flat, fast" results; it requires sedimentation and accumulation. Carrying forward the spirit of "achievement need not be attributed to me, but achievement must involve me," not "flipping the pancake," not casually "changing channels," and maintaining policy stability and continuity — only then can industrial fruits be harvested.

Looking deeper, the rise of enterprises benefits from their own struggle, and also cannot be separated from the synergy of the industrial ecosystem.

Not long ago, Wang Jian (王坚), academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, spoke of a dialogue with Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. The other party asked curiously: "Hangzhou is China's Silicon Valley, right?" Wang Jian did not reply directly, but used another expression: "Hangzhou has become a global innovation center." Not only nurturing sci-tech innovation enterprises, but also cultivating a sci-tech innovation ecosystem — today's Hangzhou has not only the "Six Little Dragons," but also the "New Eight Steeds" of sci-tech enterprises and the "Five Little Phoenixes" of artificial intelligence communities. This is precisely the result of innovation ecosystem evolution.

Looking at Wuhan, Hubei, China's first quartz optical fiber was born here. Starting from this, Wuhan has continuously deepened its work in the optoelectronic information industry, gathering over 600,000 practitioners and more than 17,000 industrial chain enterprises. Gathering "light" into "chains," gathering "chains" into "clusters" — the course of Wuhan Optics Valley becoming the country's largest optoelectronic device production base, optical communication technology R&D base, and laser equipment production base is also the development process of industrial ecosystem leap.

Cultivating an innovative enterprise reflects urban vitality; cultivating a "rainforest-style" "fertile soil for innovation" concerns development stamina. Based on one's own characteristics, starting from the business environment, policy support, talent cultivation, and other aspects, creating a better innovation environment makes it possible to achieve the racing of thousands of innovative enterprises.

There is no need to envy others. Each region has its unique ecosystem, suitable for different kinds of "seedlings" to grow. Starting from inquiry, moving toward the future, answering with action — every city has the opportunity to cultivate its own innovative enterprises.

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Rising from Barren Soil to Towering Trees

By: 刘毅雪

Xiji, Ningxia (西吉), was once recognized by the United Nations as one of the "most unsuitable areas for human survival." Split open a clod of loess soil, and half of it cries out in thirst, half cries out in hunger. But the more barren the land, the more stubborn the grass that grows from it. I am a small blade of grass growing in Xihaigu (西海固), with roots thrust deep and a stem that stands resilient.

Today, my hometown has transformed from a dry sandy beach into a golden sandy beach; my fate, too, has turned a new page with literature.

I am an ordinary yet somewhat special girl of the post-2005 generation. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy since childhood, with Grade I physical disability, I speak indistinctly and laboriously—a sentence often has to be repeated several times before it can be understood. A road that takes others 10 minutes to walk takes me 20 minutes or even longer. When I was learning to walk, my legs were covered in scars from falls. Life has given me a special trial—but that is all right, I am not afraid! I believe the reins of fate are ultimately held in my own hands.

My body is confined to a small world, but literature has carried me across mountains and over seas. Opening the pages of a book, I follow Sanmao into the starry sky of the Sahara, ponder life and death with Shi Tiesheng at Ditan (Temple of Earth), and grasp the unyielding vitality of life through the pen of Helen Keller. A child who cannot walk fast straightens her back 字里行间 (zì lǐ háng jiān - "between the lines of characters," in the text itself) and "runs" amid the ink. The more I read, the more I began to keep a diary—at first just a sentence or two, gradually connecting into a paragraph or two, and later growing into a full piece. The crooked, uneven words built a bridge for dialogue with the world, voicing the most sincere and most fervent hopes for life.

It is literature that guides me in pursuing my dreams, and it is even more the love from 四面八方 (sì miàn bā fāng - "four sides, eight directions," from all around) that lifts me up as I grow. In elementary school, my mother accompanied me through every class; my father taught me that "for places your body cannot reach, words can." When my teacher discovered that I loved keeping a diary, she often encouraged me, and so I grew to love reading and writing all the more. The Disabled Persons' Federation provided sustained assistance; caring enterprises extended a helping hand and supported me in rehabilitation training... The bricks and tiles of warmth and kindness paved a smooth road, and hand after hand supported me, pulled me, and led me forward.

To friends who face similar hardships, I want to say: do not give up the struggle against suffering. Words, language, video, music—all of these are "weapons" to break through, wings for chasing dreams, capable of carrying us through the cold nights of life to collide with a broader world and a brighter self. I also hope that everyone can give a little more care and patience to those around them who are struggling. Sometimes an inadvertent word of affirmation can push someone in the shadows one step toward the light, giving them a bit more courage to "spar" with fate.

The thriving of a small blade of grass cannot be separated from the nourishment of the earth. Xiji is located on the Loess Plateau, with ravines crisscrossing the terrain, yet the soil of literature is exceptionally deep and rich. Nearly 300 villages—every village has a cultural reading room; across the county there are more than 20 campus literary societies, publishing more than 20 school journals. Many people carry hoes on their shoulders during the day, planting crops in the soil, and at night pick up their pens to "plant" literature on paper. The smell of earth mingled with the scent of books—this is the most unique poetry of Xihaigu.

It is precisely this rich literary atmosphere and creative ecology that emboldens me to take up my pen. I remember that my first work published in a periodical came from the proactive recommendation of the county's Committee for Caring for the Next Generation. Xiji has also specially organized training classes for peasant writers, giving grassroots creators like me even richer nourishment. Now, my favorite place to go is the county's Mulan Academy (木兰书院). In the literary family, there are friends, teachers, and even more so, kin—they not only help me revise my drafts word by word, but also always care about my life. Every time I nervously ask, "Have I made progress?" the answer I receive is always encouragement.

Why can a county with a population of less than 500,000 give birth to China's first "Hometown of Literature," with more than 1,600 people engaged in literary creation? Because here, literature is not lonely in the least. Writing is our daily life and our spiritual pursuit.

Xiji has taught me not to complain about barrenness, but to grow towering trees from barren soil. When I write, every muscle in my body is tense. A line that an ordinary person can write with a simple lift of the pen requires me to grip the pen tightly and muster all my strength to slowly finish—stiff fingertips, sore back, and aching waist are the norm. But what can wither life more than losing the courage to express oneself? The power that words give me is irreplaceable; it allows me to gallop in my heart even when I cannot walk. I want to write, and I need to write. I want to knead the winds of Xihaigu, the pain of growing up, and the light in my heart, bit by bit, into my creations and into my life.

Physical disability is never a rest note, but the beginning of a unique melody. Now, I still walk slowly, speak slowly, and write slowly, but as long as I dare to rush toward what I love in my heart, what does it matter if I stumble along the way? Though born small, one's heart can still hold an entire starry sky. My life may never produce great works, but I must certainly polish life itself as a work of art.

(The author is a literary enthusiast from Xiji County, Ningxia; compiled from an interview by this newspaper's reporter Jiao Siyu (焦思雨))

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Refine the Craft, Hit Moving Targets (Commentator's Observation)

By: 崔 妍

The needs of the masses will not remain 一成不变 (yī chéng bù biàn - "one formation, no change," unchanging and fixed); the precision of governance lies hidden in each act of proactive discovery and timely response.

"Previously, when buying a new home, after signing the contract, opening water, electricity, and gas accounts required visiting three different units and filling out three forms. Now, with a few taps on the phone and authorization of information push, the matter is done." In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the newly applied unified building code has greatly optimized the experience of new home online contract signing.

This unified code is equivalent to an "ID number" for the house. It is an information interface that can connect the entire lifecycle of a building—from design, construction, and acceptance to sale, maintenance, and demolition; it is also a service outlet that can extend beyond engineering construction and property management to water, electricity, gas, and even elderly care.

According to a recent notice issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (住房城乡建设部) and the National Data Administration (国家数据局), this code will first be popularized for new homes, then extended to all buildings. This new tool will become a digital bond linking government services, grassroots governance, and livelihood security.

Under the wave of digitalization, various "one-code universal handling" services have long flourished. From government affairs to cultural tourism and travel, from credit management to health services, codes link up complete, traceable information chains, giving refined governance a data foundation.

However, using a standardized digital infrastructure to solve fragmented problems in governance has never been a matter of simple technological application; it must be accompanied by the unification of institutional rules, the breaking down of departmental barriers, the reshaping of business processes, and the cultivation of usage habits.

Under new technological conditions, to expand the scope of services and improve their quality, one must put in even greater "embroidery effort"—filling in missing links, building coordination mechanisms, and lighting up the endpoints of service.

Since June this year, Shanghai has fully implemented a health points system. Residents only need to log into the relevant management platform to accumulate points through five categories of behavior and redeem them for health products or services. The convenience brought by this mechanism stems not only from the construction of a fully digitalized platform but also from the integration of various health resources and the unified standardization of points rules, points behavior library, redemption standards, data interfaces, and regulatory requirements. With unified standards as the foundation, combined with local characteristics and personalized services, the grand goal of universal health is broken down into "small certain happiness" within everyone's reach.

The refinement of governance requires not only the transformation from "people seeking services" to "services seeking people," but also the cultivation of the ability to shift from aiming at "fixed targets" to skillfully hitting "moving targets." These two transformations point to the same core—understanding the needs of the masses and promoting public services that "follow the people."

In fact, when more resources sink down to the people's side, when data can replace people running errands, and when technology can achieve real-time response, dynamically meeting people's diverse needs becomes the core test of refined governance and the key leap in advancing public services from "having" to "excellent."

"Certificates cannot be issued arbitrarily, but the difficulties of the masses must be solved through other means," said a grassroots cadre. Standardization and regularization clarify the boundaries of rights and responsibilities. Within the rule of law and the institutional framework, thinking several steps deeper and moving several steps forward, those predicaments that seem like "mountains重重叠叠 and waters winding, doubting there is no road ahead" will ultimately find the breakthrough where "willows dark and flowers bright, another village appears."

The key to governance upgrading is not superficial patching of processes and trivial details, but striking directly at pain points, hitting the bullseye, and delivering services to the hearts of the people. At the Changsha government service hall in Hunan, "tidal windows" are added on demand based on foot traffic. When a single-department window queue exceeds 10 people or the waiting time exceeds 30 minutes, the stationed department can independently activate a "tidal window" without layer-by-layer approval. The real needs of the masses become the bullseye that calibrates the direction of public services, and the precision of "embroidery effort" truly lands on solid ground.

"'Reaching the broad and vast while exhausting the subtle and minute' is the way to accomplish things." In an era of rapid social change and frequent population movement, the needs of the masses will not remain unchanged; the precision of governance lies hidden in each act of proactive discovery and timely response. When public services can achieve efficient interconnection based on unified standards while flexibly adjusting to the needs of the masses, the warmth of governance can penetrate barriers, clear obstructions, and reach the most real scenes of daily life.

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Photo Report

The introduction of paddleboards, kayaks, cable water skiing, and other activities has turned multiple water areas in Chengdu, Sichuan, into new spaces for residents' leisure and fitness; relying on lake and wetland resources, Yinchuan, Ningxia, has built water sports experience bases of different types... At present, the number of people participating in water sports in China has exceeded 120 million, and many localities are cultivating water sports event scenarios and expanding new water-adjacent business formats. Water sports continue to heat up, injecting new vitality into summer consumption.
This is exactly:
A single reed lightly skims across the green waves,
Water light and cloud shadows harmonize with each other.
Finding leisurely and refreshing coolness,
Summer cooling and leisure bring abundant delight.
Shen Qiuwen

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"National-level" is not a "iron hat" (Commentary)

By: 刘 坤

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce completed the 2025 comprehensive development level assessment and evaluation of national economic and technological development zones. The Jiedong zone in Guangdong, Puyang in Henan, Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia, Yingkou in Liaoning, and Daqing in Heilongjiang, which ranked at the bottom, were withdrawn from the sequence of national economic and technological development zones. An assessment with "entries and exits" sends a clear signal: national economic and technological development zones are not an "iron hat" — in the end, the designation must be supported by real performance.

According to the latest data, in 2024, the 228 national economic and technological development zones achieved a total import and export volume of 10.6 trillion yuan and actually utilized 26.84 billion US dollars in foreign investment, each accounting for nearly one-quarter of the national total, and gathered more than 110,000 foreign trade enterprises and more than 70,000 foreign-invested enterprises. Bearing such functions, the three characters "national-level" cannot be merely a halo, still less a policy dividend that once obtained lasts forever. The brighter the designation, the heavier the responsibility; the more important the platform, the more rigorous the standards must be.

This is a relatively rare centralized removal of zones from the national economic and technological development zone list by the Ministry of Commerce in recent years. Its significance lies not in "whose designation was removed," but in breaking inertia. Today, international industrial competition is fierce. To stand firm over the long term, one must benchmark against advanced international standards and diligently strengthen internal capabilities. Looking deeper, the development environment is changing, and the industrial logic is changing. Meeting the standard in the past does not mean one can still meet it now — this precisely shows that dynamic adjustment should not be the exception, but should become the norm.

Removing the "iron hat" is not a denial of the past, but a forcing of a fresh start. The true significance of dynamic management lies in transmitting pressure to the right place: the granting of the designation is not the finish line, and assessment cannot be a mere formality. Only with the ability to enter and exit can identity solidification be prevented; only with survival of the fittest can endogenous vitality be stimulated. Those that remain must stay vigilant; those that exit must recalibrate their direction, strengthening their own strength through re-benchmarking and re-forging.

Recalibrating direction — the key is to make the yardstick clear. The quality of development zone construction lies in quality. Evaluation criteria must look not only at total import and export volume and industrial output value, but also at per-mu efficiency, industrial chain supporting capacity, innovation capability, and the business environment. Therefore, at the investment attraction stage, attention must be paid to whether a project can bring technology, pull in the chain, gather talent, and open up markets.

Use dynamic management to break identity dependence, use quality assessment to correct the impulse for scale, use the building of an industrial ecosystem to replace involution-style investment attraction, use reform and innovation to strengthen platform functions — do these things well, and only then can the three characters "national-level" truly be established. Not relying on the designation to coast on past achievements, but relying on real performance to determine who stands high or low — development zones will prove their true capabilities and carve out new horizons in high-quality development.

(Excerpted from Shaanxi Daily, original title: "The Designation Is Not an 'Iron Hat' for Industrial Development")

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When More Chinese Youth Step onto the Frontline Stage (Jintai Essay)

By: 王 文

Continue to enhance the inclusiveness of institutions, the universal benefit of development, and the fairness of competition, and more young people will achieve extraordinary lives

Many have noticed that in recent years, more and more Chinese young people have stood on the global frontier stage in fields such as scientific and technological innovation, intelligent manufacturing, and basic academia.

Director Jiaozi, born into a family of doctors, has become famous at home and abroad for the "Nezha" series of animated films; Liang Wenfeng, who came out of the rural area of Wuchuan, Guangdong (吴川), led his team to break through the technical barriers of artificial intelligence large models... These shining figures are not only a portrayal of young people in the new era striving and building dreams, but also provide vivid samples for decoding the upward channels of Chinese society.

Compared with the difficulties that some countries have experienced in the process of modernization — the solidification of elite circles, the privatization of quality resources, and the strengthening of intergenerational transmission of wealth and poverty — Chinese-style modernization has always provided opportunities for upward mobility for ordinary strivers. From the scale of tens of millions of students enrolled in higher education, to hundreds of millions of rural migrant populations settling in cities, to the 层出不穷 (céng chū bù qióng - "emerge layer upon layer without end," to appear in endless succession) of entrepreneurial entities in various fields, the upward channels have continued to widen and become smoother. This is the inevitable result of continuously deepening reform and long-term institutional empowerment.

Increasingly balanced education provides fairer starting opportunities. Compulsory education has achieved the transition from "having a school to attend" to "attending a good school"; the right of children accompanying migrant workers and left-behind children to receive education equally has been effectively guaranteed; and the problem of "dropping out of school due to poverty" has been thoroughly ended at the institutional level. For decades, the college entrance examination system has adhered to a selection logic that looks not at family background, does not privilege wealth, and relies only on learning, building a reliable and fair ladder of upward mobility for countless students from the grassroots.

The open and inclusive talent selection system likewise endows the whole society with 生生不息 (shēng shēng bù xī - "born and born without ceasing," to be endlessly regenerated) vitality for striving. From the selection and examination of public officials to recruitment by enterprises and public institutions, valuing moral character, valuing practical work, valuing ability, and valuing innovation are the common evaluation orientations.

Beyond the examination hall and the workplace, inclusive and balanced infrastructure supporting facilities are also rewriting the development circumstances of young people in remote areas. Now that every village has road access, broadband covers the entire territory, and digital infrastructure has been extended downward, young people in rural areas can equally access frontier knowledge, connect with the international market, and enjoy learning conditions and development dividends similar to those of urban youth.

The vibrant ecosystem of innovation, creation, and entrepreneurship further broadens the development track for young people. As long as one possesses a certain level of technology and ability, one can rely on the country's complete industrial chain, supply chain, and computing power system to complete technological iteration and industrial implementation. This entrepreneurial environment that prioritizes technology and takes practical work as king is a vivid manifestation of China's market economy combining both efficiency and fairness, and is moreover the innovative soil for countless ordinary young people to grow and become capable.

The continuously improving social security system provides a safety net for strivers. From Wang Haigang (王海港), a doctoral student who lost an arm yet continued his studies and delved deeply into research, to Tang Gengen (唐根根), a model entrepreneur who, 身残志坚 (shēn cán zhì jiān - "body disabled, will firm," disabled in body but firm in resolve), returned to his hometown to build a business, many young people have, precisely under the support of the system, broken through the shackles of fate and realized the value of their lives. A series of safety-net institutional arrangements not only allow young people to 轻装上阵 (qīng zhuāng shàng zhèn - "light pack, go to battle," to proceed without burdens), but also give them the courage and confidence to boldly explore and make mistakes.

Continue to enhance the inclusiveness of institutions, the universal benefit of development, and the fairness of competition, and more young people will achieve extraordinary lives, laying a solid talent foundation for advancing Chinese-style modernization.

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Li Zheng, He Juan, Meng Fanzhe

This section's email: rmrbpl@peopledaily.cn (Please indicate the column name in your submission)

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Production and Demand Converge for the Future

On August 22, the Second World Humanoid Robot Games opened at the National Speed Skating Oval, with 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries competing. The 2026 World Robot Conference was held recently in Beijing's Yizhuang, comprehensively showcasing the new development trend of robots entering a thousand trades and a hundred industries.

The two consecutive world-class conferences have become a window for observing the development of China's robot industry.

From the exhibition floor, the industry's display logic has profoundly changed. Robots that once pursued flashy movements are now competing to "get things done" in real scenarios. Galaxy General, which once appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, showcased its new "one brain, multiple abilities" solution: toasting bread, pouring drinks — the robot completes a "long-sequence" breakfast-making task in one go.

From the competition arena, the industry's imagination space continues to expand. Humanoid robots continuously approach technical limits on the games' competition floor, using competition to spur research, using competition to spur production. This year's games have expanded from 26 events in the inaugural edition to 51 events, including 21 scenario events, placing greater emphasis on production-demand alignment and real applications.

From the industry, new enterprises are flooding in as groups, and the localization of supporting components is accelerating. In 2025, the operating revenue of China's robot industry enterprises above designated size exceeded 300 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 20% in the past five years; in the first half of this year, operating revenue reached 165.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%.

At this year's World Robot Conference, participating experts generally agreed that embodied intelligence products are at a critical inflection point, transitioning from "small-batch trial use" to "large-scale deployment."

The inflection point lies in more diverse application scenarios.

Industrial manufacturing is the "main battlefield" of application. The manufacturing industry has a large number of cross-industry, universal, and highly replicable operation scenarios, making it an important arena for embodied intelligence deployment. To date, nearly 10 mainstream automobile manufacturers, including Xiaomi and BYD, have carried out deployment verification of embodied intelligence on actual production lines, covering scenarios such as material handling and loading/unloading operations.

The inflection point is gestating within new forms of the intelligent economy.

Collecting real data will help humanoid robots optimize models and algorithms, gradually understanding and touching the real world. At the Beijing Shijingshan Humanoid Robot Data Training Center, trainers wearing virtual reality headsets remotely control robots to complete actions such as organizing clothes, and the system records information such as robot joint trajectories and angles, providing real "nourishment" for taking up posts and working.

Robots still have a long way to go from the laboratory to a thousand trades and a hundred industries, and from technological breakthroughs to benefiting people's livelihoods. Industry experts believe that the adaptability of embodied intelligence technology to the real world remains insufficient, and deployment in scenarios such as hospitals still requires time; "housekeeper" and "caregiver" robots remain in the pilot verification stage.

The difficulties are precisely the focus of development. From technology follower to industry leader and contributor of governance solutions, China's robot industry is improving quality and moving toward innovation. One robot after another is leaving the laboratory and entering a thousand trades and a hundred industries, striding forward in the direction of changing life and changing the world.

(Xinhua News Agency dispatch, reporters Guo Yujing (郭宇靖), Zhang Xiao (张骁), Ji Ning (吉宁))

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From "Showcasing" to "Applying" (Editor's Notes)

By: 张安宇

From everyday scenarios like folding clothes and picking up takeout, to completing work tasks such as fire emergency response and high-temperature steelmaking... at the 2026 World Robot Conference held from August 19 to 23, there were fewer flashy performances and more demonstrations adapted to real working conditions.
With breakthroughs across the entire industrial chain — components, software algorithms, and complete machine manufacturing — embodied intelligence is now driving product iteration with application as the traction, shifting from "small-batch trials" to "large-scale deployment." Institutions estimate that this year, China's production of complete humanoid robots is expected to exceed 100,000 units.
The work efficiency and adaptability of humanoid robots still need improvement. We believe that through upstream-downstream collaborative innovation and the cultivation of an open industrial ecosystem, and by making good use of the vast "testing ground" that China's super-large-scale market and rich application scenarios have built for new technologies and new products, more robots will surely accelerate their journey from the laboratory to production and daily life.

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Able in sports, skilled in labor.

By: 本报记者 王昊男

On August 23, at the Second World Humanoid Robot Sports Event then underway, robot athletes from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center repeatedly achieved excellent results. Able to run and jump, why are the robots' athletic abilities so outstanding?
"We iterated the machines, upgraded the joints, and optimized the overall configuration." Zhao Wen (赵文), senior engineer at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, explained, "We designed different heat dissipation systems for different events to maintain the robots' endurance during high-intensity exercise." In addition to a strong body, they must also have a powerful "large brain and small brain" — all "Tiangong series" robots are equipped with the "Huisikaiwu" general-purpose embodied intelligence platform, which "can perform algorithm optimization for actions such as high-speed running and jumping."
They must be able to exercise, and also be able to work. The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center sent a total of four models of robots to compete in this sports event, participating in more than 40 events in total. In addition to competitions testing various athletic abilities, the scenario competitions were equally eye-catching. Behind each arena task lies a test question drawn from a real production and life scenario.
"The 'Huisikaiwu' has a powerful scene-adaptive migration capability." Zhao Wen explained that traditional robots need to have their code rewritten when changing a task or scenario; now, using the platform's built-in "skill library atomization" technology, different tasks can be decomposed into underlying atomic actions, "without needing to restart the system; the platform can dynamically load new perception models and control parameters in an extremely short time."
In this sports event, multiple competitive events eliminated manual remote control. "The completion level of the fully autonomous robots exceeded many people's expectations." Gong Xiao (巩潇), deputy director of the China Software Testing Center, explained, "Although autonomous decision-making may still produce deviations, this uncertainty when facing the real physical world is precisely the core technical difficulty that must be overcome."

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The energy rice bowl must be held in our own hands.

By: 本报记者 汪晓东 邱超奕 邓剑洋

“Better coordinate both domestic and international imperatives, balance development and security, and enhance the ability to foresee changes scientifically, detect risks promptly, and respond to challenges effectively, ensuring that the giant ship of the Chinese Dream cleaves through waves and sails steadily and far.” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is both a profound summary of the historical experience of the century-old Party and a profound declaration grounded in the present and oriented toward the future.

The Middle East conflict continues to drag on, global energy market volatility intensifies, and oil, coal, and electricity prices have risen several times. As the world’s largest energy consumer and importer, China has delivered a very different answer sheet—

At present, China’s energy supply and demand are generally balanced, and prices remain broadly stable. A spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics stated that in July, crude oil output of industrial enterprises above designated size hit a record high for the same period in history, while natural gas output and electricity generation maintained relatively high production levels. In the first half of this year, China’s energy price increases were significantly lower than those of most major economies. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s comprehensive energy production capacity will reach 5.8 billion tonnes of standard coal, with further enhanced security resilience.

“The global energy crisis has struck, and China’s years of planning have finally paid off.” Britain’s The Guardian observed that for many years, China has been repairing the roof before the rain, possessing an extremely strong buffer capacity to cope with crises.

Sound ideological guidance, far-reaching strategic planning.

As early as 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping, from the strategic height of national development and security, creatively put forward the new energy security strategy of “Four Revolutions, One Cooperation,” personally charting, personally deploying, and personally promoting the energy consumption revolution, energy supply revolution, energy technology revolution, and energy system revolution, and all-round international cooperation.

From proposing the goal of “accelerating the building of a strong energy nation” to the inclusion of “building a strong energy nation” in the recommendations for the “15th Five-Year Plan,” General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies in response to changing circumstances, making the preemptive move on energy security and fighting the proactive battle of the energy revolution.

How can China hold its energy rice bowl steady? Recently, reporters visited energy production and supply frontline operations across the country to see how ideological power and strategic planning guide practice and shape advantages.

A drop of oil, reflecting bottom-line thinking

“On energy issues, one must always maintain a sense of urgency and crisis awareness”

The Strait of Hormuz, at its narrowest point only 33 kilometres wide, grips the throat of oil supply.

A report released by the International Energy Agency on August 12 shows that, affected by factors such as the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil market will see a supply-demand gap of 1.8 million barrels per day in the third quarter of 2026, more than double the previous estimate of about 800,000 barrels per day from the previous month.

“In the past 50 years, we have experienced three energy crises: the oil crisis of 1973, the oil crisis of 1979, and the natural gas crisis following the Russia-Ukraine conflict four years ago.” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol warned that the amount of oil and natural gas lost in the current war far exceeds the total of the previous three crises combined.

The Middle East conflict has brought a major test to all countries—

U.S. strategic petroleum reserves have fallen to their lowest level since 1983; in July, eurozone energy prices surged 10.0% year-on-year; the Indian government has called on the public to reduce gasoline and diesel use; Japan has fallen into a naphtha shortage, with manufacturing affected…

The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report released in June projects that the Middle East conflict will slow global economic growth to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although a large proportion of China’s oil and gas comes from the international market, France’s Le Monde website commented: “China has shown astonishing resilience in the face of this external shock.” Recently, the International Monetary Fund, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and other international institutions have bucked the trend and raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth, with the energy advantage being an important reason for their optimism.

At the Huangdao oil port area of Qingdao Port in Shandong, large vessels frequently berth at the 300,000-tonne-class terminal, continuously feeding crude oil into nearby storage tank areas.

As an important hub for China’s oil imports, Shandong Port accounts for more than 30% of the country’s crude oil imports. A relevant official from the Shandong Provincial Energy Administration introduced that since the beginning of this year, crude oil from the Middle East has decreased somewhat, but the relevant importing enterprises were well prepared, strengthening energy cooperation with Brazil, Canada, and other countries, and their business has not been significantly impacted.

To cope with the complex external situation, Qingdao Port has built in a “lead time” on energy infrastructure, constructing multiple new berths in recent years and multiplying tank farm capacity several times over. At present, Qingdao Port’s crude oil terminals, tank farms, and pipeline capacity are sufficient, and after optimising production organisation, support capacity will be further improved.

Greater confidence lies in seeking increments domestically.

Dongying, Shandong, by Longyue Lake. At the Laishen-2 inclined well in the Lai-113 block of Shengli Oilfield, using globally leading carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology, viscous crude oil is efficiently “washed” out of rock crevices deep underground. Across the entire oilfield, cumulative CO₂ injection has exceeded 1.4 billion cubic metres, and daily oil production in the block has leapt from 220 tonnes at initial commissioning to over 500 tonnes, achieving a two-way synergy of carbon reduction and production increase.

In the 65 years since Shengli Oilfield was discovered, it has undergone multiple rounds of extraction. When outsiders thought its production capacity could hardly break through further, the oilfield has continued to achieve new victories by tackling difficulties head-on.

Independently mastered chemical flooding technology has raised the average oil recovery rate from 42.8% to 52.7%; tackling world-class extraction challenges has increased shale oil drilling efficiency by more than tenfold; intensifying exploration and development efforts, the Shengli Jiyang shale oil has discovered resource volume of 10.5 billion tonnes, equivalent to discovering a “new Shengli”… In the past three years, Shengli Oilfield’s annual output has remained stable with slight increases, rising to 23.711 million tonnes last year, a record high in recent years.

In October 2021, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Shengli Oilfield, he emphasised: “Oil and energy construction is of great significance to our country. As a major manufacturing country, China must develop the real economy, and the energy rice bowl must be held firmly in our own hands.”

“The energy rice bowl must be held firmly in our own hands” reflects General Secretary Xi’s bottom-line thinking of being prepared for danger in times of peace and repairing the roof before it rains. “I often speak of bottom-line thinking; on energy issues, one must always maintain a sense of urgency and crisis awareness.”

Holding the energy rice bowl firmly is a strategic choice for responding to the once-in-a-century transformation.

Assessing the international situation, General Secretary Xi Jinping has a profound insight: “Food and energy security are the most urgent challenges in the field of global development.”

In today’s world, the international environment in the energy field is exceptionally severe, and the risks of energy issues being politicised, instrumentalised, and weaponised are intensifying. Many international political, economic, diplomatic, and military activities revolve around energy. Seizing energy means seizing the ox nose of national development and security strategy.

Deeply grasping the great logic of the once-in-a-century transformation, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised adhering to bottom-line thinking: “In the once-in-a-century transformation, one thing comes after another—sometimes a grey rhino, sometimes a black swan. One must have a bottom-line awareness and crisis awareness toward the unpredictable situation.”

Thinking of danger while living in peace, one will never be endangered. Lu Ruquan, Dean of the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute, analysed that over the past decade or more, China has actively laid out overseas oil and gas cooperation, building four major cross-border oil and gas energy corridors—the three overland corridors of the northwest, northeast, and southwest, plus the eastern maritime corridor—effectively dispersing the risk of a single corridor.

Holding the energy rice bowl firmly is a vivid practice of concentrating on running our own affairs well.

The more complex the external environment, the more we must place the strategic foothold of development on ourselves. General Secretary Xi Jinping has far-sighted vision: “Maintaining strategic focus, strengthening confidence, and concentrating on running our own affairs well is the key to responding to various risks and challenges.”

At the current stage, China’s per capita energy consumption level is only about two-thirds of the average of OECD countries, and it will continue to maintain rigid growth for some time to come. The National Energy Administration estimates that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the average annual increase in national electricity consumption will reach about 600 billion kWh. This determines that we must place greater emphasis on responding to the uncertainty of situational changes with the stability of domestic energy supply.

On consolidating the foundation of our own energy, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words were resolute: “We must hold our own rice bowl firmly, and make solid and down-to-earth efforts on foundational things such as manufacturing, food, energy, and strategic material reserves—this is the source of our confidence. Consolidating the foundation is the prerequisite for running alongside and leading the race; this is a matter of national importance.”

Directly confronting the shortcoming of high external dependence on oil and gas resources, starting in 2019, China decisively implemented the “Seven-Year Action Plan” for increasing oil and gas reserves and production, promoting a historic breakthrough in oil and gas output. In 2025, domestic crude oil production reached 216 million tonnes, remaining stably above 200 million tonnes for four consecutive years.

“In the past two years, China’s external oil procurement rate has continued to decline, and this trend is expected to continue during the ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ period.” Lu Ruquan believes that there is still great potential for strengthening oil and gas resource exploration and development. By moving toward the deep blue, offshore oil has become a new growth pole, accounting for more than 60% of the country’s new oil production for five consecutive years.

Today, China has become the world’s fifth-largest oil producer and fourth-largest natural gas producer, with strategic petroleum reserves ranking among the world’s foremost, and its capacity for independent oil and gas security has been significantly enhanced.

Viewed within the framework of building a new development pattern, holding the energy rice bowl firmly reflects General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound thinking on coordinating both domestic and international imperatives.

At the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the “Five Musts” as regular understanding for doing economic work under the new situation, one of which is “must respond to external challenges by honing internal skills.” The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held on April 28 this year emphasised, “Systematically respond to external shocks and challenges, raise the level of energy and resource security, and respond to various uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development.”

Forge an indestructible body and hold fast to the bottom line of energy security. Since the “14th Five-Year Plan,” China’s energy self-sufficiency rate has remained above 80%, and more than 90% of the increment in energy consumption has been independently guaranteed domestically, providing solid support for enhancing the country’s viability, competitiveness, development momentum, and sustainability, and for safeguarding the new development pattern with a new security architecture.

A network, embodying systematic thinking

“Energy security is a holistic and strategic issue concerning national economic and social development”

The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia is the largest coal chemical base in the country. In the past, it “relied on coal for coal”; today, through a more systematic and diversified energy strategy, it has achieved more reliable and efficient development.

Entering the Baofeng Energy circular economy industrial park on the east side of the base, electrolysers, hydrogen storage tanks, distillation towers, and other equipment are neatly arranged. Previously, the production of polyolefin products here mainly used coal as raw material. Now the enterprise has innovatively adopted “wind-solar-storage” green electricity to produce green hydrogen, and coupled green hydrogen with modern coal chemicals, achieving hydrogen replacing coal and source-based carbon reduction and fixation, blazing a new path of green and low-carbon development.

Green energy not only flows in Ningdong but is also delivered thousands of miles away through the large power grid.

East of Ningdong, in the coal mining subsidence area at the edge of the Mu Us Sandy Land, rows of photovoltaic panels form a 120,000-mu “blue ocean.” This is one of China’s second batch of large-scale wind and photovoltaic power bases in the Gobi and desert regions.

After the base was built, it improved the ecological environment of the Gobi, and the electricity generated is entirely transmitted to Zhejiang, with annual generation equivalent to the total of more than 20 medium-sized hydropower stations.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has visited Ningxia three times, showing great concern for energy construction and pointing the direction for energy transition and diversified development from an overall perspective.

On June 20, 2024, when General Secretary Xi Jinping heard reports from the Party Committee and Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, he emphasised that Ningxia’s modern coal chemical and new materials industries, clean energy industries such as wind power, photovoltaics, and hydrogen energy, and specialty industries such as wine and wolfberry, should be cultivated with precision and developed sustainably.

Keeping the instructions in mind, Ningxia’s energy construction has gradually moved away from the path of “coal as the sole pillar,” achieving systematic and structural upgrading.

Since 2021, Ningxia has built three batches of national-level “Gobi, desert, and barren land” new energy bases. As of the end of June this year, new energy installed capacity accounted for 65.44%, making it Ningxia’s largest power source.

Plan a region with the overall situation in mind, and promote the overall situation with one region. The strengthening of new energy has enabled Ningxia to better support the nation’s energy demand.

On June 1, Ningxia for the first time transmitted green electricity to Fujian on a medium- and long-term basis. Ten years ago, Ningxia’s new energy transmission ratio was less than 10%; now it has risen to 32%.

“For every 3 kWh transmitted, more than 1 kWh is green electricity. ‘Green electricity beyond the Great Wall’ has become Ningxia’s new calling card,” said Shao Lin, Deputy Director of the Trading Department of Ningxia Power Exchange Center Co., Ltd. Ningxia’s external transmission volume and local sales volume each account for about half, equivalent to creating another Ningxia electricity market for the whole country. The electricity can cover East China, North China, Central China, and other regions, reaching 21 provinces.

A small province-region, a large power grid, multiple energy sources, benefiting the whole country—the transformation of Ningxia’s energy embodies the systematic thinking of overall coordination and holistic policy implementation.

To safeguard the energy security of a major country, systematic layout is particularly important.

“Energy security is a holistic and strategic issue concerning national economic and social development.” In terms of impact, energy is an important foundation and driving force for modernisation, relating to industrial production, clothing, food, housing, transport, price fluctuations, and more—a single move affects the whole board.

In terms of supply and demand, China’s energy consumption structure is dominated by coal, lacking oil and gas, with the world’s largest total scale of fossil energy development and utilisation, and prominent ecological and environmental pressures.

In terms of distribution, China’s coal, wind power, photovoltaic, and other power generation resources are concentrated in the northwest and north, while the eastern coastal region accounts for more than 60% of the national electricity load.

The energy structure is coal-heavy, environmental constraints are tight, and regional distribution is uneven. To find the optimal solution under multiple constraints, it is especially necessary to strengthen systematic thinking.

When working in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping already placed energy issues within the grand framework of the “Eight-Eight Strategy,” pointing out that “in the long run, we must also consider adjusting the power structure and vigorously develop clean energy, such as natural gas power generation, nuclear power, hydropower, wind power, and tidal power generation,” and emphasising “building our food bases, energy and raw material bases, and production and processing bases outside the province and abroad,” to achieve “developing Zhejiang by leaping beyond Zhejiang, and developing Zhejiang based on the whole country.”

These forward-looking thoughts and overall perspectives are logically consistent with the later implementation of the new energy security strategy and the building of a strong energy nation.

To address the imbalance in the energy structure, General Secretary Xi Jinping has used systematic thinking to diagnose and prescribe—

“Promoting the energy supply revolution and establishing a diversified supply system means ensuring security through diversified domestic supply, vigorously promoting clean and efficient coal utilisation, focusing on developing non-coal energy, and forming a multi-wheel-driven energy supply system of coal, oil, gas, nuclear, new energy, and renewable energy”;

“China’s energy development still faces a series of challenges, including huge demand pressure, many supply constraints, and arduous green and low-carbon transformation tasks. The way out for responding to these challenges is to vigorously develop new energy.”

As early as 2013, China issued the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry. Since then, from launching the Clean Energy Consumption Action Plan (2018–2020), to issuing the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021–2035), and then to implementing the ten-year doubling action for non-fossil energy during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the increasingly improved industrial policy system has promoted the simultaneous development of wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear energy, effectively cushioning the impact of turbulence in the international energy market.

A relevant official from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association remarked that more than ten years ago, China’s new energy industry was still in a passive position of “three external dependencies” in technology, equipment, and market. In recent years, some Western countries have frequently wavered in their policies, whereas China, regardless of industry cycle fluctuations, has always safeguarded the leapfrog development of new energy with the policy determination of “drawing one blueprint to the end.”

In just a few years, China’s wind and photovoltaic installed capacity has historically surpassed thermal power, new energy patents account for more than 40% of the global total, new energy vehicle production and sales rank first in the world, and renewable energy has become the most eye-catching growth pole in energy structure adjustment.

“China holds two trump cards: electric vehicles and renewable energy.” The New York Times recently published an article stating that against the backdrop of geopolitical conflicts exacerbating the global oil and gas supply crisis, China is leading the global wind power track by virtue of its forward-looking strategic layout.

From “constrained by oil and gas” to “overtaking by changing lanes with electricity,” strong new energy has become a new pillar of China’s energy security.

Solving the problem of uneven energy distribution also requires starting from the big picture and planning holistically.

From pointing out at a symposium in Nanchang, Jiangxi, on further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze Economic Belt that “adhere to the national ‘one chessboard’ and continue to deepen energy cooperation between the upper reaches and the middle and lower reaches,” to requiring at a symposium in Shanghai on deepening the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta that “plan the construction of a new energy system and coordinate inter-provincial and inter-municipal electricity mutual assistance,” and then to emphasising at a symposium in Chongqing on promoting the large-scale development of the western region in the new era that “strengthen pipeline interconnection and enhance the capacity of ‘West-to-East Power Transmission,’” General Secretary Xi Jinping has systematically deployed the construction of a new energy system and woven a national “one network” of energy infrastructure.

Last year, China’s electricity consumption exceeded 10 trillion kWh for the first time, and electricity loads in many places repeatedly set new records, yet there were no large-scale blackouts. An important reason is that China possesses the world’s largest and most technologically advanced ultra-long-distance transmission network, strongly supporting the optimal cross-regional allocation of energy.

On August 7 this year, the national electricity load set a record high for the fourth time since the beginning of summer.

Facing the continuously rising electricity load, the National Energy Administration has guided all localities and grid enterprises to strengthen inter-provincial and inter-regional electricity mutual assistance, effectively guaranteeing the public’s “air-conditioning freedom” and “electricity freedom” during the summer.

The “West-to-East Power Transmission” electricity expressway operates at full speed, supporting one-fifth of the electricity demand in the eastern and central regions; the “West-to-East Gas Transmission” project has been commissioned successively, with one-time pipeline gas transmission capacity exceeding 400 billion cubic metres; north-to-south coal transport and west-to-east coal transport surge forward, serving as the “black Great Wall” of energy…

“China has built an energy infrastructure network spanning east-west, traversing north-south, and connecting overseas, steadily supporting the large energy market with a large power grid and large corridors,” said Liu Jizhen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

A piece of coal, confirming dialectical thinking

“The gradual exit of traditional energy must be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy”

Shaanxi ranks third nationally in coal production, with Yulin alone accounting for about 80%.

At the Jinjie Coal Mine of China Energy’s Shendong Coal in Yulin, shearers precisely cut coal seams, and rolling “black gold” is transported to the surface.

“The mine has an annual production capacity of 18 million tonnes. Besides local consumption, it is also sent to provinces such as Sichuan and Chongqing,” introduced Gao Dengyun, Manager of the Production Management Department of China Energy Shendong Coal. About 20,000 tonnes of coal are transported to power plants every day, converted into reliable electricity.

“We regard coal power supply guarantee as our primary task and make every effort to generate as much as should be generated, and to operate steadily and at full capacity,” said Lu Pengfei, General Manager of Guoneng Jinjie Energy Co., Ltd. Since the beginning of this year, the power plant has generated more than 11.4 billion kWh cumulatively.

A reporter learned from the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission that since the beginning of this year, Shaanxi coal enterprises have signed 224 million tonnes of medium- and long-term thermal coal contracts, with the supply guarantee scope covering more than 20 provinces, effectively ensuring thermal power production and industrial operations across the country, and firmly shouldering the responsibility of a national important energy base.

More importantly, relying on the coal chemical industry, China has built a “coal-oil-gas-chemical” energy buffer barrier, effectively strengthening the independent controllability of chemical raw materials.

Duan Libo, General Manager of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd., gave an example: the polyester-grade ethylene glycol produced by the company through coal chemical means is an important raw material for chemical fibres, plastics, and other products. The electronic-grade dimethyl carbonate produced by the company can be used as a solvent for lithium battery electrolytes.

Anchored on the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, Shaanxi Province is promoting the high-end, diversified, and low-carbon development of the coal chemical industry, accelerating the extension toward new materials and fine chemicals, covering four major fields—high-value-added materials, battery electrolyte solvents, degradable materials, and specialty oils—with more than 40 products.

In recent years, China’s new energy has shown strong growth momentum. Some voices argue that coal power has shifted from being the protagonist of power generation to a “supporting role” for peak shaving, and may gradually exit.

As the price advantage of thermal power weakens and environmental pressure rises, some localities once engaged in campaign-style coal reduction and carbon reduction, treating coal as a sunset industry and implementing “one-size-fits-all” and “de-coaling” approaches.

How should the role of coal in the coming period be viewed? How should the relationship between coal use and carbon reduction be handled? This is a required question concerning energy security.

In this regard, when inspecting Yulin in September 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping hit the nail on the head: “We must use the new development philosophy to guide development. For a considerable period of time, coal as the main energy source is necessary; otherwise it cannot support national modernisation.” The General Secretary dialectically pointed out that in the next stage of development, as an energy source, the amount of coal should be controlled, and in accordance with the direction of green and low-carbon development, benchmarked against the goals and tasks of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the path of transformation and upgrading should be taken.

During the 2022 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference sessions, when participating in the deliberation of the Inner Mongolia delegation, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated on the dialectical view of coal energy and green development: “Green transformation is a process, not something that can be accomplished overnight. One must establish first and then break, and must not break before establishing. Rich in coal, poor in oil, and short on gas is China’s national condition, and the energy structure dominated by coal is difficult to fundamentally change in the short term.” “One cannot throw away the rice bowl in hand first, only to find that the new rice bowl has not yet been obtained—that will not do. We must have both a green and clean environment and ensure the normal conduct of our production and daily life.”

Within dialectical thinking lies the practical consideration of establishing first and then breaking.

“The gradual exit of traditional energy must be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy,” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thinking is far-reaching.

As of the end of June this year, wind and photovoltaic installed capacity accounted for about 48.3% of the national total power installed capacity, and in the first half of the year, total wind and solar power generation accounted for about one-quarter of the whole society’s electricity consumption. It is evident that in the short term, new energy cannot safely and reliably substitute fossil energy.

Xie Kechang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that coal is the energy source with the strongest capacity for stabilising the economy and independent guarantee in China. For a considerable period of time, coal’s position as the main energy source will not and must not change.

With coal in hand, the heart is not flustered. As of August 13, coal stocks at national regulated power plants exceeded 210 million tonnes, with an availability of 28 days.

Within dialectical thinking lies the scientific method of adapting measures to local conditions.

In his early years in Liangjiahe, northern Shaanxi, Comrade Xi Jinping led the villagers to renovate dry latrines, build biogas digesters, and develop new energy using limited conditions. The small biogas digester reflects precisely the exploration of adapting measures to local conditions and self-reliance in solving energy needs.

After coming to the central government, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised the methodology of “adapting measures to local conditions.”

In advancing the “dual carbon” work, should energy adjustments in various localities “march in lockstep”?

General Secretary Xi Jinping clarified the essential point: “The ‘dual carbon’ goal is viewed from the perspective of the whole country. Where to reduce, where to zero out, where to retain, and even where to increase as a measure to preserve energy—all must be weighed from the national perspective.”

For example, in the Yellow River basin, the role of coal is indispensable, which determines its important position in the national energy pattern. “The Yellow River basin is also called the ‘energy basin,’ rich in coal, oil, natural gas, and non-ferrous metal resources, with coal reserves accounting for more than half of the national total. It is an important base for energy, chemicals, raw materials, and basic industries in China.”

Adhering to proceeding from reality, accurately positioning within the national development overall situation, each leveraging its strengths and complementing each other—only then can the energy transition advance steadily and in coordination.

Within dialectical thinking lies the practical requirement of persistent, long-term effort.

“Energy transition is not simply reducing coal output and consumption, but rather, on the premise of firmly shouldering the responsibility of guaranteeing national coal power supply, promoting clean and low-carbon coal development, diversified utilisation, and integrated storage and transport, accelerating the tackling of green and low-carbon technologies, and promoting the coal industry to climb from low-end to high-end, and coal products from primary fuel to high-value products.” These words of General Secretary Xi Jinping point the direction for dialectically viewing and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional energy.

From “black” to “green,” traditional industries can also develop new quality productive forces. The key lies in whether the determination to transform can be firm and carried through to the end.

In March this year, at China Huaneng Group, which had relocated to Xiong’an New Area, the General Secretary emphasised: “Coal power is the foundation of our energy and must play the role of underpinning. We must firmly adhere to the path of clean and low-carbon development.”

“By adhering to the path of clean and efficient coal utilisation for a long time, China has built the world’s largest clean coal power supply system, with supercritical and ultra-supercritical advanced coal power units accounting for more than half. Coal-fired power generation is no longer the main source of atmospheric pollutants,” said Xie Kechang.

A piece of coal, a kilowatt-hour of electricity—bearing the responsibility of supply guarantee, connecting to the warmth and cold of the people, and concerning sustainable development. Persistently promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional energy is anchored precisely on achievements that lay foundations, build momentum, and benefit the long term.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Zhejiang’s “power shortage” problem was prominent. Of its 11 prefecture-level cities, 8 implemented rotational power cuts, making it once the province with the most severe power shortage in the country.

On December 30, 2003, Comrade Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, proposed during an inspection of Hangzhou Electric Power Bureau: “Better to have electricity waiting for development than development waiting for electricity.” He personally deployed the “Five Major Hundred-Billion” projects, breaking the deadlock of Zhejiang’s development problems by building energy infrastructure.

Large environmentally friendly thermal power plants such as Jiaxing Power Plant of Zheneng Group rose from the ground; Qinshan Nuclear Power Station became the nuclear power base with the largest number of units and the richest reactor types in China; the “two AC and two DC” ultra-high-voltage backbone grid was built first… Over more than 20 years, Zhejiang’s maximum electricity load has increased sixfold, and the medium-voltage power supply reliability rate exceeds 99.996%, with surging electric power effectively guaranteeing the people’s livelihood needs and economic development of Zhejiang.

In June this year, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Dezhou City, Shandong Province, he pointed out: “Establishing and practising a correct view of political achievements must ultimately be reflected in benefiting the people.”

“Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, from implementing the action plan for providing electricity to the population without power and completing the historic task of all people having access to electricity, to continuously investing more than 800 billion yuan to deepen the implementation of the rural power grid consolidation and upgrading project, and then to maintaining relatively stable and people-benefiting electricity prices over the long term, energy development has always taken ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods as its fundamental starting point,” said Hao Yingjie, Secretary-General of the China Electricity Council.

Latent achievements and visible achievements, the present and the long term—all converge in the view of political achievements in building a strong energy nation, manifesting the distinctive character of seeking truth from facts and the value orientation of benefiting the people.

Under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s “Four Revolutions, One Cooperation” new energy security strategy, China’s energy sector has demonstrated strong resilience. The energy security of more than 1.4 billion people has been effectively guaranteed, and the country’s position as the world’s largest energy producer has become more solid. Thoroughly studying and implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions and directives, the National Energy Administration will do a good job in implementing the “15th Five-Year Plan” for the Construction of a New Energy System, seize the momentum to comprehensively advance the building of a strong energy nation, and provide strong energy support for achieving decisive progress in basically realising socialist modernisation.

(Staff reporters Zhang Wen, Xiao Jiaxin, Dou Hao, Jia Fengfeng, Zheng Yangyang of this newspaper, and reporters Su Nan, Qu Peiran, Wu Li, Zhang Zirui of China Energy News participated in the writing.)

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Chang'e-7 mission does not meet launch conditions and cannot proceed in this year's scheduled window

Xinhua News Agency, Wenchang, Hainan, August 23 (Li Guoli, Deng Meng) — A reporter learned on the 23rd from the China Manned Space Engineering Office (中国载人航天工程办公室) that, adhering to the principle of being safe, reliable, and free from any error, and following comprehensive assessment and deliberation, the Chang'e-7 mission does not meet the launch conditions and cannot be carried out during this year's scheduled window.

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本版责编：吴燕 韩文榕 黄金玉

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A "Villa" Town Beyond Recognition (Reader Investigation)

By: 人民网记者 游天燚 黄 钰 本报记者 胡笑源

Comrade Editor:

Since the completion of the Gaoligong International Health Resort Community in Tengchong, Yunnan, there have been continuous acts of expansion and construction. Some property owners, after purchasing "villas," have privately excavated hillsides and cut slopes to build houses, with some even expanding houses of several hundred square meters into several thousand square meters. Property owners have repeatedly complained to relevant departments, but effective governance has never been achieved. Some people are still secretly constructing, and some illegal structures are even operating as guesthouses or hotels to the public.

A netizen on the "Message Board for Leaders" of People's Online

Have "villas" of several hundred square meters really been expanded into guesthouses and luxury hotels of several thousand square meters? Is the situation as described in the reader's letter? The reporter recently visited the Gaoligong International Health Resort Community in Tengchong City, Yunnan, to investigate.

Several hundred square meters expanded into several thousand square meters, residences converted into guesthouses and resort hotels

The Gaoligong International Health Resort Community is located in the Dongshan area of Tengyue Town, Tengchong City, backed by the Dongshan Grassland, a national 4A-level tourist attraction. According to materials, its low-rise residential areas are situated halfway up the mountain, including clusters such as Changqiao Jun, Gelin Jun, and Jiangshan Xiaoyuan, totaling 470 households. In terms of floor area ratio, the community has not yet reached villa standards, but after the units were delivered successively in 2013, property owners became accustomed to calling them "villa areas," and some of the developer's promotional materials also referred to these low-rise residences as "villas."

"The community has changed beyond recognition." Li Lin (pseudonym), who resides here, told the reporter that in recent years, he has witnessed "oddly shaped" buildings emerging one after another in various clusters.

In early July, the reporter visited the site and found that almost every cluster has buildings that are out of place with their surroundings: some have multiple houses connected together in series, fully utilizing the open space between each house; others have added floors upward or excavated the hillside downward, adding multiple levels.

"Some are really too excessive." In a photo taken by Li Lin at the end of April this year, the open space between two "villas" in Aiding Jun had been vertically excavated, exposing a hillside cross-section about two to three meters deep. Less than three months later, when the reporter arrived at the scene, three hardened walls had already been erected on this open space.

There are also several buildings clearly under expansion that are still under construction. In Gelin Jun, the sound of electric drills inside houses lasted from morning until evening. The original retaining wall of the "villa" had been demolished, an open space had been dug downward, and a basement had been built.

In Jiangshan Xiaoyuan, the reporter saw that the back of a house under renovation had a "hidden world": the retaining wall originally used to prevent landslides had been excavated and replaced with a reinforced concrete load-bearing wall extending down the mountain. Relying on this load-bearing wall, a brand-new 5-story building had "emerged" from the hillside, right next to a cliff, looking particularly conspicuous from a distance (see photo, taken by Hu Xiaoyuan). From the construction drawings left at the scene, this involved connecting two buildings with four units together, expanding floors outward and downward, with the owner planning to turn it into a hotel.

Another building in Jiangshan Xiaoyuan with a similar layout was equally "imposing." Past the retaining wall, the original 3-story "villa" had been expanded into a 7-story unfinished structure, suspended halfway up the mountain.

The reporter contacted the owner, Liu Ming (pseudonym), through a phone number posted on the building for selling the house.

"The property certificate originally only covered a little over 100 square meters. The developer gave two floors of mezzanine space, and I also bought the open space on the side and flank," Liu Ming explained. After his house's expansion, it now covers more than 2,800 square meters, "with 4 floors on one side and 7 floors on the other."

The reporter observed that many houses that had undergone major demolition and construction were already operating as guesthouses or hotels. A guesthouse manager said that this community, which focuses on health and recuperation, was planned as a residential area during construction, but many property owners bought houses to operate guesthouses.

"Throughout Gaoligong, which guesthouse operator hasn't expanded? Some have added five to six thousand square meters," Liu Ming, who is also a guesthouse manager, said. "If you don't expand (to add rooms), no guesthouse can survive."

The reporter consulted with a staff member of the Tengchong Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau under the guise of buying a property. The staff member said that the guesthouses and hotels converted from "villas" in the community are almost all illegal constructions, without any administrative approval, and "approval is impossible." But currently, nearly half of the houses in the "villa area" have illegal construction. "When the enforcement bureau comes, you stop; after they leave, you resume. The higher-ups have policies, and those below have countermeasures," he offered advice to the reporter who wanted to buy a property.

Construction continues as usual after rectification notices, and businesses reopen after paying fines

Are such expansions compliant? What is the local government's attitude toward this?

The reporter's search found that as early as October 2020, community property owners had complained about illegal construction on the "Message Board for Leaders" of People's Online. At that time, the Tengchong Municipal Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau replied that 22 households in clusters including Lizi Jun, Gelin Jun, Lincoln Jun, and Changqiao Jun did have illegal construction, had been ordered to rectify, and emphasized that for illegal construction, they would "persist in investigating and punishing every case discovered" and "never tolerate or show leniency."

In 2023, led by the Tengchong Municipal Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, a joint working group was established with the Natural Resources Bureau, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, and the local subdistrict office, operating together in one location specifically to address illegal construction. Yet now, illegal construction in the community has still not been eliminated.

How do the relevant local departments supervise and rectify? On August 17, the reporter interviewed officials from relevant Tengchong municipal departments and the head of the community property management company, Tengchong Hengyi Property Management Co., Ltd.

Regarding illegal construction, Wang Deqi, deputy director of the Tengchong Municipal Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau, explained that after receiving reports or discovering violations through patrols, law enforcement personnel would handle them by posting notices, cutting off water and electricity, and freezing property ownership rights. Data provided by the Municipal Natural Resources Bureau shows that since June 2023, a total of 63 enforcement documents have been issued in the area, 40 households have had water and electricity forcibly cut off, and since March 2025, 30 households and 1,400 square meters of newly added illegal construction have been demolished.

According to Sun Rongfu, the head of the community property management, the property company has issued a total of 169 rectification notices for illegal construction over the past few years.

During the reporter's visit, on the iron fences or gates of more than ten "villas" that had not yet completed renovation, "rectification notices for violations" issued by the property management were posted, dated from the end of last year to June of this year. Most of them determined that the owners had engaged in unauthorized construction without approval, requiring rectification within a time limit, otherwise further measures such as forced work stoppage would be taken, and the matter would be reported to relevant government departments. Some houses also had notices ordering cessation of illegal acts and penalty announcements from the natural resources department. But these notices seemed to be "taken lightly" — some houses had notices posted outside while construction continued busily inside.

Cun Shiyi, head of the working group for the Dongshan area addressing illegal structures in urban residential communities, admitted that "there will be a bit of added illegal construction" in the area, but large-scale demolition and construction was "not obvious." Many houses had basements dug, floors added, and other situations, all of which were "historical legacy issues" from before the working group was established in 2023. "Of course, it's also possible that some owners are exploiting gaps in supervision timing to secretly add construction in a game of hide-and-seek."

Cun Shiyi said that because even after a rectification notice is issued, the owner can still apply for reconsideration. "After the Municipal Natural Resources Bureau issues a demand notice to the owner, it is transferred to the Municipal Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau before compulsory measures can be taken. This process takes at least three to four months." Taking the illegal construction in Aiding Jun mentioned above as an example, Cun Shiyi said the working group had ordered a halt to construction, with backfilling to be done after the rainy season. Since he took over the work in January of this year, no illegal construction has actually been demolished.

What astonished the reporter was that regarding the characterization of the illegal construction in the community, the government staff and property management heads interviewed unanimously believed that this was because most owners came from elsewhere and were unaccustomed to Tengchong's rainy climate, so they made some "adaptive modifications" to their houses based on "living habits and residential needs."

However, many "adaptive modifications" have become guesthouses and hotels. Sun Rongfu said that the guesthouses and hotels already in operation do have illegal construction, but since the government has not made a determination, the property management cannot control it either. Currently, there are 58 low-rise guesthouses operating normally in the community.

Have these owners who expanded their residences into guesthouses and hotels for public operation obtained approval? Li Fushuo, deputy director of the Tengchong Municipal Natural Resources Bureau, told the reporter that the community area is a residential project, and changing to commercial use requires going through land use change procedures. Currently, the bureau has not approved any land use change for any guesthouse or hotel.

In this regard, Cun Depeng, deputy director of the Tengchong Municipal Market Supervision Administration, said that for illegal construction in the past two years, the housing transaction would be frozen, and a business license would certainly not be issued. He explained that there are currently about 100 registered guesthouses and hotels in the area, but he was not clear about the specific situation. "The accommodation industry license is based on a commitment system; when processing, the actual condition of the business premises is not verified. If there is false commitment, penalties will certainly be imposed. As for the specific penalties, I don't oversee this area of work, so I'm not too clear."

The reporter's search found that in June 2024, a petition letter transferred by the Central Seventh Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Team to the local government mentioned that many residential plots, public land, and forest land in Jiangshan Xiaoyuan had been illegally built into luxury hotels. Subsequently, multiple departments in Tengchong conducted joint enforcement, determining that five residential buildings in Jiangshan Xiaoyuan had been illegally altered and expanded, and imposed a fine of more than 450,000 yuan. The reporter's on-site visit found that the hotels converted from the above-mentioned residences were already operating publicly. Checking booking platform information, calculated at peak summer season room rates, without discounts, 450,000 yuan is equivalent to only about one week of their revenue.

Experts point out that "historical legacy issues" are not a reason for non-handling, and rectification cannot stop at fines

It is worth noting that what impact does deep excavation of hillsides and leveling of slopes have on the local natural ecology?

In recent years, many owners have complained about illegal construction issues, and some government departments' replies, as well as rectification notices at multiple sites, have mentioned that the relevant illegal construction "has safety hazards" and "poses collapse risks."

"Generally, for buildings built against mountains, the greatest danger is slope instability endangering the buildings and personnel." Li Tianbin, professor at the School of Environment and Civil Engineering at Chengdu University of Technology, believes that without professional assessment and administrative approval, adding floors upward may cause building settlement, tilting, or cracking, while deep excavation downward may expose the original foundation, leading to serious consequences such as building instability.

Li Tianbin also stated that Tengchong is located in a seismic belt, with concentrated rainfall in the rainy season and a high risk of landslides. Under such special geological conditions, the safety hazards of illegal construction are even more prominent.

During the visit, the reporter, accompanied by a sales office staff member, viewed two "villas" for sale in Jiangshan Xiaoyuan. Both "villas" remained in their original state, but surrounding owners had added expansions. The reporter found that above the retaining walls in the courtyards and at the corners of the houses, varying degrees of settlement and collapse had already appeared. The staff member explained, "It might be foundation settlement caused by long-term rainwater, requiring a construction team to repair."

However, Chen Dachuan, professor in the Department of Construction Management and Disaster Prevention Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of Hunan University, said that whether the settlement and cracking are related to illegal construction requires testing and monitoring data for support. "This is a danger signal. If the cracks are unstable and show a continuing development trend, it constitutes a more serious danger, and emergency measures should be taken immediately."

What is the next step for rectifying illegal construction in the community? In this regard, heads of multiple departments all said they would resolve it according to formulated plans or measures. When the reporter asked whether there were specific plans, Li Fushuo said "it is still being explored." As for the illegal construction that has already formed, several heads of relevant departments all called it a "historical legacy issue." Cun Shiyi frankly admitted: "Our main task is to control the increment; the existing stock is all historical legacy issues, not within the scope of our staff's enforcement."

"'Historical legacy issues' cannot become a reason for non-handling." Xia Fangzhou, deputy director of the Department of Land Management at Renmin University of China, believes that the key to judging whether local handling is adequate is not how much money the owners have paid, but three questions: Do the buildings conform to the planning? Have the safety risks been truly eliminated? Has the penalty and inspection rectification formed a complete, verifiable enforcement loop?

Xia Fangzhou suggested publicly disclosing, building by building, the original planning permits, current survey maps, penalty decisions, and rectification acceptance materials; conducting independent slope, structural, and seismic safety assessments for key buildings; and then carrying out classified rectification, demolition, or lawful handling based on the assessment results.

(Du Tianyi participated in the reporting and writing)

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New diversion channel built to prevent culvert flooding (feedback)

By: 人民网记者 罗 娜

On July 27, this newspaper's "Readers' Letters" page published Railway Culvert Frequently Floods, Fire Trucks Cannot Enter the Village, reporting that in Aoshang Group, Yangmei Village, Luo'ao Town, Yudu, Jiangxi, because of railway construction, the only road entering and leaving the village group had a 2.5-meter-wide railway culvert built on it, which is prone to water accumulation during the rainy season.

After the report was published, Luo'ao Town organized personnel to thoroughly clear weeds and silt from the culvert drainage ditch to ensure smooth drainage, and, together with the railway department and other units, conducted on-site surveys and consultations to optimize the culvert drainage improvement plan.

It is understood that this culvert is a traffic culvert built in 2004 during the construction of the Ganlong Railway. The overall terrain is low-lying, and there are historical legacy problems such as easy water accumulation during heavy rain and a narrow passage cross-section.

Recently, a reporter came to Aoshang Group, Yangmei Village. Beside the railway culvert not far from the village entrance, more than 10 workers were carrying out construction on site.

"In response to the problem of the original drainage ditch being relatively narrow, we held a householders' meeting to solicit opinions from the masses and reached a consensus on building new drainage channels on both sides of the railway culvert for flood drainage," Wang Guqun, Party Secretary of Luo'ao Town, told the reporter. At present, the construction unit has entered the site and is carrying out crushed stone cushion layer paving work.

"The two newly built drainage channels adjust the direction of the water system, ensuring that upstream water no longer passes through the ditch near the culvert, fundamentally eliminating the water accumulation problem." According to the introduction, the railway culvert drainage improvement project is expected to be completed by the end of November.

"We will also regularly carry out desilting and maintenance work on the culvert to keep drainage unobstructed," introduced Zhang Jingyi, Director of the Ganzhou Road and Bridge Workshop under the Ganzhou Works Section of the Nanchang Railway Bureau. Last year, the Ganzhou Road and Bridge Workshop arranged personnel to repair the slope protection wall near the railway culvert.

At the same time, in response to the problem reported by the masses that large fire trucks cannot pass through, Luo'ao Town plans to build a new village-group access road to ensure the smooth passage of large vehicles.

"The village-group access road project has completed the feasibility approval and planning and design drawing review. After obtaining the consent of the surrounding masses, the bidding and tendering work can be initiated, followed by construction entering the site," Wang Guqun said.

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Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge Towers Closed for Years for Maintenance, Inconveniencing Visitors (Everyday Matters)

I am a citizen of Wuhan, Hubei Province. Over the past several years, I have visited the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on multiple occasions and discovered that the stairways in the bridge's tower-head structures, which are meant for visitors to ascend and descend, have remained closed the whole time (see left side of photo). The first-floor hall has been displaying a sign reading "Under maintenance, temporarily closed..." the entire time. At the same time, parts of the walls are cracked and damaged, light bulbs are missing from the chandeliers beneath the dome (see right side of photo), garbage is hanging on the chandelier frames, and window glass is also broken. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was designated a national key cultural relic protection unit in 2013. It possesses important historical and cultural value, is a calling card of Wuhan, and is a must-visit attraction for many tourists coming to the city. However, after years of "maintenance," the tower-head structures still present such a condition, which is regrettable. It is hoped that the relevant departments will complete the maintenance work as soon as possible, so that tourists and Wuhan citizens can soon tour the bridge's tower-head structures and experience the splendid bearing of the first bridge over the Yangtze River.
　　A citizen of Wuhan, Hubei Province

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Are Exoskeletons Really That Effective? (Public Concern)

By: 本报记者 赵 兵

“More efficient without a power source” “Save 100 jin of effort, find your youthful stride”... In recent years, exoskeleton products have attracted attention. This type of assistive device, in fields such as assisted walking, rehabilitation training, mountain climbing and cargo carrying, has brought convenience to some people with limited mobility or workers in special occupations. However, the quality of products on the market is uneven, and the actual performance of some exoskeletons falls far short of their advertising claims, leaving consumers with considerable complaints.

A Ms. An from Zhejiang brought her elderly father to a store to try on an exoskeleton worth more than 10,000 yuan. At the time, the elderly man felt it was good, and the family immediately placed an order. But after returning home, the actual effect of the exoskeleton was completely different from the in-store experience. “After my father actually used the exoskeleton, he felt his waist was very tired, and he was afraid of falling, so in the end he did not dare use it again,” Ms. An said.

Ms. An believes that there is a difference between the store trial environment and the actual home use scenario, and that consumers relying on a brief trial of an exoskeleton cannot judge whether the product is truly suitable for an elderly person at home.

A Ms. Zhou from Shanghai also encountered the problem of excessive weight bearing on the waist from an exoskeleton. She saw merchant advertising claiming that “an exoskeleton can make walking easier,” and bought one. After trying it, however, she discovered that the exoskeleton was “very heavy, with all the pressure put on the waist.” She felt back pain after wearing it for only 5 minutes, and her parents also felt the exoskeleton was heavy and were unwilling to wear it. Although the merchant initially promised that the exoskeleton “could be tried for one month,” when Ms. Zhou applied for a return, she was still charged a 2,000-yuan trial fee.

Ms. Zhou believes that the merchant's so-called “trial” of the exoskeleton did not clearly inform her that there was also a trial fee, and was in fact a “paid trial” or even a disguised charge.

A reporter searching for exoskeletons on online platforms found that some merchants admitted in the comment section that “those with bad waists are not suitable to use this,” but the product page contained no clear risk warning. In the comment section, a large number of users asked “Can it be used by someone paralyzed from a cerebral infarction?” “Can it be used by someone with a herniated disc compressing a nerve?” “Can it be used by someone who has had knee surgery?” and received no replies from the merchants.

Other consumers reported that exoskeletons do have an effort-saving effect when assisting movements such as lifting the leg and walking, but that frequent wearing brings other problems. One netizen bought two exoskeleton products for his mother, who was nearly 70 years old and had difficulty walking. He found that: the exoskeleton's motor-assisted leg lifting did have an effort-saving effect, but the part at the lower back had protruding components, and when sitting down it had to be removed to lean against the chair back; the exoskeleton's leg rings had no sliding structure, and if strapped too tightly or if the wearer was relatively tall, it could cause skin abrasions; and the exoskeleton had no deceleration protection for squatting or weight-bearing movements.

Other consumers reported that some exoskeleton products have design defects. A netizen, Mr. Huang, bought an exoskeleton for an elderly relative with hemiplegia, but because the elderly person's legs were too weak, the leg could not be lifted to the height threshold set by the machine, and the exoskeleton could not activate. “It is precisely because the elderly person cannot lift their leg that they need an assistive device, yet this exoskeleton cannot activate because the leg is not lifted high enough,” Mr. Huang said helplessly.

The problem of false advertising by merchants regarding exoskeletons is equally worthy of attention. Media reported that a consumer saw an advertisement on a short-video platform for a “flexible exoskeleton robot,” claiming that the exoskeleton could assist people with limited mobility in walking again. The consumer placed an order for 980 yuan, but after receiving the goods discovered that there was no motor, no chip, and no battery — only a pile of black elastic straps.

Xie Guangming (谢广明), a professor at the School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics at Peking University (北京大学先进制造与机器人学院), said that to be called an “exoskeleton robot,” a product must include a power system, a sensing system, and a control system, with a closed loop of perception, decision-making, and execution. Products composed only of springs and elastic straps are passive assistive devices. Therefore, the advertising of a “spring-strap exoskeleton robot” constitutes conceptual confusion or even intentional misleading of consumers.

A reporter searching online found that exoskeleton prices range from several hundred yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. Some claim to “save physical effort,” some emphasize that they can provide 30% to 50% assistance, and others claim to reduce load by 40 to 80 jin. Xie Guangming said that price differences usually depend on technical complexity, material and processing costs, and whether it is a simple assistive mechanism or a complete robot system.

Do exoskeletons truly have an assistive effect for patient rehabilitation or for the elderly? On this question, Wang Hanming (王寒明), deputy director of the Rehabilitation Diagnosis and Treatment Center at Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University (首都医科大学附属北京康复医院), who has engaged in rehabilitation research for more than 20 years, gave an affirmative answer.

“What is mainly used in medical applications is rehabilitation exoskeleton robots. Unlike exoskeletons on the market, this type of specialized medical device generally costs between several hundred thousand yuan and several million yuan, has strict industry standards, and also works on different principles,” Wang Hanming said. “For example, our exoskeleton robots all have supports and treadmills, so that the weight of the exoskeleton itself is not borne by the person. At the same time, the range of motion of each joint — hip, knee, and ankle — from negative degrees to positive degrees, all has standards. Through this kind of exoskeleton-assisted gait training, it is possible to help users improve their motor abilities.”

Regarding consumer reports of problems with some exoskeleton products such as “excessive weight bearing on the waist,” “can't brake,” and “wrong direction of assistance,” Xie Guangming said, “These problems are the core pain points of the current industry. As exoskeleton products, they must undergo sufficient testing before being put on the market. Because some exoskeleton products currently float between medical devices and consumer goods, there is a regulatory gap, and therefore manufacturers have problems of imprecision in product design and quality control.”

So what counts as a good exoskeleton product? Wang Hanming said, “First, performance must be stable and the safety of the user must be guaranteed — it cannot cause people to fall while walking. Second, it should be comfortable and easy to use, with a good gait pattern, making the user feel free in movement. It should also have an emergency stop device, so that when the patient feels uncomfortable, it can be stopped with one button or automatically.”

Regarding how to regulate mechanical exoskeleton products, improve product performance, and enhance consumer experience, Xie Guangming suggested that the attributes and detailed classification of products should be clarified, and different regulatory standards should be established according to type. Second, enterprises should be required to disclose necessary information, especially test data, and it would be best to introduce third-party certification, similar to CCC certification for household appliances, to avoid false advertising. In addition, market supervision should be strengthened to prevent the abuse of the “robot” concept and the exaggeration of product performance.

(Zhang Xinyuan participated in the writing of this article.)

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Strengthen protection of ancient trees in demolition villages (Proposal)

My hometown was demolished in its entirety due to urban construction and development. Several century-old camphor trees in the village died for lack of protection and management, which is a great pity. In recent years, suburban villages have been demolished wholesale in various places, and many of these demolished villages have long histories and many old trees. Yet in the course of demolition and development, owing to weak protection awareness, either soil was filled in to deeply bury the main trunks, or construction work cut through the roots, causing many ancient trees to wither and die or become endangered.
Ancient and famous trees are precious wealth, witnesses to the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, and carriers of the nostalgic sentiments of the local people. Therefore, it is suggested that attention be paid to the protection and management of ancient trees in demolished villages. On the one hand, archives for ancient trees should be established, and corresponding protection measures should be designed for ancient trees during the village demolition process. For example, mechanical vehicles should be prevented from crushing tree bases and roots, non-permeable hardening of the ground around ancient tree trunks should be prohibited, and the new construction or expansion of buildings within ancient tree protection areas, as well as acts such as digging pits to remove soil and using open flames, should be prohibited. On the other hand, daily maintenance and management should be strengthened. The administrative village or community where the trees are located should designate responsible persons and properly implement the main responsibility for maintenance. For demolition and construction projects that affect the normal growth of ancient trees, certain avoidance and protection measures should be adopted. For ancient trees that truly require protective relocation, plans should be formulated and the relocation properly implemented. Ancient tree protection areas should also be delineated, and protection facilities or protection signs should be installed. Finally, the inspection responsibility of the competent departments should be implemented, inspection, supervision, and protection efforts should be strengthened, and problems, once discovered, should be promptly supervised and handled.
Zeng Chuanwen, Ji'an, Jiangxi

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Editor: Zhao Bing

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Advancing High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation with Concrete Results (New Era Panorama)

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We advocate a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and implement the Global Development Initiative, with the aim of making growth opportunities universally beneficial, making development paths inclusive, and enabling the people of all countries to share in the fruits of development."
A great road traveled together, spring breezes for ten thousand miles.
Since 2013, under General Secretary Xi Jinping's personal planning, personal deployment, and personal promotion, Belt and Road cooperation has moved from a Chinese initiative to international practice, from a "broad-brush sketch" to a "fine brushwork painting," and has become the world's largest, most wide-ranging, and most influential platform for international economic cooperation.
In May 2017, President Xi Jinping systematically expounded the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
Under the new circumstances, advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to greater depth and substance has yielded abundant fruits.
"Hard connectivity" continues to expand. The cumulative number of China-Europe Railway Express trips has exceeded 130,000, the import and export value of the "Chancay–Shanghai" maritime route continues to climb, and the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway has started full-line construction... Major projects have been launched one after another, and China and partner countries continue to advance the "four-in-one" connectivity of land, sea, air, and cyberspace.
"Soft connectivity" advances steadily. China continues to deepen cooperation with partner countries in areas such as standards and regulations, tax collection and administration, intellectual property, and digital information, and Belt and Road investment cooperation continues to extend toward high technology, green and low-carbon, and other fields.
"People-to-people connectivity" continues to deepen. Luban Workshops, "Brightness Action," Juncao technology, hybrid rice... One "small yet beautiful" livelihood project after another continues to benefit developing countries, producing broad economic and social effects.
History bears witness: high-quality Belt and Road cooperation is continuously expanding "a new space for win-win development at a higher level, with greater resilience, and in a more sustainable manner."
(Our reporter Li Xinping)

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Editor: Ji Yalin, Guan Xuanyue, Lu Tao

Layout Design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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China’s Economy Gains New Momentum and Upgrades Its Structure (A Rational Look at the Economic Situation)

By: 李承健

The Political Bureau meeting of the CPC Central Committee held on July 30 analyzed the current economic situation and deployed economic work for the second half of the year, with General Secretary Xi Jinping presiding over the meeting. The meeting pointed out: "Since the beginning of this year, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has united and led the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups across the country in forging ahead with determination and striving bravely, adhering to coordinating both domestic and international situations, coordinating development and security, effectively responding to various external shocks and internal difficulties, and China's economy has presented a development trend of new momentum and optimized structure. At the same time, we must attach great importance to the difficulties and challenges in economic operation, strengthen confidence, face difficulties head-on, make good use of various opportunities and advantages, and promote high-quality development to proceed steadily and far." An objective and accurate understanding of the current development trend of China's economy is conducive to our implementation of the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments, and to promoting high-quality development to proceed steadily and far.

From the perspective of historical positioning, China's economic operation remains within a reasonable range
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "According to the new requirements of the new development stage, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, implement the new development concept more precisely, effectively solve the problems of unbalanced and insufficient development, and promote high-quality development." The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is the second five-year period of China's entry into the new development stage. At present, China has not yet crossed the threshold of high-income countries, and the problems of unbalanced and insufficient development remain prominent. Only on the basis of economic structural optimization and quality improvement can gross domestic product (GDP) growth remain within a reasonable range, laying a solid foundation for achieving the goal of doubling per capita GDP by 2035 compared with 2020 and reaching the level of moderately developed countries.
One of the main expected goals for this year's development proposed in this year's "Government Work Report" is "economic growth of 4.5%-5%, striving for better results in actual work." This is compatible with China's current development stage and the domestic and international environment it faces, basically consistent with China's long-term economic growth potential, and generally aligned with the 2035 long-term goals. In the first half of this year, in the face of a complex and intricate external environment and the spillover effects of geopolitical conflicts, China's GDP reached 69.57 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7% at constant prices, in line with the annual economic growth target; in July, China's industrial economy maintained an overall stable, new-oriented and optimized development trend. Production and supply continued to expand. From January to July, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size and the service industry production index increased by 5.3% and 4.7% year-on-year respectively.
Based on international comparison, the gold content of this data can be better seen. From the perspective of global economic growth in the same period, the "Global Economic Prospects" report released by the World Bank on June 11 pointed out that as the war in Iran leads to a sharp rise in energy prices, global economic growth is expected to slow to 2.5% in 2026; from the perspective of major world economies at the same development stage, among 20 major countries and regions, in the 10 years after per capita GDP reached US$10,000, the average GDP growth rate fell to 3.1%. In comparison, China's economic growth rate has always remained relatively leading. It should be noted that this achievement was made in the context of overcoming external suppression, effectively preventing and defusing risks in key areas, accelerating the conversion of old and new growth drivers, and adhering to high-quality development, making it all the more hard-won.
In the long term, China has accumulated and formed a series of important advantages in the process of sustained development, including economies of scale advantages, systemic advantages in manufacturing, an open and collaborative innovation ecosystem, rich educational and human resources, economies of scale and agglomeration effects of urban agglomerations, and deep integration into the global economic system. At the same time, China's regional coordinated development strategy, major regional strategies, the main functional zone strategy, and the new urbanization strategy are superimposed, the level of digital and intelligent development is improving, and green and low-carbon transformation is accelerating, which not only drives the growth of service-oriented and development-oriented consumption demand but also contains a large amount of new demand. Better combining these competitive advantages with demand potential can lay a solid foundation for China's economic operation to remain within a reasonable range during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, and will also inject stability and certainty into the world economy.

From the perspective of the primary task, high-quality development has achieved new results and the economic structure has continued to optimize
High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "To promote high-quality development, the most important thing is to accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, actively develop new quality productive forces, and make substantive and breakthrough progress in promoting scientific and technological innovation, accelerating the cultivation of new growth drivers, and promoting the optimization and upgrading of the economic structure." At present, China's economy is fully transitioning onto the track of high-quality development, the structure is continuously optimizing and upgrading, and the internal support for long-term improvement is more solid.
The contribution rate of new growth drivers to economic growth has increased. Scientific and technological innovation is an important engine for promoting high-quality development. In recent years, we have adhered to innovation-driven development, cultivated and developed new quality productive forces, and stepped up efforts to cultivate and expand new growth drivers. In the first half of this year, new growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy, and modern services contributed more than 40% to economic growth, with distinctive characteristics of new-oriented and optimized development. In the first seven months of this year, the contribution rate of new growth drivers to the growth of added value of industrial enterprises above designated size was 50.9%, an increase of 3 percentage points over the first half of the year, and they have developed into an important engine of industrial growth; the two modern service industries of information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services contributed more than 40% to the growth of the service industry production index. It is particularly worth noting that, driven by the explosive demand for high-end computing chips and storage chips brought about by artificial intelligence technology changes, in the first half of the year, the output of integrated circuits of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 23.1% year-on-year, which translates to an average daily production of more than 1.5 billion integrated circuits; the average daily token call volume has reached hundreds of trillions, achieving a leap in magnitude; in July, the added value of AI-related electronic components and equipment manufacturing and intelligent equipment manufacturing industries increased by 24.7% and 15.1% respectively, demonstrating the vitality and potential of the digital economy and intelligent economy.
Green and low-carbon transformation has accelerated across the board. Green development is the background color of high-quality development. China has built the world's largest and fastest-developing renewable energy system, and the green and low-carbon characteristics of the energy structure are more distinct. In the first half of this year, the power generation of clean energy such as hydropower, nuclear power, wind power, and solar power increased by 4.6% year-on-year, accounting for 36.2% of the power generation of industrial enterprises above designated size; the energy transition drove the output of green power generation products such as nuclear power generating units, hydro turbine generating units, and wind turbine generating units to increase by 92.0%, 51.9%, and 11.5% respectively. In the first seven months, the energy consumption per unit of added value of industries above designated size decreased by 3.5% year-on-year. In addition, among the "new three items," in the first half of the year, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 60% for three consecutive months; driven by the increased demand for new energy vehicles and energy storage, the output of lithium-ion batteries increased by 39.3% year-on-year.
The results of high-level opening up have become apparent. Opening up is a distinct hallmark of Chinese-style modernization, and high-level opening up is an important component of high-quality development. As the world's largest manufacturing country and the second-largest consumer market, China remains the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer. In the first half of this year, China's imports and exports with countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" reached 12.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.8% year-on-year, accounting for 50.9% of the total foreign trade value; imports and exports with neighboring countries increased by 20.6%, and with Latin America, Africa, and the European Union increased by 16.2%, 19.6%, and 10.2% respectively. By region, in the first half of the year, the import and export scale of China's eastern region exceeded 20 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.5% year-on-year, accounting for 78.8% of the total foreign trade value; the western, central, and northeastern regions increased by 20.3%, 20%, and 8.6% respectively. Against the background of weak world economic recovery and increasing uncertainties, the resilience of China's foreign trade continues to be demonstrated.
People's livelihood safeguards are strong and effective. High-quality development is development that can well satisfy the people's growing needs for a better life, and requires safeguarding and improving people's livelihood in the course of development. Employment is the most basic aspect of people's livelihood, and stabilizing employment is the fundamental measure for safeguarding and improving people's livelihood. In the first half of this year, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate nationwide was 5.2%, the same as the same period last year. Income is the source of people's livelihood, and the increase of residents' income concerns the vital interests of the people. In the first half of the year, the per capita disposable income of residents nationwide was 22,981 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.2% over the same period last year, and after deducting price factors, a real increase of 4.2%. Among them, the income growth of rural residents was faster than that of urban residents, and the ratio of per capita disposable income between urban and rural residents decreased from 2.42 in the same period last year to 2.37.

From the perspective of resolving prominent contradictions, new demand potential is continuously being released, continuously injecting momentum into economic growth
The advantage of a major country's economy is internal circulation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Insufficient aggregate demand is a prominent contradiction facing current economic operation." The "15th Five-Year Plan" Outline lists "the role of domestic demand as the main driving force for economic growth continues to strengthen, and economic growth potential is fully released" among the goals to be achieved in the economic and social development of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Firmly grasping the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, enabling production, distribution, circulation, and consumption to rely more on the domestic market for virtuous circulation, is conducive to clarifying the strategic direction of supply-side structural reform and promoting a dynamic balance between aggregate supply and aggregate demand at a higher level. Since the beginning of this year, we have taken multiple measures simultaneously to expand effective demand and promote the continuous release of new demand potential.
Service consumption has maintained relatively rapid growth. Consumption is an important engine of economic growth. At present, China's per capita GDP is close to US$14,000. From international experience, the consumption structure of residents at this development stage is undergoing changes, with the share of commodity consumption declining and the share of service consumption rising. In 2025, the proportion of per capita service consumption expenditure in per capita consumption expenditure of residents in China reached 46.1%. Since the beginning of this year, we have focused on clearing unreasonable restrictive measures in the consumption field and releasing the potential of service consumption. From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 2.6% year-on-year, of which service retail sales increased by 5.0%, significantly faster than the growth rate of retail sales of goods. Retail sales of communication information services, tourism consulting and leasing services, and cultural, sports and leisure services grew relatively rapidly, and service consumption has increasingly become an important field for releasing consumption potential and expanding consumption space.
Investment in high-tech industries and emerging industries has maintained relatively rapid growth. Investment is a key force in optimizing the economic structure. From January to July this year, investment in high-tech industries in China increased by 5.0% year-on-year, driving total investment growth by 0.5 percentage points. Among them, investment in the electronic circuit manufacturing industry increased by 57.7%, investment in the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry increased by 23.0%, investment in the electronic special materials manufacturing industry increased by 9.4%, and investment in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry increased by 11.5%. At the same time, the construction of a modern infrastructure system represented by the "six networks" is being systematically advanced, with relatively rapid growth in related investment. In the first half of the year, investment in the internet and related service industries increased by 39.9% year-on-year, and investment in the power supply industry increased by 19.4%. Adhering to innovation-driven development cannot be separated from the protection of intellectual property rights. From January to July, investment in intellectual property products nationwide increased by 9.1% year-on-year, accounting for 14.8% of total investment, driving total investment growth by 1.2 percentage points. In addition, the large-scale equipment renewal policy has effectively driven the growth of advanced production capacity and industrial transformation and upgrading, promoting the maintenance of a good growth momentum in equipment purchase investment. Overall, since the beginning of this year, investment has played a huge role in promoting the development of new quality productive forces, technological innovation, and industrial upgrading.
Exports of high-tech products and services trade have maintained relatively rapid growth. Exports are one of the "three carriages" driving economic growth, and the "quantity" and "quality" of exports reflect a country's economic level and international competitiveness. In recent years, China's trade structure has continued to optimize, with high-tech products becoming the main force of export growth and the competitiveness of service exports continuing to improve. In the first half of this year, goods exports reached 14.73 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.4% year-on-year. Among them, exports of high-tech products reached 3.26 trillion yuan, an increase of 39% year-on-year. In the first seven months, mechanical and electrical products accounted for 63.8% of total goods exports, an increase of more than 3 percentage points year-on-year. In the first half of the year, China's service exports reached 1,504.7 billion yuan, an increase of 17.6% year-on-year, the services trade deficit narrowed, and knowledge-intensive service exports accounted for more than half of total service exports.

Grasping key points to promote the economy to continue developing in a new-oriented, optimized, and improved direction
Overall, since the beginning of this year, the pace of conversion of old and new growth drivers in China has accelerated, and new industries, new products, and new demand have continuously built up the advantages of high-quality development, also providing solid support for the stable and improving economy. The achievement of this development result is fundamentally due to the leadership and helm of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and to the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping's Economic Thought. At the same time, it should be recognized that the current operation of China's economy still faces some difficulties and challenges. For example, the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand is still relatively prominent, the supply of some high-quality goods and services is insufficient, investment growth in some fields is slowing, there is structural pressure on employment and income growth, and the external environment is intertwined with changes and disturbances.
The Political Bureau meeting of the CPC Central Committee made systematic deployments in response to the difficulties and challenges in economic operation, and the work requirements put forward are clear in direction, pragmatic, and forceful, aiming to continuously enhance development momentum and fully release economic potential. To implement the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments, we must strengthen confidence, face difficulties head-on, make full and good use of existing policies, and plan and introduce incremental policies in key areas such as releasing domestic demand potential, promoting the conversion of old and new growth drivers, and doing a good job in stabilizing employment and stabilizing enterprises, continuously consolidating the foundation of high-quality development. Specifically, efforts can be made in the following aspects.
Implement a more proactive fiscal policy and an appropriately loose monetary policy, accelerate the progress of fiscal expenditure and bond fund utilization, and promote the rapid formation of physical workload; comprehensively use and timely adjust monetary policy tools, and optimize the implementation of fiscal-financial coordination policies to promote domestic demand.
Implement the "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption" well, deeply implement the special action to boost consumption, adapt to the consumption needs of different groups to expand high-quality supply, tap the potential of service consumption, better play the fundamental role of consumption in economic development, and enhance the endogenous driving force and reliability of the domestic great circulation. Facing the needs of economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, adhere to the close combination of benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, and investing in things and investing in people, coordinate the relationship between cultivating new growth drivers and renewing old growth drivers, stimulate investment vitality, and release the potential of investment growth.
Expand the space for mutually beneficial international economic and trade cooperation, optimize and upgrade goods trade, promote market diversification, expand intermediate goods trade, promote the upgrading of processing trade, vigorously develop services trade, innovatively develop digital trade and green trade, promote the improvement of quality and efficiency of foreign trade, and promote the balanced development of imports and exports; improve the foreign investment management system and overseas comprehensive service system, and actively attract and utilize foreign investment.
Promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, strengthen long-term stable support for basic research, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, deeply implement the "Artificial Intelligence+" 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 continuously promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.
Take multiple measures to strengthen people's livelihood safeguards, increase employment support for key groups, and do a good job in protecting the rights and interests of flexible employment personnel and personnel in new forms of employment; do a good job in the service guarantee for "the elderly and the young," and improve a hierarchical and classified social assistance system.
(The author is Deputy Director of the Macroeconomic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council)

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The Dialectic of the Ordinary and the Extraordinary (Ideological Perspectives)

By: 张茜蓉

At the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping conferred the Party's highest honor upon the recipients of the "July 1 Medal." Each medal reflects the original aspiration and mission, vividly embodying the profound connotation that "greatness comes from the ordinary, and heroes come from the people." General Secretary Xi Jinping once pointed out: "The recipients of the 'July 1 Medal' all come from the people and are rooted in the people; they are ordinary heroes who fulfill their duties and make silent contributions. Their deeds can be learned and emulated, and their spirit can be pursued and attained. Through their actions, they have proven that as long as one firmly upholds ideals and convictions, firmly maintains the will to strive, and firmly perseveres with tenacity and resolve—being recognizable in ordinary times, standing forward at critical moments, and stepping up in times of crisis—every Party member can achieve great things for the Party and the people in the great cause of national rejuvenation." Understanding the precious spiritual qualities of these medalists and role models, and deeply grasping the dialectical logic between the ordinary and the extraordinary, is of great significance for Party members and leading cadres to continue writing new chapters of struggle on the new journey.

The 105-year history of the Communist Party of China is a history of struggle in which Party members and leading cadres have strived continuously and forged brilliance through practical work. During the era of revolutionary warfare, countless martyrs shouldered the heavy responsibility of saving the nation and the people with their ordinary bodies—the cooks on the Long March, the couriers on the enemy's rear battlefields, and the underground workers on the covert front—paving the road to victory with their lives. During the period of peaceful construction, large numbers of Party members and leading cadres went to the wilderness and the countryside; the drilling workers at Daqing Oilfield, the educated youth who planted trees at Saihanba, and the scientific researchers on the Gobi Desert started from scratch to consolidate the nation's foundations. Today, hundreds of millions of Party members are at the forefront of comprehensive rural revitalization, grassroots governance, scientific and technological breakthroughs, and emergency rescue and disaster relief—the resident cadres stationed in villages for poverty alleviation, the white-clad warriors who rushed to the front lines against the epidemic, and the border-defending heroes who vowed to protect the nation's territory. Drops of light converge into the mighty force of national rejuvenation. History has fully proven that great undertakings cannot be separated from the silent dedication of countless ordinary people; without the ordinary perseverance at the grassroots level, there would be no earth-shattering extraordinary achievements.

Ordinariness is the foundation of struggle; extraordinariness is the pursuit of life. The journey from the ordinary to the extraordinary is a process and result of the long-term accumulation of faith, practical work, and the original aspiration of serving the people. Some people idle away their time and accomplish nothing, while others remain as steadfast as a rock in their original aspiration and achieve outstanding results—the dividing line lies in whether one's ideals and convictions are firm. Only with sincere faith in one's heart can ordinary cultivation create the extraordinary. No achievement can be accomplished overnight; only by adhering to "choosing one thing and dedicating a lifetime to it," deeply cultivating one's main field, and persevering over the long term, can one create results that withstand the test of time through practical work. The recipients of the "July 1 Medal" are all role models who silently cultivate their posts. Ma Shanxiang has been rooted in grassroots mediation of disputes for over 30 years; Li Liancheng has devoted himself wholeheartedly to leading the masses to increase income and become prosperous; Wuhasi Sulaiman has spent years providing medical care on horseback to protect herding communities; Zhao Yafu has delved into the fields for over 60 years to promote agricultural technology; Chen Junwu and Zhong Jue have willingly sat on the "cold bench" of scientific research to tackle key technologies; Wu Yaqin has been rooted in the community to safeguard the safety of the people; Wang Yuchang has hidden his achievements and fulfilled his duties diligently in ordinary posts. Through their day-after-day perseverance and unwavering dedication, they have made ordinary posts shine and created extraordinary value.

The key to moving from the ordinary to the extraordinary is to achieve the unity of knowledge and action, transforming the spirit of role models into concrete actions of fulfilling duties and promoting development. At present, the tasks of reform, development, and stability are arduous and heavy, and various risks and challenges are intertwined and叠加. The heavier the burden and the greater the tests, the more indispensable is down-to-earth, continuous struggle. Party members and leading cadres must consolidate the foundation of faith, unswervingly use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to fortify their souls, consciously integrate their work responsibilities into the overall cause of the Party and the state, and firmly uphold the true character of loyalty to the Party and dedication to their posts. They must forever maintain a pragmatic attitude, cultivate the broad-mindedness of "success need not be attributed to me, but success must necessarily include my effort," strive for excellence in their own posts, accumulate small victories into major victories with the tenacity of dripping water wearing through stone, and do more good and important things that lay foundations and benefit the long term. They must deepen their feelings for the people, practice the people-centered development philosophy, go deep into the grassroots to understand the urgent concerns and difficulties of the masses, handle livelihood matters with heart and feeling, and test their original aspiration and sense of responsibility by the people's sense of gain. They must sharpen their ability to struggle, not evading contradictions and daring to charge forward in the face of difficulties, silently cultivating in daily work, stepping forward proactively before urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, and demonstrating the distinctive character of Communist Party members amid the tests of storms and waves.

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Deeply Grasping the Dialectical Unity of Investing in Things and Investing in People (Special Reflection)

By: 黄胜平

Investing in things and investing in people are two major means of driving economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "We must both expand effective investment in the real economy and scientific and technological innovation, and strengthen human resources development, promote the coordinated accumulation of material capital and human capital, and achieve two-way empowerment and mutual promotion between investing in things and investing in people." This is our Party's deepening of its understanding of the laws of economic work under the new circumstances, and an important measure for responding to the challenges of the times and seizing development opportunities. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan puts forward the important requirement of "adhering to the close integration of benefiting the people's livelihood and promoting consumption, and of investing in things and investing in people," and makes relevant arrangements. A profound grasp of the dialectical unity between investing in things and investing in people is of major and far-reaching significance for strengthening development momentum, expanding domestic demand, and achieving common prosperity.

The dialectical unity of means and ends. From the perspective of development purposes, promoting the all-round development of the person and the comprehensive progress of society is the unremitting pursuit of socialism. The comprehensive progress of society is the premise and condition for the all-round development of the person, providing the foundation and guarantee for the all-round development of the person; the all-round development of the person is the fundamental purpose and important force of the comprehensive progress of society, providing the goal and impetus for the comprehensive progress of society. Investing in things can consolidate the material foundation of Chinese-style modernization and the people's happy life, constituting an indispensable material means for realizing the all-round development of the person. Investing in people regards the all-round development of the person as the fundamental purpose of modernization development, and promotes the enhancement of the people's capacity for development, capacity for participation, and capacity for creation. This manifests the people-centered development philosophy and transcends the Western development logic centered on capital, in which capital alienates the person. Over the past period, China has achieved historic accomplishments in such fields as infrastructure construction and new-type industrialization, with its economic aggregate leaping to second place in the world, consolidating the foundation for improving people's well-being and raising the quality of life, creating the conditions and possibilities for the broad masses of the people to enjoy higher-level education and medical services, and vividly interpreting the living practice in which investing in things serves the people and is ultimately oriented toward the people. To adhere to the close integration of investing in things and investing in people, we must conform to the changes in the stage of development and the principal contradiction in society, firmly grasp the people-oriented nature of modernization, base ourselves on the economic and social development goals of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, devote ourselves to promoting the unity of the comprehensive enrichment of things and the all-round development of the person, and better realize the modernization of the person.

The dialectical unity of short-term efficacy and long-term potential. From the temporal dimension, there are differences between investing in things and investing in people in terms of the return cycle. Investing in things yields results quickly and has a short cycle, rapidly forming physical workload, meeting our country's investment needs in such fields as industrial transformation and upgrading, infrastructure quality improvement, and security capacity building, as well as in such fields as scientific and technological innovation, the digital economy, and green transformation, and having a direct stimulating effect on economic growth. Investing in people has the characteristics of current-period input, long-term appreciation, and multi-party benefit; the human capital accumulated is not depleted through use, but can instead continue to appreciate through repeated practice. Looking from the 15th Five-Year Plan period and beyond, investing in people can not only optimize the structure of material capital and human capital, but also help form counter-cyclical, sustainable large-scale consumption. To adhere to the close integration of investing in things and investing in people, we must maintain historical patience and strategic resolve, promote the structural optimization and gear-shifting efficiency improvement of investing in things, promote the establishment and improvement of a long-term mechanism for investing in people, pay attention both to current economic growth and to strategic savings oriented toward the future, and promote the articulation of investment in "things" and in "people" in the development cycle.

The dialectical unity of tangible capital and intangible capital. From the effect dimension, investing in things mainly forms tangible material capital, while investing in people mainly forms intangible human capital. The two do not play their roles independently, but rather support and empower each other, producing a value-multiplying effect. For example, in the process of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, an advanced intelligent manufacturing production line, if lacking engineers and technical talent, may be nothing more than a pile of expensive scrap iron; a creative scientific research team, if lacking advanced experimental equipment, computing platforms, and database support, will find it difficult to transform its inspiration into practical results. By both investing in things—building laboratories, new-type infrastructure, and other innovation platforms—and investing in people—cultivating top-notch innovative talent and strengthening talent support—we can promote high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, enhance the country's core competitiveness, and provide strong support for the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. To adhere to the close integration of investing in things and investing in people, we must provide support for the all-round development of the person through the high-quality accumulation of material capital, inject impetus into the iterative upgrading of material capital through the steady improvement of human capital, form a virtuous cycle of mutual empowerment, and thereby promote the coordinated accumulation of material capital and human capital, jointly promoting the sustained growth of total factor productivity and the improvement of the people's quality of life.

The dialectical unity of efficiency and equity. Investing in things provides objective conditions for production practice and innovation and creation, and often follows the principle of "efficiency first." Strengthening guidance over it, consolidating the development foundation with effective investment, focusing on improving the quality and efficiency of development, and making investment in things fit the needs of the people are conducive to making investing in things more efficient and more promising. Investing in people focuses on all person-related inputs, including individual growth, rights and interests protection, environmental optimization, and institutional support, creating fair development opportunities and space for capacity enhancement for individuals. Increasing investment in education, medical care, skills training, social security, and other areas is conducive to safeguarding and improving people's livelihood in the course of development, maintaining social fairness and justice, improving the people's quality of life, promoting the enjoyment of more equal opportunities and conditions by different groups in the course of development, and continuously expanding the space for human development. To adhere to the close integration of investing in things and investing in people, we must give full play to the important role of investing in things in consolidating the material foundation of common prosperity, better bring into play the role of investing in people as the core pathway for promoting the improvement of people's livelihood and social fairness, promote a virtuous cycle between the enhancement of productive forces and the improvement of people's livelihood, build the competitiveness of long-term economic development, drive high-quality economic and social development, and inject profound and enduring momentum into the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country.

(Author's affiliation: Wuxi National High-tech Zone Development Research Institute (无锡国家高新区发展研究院))

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Strengthen exchanges on governance experience and jointly advance modernization

This July, the international seminar "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the World" was held in Yinchuan, Ningxia, attended by more than 120 leaders of foreign political parties and others from over 50 countries. Foreign guests attending the seminar stated that China's historic victory in completely eradicating absolute poverty is a landmark achievement in the course of human civilization, that China's poverty reduction practice offers experience worthy of study and reference for developing countries, and that they hope to strengthen exchanges on governance experience with the Communist Party of China and jointly advance the modernization processes of their respective countries.

Treating poverty reduction as a complete, sustained systemic project
Mabel Chinomona, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front and President of the Senate

The integrated rice-fish farming model protects the ecological environment while enabling farming households to gain more income through rice cultivation and aquaculture; renewable energy projects revitalize land resources and develop green industries, broadening channels for increasing people's incomes; high-end manufacturing, sportswear, agricultural product processing and other industries have created thousands of jobs. The development achievements we have seen in Ningxia vividly confirm the practical power of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

What struck me most deeply and also delighted me is that the various development models implemented in Ningxia give full consideration to women and girls. Local women have gained opportunities to participate equally in economic activities, have become participants in economic development, possess multiple sources of income, and their degree of economic independence has risen substantially.

Ningxia's systematic approach to development has also impressed me deeply. The locality has not treated poverty reduction as a short-term assistance measure, but rather regards it as a complete, sustained systemic project. Formerly impoverished villages have been transformed into hotbeds of economic development, reflecting the farsighted leadership of the Communist Party of China, the solid and thorough implementation of policies, and the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly.

These experiences are of great reference value to Zimbabwe. The most important lesson China has given us is that poverty reduction must rely on industry as the driver and be based on local comparative advantages; it cannot depend on a "one-size-fits-all" development plan. Political commitment, targeted policy implementation, rural industrialization, skills training, infrastructure development, and providing the masses with sustainable income-generating channels are all crucial. These experiences are highly compatible with Zimbabwe's development goals of achieving inclusive growth and improving the lives of rural residents. Zimbabwe and China have enormous space for cooperation in such fields as poverty reduction, rural revitalization, agricultural modernization, and empowerment of grassroots communities. Deepened exchanges between the two sides will promote mutual learning of advanced experience, help Zimbabwe eliminate poverty, and accelerate rural transformation and development.

Exploring effective pathways to improve people's well-being
Mohamed Ouzzine, Secretary General of the Popular Movement of Morocco and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives

There is a saying in Arab countries: "Seek knowledge, even if it is in China." In the past, the camel caravans on the ancient Silk Road carried not only silk, porcelain and spices, but also conveyed knowledge, wisdom and values. Although geographically distant, people-to-people and cultural exchanges have brought Arab countries and China closer together. Following in the footsteps of our forebears, we conducted in-depth exchanges at this international seminar, exploring effective pathways to eliminate poverty and improve people's well-being by drawing on China's unique and inspiring experience.

For a long time, poverty has been one of the most prominent challenges in global development and public governance, and a common difficulty facing developing countries in their modernization processes. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have placed the fight against poverty in a prominent position in governance. Under the wise leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, China has achieved a historic victory in completely eradicating absolute poverty, with nearly 100 million rural poor people lifted out of poverty, all 832 poor counties removed from the poverty list, and all 128,000 poor villages removed from the poverty list — an achievement recorded in the annals of the Chinese nation's development and indeed in the entire course of human civilization.

Through east-west cooperation, Ningxia has brought qualitative changes to local development, reflecting the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance among regions. Ningxia's inspiring development achievements have enabled us to understand that every policy formulated to eliminate poverty must be adapted to local conditions.

Eliminating poverty is a collective responsibility, and strengthening international cooperation is very important. China has put forward the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the Belt and Road Initiative, is committed to common development, adheres to the principle of multilateralism, and supports international organizations in playing a greater role. Morocco places particular importance on cooperation with China in the fields of development and poverty reduction, and firmly believes that the two countries can exchange experience and learn from each other in such areas as targeted poverty alleviation and social security.

Using China's experience to improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction policies
Gulom Kholimzoda, Chairman of the Socialist Party of Tajikistan

Over the past decades, China has presented to the world an impressive example of economic and social development. Since the beginning of the new era, under the strong leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, poverty reduction has been placed at the priority position of the national development strategy and translated into clear, assessable indicators that must be implemented. China's successful practice in poverty alleviation shows that the realization of a national strategy requires a high degree of unity between the goals and actions of governments at all levels, as well as the formation of joint forces among Party and government organs, business entities and all sectors of society.

Chinese modernization has attracted wide attention from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We should identify the principles within it that have universal reference significance: formulating long-term strategic plans, implementing targeted policies, accumulating human capital, promoting social integration through infrastructure development, and seeking balanced development.

Tajikistan hopes to rely on its national development strategy to break the predicament of being cut off from the outside world in terms of transportation, and to develop the energy industry and processing industries. Drawing on China's development experience and combining it with its own national conditions, Tajikistan will promote further socio-economic development and improve the effectiveness of its poverty reduction policies. Tajikistan and China are good neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, good friends of sincere mutual trust, and good partners of win-win cooperation. Tajikistan-China cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative framework is of far-reaching significance, helping to enhance regional connectivity and open up new prospects for the development of both countries.

Both Chinese modernization and Tajikistan's development powerfully prove that as long as the ruling party and government keep the people in their hearts and move forward step by step, even the grandest goals will ultimately be realized. I wish the two countries continued progress along the path of win-win cooperation, mutual respect and common development, so as to better benefit the peoples of both countries.

Poverty reduction requires strong leadership
Kapar Kanel, Head of China Affairs of the Foreign Department of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)

The Communist Party of China attaches great importance to poverty governance. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, under the helm and leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China has won the battle against poverty and historically resolved the problem of absolute poverty.

I believe China's poverty reduction governance system contains the following core concepts and methods: upholding the leadership of the Party, upholding the people-centered development philosophy, targeted poverty alleviation, improving infrastructure, advancing agricultural modernization, carrying out industrial poverty alleviation, strengthening human capital cultivation, and paying attention to coordinating ecological protection with economic development. At present, China has shifted the focus of its work on agriculture, rural areas and farmers to the broader development goal of comprehensive rural revitalization. Comprehensive rural revitalization aims not only to hold the bottom line of preventing large-scale relapse into poverty, but also to narrow regional development gaps, improve the rural governance system, raise the level of public services, and promote coordinated urban-rural development.

China's poverty alleviation practice has provided important inspiration for the development of Global South countries. First, there must be firm political commitment and a long-term national development vision, ensuring the consistency of poverty reduction policies by formulating long-term poverty reduction development plans. Second, targeted poverty reduction policies must be implemented on the basis of practical research. Third, inclusive economic growth must be upheld, using economic development to drive employment and income growth, with sustained investment in education, medical care, infrastructure and social security. Fourth, infrastructure such as roads, railways and electricity must be vigorously advanced, effectively opening up channels connecting villages with markets, employment and public services. Fifth, investment in human capital must be continuously increased so that people master skills suited to the needs of modern economic development. Sixth, scientific and technological and digital innovation must be deeply cultivated, relying on new business forms such as e-commerce and digital networks to open up new tracks for rural development.

The important inspiration of China's poverty reduction experience is to establish development confidence and tap development potential. China's practice has proven that poverty is not an inescapable fate; with strong leadership, a scientific policy system and efficient governance models, and by adhering to a people-centered development philosophy, the problem of poverty will ultimately be overcome.

Efficient poverty reduction must adhere to a people-centered approach
Chea Munyrith, President of the Cambodian-Chinese Relationship Development Association

Poverty reduction is by no means simply raising residents' incomes, but a systemic project that enables the fruits of development to benefit all the people. China's lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty over the past decades is one of the greatest achievements in the history of human development. This feat has not only improved the lives of the Chinese people, but has also made a major contribution to advancing the global cause of poverty reduction and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

China's poverty reduction experience provides valuable reference for Cambodia. The Cambodia-China friendship poverty alleviation demonstration village project in Danlong Village, Batheay District, Kampong Cham Province, is precisely a typical example of drawing on China's experience in light of Cambodia's local realities and adapting measures to local conditions. Based on the construction practice of the demonstration village, I believe Cambodia can draw four points of inspiration from China's poverty reduction concepts and practices.

First, it is necessary to improve rural infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water supply, to smooth urban-rural connections, improve living conditions and broaden income-generating channels. In April this year, a 605-meter cement road in the demonstration village was completed, opening up the village's transportation links with surrounding towns and villages and greatly facilitating the outward transport and sale of agricultural products. Second, it is necessary to ensure clean drinking water, sanitary facilities and a livable environment, and effectively improve villagers' well-being. The demonstration village has now built a photovoltaic water purification system with a daily purification capacity of 25 cubic meters, which can reliably and sustainably guarantee the village's domestic water needs. Third, it is necessary to vigorously develop education and skills training, consolidate the foundation of human capital, broaden employment channels and increase household income. The demonstration village has built a two-story multipurpose building as a permanent venue for skills training, science education and community activities. Fourth, it is necessary to mobilize villagers to jointly build a green, clean and sustainable rural environment, while improving quality of life and development potential.

The above practice proves that efficient poverty reduction must adhere to a people-centered approach, coordinate the advancement of infrastructure development, public service provision, educational empowerment, ecological protection and sustainable rural development, and take the path of integrated and comprehensive governance.

Africa-China poverty reduction cooperation emphasizes sustainable development
Mahmoud Dawir, member of the Political Bureau of the National Progressive Unionist Party of Egypt

China's poverty reduction is one of the most successful practices in global poverty reduction. Through experience sharing, project implementation and economic and trade cooperation, China has become an important development cooperation partner for many African countries.

China has long attached great importance to the cause of poverty reduction and placed it as a priority in its economic and social policies. In the process of poverty reduction, China has adopted a variety of measures, covering rural economic system reform, coordinated regional development, and targeted assistance to poor areas, forming a complete poverty reduction governance system. China insists on dynamically adjusting poverty standards according to the level of people's livelihood development, ensuring that resources are precisely directed toward the most disadvantaged groups.

China bears the international responsibility of a major country, promotes the improvement of the global economic governance system, and helps less developed countries move toward higher levels of development. China's remarkable achievements in poverty reduction provide valuable experience that can be drawn upon by countries seeking development and improvement of people's livelihoods. China has not limited its vision to its own borders, but has actively expanded international poverty reduction cooperation: supporting the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, proposing the Global Development Initiative, and deepening poverty reduction cooperation with other developing countries, especially African countries. Africa-China poverty reduction cooperation emphasizes sustainable development rather than being confined to traditional aid models. In Africa, China focuses on advancing infrastructure project construction, helping improve transportation and energy networks, supporting the development of agricultural industries, building industrial parks, and carrying out technology transfer and talent training, thereby creating jobs and raising the living standards of local people.

China's experience shows that poverty reduction is a comprehensive development project supported by long-term planning, human investment, economic growth and coordinated governance. Africa-China cooperation is based on the development needs and national priority directions of African countries. It is an important pathway for helping the African continent move toward modernization, and will promote Africa's sustainable development and continuously improve the living standards of the African people.

Witnessing the successful practice of poverty reduction theory with Chinese characteristics
Indra Sajwan, Professor and Economist at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago

Since the reform and opening up, more than 800 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty. This is an unprecedented poverty reduction practice in human history in terms of scale, intensity and the number of people benefited. This time, together with representatives from more than 30 countries, I visited grassroots communities and development projects in China's Gansu and Ningxia, witnessing the successful practice of poverty reduction theory with Chinese characteristics.

General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized the important experience and understanding formed in China's fight against poverty as "seven adherences," namely adhering to the leadership of the Party, adhering to the people-centered development philosophy, and so on. China's various ministries and commissions, local governments, enterprises, universities and communities have worked in concert around the goal of poverty alleviation, with clear powers and responsibilities for each task and thorough assessment and accountability. After winning the battle against poverty, China established an online monitoring system with "one-click application," building a firewall against relapse into poverty. Party members and cadres in Hongsibu District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, regularly visit households, establish close ties with the masses, identify risks of relapse into poverty in advance, and proactively carry out assistance.

During the visits, I saw that many assistance projects include skills training, cooperative entrepreneurship support and cultivation of local specialty industries, fully reflecting that the foundation of sustainable poverty reduction lies in enabling the masses to improve their lives with their own hands and wisdom. The Yanchi tan sheep industry in Ningxia is a vivid practice of this concept. The local government, private enterprises and farming households work together in a three-way linkage to upgrade the traditional breeding industry into a high value-added advantageous industry, continuously increasing farmers' incomes. We listened to villagers tell stories of income growth and truly felt their heartfelt pride.

The trip to Gansu and Ningxia gave us a deep understanding that the development paths of different countries each have their own characteristics. China's development thinking of putting the people at the center, implementing targeted policies, coordinating multi-party governance, and empowering grassroots people has global reference significance.

Taking a modernization path oriented toward improving people's livelihoods
Maite Mola, Vice President of the Party of the European Left and Deputy International Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain

China's poverty reduction practice invites reflection: the quality of modernization is reflected not only in economic growth rates, industrial scale, scientific and technological strength, and global economic participation, but the most core criterion for testing it is the substantive transformation of people's living standards. When every household has good housing, education, medical care, employment, income and prospects for personal development, modernization departs from abstract concepts and becomes a real life shared by all the people.

Poverty is not an innate fate of any nation or region, but a historically formed, materially fragile system of subsistence whose root cause lies in society's lack of complete conditions for production and livelihood security, and which can be thoroughly transformed at the structural level. China's practice of eliminating absolute poverty proves that such transformation requires the coordinated realization of political leadership, national governance capacity, urban-rural organization, industrial development, mass participation, verification of results, and prevention of relapse into poverty.

The cases we saw in Ningxia clearly and directly demonstrate this operating logic: Yanchi proves that building a complete industrial chain based on local resources can enhance laborers' position in distribution; the Minning cooperation proves that regional complementarity and cultivating industrial capacity can achieve endogenous development; Hongsibu's ecological migration proves that as long as policies fit the people, they can help vulnerable groups obtain employment and integrate into community life. Together, these practices show that poverty reduction is not merely about raising incomes, but about reshaping the material position of the masses within the industrial and social systems. This is precisely the global value of China's poverty reduction experience — cultivating the capacity for self-directed development and orienting development goals toward the people's lives can change their disadvantaged position in development.

Poverty reduction must rely on political actors to transform social demands into top-level strategies, translate strategies into public policies, and ensure that policies genuinely benefit the masses. Political parties of all countries should strengthen dialogue, cooperation and experience exchange, and jointly take a modernization path oriented toward improving people's livelihoods, contributing to global common development.

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Wang Yuan, Bai Ziwei, Han Shuo

版式设计：蔡华伟

Layout design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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Over 40 Years, He Has Guarded Villagers' Health with One Arm (Warm Album)

By: 本报记者 尹晓宇

On a summer day, rain poured in torrents, but Wang Shoudao, the one-armed village doctor of Tangyang Village (唐杨村), Jijie Town (界集镇), Sihong County (泗洪县), Suqian City (宿迁市), Jiangsu Province, paid no heed to the fierce wind and heavy rain. He put on his raincoat, shouldered his medical kit, grasped his wooden branch crutch, mounted his tricycle for the disabled, and headed toward the villagers' homes.

His first stop was the home of villager Yang Dingliang (杨定良). Because of the heavy rain, Wang Shoudao rode very slowly, the rain beating ceaselessly against his face. Upon entering Old Yang's home, he first wiped the rainwater from his face, took off his raincoat, set down his medical kit, and took out an electronic blood pressure monitor.

A month earlier, Yang Dingliang, who is over 70 years old, had called him saying he felt dizzy after finishing farm work. It was already 8 p.m. at the time, and without a second word, he rode his tricycle over. After asking about his condition and measuring his blood pressure, he found that his systolic pressure had reached 170 mmHg. Yang Dingliang had a history of hypertension. Wang Shoudao told him that the dizziness was caused by high blood pressure and that he needed to take his antihypertensive medication on time. Wang Shoudao adjusted Yang Dingliang's medication regimen and urged him to take his medicine on schedule, to eat less oil and less salt in his diet, and said he would come back for a follow-up in a month, and that he should call at any time if he felt unwell.

This time he came to Yang Dingliang's home because the follow-up time had arrived, and his medication was nearly finished. Wang Shoudao wrapped the blood pressure monitor's cuff around Yang Dingliang's arm, measured his blood pressure, and then asked about his recent diet. After a careful examination, Wang Shoudao gave specific instructions: "Your blood pressure has come down now. Let's continue taking the medicine on time. In your daily meals, you still need less salt and less oil to keep your blood pressure stable."

Yang Dingliang acknowledged him, took the newly prepared medicine, and wanted Wang Shoudao to wait until the rain stopped before leaving. Doctor Wang waved his hand and said, "There are still several more households I need to visit. It's no trouble."

Leaving Yang Dingliang's home, the one-armed village doctor went on to two more households.

Born in 1966, Wang Shoudao, relying on a single arm, has been guarding the health of Tangyang Village's fellow villagers through wind and rain for 42 years.

Becoming a doctor had been Wang Shoudao's wish since childhood. As a child, he lost his left hand in an accident, and later fell from a height, leaving his legs injured and deformed. But fate did not defeat him. The torment of illness and pain made him secretly resolve to become a doctor, to 救死扶伤 (jiù sǐ fú shāng - "rescue the dying, support the wounded," to save lives and heal the injured). After graduating from junior high school, he first apprenticed under a doctor to learn medicine, and later pursued further study at the county health school. In 1984, he fulfilled his wish and became a village doctor. To practice writing prescriptions with one hand, he would first take out prescription paper with his right hand, use the residual limb of his left arm to hold the paper in place, and then grasp the pen with his right hand to write. When practicing organizing medicines, his arm had to be raised and lowered repeatedly, and beads of sweat dripped straight down from his forehead. Then he practiced changing dressings with one hand, giving injections with one hand... The physical disability brought many inconveniences to his work, but he overcame them one by one.

Tangyang Village covers an area of 16 square kilometers and has nearly 3,000 residents. The villagers live scattered, and left-behind elderly and children make up more than half of the population. To make it convenient for elderly villagers to seek medical care, Old Wang frequently makes house calls. The villagers often joke: "Among the several hundred households in the village, he knows exactly which direction every family's stove faces."

Sometimes when house calls coincided with severe weather, Old Wang would grit his teeth and persevere. On a winter night in 1996, snow fell heavily, accumulating past the ankles. Because he needed to treat a sick elderly person living alone, he walked through the snow for more than an hour carrying his medical kit before reaching the old person's home. When he finished the consultation and returned home, it was already dawn. On another occasion, on the return trip, a sudden thunderstorm broke out. As Wang Shoudao was on a downhill section of road, the path was muddy, and suddenly his left foot slipped. He fell heavily, and a deep gash was cut into his leg, with blood flowing freely.

As he grew older, Wang Shoudao found that his walking was becoming increasingly unsteady. In the spring of 2020, he deliberately found two chinaberry branches to make into crutches. His phone contacts list stores the numbers of more than 400 villagers, and he also keeps a thick ledger. Who needs a follow-up, who needs medication, who needs an examination - he knows all of it 一清二楚 (yī qīng èr chǔ - "one clear, two distinct," to know something perfectly clearly). Over all these years, before official clinic hours, Wang Shoudao would open the clinic early to accommodate villagers who arrived early that day.

Thanks to decades of good reputation, Wang Shoudao became the village's "famous doctor" and also received honors such as "Suqian Good Person" (宿迁好人).

At the beginning, his wife had lost her ability to work due to illness, and his two children were still in school. The whole family lived on his monthly salary of just over 2,000 yuan. Relatives and friends urged him to change jobs. A well-meaning person introduced Wang Shoudao to a factory doctor position at an enterprise in southern Jiangsu, with a monthly income of over 6,000 yuan. Wang Shoudao refused outright: "I cannot leave my fellow villagers, and they cannot leave me! I am a Communist Party member; no matter what, I cannot abandon the health of the villagers." To supplement the family income, he transferred more than 50 mu of land to plant crops, contracting the heavy labor of plowing and harvesting to the local agricultural machinery service team for management.

"Now the conditions at the village clinic are much better. Not only has it moved into a building, but the medicines for treating common illnesses, especially chronic diseases, are also very complete. In recent years, my work has shifted from single-disease diagnosis and treatment to chronic disease management." Wang Shoudao, who is about to retire, has always been concerned about the villagers' health: "As long as I can still walk, I will definitely keep spreading health knowledge to my fellow villagers, until the day I can no longer work."

(Cai Min participated in the reporting and writing of this article.)

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After the end of Sanfu, here’s how to maintain health (Service Window)

By: 本报记者 申少铁

This year's "three fu" period totals 40 days, with August 23 being the last day of the final fu. After leaving the fu period, the sense of autumn grows stronger — how should one properly maintain health? What issues should the elderly, people with chronic diseases, and other groups pay attention to?

Fan Maorong (樊茂蓉), chief physician and director of the Pulmonary (Respiratory) Department of Xiyuan Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (中国中医科学院西苑医院), said: "Traditional Chinese medicine health preservation emphasizes nourishing yin in autumn and winter and adapting one's regimen to the seasons. After leaving the fu period, dietary regulation, while also addressing clearing summer heat and resolving dampness, should gradually transition toward moistening, sour, light, and warm qualities. Moistening nourishes the lungs and prevents dryness; sour restrains and gathers lung qi; light strengthens the spleen and harmonizes the stomach; warm protects and nourishes yang qi."

In autumn health preservation, many people think of "sticking autumn fat" (贴秋膘). Is "sticking autumn fat" necessary, and how should it be done?

Fan Maorong believes that in the past, people "stuck autumn fat" because their appetite was poor in summer while physical exertion was great, and they needed to supplement protein and fat to prepare for winter. But modern people are prone to overnutrition and insufficient exercise; with summer air conditioning and cold drinks constantly in play, the spleen and stomach are already weak, so one should not blindly follow the trend of "sticking autumn fat" — it should vary according to the individual (因人而异, yīn rén ér yì - "differs according to the person," varies from person to person).

If one needs to "stick autumn fat," the focus should be on gentle supplementation with quality first. White meat is preferred, such as duck meat, fish meat, and shrimp meat, which nourish yin and moisten dryness with low fat content, avoiding excessive greasiness; lean meat comes second, such as beef and pork tenderloin.

The important things in autumn dietary supplementation are moistening the lungs, preventing dryness, and aiding digestion. Fan Maorong believes that one should increase intake of lily bulb, white fungus, lotus root, Chinese yam, and pear to moisten the lungs and prevent dryness; crucian carp, perch, and tofu to gently supplement qi and blood; appropriately increase hawthorn, dark plum, grapes, apples, and lemons to astringe and promote fluid production, stimulate the appetite and aid digestion; reduce consumption of ginger, chili peppers, leeks, mutton, and greasy heavy flavors to prevent harming the spleen and aggravating dryness. Food preparation should favor stewing, steaming, and boiling; grilling and deep-frying are discouraged. Those with phlegm-dampness or spleen deficiency should first dispel dampness and strengthen the spleen, and should not supplement abruptly.

From summer to autumn, nature's yang qi gradually recedes and yin qi gradually grows. Fan Maorong suggests going to bed half an hour earlier than in summer and getting up 15–20 minutes earlier than in summer, thereby conforming to the generation of yang qi. Afternoon naps should be appropriately shortened, controlled within 20 minutes. In addition, mornings and evenings in autumn carry a chill, so one should cover the abdomen well when sleeping to avoid catching cold.

After leaving the fu period, the temperature difference between day and night widens, and exercise time and intensity should also change. One may engage in outdoor exercise around sunrise or around 5 p.m., such as brisk walking, jogging, tai chi, and Baduanjin (八段锦) to generate yang qi, but the exercise volume should be such that one sweats slightly and feels refreshed, avoiding profuse sweating. After 8 p.m., vigorous exercise should be avoided, lest it disturb yang and cause insomnia.

After leaving the fu period, hot weather may still occur — this is the so-called "autumn tiger" (秋老虎), characterized by midday heat like summer and chilly mornings and evenings, with temperature differences between day and night reaching over 10 degrees Celsius. Fan Maorong reminds that to deal with the "autumn tiger," the air conditioner temperature should be set at 26–28 degrees Celsius, avoiding cold air blowing directly on the body; a timer may be set to automatically turn off 2–3 hours after falling asleep. Bathing should use warm water; cold water showers are absolutely forbidden. Cold water causes the pores to suddenly close, trapping summer heat inside the body so it cannot dissipate, leading to symptoms such as fever without sweating, headache, and heavy body sensation. For drinking water, one should drink small amounts frequently, mainly warm boiled water and light tea, avoiding iced beverages.

In autumn health preservation, special groups need attention. In autumn, the temperature difference between day and night is large; elderly people should postpone morning exercise until after sunrise to avoid low morning temperatures triggering blood pressure fluctuations and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Attention should be paid to joint warmth to prevent cold and dampness. Among chronic disease patients, those with hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should measure blood pressure frequently, avoid morning cold, and avoid vigorous activity; patients with respiratory diseases need to prevent autumn dryness from harming the lungs and maintain indoor humidity; diabetic patients have increased appetite in autumn and need strict dietary control to maintain blood sugar stability; stomach disease patients should avoid raw, cold, and greasy foods to prevent recurrence of old conditions. Children have insufficient lung and spleen function, so the belly and back need protection to prevent colds and diarrhea; excessive consumption of raw cold fruits should be avoided; "autumn freezing" should also be moderate, and outdoor activities should avoid wind exposure after profuse sweating.

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Free influenza vaccination for rural residents aged 65 and above.

People's Daily, Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Wang Guan) — The reporter learned from the Ministry of Finance (财政部): Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Finance has kept a close eye on the urgent difficulties and concerns of the people, continuously increasing efforts to safeguard and improve people's livelihoods, and service guarantees for "the elderly and the young" have become more robust. Special funds have been arranged to support free influenza vaccination for groups including people aged 65 and above in rural areas. More than 25 million infants and young children and their families have received the 2026 childcare subsidy, and approximately 24 million person-times of children enrolled in kindergartens have enjoyed the policy of exemption from childcare and education fees for the year before primary school.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance has allocated more than 160 billion yuan in student financial aid funds, and it is estimated that 150 million person-times will benefit throughout the year.

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Local authorities urged to swiftly handle issue of dipping cabbage in formaldehyde solution during procurement

Our newspaper, Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Lin Lili) — In response to the issue of "dipping cabbage in formaldehyde solution during the procurement link" in Kangbao County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, which has drawn public attention, the State Council Food Safety Office (国务院食安办), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (农业农村部), and the State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局) have attached great importance to the matter. At the earliest opportunity, they guided the local authorities to investigate and verify the situation, handle the case strictly and swiftly in accordance with the law, trace the flow of the cabbages involved, and strictly prevent problematic products from entering the market.

At the same time, drawing inferences from one case (举一反三, jǔ yī fǎn sān - "raise one, reverse three," to infer the whole from a single instance), they have organized all localities to immediately carry out special sampling inspections and market screening of perishable vegetables such as cabbage. Once any illegal or non-compliant conduct is discovered, it will be severely punished and dealt with heavily, with no tolerance whatsoever, so as to earnestly safeguard the people's dietary safety.

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Heilongjiang introduces policies to support entrepreneurship and drive employment

Our newspaper Harbin, August 23 (Reporter Fang Yuan): Reporters learned from the special press conference on "Heilongjiang Province's situation regarding entrepreneurship driving employment" held by the Information Office of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government that since the beginning of this year, the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security (黑龙江省人力资源和社会保障厅) has adhered to policy integration and ecosystem empowerment, deeply implemented the "Chuangxiang Longjiang" action (创响龙江行动), increased policy support for entrepreneurship driving employment, strengthened the guidance of entrepreneurship models, and strived to build a support system of "four-creation linkage" — entrepreneurship training, entrepreneurship services, entrepreneurship incubation, and entrepreneurship activities — accelerating the formation of a benign development ecosystem of "using entrepreneurship to gather industry, using industry to carry employment."

According to the introduction, Heilongjiang Province has improved the support system for entrepreneurship driving employment. It has issued 10 policy measures to further encourage and support entrepreneurship driving employment, focusing on key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers as well as start-up business entities, precisely matching their core demands in entrepreneurship subsidies, financing support, venue guarantees, entrepreneurship services, and other aspects, taking the improvement of entrepreneurship quality and the strengthening of employment carrying capacity as the foothold, and promoting the iterative upgrading of policies for entrepreneurship driving employment. It has strengthened fiscal and financial policy support, covering 3 measures: increasing the guarantee of special funds for entrepreneurship driving employment, raising the quota of entrepreneurship guarantee loans, and broadening diversified financing channels; strengthened entrepreneurship capacity cultivation, including 3 measures: precisely carrying out entrepreneurship training, carrying out entrepreneurship practice exercises, and raising entrepreneurship subsidy standards; and strengthened entrepreneurship service guarantees, including 4 measures: building professional entrepreneurship guidance teams, expanding the standardized supply of incubation carriers, laying out industry-creation integrated entrepreneurship streets, and building the "Chuangxiang Longjiang" competition matrix.

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Netizens praise the delivery rider for being "brave and resourceful" (a helping hand)

By: 本报记者 乔 栋

If you encounter a knife-wielding attacker on the road, what would you do?
Delivery rider Yu Rongxian's three-step response drew widespread admiration:
Step one: He took down the delivery order still waiting on his e-bike, bent over, and placed it safely by the roadside.
Step two: He rode his e-bike around to behind the attacker, entering the man's blind spot.
Step three: Watching for the right moment, he acted decisively — twisting the throttle of the e-bike while jumping off the vehicle himself.
With rider and vehicle separated, the e-bike charged forward and struck the attacker precisely in the back. The attacker fell to the ground, and the blade in his hand dropped to one side. The crowd stepped forward and subdued him together.
The scene, which took place on the evening of August 18 on Beixiao Street in the Chengdong District of Xining City, Qinghai Province, led many netizens to applaud Yu Rongxian's quick thinking.
Earlier, after the attacker had stabbed someone, the scene had fallen into tension — some members of the public grabbed long sticks to block him from a distance, while more people gathered around, not daring to approach. Yu Rongxian, who was delivering food nearby, decided to get involved: "By then someone at the scene was already injured, and I felt I had to do something. A broken e-bike can be repaired, but if a person is gone, they're really gone. I didn't have time to be afraid — if I could help, I would help!"
"I could see the attacker was drunk, and his attention was entirely on the man across from him holding a stick. I thought I couldn't take the knife with my bare hands — even when acting bravely, you have to protect yourself first — and the best way was to use the e-bike," Yu Rongxian recalled. To avoid causing excessive harm to the attacker, he deliberately did not twist the throttle fully, controlling the force of the impact.
Later, police officers and medical personnel arrived to handle the situation. Yu Rongxian picked up the e-bike, whose rearview mirror had been smashed in the collision, retrieved the delivery order, got on a colleague's vehicle, and finished delivering the order that had gone past its time limit.
After the scene video was uploaded to the internet in the early hours of August 19, it quickly went viral. His "textbook-style" judgment and handling won him a rapid following. Netizens praised him as "brave and resourceful, bold yet careful."
"I just did what I had to do," Yu Rongxian said.
Yu Rongxian, 21, comes from Gonghe County in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai. He previously worked in logistics and decoration, and had been delivering food for less than six months.
In the view of Zhang Xin, station manager of the Meituan Xining Xiadu station where Yu Rongxian works, this kind of behavior from Yu is not surprising: "This young man is genuinely warm-hearted and has sound values." It is worth noting that within one year, three riders from this station have made the local trending list, including Meng Yubo, a "Qinghai Good Person" who knelt to rescue a passerby who had fainted, and Zheng Tianlin, who helped search for a lost elderly person. Zhang Xin said: "The station helps riders who do good deeds file appeals, so that late deliveries don't affect their performance reviews." After the food delivery platform learned of Yu Rongxian's act of bravery, it revoked the late-delivery record from that night. On the morning of August 20, the platform presented him with a banner of honor and a special award of 5,000 yuan for righteous and courageous conduct.
August 20 happened to be Yu Rongxian's 21st birthday, and his colleagues bought a cake to celebrate with him.
On August 21, the Dongguan Street Police Station of the Xining Municipal Public Security Bureau's Chengdong Branch filed a case to investigate the assault. A reporter learned from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee that the political and legal authorities will commend Yu Rongxian.

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Editor: Cheng Chen, He Yuche, Liu Zihe

Layout design: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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A Pearl of Ancient Architecture Hanging on a Cliff (Cultural China Tour · Journey Through Chinese Heritage · Traditional Architecture)

By: 本报记者 周人杰 马睿姗

In the southeast of Hunyuan County, Datong, Shanxi, between the sheer cliffs of Cuiping Peak in Jinlong Gorge of Mount Heng of the Northern Sacred Mountain, the Xuankong Temple (Hanging Temple) is embedded high in the cliff alcoves of the mountainside. Red walls and flying eaves layer and overlap in staggered array; from afar it resembles a pavilion painting suspended in midair, magnificent in scale, praised by the ancients as a "great spectacle under heaven."
The Xuankong Temple, first built during the Northern Wei period, is a rare temple in China uniting the three teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. Since its completion, through successive dynasties of restoration, it has a history of more than 1,500 years to this day, and in 1982 it was selected as a nationally key cultural relic protection unit.
Every timber and every stone is fashioned according to the terrain. The entire temple complex unfolds along a natural concave cliff; halls and pavilions of various sizes, plank roads, and winding corridors are arrayed along the mountain, combining precipitous grandeur with Chinese architectural aesthetics, vividly embodying the "unity of Heaven and humanity" construction philosophy of ancient Chinese architecture.
The "Great Spectacle under Heaven" Embedded in Midair
Standing on the ground and looking into the distance, the pavilions resemble a stage suspended by threads; after climbing up for a close view, the plank road allows only one person to pass sideways, and beyond the railing is a sheer cliff of ten thousand zhang. A gentle breeze brushes past, as if one can still hear the hammer and chisel sounds of Northern Wei craftsmen from more than a thousand years ago.
As evening approaches and the tourists disperse, Yue Lifang, director of the Xuankong Temple management office of the Mount Heng Scenic Area Management Center, is conducting her daily inspection tour within the scenic area. Since coming to work at the Mount Heng scenic area in 1993, she has watched over the Xuankong Temple for more than 30 years. "It is as if a jade tower of fairyland has descended from the sky; no matter how much I look, I never tire of it," Yue Lifang said as she walked.
"The 'hanging' of the Xuankong Temple embodies the ingenuity of site selection, principles of mechanics, and wisdom of material selection," Yue Lifang explained. The temple backs against a perilous cliff and faces a deep valley below, adopting a layout of "one courtyard, two towers," with the flying towers connected only by suspended plank roads.
The key technique in the construction of the Xuankong Temple is "half-inserted flying beams as the foundation, cleverly borrowing the rock as hidden support."
Craftsmen first chisel deep stone sockets into the hard limestone, select rot-resistant and insect-proof iron fir wood, soak it in tung oil for preservation, then use 27 tapered iron fir beams as crossbeams, embedding two-thirds of each into the rock mass, with wooden wedges driven behind the beam ends to spread them open, forming a self-locking fixed structure; exposed beam ends and standing pillars disperse lateral stress, and all beams, columns, floorboards, and railings are tightly joined with mortise and tenon joints. The slender pillars that appear to support the entire structure are in fact suspended and bearing no load; they are not the main load-bearing components. The entire temple uses not a single nail or rivet, relying entirely on mortise-and-tenon interlocking to connect beams and columns into a stable structure, which, together with the shelter of the natural mountain body, allows this ancient temple to stand firm through wind and frost and multiple earthquakes.
"The Xuankong Temple stands by borrowing the strength of the mountain. Many tourists who see it exclaim, 'Truly worthy of our lovely and fascinating ancestors!'" Yue Lifang said with a smile.
Why build it suspended in midair?
Li Xiangkui, a cultural research scholar at the Mount Heng Scenic Area Management Center, believes that the suspended construction was influenced by multiple factors: military defense, geographical space, religion, and disaster prevention.
During the Northern Wei period, wars were frequent, and buildings on flat ground were极易 damaged by the flames of war and bandits. Suspended halfway up a cliff, the temple could to a certain extent avoid the disturbances of military calamity and preserve itself.
Second, from the perspective of geographical space, the river valley at the foot of Cuiping Peak is narrow and常年 scoured by mountain torrents, unsuitable for large-scale construction; the cliff face of the mountain is flat and hard, and using the vertical cliff surface could both expand architectural space and avoid the flood hazards of the river channel.
"The ancients believed that above is Heaven and below is Earth, and that dwelling between cliff walls allows one to connect with the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth; halfway up a cliff, between Heaven and Earth, is an excellent place for cultivating immortality and worshipping the Buddha," Li Xiangkui said.
Building in suspension also provides natural disaster-prevention advantages. The mountain body at the top naturally forms a huge stone eave, so rainwater cannot directly scour the wooden halls, greatly reducing erosion by rain; the cliff walls can block fierce winds and scorching sun, slowing damage to the wood and extending the life of the ancient building.
Expert research holds that this cliff-attached structure built in the Northern Wei period, inserting wooden flying beams into the cliff wall and relying on cantilevered bearing, is a typical representative of cliff-suspended architecture in the north. Its construction philosophy of "borrowing elevation to adapt to mountain terrain" echoes from afar the stilted diaojiaolou buildings of the southwest; both adapt to local conditions, each with its own ingenuity, achieving the same effect by different means, together constituting two parallel technical lineages of ancient Chinese mountain timber-frame architecture.
Yang Yi, director of the Hunyuan County Cultural Relic Protection Research Center, believes that "with only a few cantilever beams bearing the weight of the building, it has survived more than a thousand years without rotting or decaying; it is a miracle in the history of architecture."
Fitting the Xuankong Temple with a "Stethoscope"
Having weathered a thousand years of wind and rain, the Xuankong Temple now faces many challenges.
The surge of visitors during peak tourism seasons, environmental vibration from surrounding construction, natural factors such as mountain weathering and rainwater erosion, and the earthquake risk existing in the Datong Basin all pose challenges to the protection of the ancient building.
"Scientifically surveying its health condition and identifying potential risks is the key to seismic protection of cultural relics. We need to formulate individualized protection plans based on the actual 'physical' condition of these structures," introduced Gao Xiao, deputy director of the Xuankong Temple management office of the Mount Heng Scenic Area Management Center.
In April 2026, the Shanxi Xuankong Temple completed the installation of a distributed fiber-optic vibration risk sensing system. Staff laid a fiber-optic sensing network at key beams, columns, and other core parts of the plank roads and the south and north towers of the Xuankong Temple.
Gao Xiao stated: "This system is like implanting 'sensory nerves' into the ancient building and fitting it with a 'stethoscope.' Without damaging the structure, it can monitor in real time the微小 loads caused by earthquakes, industrial vibration, and the movement of pedestrian traffic, providing a scientific basis for structural health risk warnings and visitor flow control."
In addition, the interior of the Xuankong Temple has been installed with a multifunctional infrared long-and-short-wave composite detector specially designed for ancient buildings, featuring high-definition visible-light image artificial intelligence fire recognition, capable of real-time monitoring of the dynamic distribution of the temperature field and early detection of smoldering fire hazards.
Immersively Experiencing the Mysteries of the Ancient Building
At night, when dusk envelops Mount Heng, thousands of tourists wait quietly on the walkway for the large-scale live landscape light-and-shadow performance Why the Xuankong Temple (何以悬空寺) to begin. The entire cliff face of Cuiping Peak, covering more than 37,000 square meters, transforms into a giant naked-eye 3D screen, merging landscape, ancient architecture, and light and shadow into one.
When visitors reach the main viewing platform directly opposite the Xuankong Temple, the performance enters its climax chapter, "Buddha Born from the Cliff: Construction," in which the thousand-meter cliff wall recreates the entire process of Northern Wei craftsmen opening the mountain to build the temple: on the cliff face, light and shadow outline the assembly of mortise-and-tenon joints, the layered cantilevering of the pavilions, craftsmen with ropes tied around their waists suspended in midair chiseling rock, and iron fir beams inserted horizontally into the rock mass one by one, dynamically reproducing the ingenuity of the construction. Throughout, tourists gaze upward in rapt attention, exclamations of wonder rising and falling with the shifting light and shadow, gradually coming to understand the craftsmanship wisdom behind the thousand-year-old building through this deep experience.
"Why the Xuankong Temple deeply integrates local characteristic elements such as Mount Heng culture and the history of the Xuankong Temple. While strictly adhering to the bottom line of cultural relic protection, it makes static cultural relics 'come alive' in the night, both activating Hunyuan County's nighttime economy and exploring new paths for the revitalization of ancient buildings and the deep integration of culture and tourism," introduced Zhu Shaolong, head of the marketing department of the Mount Heng Scenic Area Management Center.
During the peak tourism season each year, average daily visitor flow reaches 30,000, and because the daily quota for climbing the temple is limited, more than 90 percent of visitors cannot ascend the Xuankong Temple. In a corner of the Xuankong Temple scenic area, the MR (mixed reality) project "Lingjing Xuankong" (Spirit Realm Xuankong) makes up for the regret of those unable to climb. Visitors need only wear MR glasses, and though standing on flat ground, they obtain the experience of flying above the temple, immersively touring the main halls of the Xuankong Temple, viewing up close the extant Tang dynasty statues, Ming dynasty clay sculptures, and steles of successive dynasties, and with synchronized commentary, they can more directly feel the mechanical structure of the Xuankong Temple and the geographical mystery of its cliff-side site selection.
"I was already amazed watching documentaries before, but coming to the site I found it truly 巧夺天工 (qiǎo duó tiān gōng - "skill that outdoes nature," workmanship that rivals heaven's creation), as exquisite as a work of craft hanging on the cliff wall!" exclaimed a female tourist from Hebei surnamed Liu.
The music ends and the lights go out, and the Xuankong Temple returns to tranquility. Having endured a thousand years of vicissitudes, this ancient building, which manifests the Chinese nation's cultural spirit of inclusiveness and harmony, continues to spread the wisdom of the East in the fusion of tradition and modernity.

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Fengjie: Walking Through the "Canyon of Poetry" (Traveling with Poetry)

By: 本报记者 姜 峰

Setting Out from White Emperor City at Dawn
　　Li Bai (Tang Dynasty)
　　Leaving at dawn the White Emperor crowned with cloud,
　　I've sailed a thousand miles through canyons in a day.
　　With monkeys' sad adieus the riverbanks are loud;
　　My skiff has left ten thousand mountains far away.

　　The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River are not only a magnificent geographical landscape, but also a "canyon of poetry."
　　In ancient Chinese transportation, waterways were extremely important. The first gorge of the Three Gorges, running from west to east with the current, is the Qutang Gorge in today's Fengjie County, Chongqing, also known as "Kuimen" (Kui Gate). After the Three Gorges Dam impounded water, the water level of the Yangtze River rose by more than 100 meters. Even so, when taking a cruise ship through Kuimen, one still feels the cliffs towering on both sides, majestic and perilous. Imagine what scenery the ancients saw when they came here!
　　Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, Su Shi, Lu You... According to statistics, poets of successive dynasties created more than ten thousand poems in the small county of Fengjie; in particular, Du Fu, the "Sage of Poetry," wrote more than 400 poems in the less than two years he lived in Fengjie in his later years, reaching an astonishing creative peak.
　　In Fengjie, there has long been a tourism program of taking cruise ships through Kuimen. In recent years, local cultural tourism has also developed a hiking route to the "Summit of the Three Gorges."
　　To the north of Kuimen stands Chijia Mountain, whose highest point, the "Summit of the Three Gorges," is 1,388 meters above sea level. Starting from the Chijia Tower of White Emperor City on the bank of the Yangtze, the route is about 10 kilometers long with an elevation gain of over a thousand meters, generally taking five or six hours to walk.
　　Though the climb is arduous, one can enjoy a perfect view of the Three Gorges scenery along the ridgeline. This can be called the highest point in physical form and the most beautiful point in scenic form of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
　　For those who fear "wearing out their legs," one can also choose the traditional cruise ship method, or gaze at the magnificent view of Kuimen from the White Emperor City scenic area.
　　White Emperor City is actually not large. It sits to the west of Kuimen, on a hillock that happens to command the entrance and exit of the Three Gorges, making it a place contested by military strategists since ancient times. As the water level of the Three Gorges reservoir area rose, this hillock became a small island. On the island stands the White Emperor Temple, which displays such well-known Three Kingdoms stories as the "Oath of the Peach Garden," "Three Heroes Against Lü Bu," and "Entrusting the Orphan at White Emperor City."
　　Gazing at Kuimen from the White Emperor City scenic area, many tourists like to hold a 10-yuan banknote for a commemorative photo, because this is the location depicted on the back of the banknote showing the Qutang Gorge landscape.
　　"Leaving at dawn the White Emperor crowned with cloud, I've sailed a thousand miles through canyons in a day." I prefer the last two lines of this seven-character quatrain — "With monkeys' sad adieus the riverbanks are loud; my skiff has left ten thousand mountains far away." Just imagine: without the great falls and rises of his life in his later years, without the on-site inspiration evoked by the Three Gorges, how could Li Bai — forever romantic, forever confident, forever never aging — have written this masterpiece that stirred his entire life?
　　Further west of the White Emperor City scenic area, on the north bank of the Yangtze, stands the Kuizhou Museum. Beneath the water near the museum is, by and large, the site of the old county seat of Fengjie.
　　Wherever there is history, there are generally many names. Fengjie was once called Yufu, Yong'an, and other names. During the Zhenguan reign of the Tang Dynasty, in order to honor Zhuge Liang's character of accepting the entrustment of the orphan and upholding integrity in serving the state, the name was changed to Fengjie. Because Kuimen stands majestically here, it has also been known through the ages as Kuizhou. In the Song Dynasty, a Kuizhou Circuit was established, equivalent to the level of today's province. As a place name, the character "夔" (kuí) is used only here. The museum gives an interesting explanation of how the character is composed: the "head" of the Three Gorges, the "stop" of lofty mountains, the "si" (巳) by which all things take form, the "eight" of autumn rhapsodies, the heavy "wen" (文) of culture — in all the divine land, only "夔." The iron pillars for locking the river, the Song Dynasty mountain-city defense system, brave warriors leaving Sichuan with the cry "Step out of Kui and Wu, drive out the Japanese invaders"... The majestic Kuimen and the time-honored Fengjie have witnessed so much historical turmoil, and all of this is recreated in the Kuizhou Museum.
　　Further west lies the present-day county seat of Fengjie, situated where the Zhuyi River flows into the Yangtze. Because of the terrain, the urban area can only be built against the mountain, giving it a distinctive mountain-city character, full of the warmth of everyday life. The further west one goes, the newer the urban area becomes, and the westernmost point is the Fengjie high-speed railway station. The once perilous "twelve shoals of noisy Qutang" have become a "golden waterway," now with direct high-speed rail access. The square in front of the station has been developed into an internet-famous livestreaming base, where live broadcasts keep this place in sync with the world. Every winter, both banks of the Yangtze are laden with golden-yellow Fengjie navel oranges. This geographical indication product has become a "fruit of prosperity," making "Poetic Orange Fengjie" widely renowned.
　　This is poetry and distant places in the truest sense — why not come and see for yourself?

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"Xinxin" Connected, Symbiosis and Shared Prosperity (Cultural Relics Speak)

By: 王文析

In the "Vast China, Choosing the Center to Establish the Capital" permanent exhibition at the Henan Museum, there is a uniquely shaped painted pottery vessel — two olive-shaped pottery flasks connected through their bellies, linked "heart to heart," adorned with red-bodied black-painted patterns, attracting many visitors to stop and take photos.

This painted pottery double-linked flask, imbued with the meanings of friendship, unity, alliance, and love, is not only an outstanding work of the Yangshao culture but also conceals the survival wisdom and civilizational code transmitted by Neolithic ancestors through material objects.

In 1972, this painted pottery double-linked flask was unearthed at the Dahe Village site in Zhengzhou, Henan. It belongs to the middle Neolithic period, approximately 20 centimeters in height with a mouth diameter of 6.4 centimeters. The vessel is made of fine red pottery, with an open mouth and contracted neck, a bulging belly and flat bottom, an oval opening connecting the two bellies, and one ear-shaped handle on each side. Both the front and back of the vessel body are painted with a red base, on which thick parallel horizontal line patterns are drawn in black pigment; between the horizontal lines, several groups of three short vertical strokes serve as decoration — one flask has vertical short strokes, the other has slanted short strokes. The lines are simple and fluid, both opposing and unified, rich in variation and rhythm.

According to expert research, this painted pottery vessel was not a daily utensil but may have been a "ritual vessel" specially designed for major ceremonial activities, and its contexts of use were extremely solemn. The leaders of both sides would each grasp one ear of the flask, embodying the contractual spirit of "drinking from the same jug of wine, sharing the same share of responsibility." This ritual of "one jug of wine for a bond of life and death" still survives in the "blood wine drinking" oath-swearing traditions of ethnic minorities such as the Yi and Dong peoples, bearing witness to the Chinese nation's spirit of "valuing harmony above all."

Some scholars also believe that its symmetrical design subtly corresponds to the primitive form of the "crossed-cups" wedding toast, where the intermingling of wine symbolizes the union of life and emotion. Although this interpretation still requires more archaeological evidence for support, it infuses this cold artifact with humanistic warmth.

The striking quality of the painted pottery double-linked flask lies first in its unique structural design. Two independent flask bodies are connected through a circular opening in the belly, forming a physical communicating vessel. The craftsmen skillfully shaped ring-shaped ears that appear to "stand with hands on hips" on both sides of the vessel body, facilitating both hanging and transport while endowing the object with an anthropomorphic, lively posture. When tribes migrated, the painted pottery double-linked flask could be tied to ropes and carried along, becoming a mobile "peace token."

Second, in decorative art, the painted pottery double-linked flask can be called a "minimalist master" of the Neolithic era. The vessel body is painted with thick parallel line patterns in black pigment, with short vertical and slanted lines interspersed between the lines, forming a visual dialogue of "one vertical, one slanted." The decorative patterns on the two flasks are largely symmetrical, yet retain differences in detail — both independent and complementary, interpreting the philosophical concept of "harmony in diversity."

When we shift our gaze from the museum display case to modern life, the value of the painted pottery double-linked flask has long transcended the scope of a single cultural relic. It symbolizes the ideal of "equal dialogue, mutual coexistence and shared prosperity," and also carries profound cultural heritage and Eastern wisdom.

(The author is an associate research librarian at the Henan Museum; this article was compiled by our reporter Zhao Shuaijie through interview and arrangement.)

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Editor: Meng Yang, Tang Zhongke, Liang Zeyu

Layout Design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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Second Venture: Saihanba Continues Its Green Legend (Comprehensively Advancing the Construction of a Beautiful China)

By: 本报记者 张腾扬

On August 23, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping, during his inspection of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, emphasized that "the history of the Saihanba forest farm's construction is a stirring history of arduous struggle. You have forged, through concrete actions, the Saihanba spirit of staying true to the mission, pioneering through hardship, and pursuing green development, which holds important demonstrative significance for national ecological civilization construction. In advancing ecological civilization construction, we must rely on both material forces and spiritual strength. The Saihanba spirit must be carried forward, the concept of ecological civilization must be deeply understood and implemented, and we must redouble our efforts, embark on a second venture, and make new contributions on the new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal."
The new generation of Saihanba foresters is guarding the green with the resolve to stay true to the mission, expanding the green with the drive to pioneer through hardship, and managing the green with the wisdom of green development, writing new answers on the journey of the second venture.
— Editor

"Satellite hotspot monitoring scans on average once every 4-plus minutes"
In August, Saihanba, Hebei.
Standing atop the mountain and looking into the distance, layers upon layers of green trees cover the peaks, ridges, gullies, and ravines, like an oil painting spread across the earth.
The day of Shi Chen (see Figure 1), director of the Forest Protection and Fire Prevention (Work Safety) Office of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, begins in front of a monitoring screen.
Shi Chen is a bona fide "third-generation forester." His grandfather, Shi Guocheng, came to Saihanba in 1962 as a member of the first generation of foresters. In Shi Chen's memory, his grandfather always recalled with a smile how he once held "multiple posts" simultaneously, serving as a forest ranger, a construction worker, and also a bookkeeper and a cook. In 2014, after graduating from university, Shi Chen also returned to the forest farm. "Standing under the trees, one feels a sense of mission — to protect this sea of forest well," Shi Chen said.
But the way of guarding is vastly different from that of his forebears.
On the "Wanghai Tower" (Sea-Viewing Tower) at the highest point of the forest farm, a newly installed forest fire video monitoring system uses "dual-spectrum cameras" to monitor visible light and thermal imaging, clearly covering an area with a radius of 15 kilometers. In space, 12 artificial satellites conduct real-time patrols; within the forest area, 223 sets of monitoring equipment are deployed in valleys, high points, and road intersections. Drones frequently skim over the treetops, and infrared fire-detection radars scan 24 hours a day... An integrated "sky-ground" fire prevention and early warning monitoring system provides full coverage.
"Satellite hotspot monitoring scans on average once every 4-plus minutes. If a fire point appears, it will automatically mark the location," Shi Chen introduced.
Not only that — every April, when the snow on the plateau begins to melt, Shi Chen leads a team to survey every plot, carrying out forest tending, pest and disease control, and other work. The forest farm adopts integrated chemical, physical, and biological management, with pollution-free pest control rates exceeding 95%, pollution-free rodent control rates reaching 100%, and harmful organism disaster rates controlled below 3‰. Forest fire monitoring coverage has reached 100%. Since the farm's establishment, Saihanba has continuously maintained a record of no fires.
"The older generation relied on tenacity to create a million-mu sea of forest. We have taken up the baton, so we must do every task solidly and well," Shi Chen said.

"Expanding green is not just about planting more trees, but about planting trees well"
At 5 a.m., Zhang Lei (see Figure 2), director of the Qiancengban Sub-Farm of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, appears on the hillside of the Matikeng (Horseshoe Pit) forest management area, observing the growth of newly planted trees. This forest land is the birthplace of Saihanba's million-mu sea of forest — more than 60 years ago, the first generation of builders launched the "Matikeng Grand Battle" here, achieving the miracle of a survival rate exceeding 90% for afforestation. Today, it has once again become the experimental field for the second venture.
Wresting green from rocky barren mountains is the toughest battle in the second venture. Rocky sunny slopes — with gradients above 30 degrees, poor soil, and exposed rocks — are recognized as a world-class challenge in the afforestation community. "Planting trees on rocky mountains is no less difficult than afforestation in deserts," Zhang Lei said. The unyielding Saihanba people, carrying forward the spirit of pioneering through hardship, explored technical standards of soil replacement, strong seedlings, film mulching, and soil covering through repeated failures and repeated attempts, stubbornly turning the impossible into the possible: digging large pits of 70 centimeters square, then digging small pits of 30 centimeters, carrying mature soil from elsewhere to fill them, carrying container seedlings cultivated in nurseries for two to three years up the mountain to plant them, compacting the soil and covering with film to preserve moisture, and finally adding protective fencing...
Machines cannot climb such steep slopes — what to do? "People carry them on their backs, or horses and mules haul them, climbing trip after trip," Zhang Lei said. For tackling afforestation, all 106,000 mu of rocky mountainous land have been greened, with survival and preservation rates reaching 98.9% and 92.2% respectively. At present, the forest farm has 1.151 million mu of forested land, with a forest coverage rate of 82%.
"Expanding green is not just about planting more trees, but about planting trees well." In the forest, Zhang Lei parted the grass and crouched beside a Siberian pine: "Introduced last year, it survived the winter smoothly, and this year it has put out new branches."
"With a single tree species, if pests or diseases occur or the climate turns abnormal, the risk is great," Zhang Lei explained. A near-natural planting model like this one, using different tree ages and mixed coniferous-broadleaf stands, can greatly enhance the diversity and stability of the ecosystem. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the forest farm completed afforestation and forestation on 570,500 mu, with a cumulative increase of 62,000 mu of mixed forest area, raising the proportion of mixed forest from 21.4% to 26.9%.
The increase in forest diversity has brought a notable increase in biodiversity. The latest scientific survey found that wild animals and plants, macrofungi, and others have increased by 858 species.

"Manage, protect, and develop this forest well, and carbon sinks will naturally follow"
Chang Weiqiang (see Figure 3), head of the Forest Management Section of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, stood on a high slope of the Yangchang forest management area, pointing at a newly created mixed forest: "This forest is a carbon sink."
In recent years, Hebei Province has successively introduced support measures such as realizing the value of carbon-reduction products, promoting the transformation of "carbon reservoirs" into "money reservoirs." In 2022, the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm developed 330,000 mu of forest carbon sequestration ecological products for Hebei Province, with certified carbon sink volume of 2.251 million tons.
In 2024, the national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market was restarted. The Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm signed the compliance initiative for national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction project development and emission reduction trading, and completed Hebei's first transaction in the same year. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm cumulatively sold 357,000 tons of forestry carbon sinks, realizing value conversion of 11.78 million yuan.
Chang Weiqiang explained that the verification of carbon sinks involves a complex calculation method — determining carbon sequestration based on parameters such as afforestation area, tree species, and planting density. "Manage, protect, and develop this forest well, and carbon sinks will naturally follow."
Today, Saihanba's "green" seeds are continuously being sown across broader lands. Saihanba is building a provincial-level forest germplasm resource bank, designating protection areas around cold-resistant native tree species of the plateau. Seedlings of North China larch and Mongolian pine cultivated by the forest farm have become the main tree species for wind prevention, sand fixation, and water source conservation in the "Three Norths" region. Saihanba's seedlings, technology, and talent have also strongly supported the construction of the "Millennium Beautiful Forest" in Xiong'an New Area.
Over the past five years, the Saihanba people have answered with action: rocky barren mountains are all clothed in green, mixed forest area has exceeded 290,000 mu, forest fire monitoring has achieved full coverage, and carbon sink trading has achieved new breakthroughs. The forest farm has successively been awarded the title of National Model in Poverty Alleviation, the United Nations "Champions of the Earth" award, and the "Land for Life Award."
From "one pine" to "a sea of trees," from "manpower-based prevention" to "intelligent prevention," from "cutting trees" to "selling carbon" — Saihanba's second venture is continuing to write a new green miracle in the hands of the new generation of foresters.

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Why are there more typhoons this year?

By: 本报记者 蒋雪鸿

Currently, the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea are witnessing a "dance of three typhoons," with this year's 18th typhoon "Saudel," 19th typhoon "Zitan," and 20th typhoon "Janlave" active simultaneously. At the same time, a new tropical depression is developing and may become this year's 21st typhoon. At 18:00 on August 23, the Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue a blue typhoon warning.
What impact will the three typhoons "Saudel," "Zitan," and "Janlave" bring to China? Why are typhoons so active this year? A reporter interviewed Zhang Ling, chief forecaster of the Central Meteorological Observatory.
Three typhoons active simultaneously
"Zitan" formed over the Beibu Gulf on the afternoon of the 21st, and "Janlave" formed over the western North Pacific Ocean surface on the afternoon of the 22nd. "Both typhoons were born in the same large monsoon trough. Multiple vortices exist simultaneously in the monsoon trough, and these two are the more strongly developed vortices among them," Zhang Ling said.
At 2:00 on the 23rd, "Saudel" had intensified to super typhoon level. Zhang Ling introduced that "Saudel" is moving west-northwest at a speed of about 25 kilometers per hour, and its intensity may still increase somewhat. It will have no impact on offshore sea areas before the 25th, and is expected to move into the East China Sea on the 26th, trending toward the East China coast around the 27th.
Regarding "Saudel's" path after entering the East China Sea, Zhang Ling stated that there are two possibilities: one is to continue moving westward, gradually approaching the East China coast; the other is to move west-southwest, gradually trending toward the vicinity of northern Taiwan. "Regardless of which path it takes, it will directly impact China's East China coast, and its intensity is relatively strong. Wind force over China's eastern sea areas will begin to gradually increase from the 25th, and the precipitation impact on the East China coast may begin around the 27th."
At 17:00 on the 23rd, "Zitan's" center was located over the Beibu Gulf sea surface, approximately 145 kilometers southwest of Beihai City, Guangxi. Zhang Ling stated that "Zitan" is expected to first circle and move little over the Beibu Gulf sea surface, then from the evening of the 24th, move at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour, turning from northeast to northerly, with intensity gradually strengthening, and gradually approaching the coast from Guangxi to the western side of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong.
Why has "Zitan" been circling in the Beibu Gulf? Zhang Ling explained that "Zitan" is currently influenced by multiple surrounding weather systems, yet no single steering flow holds absolute dominance, so it has been "stranded" in the Beibu Gulf. At the same time, the sea surface temperature in the Beibu Gulf is relatively high, and monsoon activity provides ample low-level moisture transport, all of which are conducive to its prolonged maintenance and to bringing sustained rainfall and strong winds to the South China coast, the Beibu Gulf, and the northern South China Sea.
At 17:00 on the 23rd, "Janlave's" center was located over the southern East China Sea surface, approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Taipei City, Taiwan Province, with maximum wind force of level 8 near the center. Zhang Ling stated that "Janlave" is expected to move west-southwest at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour, with intensity gradually weakening, and will weaken and dissipate in the Taiwan Strait on the 24th. "Janlave" will bring sustained wind and rain impacts to the East China coast, particularly the island of Taiwan and most of Fujian, with large cumulative rainfall during the process.
As of now, 20 typhoons have formed in the western North Pacific and South China Sea this year, 8 more than the historical average for the same period
"It is worth noting that there is also a tropical depression active in the western North Pacific." Zhang Ling introduced that this tropical depression has the potential to become the next numbered typhoon, and as "Saudel" gradually approaches China, it may interact with "Saudel" through mutual rotation and provide more moisture to "Saudel," becoming one of the important factors affecting "Saudel's" path and intensity after entering the East China Sea. If it formally forms, the sea surface will witness a "dance of four typhoons."
As of now, 20 typhoons have formed in the western North Pacific and South China Sea this year, 8 more than the historical average for the same period. Zhang Ling pointed out that this is closely related to the current El Niño state. Under El Niño conditions, the formation of Atlantic hurricanes tends to be suppressed and fewer in number, but typhoon activity in the western Pacific becomes more active. Judging from the current number of typhoon formations, this is consistent with the characteristics of typhoon activity in El Niño years.
The impact of the three typhoons on East and South China is a continuous process with no obvious intermission
"The impact of the three typhoons on the East China and South China regions is a continuous process with no obvious intermission." Zhang Ling reminded: first, be vigilant against secondary disasters caused by sustained heavy rainfall and the superimposed effect of wind and rain. "Zitan" and "Janlave" have long durations and wide ranges of influence, and some areas may experience mountain torrents, mudslides, landslides, urban waterlogging, and farmland waterlogging due to heavy precipitation, so defense preparations need to be made in advance. Second, closely monitor the path changes of "Saudel." "Saudel" will directly impact China's East China coastal areas in the future, with relatively strong intensity and high disaster-causing risk. The public is asked to promptly follow the typhoon warning information issued by the Central Meteorological Observatory and make relevant defense preparations.
While the south is under the sustained influence of typhoons, the northern regions will also experience multiple rainfall processes in the coming days, with localized heavy rainstorms or extremely heavy rainstorms, accompanied by short-duration heavy precipitation, thunderstorms with gale-force winds, or hail and other severe convective weather. The public should also pay attention to the forecast and warning information issued by local meteorological departments and take precautions in advance.

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Hainan's revised benchmark for administrative penalties on ecological environment violations takes effect

Our newspaper Haikou, August 23 (report) (Reporter Dong Zeyang (董泽扬)): The reporter learned from the Hainan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment (海南省生态环境厅) that, in order to precisely align with the new provisions of the superior law, the Hainan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment has carried out a systematic revision of the "Provisions of Hainan Province on the Discretionary Benchmarks for Administrative Penalties in the Field of Ecology and Environment" (《海南省生态环境行政处罚裁量基准规定》) and the "Four Lists" of Hainan Province in the field of ecology and environment, including non-administrative penalties (《海南省生态环境领域不予行政处罚等"四张清单"》). The new regulations take effect simultaneously with the Ecological Environment Code (生态环境法典), and will promote like cases receiving like penalties and commensurate discretion, resolving the problem of "the same case receiving different penalties and inconsistent standards."

Discretionary matters have been expanded from the original 292 items to 517 items. In terms of discretionary standards, differentiated discretionary tiers have been established by combining factors such as ecological environment zoning control areas, pollutant discharge permit management categories, harmful consequences, and the duration of illegal acts. Entirely new categories have been added, including "ecological environment monitoring management," "radioactive pollution prevention," and "chemical substance pollution risk control, electromagnetic radiation and light pollution prevention," achieving full coverage of administrative penalty matters in the field of ecology and environment. At the same time, the statutory basis for all penalty matters has been comprehensively updated, ensuring that penalty matters are highly unified with the Ecological Environment Code system.

The list of non-administrative penalties has been increased from the original 17 items to 64 items, specifying one by one the three standards of "no harmful consequences," "first-time violation," and "no subjective fault." The list of lighter and mitigated penalties refines 6 statutory circumstances for lighter penalties and 11 circumstances for mitigated penalties. The list of non-administrative compulsory measures incorporates 5 categories of applicable scenarios, promoting non-compulsory enforcement methods such as persuasion and education, and persuasion and demonstration.

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China builds over 1,000 national and 4,500 provincial green mines.

Reported from Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Chang Qin [常钦]): The reporter learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部) that the Ministry has achieved notable results in deeply advancing the green transformation and development of the mining industry, with the country having built over 1,000 national-level and over 4,500 provincial-level green mines.

New results have been achieved in ecological restoration of mining areas. On the one hand, the Ministry of Natural Resources has advanced ecological restoration of historically abandoned mining areas, accelerating the digestion of existing stock; on the other hand, it has strengthened whole-chain management of ecological restoration of operating mines, resolutely curbing new increments. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Natural Resources, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance (财政部), deployed and implemented 68 demonstration projects for ecological restoration of historically abandoned mines, driving the country to complete restoration and treatment of 3.35 million mu of historically abandoned mines, exceeding the 14th Five-Year Plan period restoration and treatment target by 19.6 percent. At the same time, it has strengthened technical support, improved and perfected the standard system for mining area ecological restoration, and guided mining enterprises to implement the requirement of "restoring while mining"; it has summarized and promoted typical cases of ecological restoration of operating mines covering different mineral types, mining methods, and regions, providing replicable and promotable practical experience.

Green mine construction has been comprehensively advanced. The newly revised Mineral Resources Law for the first time explicitly puts forward at the legal level the requirement to strengthen green mine construction, and the Ecological Environment Code and the implementation regulations of the Mineral Resources Law also make provisions for green mine construction. The Ministry of Natural Resources, jointly with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部) and other departments, issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening Green Mine Construction," and the national standard "General Rules for Green Mine Evaluation" was released and implemented, with the green mine construction work system of "government guidance, departmental coordination, enterprise-led construction, and social supervision" basically taking shape.

In the next step, the Ministry of Natural Resources will fully implement the requirements of the newly revised Mineral Resources Law and its implementation regulations, continue to strengthen mining area ecological restoration, comprehensively advance green mine construction, and play an active role in promoting the protection and sustainable use of natural resources and building a Beautiful China (美丽中国).

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Noise Source Classification Guidance Catalog Released

Beijing, August 23 (Reporter Kou Jiangze) — The "Noise Source Classification Guidance Catalog" (hereinafter referred to as the "Catalog") was recently officially issued. Closely following the noise pollution prevention and control requirements of the Ecological Environment Code, it establishes a nationally unified three-level classification system for noise sources, advancing noise governance toward refinement.

Noise pollution has long ranked first among public environmental complaints, with related complaint volume exceeding 6 million cases in 2025. In practical governance, two major difficulties have long affected disposal efficiency: on the one hand, the public finds it difficult to accurately describe noise sources and types using professional terminology, and vague complaint information lengthens the verification cycle; on the other hand, noise source scenarios are complex and diverse, and new types of nuisance noise are constantly emerging, with blurred regulatory boundaries in some areas. The Ecological Environment Code has already divided noise into four major categories — industrial, construction, transportation, and social life — and delineated basic management responsibilities. The issuance of the Catalog creates a set of "common language" for noise governance, providing support for grasping the patterns of noise pollution and focusing governance priorities.

The Catalog constructs a progressive classification framework of first-level, second-level, and third-level categories, covering all mainstream noise pollution scenarios and balancing the statutory framework with grassroots operational needs. The issuance of this Catalog is an important lever for implementing normalized and refined noise pollution governance. By unifying the noise classification yardstick, making noise sources "clearly describable, accurately classifiable, and effectively managed," and on this basis, continuously resolving prominent problems strongly reflected by the public.

Going forward, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部) will conduct relevant training for the national ecological environment system, continuously optimize urban and rural acoustic environment management mechanisms, steadily improve the effectiveness of noise pollution governance, earnestly safeguard residents' peace and tranquility, and continuously enhance the masses' sense of ecological environment gains, happiness, and security.

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Editor: Chen Juan, Dong Wenxin, Zhang Yifu

Layout design: Cai Huawei

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Accelerate digital-intelligent technological innovation to elevate the level of digital-intelligent development

Promote the Deep Integration of the Internet, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Real Economy

Dong Fuyin (董福印), Executive Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Provincial Party Committee Cyberspace Affairs Office

Digital transformation advances in depth, digital-intelligence change reshapes industries, and digitalization, networking and intelligentization have become the major trend of the times. Hebei Province has seized the major national strategic opportunities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development and the high-quality construction and development of Xiong'an New Area, promoted the deep integration of the internet, big data, artificial intelligence and the real economy, and the construction of a strong cyber province and digital Hebei has shown new vitality and achieved new results. Consolidating the computing power foundation, the development base has become more solid. The province's comprehensive computing power index ranks among the forefront of the country, forming a Beijing-surrounding intelligent computing power cluster centered on Langfang and Zhangjiakou. Gigabit cities have expanded capacity and improved quality, IPv6 large-scale deployment has been solidly advanced, and the new information infrastructure system is becoming increasingly complete. Deeply cultivating digital-real integration, industrial transformation has achieved notable results. The "AI+" action has been deeply implemented, traditional industries such as steel, equipment and chemicals have accelerated intelligent transformation, and the coordinated digital and green transformation and development has achieved remarkable results. Cultivating new tracks, digital business forms are moving toward the new and the excellent. The Xiong'an aerospace information industry chain has taken shape and gained momentum, strategic emerging industries such as new-generation information technology, new energy and new materials are being accelerated in their layout, and data collection and annotation have reached scale. Optimizing the development ecology, innovation vitality has fully burst forth. Seizing the opportunity of the expansion of the Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) International Science and Technology Innovation Center, focusing on breakthroughs in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data, creating a first-class business environment, and the atmosphere for innovation and creation is increasingly strong. The digital-intelligence wave surges forward, and the land of Yan and Zhao has boundless opportunities. Hebei will focus on digital-intelligence innovation to consolidate new technological advantages, deepen digital-intelligence empowerment to explore new application prospects, hold firm the digital-intelligence bottom line to jointly build a new security pattern, and empower and enhance the good start of the "15th Five-Year Plan" through high-quality development of the digital-intelligence economy.

Accelerate the Construction of a New Highland for Digital Intelligence Economy Development

Wang Xiankun (王现坤), Secretary of the Langfang Municipal Party Committee of Hebei Province

The world's century-old changes are accelerating, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, and global artificial intelligence technological innovation has entered an unprecedented period of activity, containing both enormous opportunities and governance challenges. At present, digital-intelligence technologies represented by embodied intelligence and large models are reshaping the industrial structure, and computing power networks, data elements and industry-specific large models have become the construction focus of new tracks for future industries. Langfang is located in the hinterland of the "golden triangle" of Beijing, Tianjin and Xiong'an, where multiple major national strategies converge and overlap, and is an important carrier for the empowerment of digital-intelligence elements from Beijing and Tianjin. The data transmission latency from local computing power centers to Beijing application customers is only 1 millisecond, providing a speed advantage. In 2025, the city's electronic information industry main business revenue ranked second in the province, the city's computing power sub-index ranked first in the country for two consecutive years, and 7 of the top 10 Chinese computing power center service providers have established operations in Langfang. In September this year, the 2026 China Computing Power Conference will be held in Langfang, and the Hebei Province integrated computing power network platform will be released, which will become a new starting point for Langfang to move toward becoming a computing power city. Riding the "data" momentum upward, moving toward "intelligence." Facing the future, Langfang focuses on building the brand of "Computing in Langfang, Intelligent Manufacturing for the Future," and accelerates the construction of a new highland for digital-intelligence economy development. Making a forward-looking layout of the new track of the token economy, promoting the transformation of data centers into "token factories," making Langfang a computing power city that "can compute, can store, and can use well." Promoting the construction of an open-source model ecosystem, revising and issuing policies such as computing power vouchers, and accelerating the construction of a complete intelligent agent ecosystem. Deepening digital-real integration, creating benchmark demonstrations of "5G + Industrial Internet" and "AI + Manufacturing," and driving small and medium-sized enterprises to "go to the cloud, use data, and be empowered by intelligence." Continuously expanding smart livelihood application scenarios, letting digital-intelligence technology better empower urban governance and serve a better life.

Agent Ecosystems Need Open, Universal, Reliable Connection Rules

Li Meng (李萌), Chair of the China Sustainable Development Research Association (中国可持续发展研究会)

The impact of artificial intelligence is moving from answers on screens into production processes, public services and daily life. This has brought both new quality productive forces and new issues for development and governance. From large models to agents, large models emphasize "thinking" while agents emphasize "acting." Agents can perceive, reason, plan, make decisions and interact with the environment, shifting artificial intelligence from passive response to proactive decision-making, from a tool that answers questions to an assistant, an agent, and even an organizer of complex tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to set goals and define boundaries for agents, and hold firm the safety bottom line. In developing autonomous agents, four dimensions must be grasped well: foundational model capability determines the upper limit of intelligence, vertical depth anchors the value foundation, ecological breadth expands the action radius, and safety fences guard the development bottom line. High-risk tasks must retain human confirmation and takeover, and the operation process must ensure traceability, auditability and accountability. The key to the formation of an agent ecosystem is connection and collaboration. In the future, a person may own multiple agents, and an organization will also have agents of different specialties and different permissions. An agent ecosystem needs not only smarter nodes, but also open, universal and reliable connection rules. We must not only ask what agents "can do," but also ask what they "will change" after entering society. They may intervene in human cognition, judgment and action, entering fields such as organizations, families and public governance. Intelligent social governance must advance in step with technological innovation. Technology cannot replace human value judgment, and algorithms cannot weaken human subjectivity. The coordinated development of agents and humans depends on what rules we use to shape them and what institutions we use to constrain them. Only in this way can "data" truly aggregate new momentum for development, and "intelligence" truly draw a new blueprint for enhancing people's well-being.

Promote Embodied Intelligence to Accelerate Toward Mature Commercial Application

Liu Wenqiang (刘文强), Party Secretary and Vice President of the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute (中国电子信息产业发展研究院)

A new round of vigorous artificial intelligence development is underway, global digitalization, networking and intelligentization are unstoppable, containing enormous new opportunities. The intelligent economy takes artificial intelligence as an important driving force and high-quality data and knowledge-based talent as key elements. Through comprehensive intelligent interconnection and ubiquitous collaboration of people, machines and things, it promotes the all-round reconstruction of technological innovation paradigms, resource allocation methods and industrial development forms, promotes a high-level dynamic balance between fairness and efficiency, and further expands the boundaries of human intelligence and decision-making capabilities. Manufacturing is the main battlefield of intelligent economy development, and "AI + Manufacturing" will have a profound impact and bring profound changes to China's economic transformation. In reconstructing infrastructure, cost-effective computing power, high-performance algorithms and high-quality data have become the indispensable "soft infrastructure" of manufacturing, and industrial intelligent operating systems have become the digital-intelligence foundation providing data, intelligence, interconnection and resource scheduling. In transforming innovation paradigms, artificial intelligence promotes the shift of R&D models from experience-driven to data-model-driven, improving R&D efficiency through intelligent generation and optimization, virtual simulation verification, and human-machine collaborative decision-making. In optimizing production organization, artificial intelligence,凭借 its intelligent perception, analysis and decision-making capabilities, makes industrial production "autonomous," systematically reconstructing the entire production and manufacturing process. Embodied intelligence is the key to seizing the commanding heights of the intelligent economy. Unitree Technology's IPO (Initial Public Offering) has attracted international attention and is a microcosm of China's strategic ascent in the new round of global technological competition. At the same time, industrial capital dominates domestic investment in the embodied intelligence industry. Cross-industry leading enterprises not only provide financial support for promising projects, but also provide real orders and scenarios, achieving strategic binding and ecological layout, and helping embodied intelligence accelerate toward mature commercial application.

The Industrial Foundation of the Token Economy Needs Continuous Improvement

He Baohong (何宝宏), Chief Engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (中国信息通信研究院)

Among the elements of the intelligent economy, the token has become the currently recognized unit of measurement for generative artificial intelligence. As the core basic unit of the intelligent economy, the token is also the key carrier that connects the three core technology modules of computing power, data and algorithms, linking physical resources with digital value measurement, and is crucial to the standardized and large-scale development of the intelligent economy. As artificial intelligence moves from conversational applications into the era of agent applications, token consumption has shown exponential growth. Traditional human-machine dialogue is limited by human operation, and token usage is limited, while agents, driven autonomously by machines, can achieve closed-loop cyclic computation, and the upper limit of token usage depends entirely on the level of computing power. Data shows that domestic daily token calls have exceeded the hundred-billion level, and the industry is developing with strong momentum. At the current stage, the token has iterated and upgraded from a pure technical processing unit to the core billing unit of the artificial intelligence industry, giving rise to diversified business models such as tiered model pricing and multi-mode hybrid billing. Its costs mainly cover four major areas: computing power leasing, algorithm R&D, data processing, and electricity and cooling, with marginal fixed costs remaining relatively stable. Overall, token measurement presents four major development characteristics: standardization of measurement, localization of open-source tools, precision of billing, and diversification of application dimensions. There are still multiple shortcomings in the development of the token economy that urgently need to be overcome. Token consumption does not fully match the service value provided by models, workload measurement does not fully correspond to value measurement, and existing token standards are mainly adapted to text scenarios, while measurement systems for multimodal fields such as images, audio and video still need to be constructed and explored. In the future, it is necessary to rely on policy empowerment and industry collaboration to continuously improve the industrial foundation of the token economy, empowering and gathering strength for the high-quality development of the intelligent economy.

Technology-Empowered Elderly Care Moves from "Point Applications" to "Systemic Support"

Kong Wei (孔伟), Director of the Rights Protection Department of the China Aging Association (中国老龄协会)

Effectively responding to population aging concerns the overall situation of national development and the well-being of hundreds of millions of people. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated: "Implement the national strategy for actively responding to population aging, develop elderly care services and the elderly care industry, optimize services for the solitary and elderly, and promote the realization of basic elderly care services for all elderly people." China's digital-intelligent elderly care has developed rapidly. A series of policies such as the Action Plan for the Development of the Smart Health Elderly Care Industry and the Guiding Opinions on Further Promoting Scientific and Technological Innovation in Civil Affairs have been issued, from conceptual advocacy to specific deployment, promoting technology-empowered elderly care from "point applications" to "systemic support," leading smart elderly care along the track of standardization, intensification and efficiency. In recent years, we have basically completed a three-dimensional network layout of "gigabit access in every city, 5G in every county, and broadband in every village," providing technical support for the widespread deployment of smart elderly care, and various localities have carried out practical explorations according to local conditions. Today, the smart elderly care industry ecosystem has begun to take shape, a technology and product matrix for scenarios such as health management, rehabilitation assistance, safety protection and life services has been initially formed, and the closed loop of the industrial chain of "upstream components - midstream manufacturing - downstream services" is being constructed. Although China's technology-empowered response to population aging has achieved notable results, it also faces the challenges of transitioning from "having or not having technology" to "systemic collaboration" and from "pilot demonstration" to "inclusive promotion." It is necessary to further optimize and integrate policy coordination and strategic implementation, precisely match technology supply with actual demand, strengthen top-level design, accelerate key technological innovation, and comprehensively implement universal design and age-friendly standards for smart elderly care products.

The Digital Intelligence Economy Poses New Questions for Knowledge Production and Dissemination

Qiu Xianqing (邱显清), Party Secretary and Chairman of Tsinghua University Press (清华大学出版社)

Today, new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing have moved from single-point breakthroughs to systemic integration. The digital-intelligence economy is no longer a simple "technology + industry" superposition, but presents a deep transformation trend of "data-driven decision-making, intelligence reshaping processes, and ecology replacing platforms," posing new questions for the production, dissemination and consumption of knowledge. Tsinghua University Press has always been oriented toward serving national strategic needs and leading academic frontiers, closely tracking the latest progress in various segments of the digital-intelligence economy, and carrying out systematic layout in interdisciplinary directions such as artificial intelligence ethics and governance, marketization of data elements, intelligent social governance, digital industry ecology and computational social science. Proactively going deep into the front lines of scientific research and industrial practice, precisely capturing emerging topics with strategic value and academic potential. Particular attention is paid to combining basic theoretical breakthroughs in the digital-intelligence economy with policy application scenarios, ensuring that published works can provide timely, authoritative and forward-looking knowledge services for academia, industry and decision-makers. Artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the industrial structure and the way society operates. While nurturing enormous opportunities, it has also given rise to deep challenges at the governance level. Tsinghua University Press has planned and launched the "Intelligent Society Development and Governance Series," systematically answering the question of "where is the intelligent society going" from a multidisciplinary perspective. As the opening work of the series, Intelligent Society Research: Academic Frontiers and Development Trends was officially published recently. Facing the future, Tsinghua University Press will continue to pay attention to the field of the digital-intelligence economy, promote the organic integration of theoretical exploration and policy research, and contribute greater strength to the construction of the intelligent social governance system.

Let Computing Power Better Follow Human Needs

Zhou Chaonan (周超男), Chairman of Runze Intelligent Computing Technology Group Co., Ltd. (润泽智算科技集团股份有限公司)

As artificial intelligence has developed to where it is today, what we need to answer is no longer just how large the models are, how strong the computing power is, or how smart the agents are, but more importantly whether these technologies can ultimately enter people's lives and whether they can help people solve problems. Agents are moving from being a technological tool to becoming an important carrier connecting the digital world and real life. A single agent can understand needs, call tools and complete tasks; when thousands of agents are connected, they can discover each other, collaborate autonomously, and jointly complete more complex work. Today, agents have gradually entered factories, hospitals, schools, communities and homes. What they bring is not a single-dimensional efficiency improvement, but a progression from "liberating people" to "fulfilling people." It is necessary to let computing power better follow agents, follow scenarios, and follow human needs. A truly valuable intelligent society must have both a strong technological foundation and a clear humanistic bottom line. The more intelligent the technology, the more it must safeguard human autonomy, privacy and personal dignity. The intelligent society should also be inclusive, proactively extending quality intelligent services to rural areas, to the grassroots, and to groups such as "the elderly and the young." Computing power is the foundation, agents are the carrier, real scenarios are the test, and serving people is the ultimate goal. China has rich data resources, broad application scenarios and large-scale computing power infrastructure. Runze Group has successfully laid out 9 intelligent computing industrial parks, building a green computing power network covering the whole country and radiating globally. Computing power should be computed for industrial development, for scientific and technological innovation, and even more for people's better lives.

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本版责编：苏显龙 徐雷鹏 李佩阳

Layout Design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶), Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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Children Learning to Swim: Expert Advice (Fitness Perspective · Service Station)

By: 本报记者 窦瀚洋

Swimming can both let one enjoy coolness and strengthen the body, making it a popular choice for youth sports. Swimming training classes are booming everywhere — how should parents choose? What should children pay attention to when learning to swim? The reporter invited experts, senior coaches, and a world champion to offer advice.

What age to start learning, how to choose a training class

Zhang Haiqiang (张海强), coach at Wenzhou Olympic Sports Swimming School (温州市奥体游泳学校) in Zhejiang Province, has over 20 years of teaching experience. He believes that children mastering swimming skills at the appropriate age can greatly reduce the risk of drowning. Children with outstanding athletic talent can also enter professional echelons through talent selection.

"Professional swimming talent selection generally starts water-feel basic training at ages 5–6, focusing on discovering athletic talent. Ordinary families aiming at self-rescue and interest do not need to force enrollment at ages 5–6," Zhang Haiqiang added. Before age 4, standardized stroke teaching is not recommended.

Take swimming world champion Fu Yuanhui as an example: she began learning to swim at age 5, was selected by the Hangzhou swimming team while in kindergarten, and subsequently began formal training.

Zhang Haiqiang said that swimming is a high-risk sport, and it is best to choose regular training classes at large public venues. Venues must hold the Business License for High-Risk Sports Programs (高危险性体育项目经营许可证) and the Public Place Health Permit (公共场所卫生许可证). Parents are advised to check the venue's daily published pool water pH value, residual chlorine testing and other data, confirm whether lifeguards are on duty with certificates, and inspect the physical separation of shallow and deep water areas, as well as whether anti-slip and rescue equipment on the shore is complete.

Swimming pool training classes attached to residential communities are often convenient for commuting, saving the back-and-forth travel, but the shortcoming is that the venues are often small, water circulation system standards are low, and coach levels and management standardization are 参差不齐 (cēn cī bù qí - "uneven and irregular," of uneven quality or level). Before enrolling, be sure to verify the venue's operating qualifications, monthly water quality testing reports, and configurations such as permanent certified lifeguards, and avoid temporary assembled simple pools.

Zhang Haiqiang suggested that regardless of which training class is chosen, industry standards should be followed to control class size. The teacher-student ratio for children's basic classes is recommended to be no higher than 1:8, and multi-person classes need to be equipped with auxiliary rescue personnel.

Swimming teaching is coaching work for a high-risk sport, implementing a mandatory dual-certificate on-duty system, and 缺一不可 (quē yī bù kě - "not one can be missing," none can be dispensed with). One must first obtain the National Vocational Qualification Certificate for Swimming Lifeguards (游泳救生员国家职业资格证) before being qualified to apply for the swimming coach examination; to take up the post, one must obtain the National Vocational Qualification Certificate for Swimming Social Sports Instructors (Swimming) (游泳社会体育指导员（游泳）国家职业资格证) and the lifeguard certificate. "The certificates are uniformly issued by the General Administration of Sport of China (国家体育总局) and human resources and social security departments. Venues must display coach certificates on the wall, and parents can scan QR codes to verify authenticity," Zhang Haiqiang said.

What to do if afraid of water, which stroke to choose for beginners

How should children who are afraid of water learn to swim?

Zhang Haiqiang said that some children are naturally afraid of water and resist putting their heads down into the water or holding their breath underwater. At this time, coaches must not force children to dive into the water or harshly scold and pressure them, as this will aggravate the children's psychological fear; they should guide step by step, extend the water-play adaptation period, and build the children's sense of safety in the water 循序渐进 (xún xù jiàn jìn - "advance gradually in proper order," to proceed step by step).

When learning to swim, the duration of each training session should be reasonably controlled. Especially for young children with limited physical strength, prolonged time in the water that causes chilling or excessive fatigue should be avoided.

There are 4 standard competitive strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Fu Yuanhui, now a teacher at Zhejiang University, recommends that children start with breaststroke. Breaststroke has a gentle movement rhythm and simple breathing logic, can be mastered in a short number of lessons, and is energy-saving for sustained swimming. In accidental fall-into-water scenarios, breaststroke facilitates maintaining breathing and conserving physical strength, has the strongest practical value for self-rescue, and is the optimal entry choice balancing interest and safety.

After a solid breaststroke foundation, one can advance to learning freestyle and backstroke as supplements, with butterfly placed at the advanced stage.

Zhang Haiqiang explained that freestyle's hand and foot stroking movements are simple, but lateral head-turning to breathe places high demands on body coordination, and many learners with a foundation get stuck at the breathing stage and find it hard to persist in practice; backstroke keeps the face upward throughout, requiring no breath-holding underwater, and beginners pick up floating quickly, but in reality, people who fall into water are mostly in a panicked, off-balance state, making it hard to maintain the supine position, so its practical value for self-rescue is relatively low.

What is "swimmer's shoulder," how to prevent drowning

Many parents are pleasantly surprised to find that their children have grown taller after learning to swim. In this regard, Lou Jiangyan (楼江燕), deputy chief physician of the Department of Pediatrics at Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital (浙江省人民医院), explained that from the perspectives of bone growth, endocrine function, and long-term health, swimming is a high-quality sport suited to adolescents.

Bi Qing (毕擎), chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, added that the buoyancy of water allows the spine and limb joints to fully stretch, effectively stimulating the epiphyseal growth plates, promoting longitudinal growth of long bones, and helping children grow taller; in terms of body shaping, swimming can evenly exercise the core and back muscle groups, helping to improve poor postures such as sunken chest and hunched back, and the cushioning nature of water means it does not damage articular cartilage.

However, improper practice can also have the opposite effect. Bi Qing gave examples: long-term unilateral breathing can easily cause muscle strength imbalance on both sides of the spine, inducing or aggravating scoliosis; excessive training can cause "swimmer's shoulder," namely rotator cuff tendinitis, an overuse injury of the shoulder, and it is recommended to standardize stroking movements and control training volume; swimming can also easily trigger otitis externa (swimmer's ear) and fungal infections, and it is recommended to gently dry the ear canal opening after swimming, or use a hairdryer's cold air 10 cm from the ear to dry it; chlorine in the pool is a potential cause of conjunctivitis and respiratory irritation and can even induce exercise-induced asthma, and adolescents with allergic constitutions or a history of asthma need special attention, with recommendations to wear watertight goggles throughout, shower with running clean water after swimming, and those with an asthma history should carry a reliever at all times.

Lou Jiangyan reminded that before puberty, children's epiphyses have not yet closed, and training volume needs to be controlled in line with bone age, with weekly training increases not exceeding 10%; if growth slows or joint pain appears, the volume should be reduced promptly and medical attention sought. At the same time, appropriate water temperature should be matched: above 30 degrees Celsius for young children, 26–28 degrees Celsius for adolescents, with each session not exceeding 60 minutes.

The 45 minutes after swimming are the golden repair window, requiring timely replenishment of carbohydrates and high-quality protein, making up the calcium and vitamin D consumed by swimming, and ensuring sufficient sleep at night — this is the key period for pulsatile growth hormone secretion and also the golden time for bone repair and elongation.

As for the drowning and hidden drowning that parents worry about, Zhang Haiqiang suggested that any water activity must have dedicated supervision. "Choking on water during swimming is a common phenomenon for beginners, and even professional athletes experience mild choking during training. As long as the child can cough out the water on their own and breathe steadily, there is generally no safety hazard; if severe choking occurs, the child's condition needs continuous observation, and medical attention should be sought immediately if abnormalities appear."

The experts also emphasized that even mastering swimming skills proficiently does not mean absolute safety. Learning to swim is for self-rescue and avoiding danger in critical moments, and one must never challenge unfamiliar, dangerous wild waters just because of good swimming ability.

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Swimming Gear Buying Guide

By: 张海强

When selecting swimming gear, you need to make a reasonable choice based on your body type, head circumference, swimming level, and intended use scenario.
　　Swimwear is mainly divided into leisure styles, daily training styles, and professional competitive styles. Leisure styles have loose fabric, high water absorption, and relatively high resistance in the water, making them suitable for scenarios such as seaside vacations and hot spring play, but not suitable for daily training. Daily training styles are simple and form-fitting, generally using high-elasticity chlorine-resistant fabric, with ample stretch and no water trapping, suitable for beginners and people who swim regularly for fitness, offering relatively high cost performance. Professional competitive styles are suitable for use by professional athletes in competitions; ordinary enthusiasts need not purchase them.
　　Swim caps are divided into four major categories: cloth, ordinary silicone, soft helmet, and hard helmet (steel helmet). When purchasing a swim cap, be sure to match your own head circumference size. If the size is too small, it will continuously compress the scalp and temples, and prolonged wear can cause head distension and pain; if the size is too large, the fit is poor, and during swimming it is prone to shifting, water ingress, and slipping off. Regular silicone and soft helmet swim caps are flexible and form-fitting, with good sealing, no head constriction, and stable waterproofing performance, suitable for the daily training of the vast majority of students.
　　Swim goggles are roughly divided into 3 types. One-piece oversized frame goggles offer a wide field of vision and a loose fit, suitable for seaside outings and snorkeling play. Left-right split large-frame goggles are comfortable to wear and put little pressure on the eye sockets, with high adaptability for beginners, but the frame structure lacks stability and is prone to loosening and water seepage during dive starts and fast swimming. Flat form-fitting small-frame racing goggles fit the eye sockets closely, with strong stability and good waterproof sealing, suitable for long-term training and various swimming competitions.
　　A nose clip can effectively block water from entering the nasal cavity, helping beginners overcome their fear of water and reducing the fear of choking. However, long-term reliance on a nose clip while swimming will seriously interfere with the establishment of the basic skill of coordinated mouth-nose breathing, so long-term wear is not recommended.
　　(The author is a coach at Wenzhou Olympic Swimming School in Zhejiang Province; compiled by Dou Hanyang, reporter for this newspaper)

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In Li Mengqi's eyes, only the arrow about to be released matters (New Force in Sports)

By: 本报记者 季 芳

The roster for the Chinese archery team for the Asian Games was recently announced, and post-2000s athlete Li Mengqi (pictured, photographed by Xinhua reporter Zhang Long) was successfully selected for the men's recurve bow squad. Currently in the final sprint phase, on the training ground he repeats the motions of drawing the bow, aiming, and releasing every day, with sweat soaking through his clothes being a common occurrence.

"How many arrows do you shoot each day?"

"Five to six hundred," Li Mengqi said.

"Do you find it hard?"

"Stable performance on the competition field is built from countless repetitions."

In 2003, Li Mengqi was born in Jinan, Shandong. His connection with archery began in the first grade of elementary school. This boy, whose strength was clearly greater than that of his peers, was spotted at a glance by his first coach.

After training with the school team for several years, Li Mengqi was recommended to the Jinan Sports School, where he began systematic training. He admitted that he had once thought about giving up: "It was my family and coaches who kept encouraging me to persevere, and step by step I made it to the professional arena."

What made Li Mengqi stand out was a composure that belied his age. In 2022, at less than 19 years old, Li Mengqi emerged as a dark horse at the National Archery Championships, defeating Wei Shaoxuan, the champion of the 14th National Games, and making a name for himself in a single match. That same year, he was selected for the national training team. At the time, no one imagined that this quiet young man from Shandong would one day become "that arrow" leading the Chinese men's archery team out of its trough.

In 2023, Li Mengqi made his debut on the World Cup stage. At the Colombia stop, he and the Chinese men's team finished fourth in the recurve bow team event, and he came away empty-handed in the individual competition — the cruelty of the international arena taught him a lesson.

Over the following two years, he trained with his head down, accumulating and improving bit by bit on the national stage. In 2025, he had his breakout: at the 15th National Games, he first won the individual final, then joined his teammates to take the men's team gold medal.

That experience gave him a deeper understanding of the sport: "Archery is all about perseverance and accumulation. Training is hard, and sometimes it feels monotonous, but as long as you settle your mind and keep at it, every practice session is progress."

In May 2026, at the Archery World Cup stop in Shanghai, more than 400 top athletes from 42 countries and regions gathered. The Chinese archery team fielded a young squad with an average age of just 20, and Li Mengqi was one of them.

In the mixed team final, which kicked off first, he and his partner Huang Yuwei won the gold medal with steady performances, helping China secure its second mixed team title of the season on the World Cup circuit. In the individual competition, he was like a bow drawn ever tighter, growing stronger with each round. In the round of 16, he eliminated Tang Zhijun of the Chinese Taipei team, who had ranked first in qualification; in the quarterfinals, he defeated Kim Je-deok, the renowned South Korean archer and Olympic champion. In the final, he overcame Mete Gazoz of Turkey, the Tokyo Olympic champion, to take the title. It was also the first time in 11 years that a Chinese archer stood on the top podium of the men's individual recurve event at a World Cup.

Team leader Mu Yong remarked after the competition that it was no small feat for the young athletes to hold their nerve at a major international event on home soil, and that it had injected a shot in the arm into the Chinese men's archery team.

Li Mengqi, too, has been continuously summing up his experience: "The coach told me that once the arrow leaves the string, don't dwell on the result. I've also been reminding myself to execute each movement properly, adjust in time, and focus on the next arrow." Compared with the rawness he showed when he first joined the national team, Li Mengqi can now handle training pressure and changes on the competition field with greater ease.

After the World Cup schedule concluded, the Chinese archery team immediately began sprint preparations for the 2026 Asian Games. Next year's World Championships and the Los Angeles Olympics two years from now are the distant goals the team is striving toward together. Every time he steps onto the competition field, all Li Mengqi sees is the arrow about to be shot. Nock the arrow, draw the bow, aim at the center of the target, and then release with composure.

(Chen Tianjie contributed to the reporting)

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Embrace Challenges, Brave the Touchdown (Toward the Asian Games)

By: 本报记者 李 硕

In August, at the Qinhuangdao training base, China's rugby sevens training squad trained hard, sweat pouring down. With drive and determination, the players charged again and again toward the try line, touching down for scores, as they made their final sprint for the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. "During the training camp, the team has been improving physical fitness, honing skills and tactics, and its form is steadily rising," said team leader Wang Shu.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese women's rugby sevens team defeated Japan in the final to claim the championship. At the Paris Olympics that followed, they finished sixth, the best result for a Chinese team in this event at the Olympics. But after the 15th National Games last year, a group of veteran players retired, and the team now faces severe challenges in the transition between generations.
"The team's average age is currently about 22. The players are young and energetic, and the team atmosphere is very good, but there is indeed a shortfall in match experience," said head coach Lu Zhuan. In addition, injuries are also plaguing this young team. When competing in the World Series earlier this year, several key players underwent surgery for injuries, and they are racing against time to be ready for the Asian Games.
To prepare for the Asian Games, the team previously underwent nine weeks of high-intensity training. The volume and intensity of the players' training in strength, physical conditioning, and contact work were greatly increased, putting both body and mind to the test. "The high-intensity training achieved the expected results. The athletes' body measurements and strength levels improved markedly, with outstanding gains in muscle mass, and nearly all players met their targets for body weight and body fat percentage," Lu Zhuan said. Tests conducted during the later, fatigue-heavy phase also showed that the team's fitness level has basically returned to the level of the Paris Olympics period.
The Asia Series tournament to be held in late August in Changshu, Jiangsu, will be the key competition for testing the results of the training camp and determining the Asian Games roster. In the women's rugby sevens event at this Asian Games, eight teams will compete, divided into two groups. China is placed in Group B, alongside Hong Kong, China, India, and Malaysia.
Compared with the women's team, which is striving to defend its title, the men's team's goal is to stand on the podium. The men's team's best previous Asian Games result was a bronze medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games; at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the men's team finished fourth. In May this year, the Chinese men's rugby sevens team traveled to Europe for three invitational tournaments, using competition as training to make up for their lack of match experience. At the EAAST Rugby Sevens Invitational Tournament held in Haguenau, France, the Chinese men's team fought their way through to the final and ultimately finished as runners-up, which boosted the players' confidence. Li Yang, head of the coaching group, said that the current priority is to improve the players' mental outlook and team cohesion. The men's team will also compete in the Asia Series at the end of August, continuing to accumulate experience in competition. According to the Asian Games draw, among the 12 participating teams, the Chinese men's team is in Group A together with Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan.
(Wang Yiwen contributed to this report)

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Chinese women's volleyball team aims for direct Olympic qualification

By: 本报记者 郑 轶 孙龙飞

On the evening of August 22, in the 2026 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship held in Tianjin, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated Iraq 3-0 in their first group-stage match, securing an opening victory.

Eleven years ago, also in Tianjin, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the Asian Championship title for the thirteenth time. In the three subsequent tournaments, the team has been unable to win the championship. Now, the new national women's volleyball team has returned to Tianjin with a clear goal: to compete wholeheartedly for the championship and secure the Olympic "ticket" at the earliest opportunity. Because the champion of this Asian Championship will directly lock in qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the top three will obtain entry to the 2027 Women's Volleyball World Cup, all participating teams attach particular importance to this competition.

After concluding the Women's Volleyball Nations League at the end of July, the Chinese women's volleyball team immediately entered preparation mode for the Asian Championship. Chinese women's volleyball head coach Zhao Yong stated: "The previous stage of competition both trained the team and exposed many problems, which will be addressed in a targeted manner during training."

Looking at the world volleyball landscape, European and American teams are generally strong. This Asian Championship is the best opportunity for Asian teams to secure the Olympic "ticket" at the earliest opportunity. For the Chinese women's volleyball team, Japan, currently ranked sixth in the world, and Thailand, the defending champion of the previous Asian Championship, are the main rivals for the title.

Looking at the 14-player roster for the Asian Championship, the Chinese women's volleyball team's lineup still follows the principle of "veterans leading newcomers," featuring both experienced veterans such as Gong Xiangyu, Wang Yuanyuan, Wang Mengjie, and Diao Linyu, as well as young players beginning to show their promise (崭露头角, zhǎn lù tóu jiǎo - "to reveal one's horns," to show one's talent), such as Wang Aoqian, Chen Houyu, and Li Chenxuan. In Zhao Yong's view, in hard battles like the quest for Olympic qualification, the supporting role of veteran players on the court is especially important, as they can drive the young players to show their fighting spirit. Outside hitter Zhuang Yushan said: "We need to leverage our advantage at the net and be more meticulous in small-ball play and transitions."

In the first group-stage match against Iraq, the Chinese women's volleyball team, which holds an advantage in strength, rotated through different lineups, and all 14 players got playing time. Outside hitter Wu Mengjie, returning from injury, appeared in the second set and converted all 4 of her attacks. In May of this year, she was injured during training and subsequently underwent surgery, missing the Nations League. Now returning at the critical moment, she will enrich the team's offensive options.

Regarding lineup arrangements, Zhao Yong stated that the coaching staff will make appropriate adjustments to each position based on the players' competitive form, team needs, and match requirements, to further enhance the team's combat effectiveness.

This Asian Championship features 12 teams divided into 3 groups. China is placed in Group A along with Chinese Taipei, Iran, and Iraq. According to the competition format, after the single round-robin group stage, the top two from each group and the two best third-place teams advance to the quarterfinals. Striving to advance from the group as the top seed to secure a better position in the knockout stage, and moving toward the goal of directly qualifying for the Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team still needs to advance steadily step by step. "This is one of our most important competitions this year, and the entire team must work together with one mind (齐心协力, qí xīn xié lì - "united hearts, combined strength," to work together with one mind) to achieve victory," said captain Gong Xiangyu.

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7 Chinese chess players advance to quarterfinals

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — (Reporter Zheng Yi) The round of 16 of the 6th Mlily Cup World Go Open was recently concluded at the Chinese Weiqi Academy, with 13 Chinese players competing and 7 advancing to the quarterfinals; the remaining berth was secured by South Korean star Shin Jin-seo.

This edition of the Mlily Cup main tournament has a total of 64 slots, of which 44 Chinese players are participating, setting a new record high for the event. In the first round, Chinese players performed outstandingly, with 24 advancing to the round of 32. In the second round, 13 Chinese players successfully broke through, leaving 2 Japanese players and only Shin Jin-seo of South Korea in the round of 16. In the third round of competition, Chinese players Yang Kaiwen and Xu Jiayang defeated Japanese players Ichiriki Ryo and Shibano Toramaru respectively, while Li Weiqing lost to Shin Jin-seo. Chinese players occupy 7 of the 8 quarterfinal berths.

It is reported that the quarterfinals will be held at a later date. Following the draw, Ding Hao will face Shin Jin-seo, Dang Yifei will face Xu Jiayang, Yang Kaiwen will face Fan Yin, and Li Zerui will face Yang Dingxin.

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Second National Youth Track and Field Games Opens

Our newspaper, Rizhao, August 23 (Reporter Liu Shuoyang) — On the evening of the 23rd, the opening ceremony of the Second National Youth Track and Field Games was held at Kuishan Sports Center (奎山体育中心) in Rizhao, Shandong. This event is one of the highest-standard comprehensive events in China's youth track and field field, with a total of 34 representative teams and 1,392 athletes registered to compete. This edition of the event features a total of 57 competition events, including 26 for men, 29 for women, and 2 mixed events. A relevant official from the Youth Sports Department of the General Administration of Sport of China (国家体育总局青少司) introduced that, centering on the goal of preparing for the Los Angeles Olympics in the new cycle of track and field events, this edition of the event has scientifically set up the competition events, fully covering all track and field categories of running, jumping, and throwing, and bringing together track and field athletes aged 14 to 17 from across the country to compete on the same stage. This edition of the event will close on August 27.

In the women's 5,000-meter race walk final held that morning, Shandong team athlete Wang Yaru (王雅茹) won the championship with a time of 22 minutes 21.62 seconds, claiming the first gold medal of this edition of the event. In the men's 5,000-meter race walk final that followed, Liaoning team athlete Shi Yuxuan (史雨轩) was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 20 minutes 13.28 seconds, and set a new national youth (U18) best result in this event.

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"Basketball connects people"

By: 王 亮 陈添洁

The 2026 Shanghai Rising Star Basketball Championship recently concluded at Shanghai Gymnasium. After seven days of intense competition across 18 games, the Spain Professional Basketball Lab U18 Elite Team ultimately claimed the championship, with the U.S. High School Elite Selection Team and the Australia U18 Selection Team finishing as runner-up and third place respectively.

The consecutive days of matches were wonderfully exciting, drawing large numbers of fans to the arena. At the third-place decider, the sibling pair Pan Ziyao and Pan Yicheng stood out conspicuously among the crowd of fans. Pan Ziyao said that she and her younger brother had been drawn to the youthful energy displayed on court by Australia U18 Selection Team player Lucas Byrne, and had brought homemade posters to cheer him on.

The Shanghai Rising Star Basketball Championship has been held for four consecutive years, and this year a total of eight teams from seven countries participated. Lucas, aged 16, came to Shanghai with his team to compete for the second time. In this edition of the tournament, he performed excellently, with his offensive and defensive capabilities greatly improved compared to last year, earning him the "Scoring Champion" title. "Shanghai is a wonderful city, and the basketball atmosphere is also very good," Lucas said. This year his family accompanied him to Shanghai, and everyone greatly enjoyed their time in China.

Beyond the competition schedule, the organizers also arranged a rich array of cultural activities. The China National U18 Men's Basketball B Team and the Shanghai Li-Ning Team visited the Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery to pay tribute to revolutionary martyrs; the England UK50 Elite Team and the Spain Professional Basketball Lab U18 Elite Team toured the China Eastern Airlines Technology Application R&D Center, experiencing the innovative strength of China's high-end aviation manufacturing... As night fell, the players appreciated face-changing performances, took part in fun interactive activities, and deepened their camaraderie during a night cruise on the Huangpu River, promoting international cultural exchange.

On match days, a basketball carnival created for Shanghai fans was held simultaneously. CBA Shanghai Sharks club starting players Wang Zhelin, Zhang Zhenlin, and Li Tianrong came to the venue to interact with fans, and the championship trophy exhibition and photo wall became popular check-in spots for fans.

Xin Chao, a Shanghai resident who has loved basketball for many years, arrived early at the venue with his two sons, all wearing matching jerseys. "The carnival is very suitable for parent-child interaction, and seeing the CBA players was a delightful surprise — we were very excited," Xin Chao said.

"Basketball connects people together, and everyone greatly enjoyed this journey," said David Peters, head coach of the Australia U18 Selection Team.

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“八步沙杯”甘肃省青少年足球邀请赛落幕

Wuwei, August 23 (Xinhua) (Reporter Song Chaojun) Recently, the 2026 "Babusha Cup" Gansu Province Youth Football Invitational Tournament concluded in Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu. The tournament was first held last year; this year marks its second edition. The "Babusha" in the tournament's name originates from the advanced deeds of the "Six Old Men" of the Babusha Forest Farm (八步沙林场) across three generations in combating desertification and afforestation. A total of 20 teams and 482 young players participated in this tournament, which has become a benchmark youth football event in Gansu Province.

In recent years, Gulang County has deeply implemented the campus football "Ten-Hundred-Thousand" project (十百千工程), with 53 primary and secondary schools across the county recognized as National Youth Campus Football Featured Schools, achieving a 100 percent campus football participation rate. The county also successfully hosted events such as the 2024 Gansu Province Youth Campus Football Featured Schools (Senior High School Group) Super League and has been awarded the title of one of the first batch of "Provincial Campus Football Demonstration Counties."

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Editor: Gong Yuhua, Shi Zhe, Cao Jiwei

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African Countries Continue to Enhance Climate Resilience (International Perspective)

By: 本报记者 郑 翔

Africa is one of the regions most severely affected by climate change and most vulnerable in climate adaptation capacity globally. Frequent extreme weather continuously constrains the sustainable development of local economy and society. Harsen Nyambe, Director of the Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy Directorate of the African Union Commission, emphasized that climate shocks are by no means a purely environmental issue, but a severe challenge and real crisis constraining development, hindering the implementation of the AU's Agenda 2063, and unfavorable to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the development visions of various countries.

In recent years, African countries and the international community have worked together, continuously expanding the coverage of early warning systems, and have achieved notable results in advancing disaster prevention and mitigation capacity building. At the same time, China, through the sharing of Fengyun meteorological satellite data and the implementation of the "Mazu" (妈祖) meteorological intelligent early warning solution, has provided strong support for Africa's enhancement of climate resilience.

The climate disaster challenges remain severe. The "State of the Climate in Africa 2025" report released by the World Meteorological Organization in June this year shows that extreme weather and climate-related events affected at least 13 million people in Africa in 2025, with reported deaths exceeding 3,000, causing chain effects across all economic and social sectors. Among them, flood disasters are the type with the widest impact and the greatest losses, accounting for more than half of the reported climate disasters in Africa. In April 2025, floods in the Democratic Republic of the Congo killed more than 160 people; in May of the same year, Nigeria suffered severe flooding, causing nearly 200 deaths. At the same time, drought continued to spread in East Africa in 2025, affecting more than 8.5 million people.

The warming trend of the African continent is intensifying. The report shows that the African continent is warming faster than the global average; since 1991, the warming rate of the entire continent has been significantly higher than any previous 30-year period. Since the end of the 19th century, Africa's glacier area has shrunk by more than 90%. In recent years, the glacier area of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, has shrunk from 11.4 square kilometers in 1900 to less than 1 square kilometer. Africa also faces ocean warming and frequent large-scale marine heatwaves. In 2025, ocean heat content and sea surface temperatures were in the historical high range of the past 10 years. From 1999 to 2025, sea levels in some African coastal areas rose faster than the global average of 3.6 millimeters per year. Ocean acidification and marine heatwaves continue to threaten the livelihoods of coastal communities. Changes and disruptions in Africa's rainfall and precipitation patterns further intensify the unpredictability of agricultural production, posing a direct threat to food security.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said: "From sea level rise to destructive floods and droughts, the signs of climate change are clearly visible across Africa." In July this year, Anthony Nyong, Director of the Climate Change and Green Growth Department of the African Development Bank, warned that the upcoming super El Niño event could cause US$10 billion to US$20 billion in economic losses to African countries, potentially causing the GDP of severely affected countries to decline by an average of 1% to 2%. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme have jointly issued an early warning, calling for the mobilization of US$202 million to help nearly 8.8 million people prepare in advance.

Early warning is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce losses from climate disasters. Facing severe challenges, African countries are making early warning system construction a top priority for disaster prevention and mitigation, with multi-level, multi-domain actions unfolding across the continent. According to a joint report by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Meteorological Organization, Africa's comprehensive early warning system capacity has grown by 72% since 2015, making it the fastest-improving region globally.

In September 2025, Zambia launched the "Early Warnings for All" initiative, with the government committing to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems by integrating scientific knowledge, indigenous practices, and modern technology. In May 2026, the Tanzanian government announced the full integration of artificial intelligence into the national disaster management infrastructure, with the system featuring real-time data synthesis capabilities and continuously aggregating satellite data. Liberia became the first country in West Africa to launch an early warning initiative in 2025, and is continuously strengthening observation networks, digital infrastructure, and multi-channel early warning capabilities.

The African Union is making every effort to promote the implementation of the African Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS). The system aims to establish a multi-level, networked early warning system covering 55 member states, achieving interconnection through a three-tier architecture of national situation rooms, regional centers, and the AU continental platform. Since the beginning of this year, the construction of the system has visibly accelerated. In April, the Fourth Synergy and Coordination Meeting was held in Douala, Cameroon; in May, the Fourth Technical Working Group Meeting was held in Maputo, Mozambique, adopting strategic recommendations such as developing a continental data sharing framework, strengthening impact-based forecasting capabilities, and expanding satellite data and artificial intelligence applications. At present, the three-level situation assessment centers of AMHEWAS have been put into operation one after another.

In terms of funding guarantees, the African Development Bank approved a US$6 million grant in October 2025 to support the African Risk Capacity in strengthening Africa's disaster preparedness and risk financing capacity over the next two years. Since its establishment in 2012, the African Risk Capacity has had 39 AU member states sign agreements, disbursing more than US$230 million cumulatively to 14 countries, protecting millions of vulnerable people through rapid, predictable financing. UN officials called on African governments to accelerate ratification of the African Risk Capacity Treaty and incorporate sovereign risk financing and early warning systems into national budgets and planning.

In January 2025, the EU-funded "Strengthening Early Warning in Africa" project was officially launched, jointly implemented by the African Union Commission, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, with an implementation period until June 2029. Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT, said that technical support is an important part of African countries' ability to fully master their own weather forecasting capabilities, and that by advancing the development of locally customized satellite products, Africa's capacity to respond to extreme weather will be enhanced.

China is an important partner in Africa's disaster prevention and mitigation capacity building. In recent years, through multiple means such as sharing Fengyun meteorological satellite data, implementing the "Mazu" meteorological intelligent early warning solution, and holding technical training, China has provided strong support for Africa's enhancement of early warning capacity and climate resilience.

In September 2024, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation adopted the "FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)," listing "building a meteorological early warning operational platform" as an important part of China-Africa cooperation. In November of the same year, China clearly stated it would share early warning technology with developing countries and cooperatively build cloud-based early warning systems. The Fengyun meteorological satellites built by China share data with African countries, covering 12 major categories of meteorological and remote sensing products. China has donated satellite data receiving stations, meteorological analysis systems, automatic weather stations, and other facilities free of charge to more than 20 African countries. Comoros, Zimbabwe, and other African countries have for the first time achieved the use of meteorological satellites to monitor forest fires.

In July 2025, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2025, the China Meteorological Administration released the China solution for Early Warnings for All, "Mazu." This is the world's first national-level action plan responding to the UN's Early Warnings for All initiative. At present, meteorological departments of more than 40 countries are using "Mazu" early warning operational products through the cloud, and customized products have been implemented in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and other African countries. In July 2026, "Mazu" Djibouti Version 2.0 was officially delivered. Its monitoring and early warning intelligent terminals, equipped with packaged meteorological chips and forecasting models, combine with the intelligent agents already deployed in Djibouti to form an integrated "monitoring-forecasting-warning" intelligent solution, with forecast spatial resolution refined from 9 kilometers to 3 kilometers, a forecast lead time of 3 days, and an update frequency of 6 hours, providing more precise marine and terrestrial weather warnings.

China cultivates meteorological talent for African countries through various forms. "Mazu" supporting technical training has covered nearly 100 developing countries. Government officials from Benin, Gambia, South Africa, and other African countries participated in the "Senior Training Course for Meteorological and Hydrological Administrative Officials of Developing Countries" and the "Training Course on Climate Change Response and Green Development under the Global Development Initiative" held in Beijing last July.

Makarau, former head of the WMO Africa office, said that the meteorological facilities built with China's assistance are of solid quality and advanced technology, effectively enhancing the disaster prevention and early warning capacity of recipient countries. UN Secretary-General Guterres said: "China's platforms, satellites, and AI models have helped dozens of countries improve their early warning capabilities. China is also co-building relevant tools with developing countries to support countries in issuing their own warnings independently. This is exactly the cooperation model the world needs — helping countries protect lives through technology transfer, joint research, and local capacity building."

(This newspaper, Johannesburg, August 23)

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Global Scan

Commemorative Meeting Held on 103rd Anniversary of Japan's "Dongying Massacre"

Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo (reporters Chen Ze'an, Yang Zhixiang) — A commemorative meeting for the 103rd anniversary of the "Dongying Massacre" was recently held in the First Members' Office Building of the House of Representatives in Tokyo. At the meeting, people of insight called on Japan to face history squarely and avoid repeating the mistakes of history.

Takakage Fujita, chairman of the Japanese organization "Inherit and Develop the Murayama Statement Association," said at the meeting that 103 years ago, after the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred, many Chinese residents in Japan and people from the Korean Peninsula were innocently killed. However, today's Liberal Democratic Party government of Japan evades this massacre, and the responsibility for it has still not been seriously pursued to this day, which is deeply regrettable.

Seo Seung, a professor at Yonsei University in South Korea, said that revealing the truth about crimes of human rights violations aims to curb the rampant hate speech and discrimination in today's society and to leave a just society for future generations.

Lin Boyao, a member of the "Memorial Meeting for Chinese Massacred in the Great Kanto Earthquake," said that exclusionary sentiment is once again on the rise in Japanese society today. Japan should face this problem squarely, reflect seriously, apologize to the victims, and clearly state that such a tragedy will not be repeated.

On September 1, 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the Tokyo area of Japan, historically known as the Great Kanto Earthquake, causing more than 140,000 deaths and injuries. At that time, Japanese militarist thugs exploited the chaos to incite exclusionary sentiment and manufactured pretexts to wantonly massacre Chinese and Korean laborers in Japan. More than 750 Chinese laborers and students and more than 6,000 Korean laborers were killed, an event historically known as the "Dongying Massacre." In 1924, the Japanese authorities issued a compensation plan for the "Dongying Massacre," but it has still not been fulfilled to this day.

Iranian Foreign Ministry: New US Sanctions on Iran Have No Basis in International Law

Xinhua News Agency, Tehran, August 22 (reporter) — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said on the 22nd that the United States' announcement of new economic sanctions on Iran goes far beyond the ongoing illegal "economic war" against a single country and has no basis whatsoever in international law.

In a social media post in the early hours of the 22nd local time, Baghaei said that such sanctions violate the principle of sovereign equality in the UN Charter. This kind of "economic coercion aimed at forcing a sovereign state to change its legitimate policy choices" constitutes a complete wrongful act.

Due to the stalled negotiations with Iran, US President Trump announced on the 19th "devastating economic action" against Iran. Trump threatened that any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any form of support to Iran will face severe economic consequences. He called on all US allies to join the United States in isolating Iran and defeating the "Iranian threat." US Treasury Secretary Bessent warned on the 20th that the United States would impose "unprecedented economic isolation" measures on Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned this on the 20th, stating that Iran would use "all tools and capabilities" to safeguard national interests and the legitimate rights of the Iranian people.

Canada Announces Reciprocal Retaliatory Tariffs on the US to Take Effect September 8

Xinhua News Agency, Ottawa, August 22 (reporter Lin Wei) — Canadian Prime Minister Carney delivered a national televised address on the 22nd, comprehensively setting out Canada's position on the breakdown of Canada-US trade negotiations. Carney announced that, given the US imposition of 50 percent tariffs on CAD 20 billion worth of Canadian goods, Canada's reciprocal retaliatory tariffs are scheduled to formally take effect and be implemented on September 8. The retaliatory tariffs will cover multiple sectors including dairy products, steel, home appliances, pulp and paper, and electronic products.

Speaking on why the negotiations broke down at the last moment, Carney said that although the two sides had come close to reaching a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement earlier this week, the US side put forward new terms at the last minute that were uneconomical, unfair, and greatly damaging to Canada's interests, attempting to restrict Canada's ability to conclude new trade agreements with other countries as well as Canada's protection of its language, culture, and sovereignty, and the proposed automotive industry terms were extremely unfair.

Carney said that the US side's repeated disregard for existing free trade agreements such as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement sends an extremely bad signal. When asked why Canada chose to implement retaliatory tariffs, Carney said: "Because we were attacked." Carney reaffirmed his confidence in the resilience of the national economy. He said that Canada is creating jobs at four times the rate of the United States, and foreign direct investment has reached a 20-year high. "Canada is becoming stronger and stronger, and its dependence on the United States is getting lower and lower."

DR Congo Government and Anti-Government Armed Group Reach Agreement on Negotiation Roadmap

Xinhua News Agency, Kinshasa, August 23 (reporter Shi Yu) — The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the anti-government armed group "M23 Movement" issued a joint statement on the 22nd, reaching agreement on a roadmap for peace negotiations, clarifying the phased steps and timetable for subsequent negotiations.

The statement said that the two sides assessed the progress and challenges of the Doha peace process and exchanged views on implementing existing commitments and advancing subsequent negotiations. The two sides formulated a roadmap for subsequent negotiations, clarified the relevant steps and timetable, and agreed to establish mechanisms to track the implementation of relevant agreements and commitments. The two sides also welcomed the progress of the ceasefire verification mechanism and reaffirmed their commitment to continuing to promote conflict resolution and comprehensive peace through negotiation.

Since January 2025, the "M23 Movement" has continuously launched offensives in North Kivu Province, South Kivu Province, and other areas of the DR Congo, seizing several important cities. In July of the same year, with the mediation of Qatar, the DR Congo government and the "M23 Movement" signed a declaration of principles in Doha. In November, the two sides signed a framework agreement in Doha, committing to building mutual trust through dialogue, advancing the stabilization process in phases, and resolving the root causes of the conflict.

Syrian Transitional Government: Expected to Resume Security Agreement Negotiations with Israel Soon

Xinhua News Agency, Damascus, August 23 (reporter Lin Jianjie) — Syrian transitional government Foreign Minister al-Shibani said in an interview with Reuters on the 22nd that Syria expects to soon resume negotiations with Israel on a security agreement, hoping that such an agreement can push Israel to withdraw its forces from Syrian territory.

Al-Shibani said that since the outbreak of the US-Israel-Iran war this year, negotiations between Syria and Israel on a security agreement have been stalled, but he expects the negotiations to resume. The United States is pressuring Israel to return to dialogue. Al-Shibani also said that the Syrian transitional government "does not currently trust Israel," but the current priority is to stop Israel's attacks, and therefore it is necessary to take "measures conducive to building trust." After the attack on Syria's Abu al-Zuhur Air Base on the 18th of this month, contact between Syria and Israel was interrupted.

Israel and Syria held a new round of security negotiations in Paris on January 5 and 6 of this year. The main topics of the negotiations were the implementation of the Agreement on Disengagement of Forces signed by Syria and Israel in 1974 and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to their pre-upheaval positions, and on that basis reaching a "fair security agreement." After the upheaval in Syria's political situation in December 2024, Israel occupied the military buffer zone in the Golan Heights and the strategic stronghold of Mount Hermon, seeking the "comprehensive demilitarization" of several provinces in southern Syria.

Recently, Israel has attacked Syria multiple times. According to statistics from the UK-based "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights," Israel has launched 57 attacks on Syrian territory in 2026, including 6 airstrikes and 51 ground attacks.

Pakistani Military Says 49 Terrorists Killed

People's Daily, Islamabad, August 23 (reporter Zhao Yipu) — The Pakistani military recently issued a statement saying that Pakistani security forces killed 49 terrorists in joint operations with police over the past few days.

The statement said that in operations conducted in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwestern Pakistan, 12 terrorists were killed; in 10 operations in southwestern Balochistan Province, 37 terrorists were killed. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and simple remote-controlled detonation devices was also seized during the operations. The statement said that Pakistani security forces will unswervingly safeguard national security and continue to carry out clearance operations to completely eliminate the terrorist threat within Pakistan's territory.

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What Did the Four Southern European Countries Do Right in Their Comeback? (Global Notes)

By: 谢亚宏

More than a decade ago, the European debt crisis swept across Europe. Among the Southern European countries, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain were deeply mired in sovereign debt overhang, runaway fiscal deficits, and high unemployment, at one point being reduced to the "laggards" of the European economy. Today, this situation has been reversed: data from Eurostat show that in 2025, Spain's GDP grew by 2.8 percent year on year, far exceeding the eurozone average; Italy's manufacturing exports have shown strong resilience, and its high-end services sector has performed prominently; Greece and Portugal have achieved fiscal surpluses, transforming from former deficit heavyweights into exemplars of improved public finances.
The "comeback" of these four Southern European countries did not rely on luck, but on choosing the right path: domestically, activating endogenous growth momentum through structural reform; externally, expanding development space through openness. The underlying logic of the "comeback" path of the four Southern European countries provides a thought-provoking practical mirror for a Europe mired in growth bottlenecks.
Reform turns "crisis" into "opportunity." After the outbreak of the European debt crisis, the four countries launched fiscal consolidation under the framework of international rescue mechanisms, curbed unreasonable expenditures, gradually repaired the fundamentals of fiscal revenues and expenditures, and created the preconditions for the economy to stop declining and stabilize. The four countries did not stop at "austerity-style" belt-tightening policies, but instead seized the window period forced by the crisis to tackle structural ills accumulated over many years: continuously relaxing labor market regulations, lowering market access thresholds, and adopting multiple measures to optimize the business environment; systematically filling gaps in transportation, energy, digital, and other infrastructure to shore up support for industrial development; forward-looking deployment in emerging tracks such as green energy and the digital economy to promote the iterative upgrading of traditional industries and cultivate new economic growth poles.
More than a decade later, the government debt ratios of the four countries have gradually stabilized, current account positions have continued to improve, and the competitiveness of export products has risen steadily. Of greater long-term significance, green transition and the digital economy have been transformed from planning blueprints into actual production capacity, becoming new engines driving employment and growth. This fully demonstrates that the recovery of the Southern European economy is sustainable growth catalyzed by structural reform, and its staying power derives from the deep-level optimization of the development model.
Openness turns "building walls" into "win-win cooperation." In the face of the external environment of rising global protectionism and rising noise of bloc confrontation in recent years, the Southern European countries have neither drifted with the current into closed-minded thinking, nor been swept along by the rhetoric of "decoupling and severing supply chains." Instead, they have adhered to economic priority and mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, proactively expanded global economic and trade cooperation networks, and sought development opportunities in openness.
For example, practical cooperation between China and the Southern European countries has injected strong momentum into the Southern European economic recovery. Greece's Port of Piraeus is the most vivid example: after Chinese enterprises participated in its operation, they continuously advanced terminal upgrading and renovation and expanded global shipping route networks, turning this once-declining port into the largest port in the Mediterranean, cumulatively creating over ten thousand direct and indirect jobs, bringing considerable economic and social benefits, and making it an important pillar of Greece's economic recovery. In Spain, Italy, and Portugal, Chinese-invested enterprises have deeply participated in investment and construction in new energy, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and other fields, not only bringing valuable capital, advanced technology, and broad market channels to the localities, but also effectively promoting the upgrading of local industrial structures and boosting development confidence.
At present, the European economy is at a development juncture of weak growth and internal divergence. Some countries, whenever they encounter problems, habitually shift blame onto external competition and attempt to find a sense of security by "building walls and erecting barriers," but in reality they miss the opportunity for transformational development in closed-minded thinking. The "comeback" path of the four Southern European countries is precisely a powerful response to this development misconception. The more development challenges one faces, the more one must focus on strengthening internal capabilities and deepening one's own reforms, and the more one must embrace global cooperation and adhere to mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Indulging in the old zero-sum game mindset can only consume development potential amid confrontation and closure.

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South Korea seeks innovation in manufacturing structure

By: 本报记者 莽九晨

Data released recently by the Budget Policy Office of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea show that in 2025, South Korea's manufacturing value added reached 632.4 trillion won (1 yuan is approximately equivalent to 206 won), a year-on-year increase of 2.3 percent, accounting for 27.2 percent of South Korea's gross domestic product, the highest level in the past 10 years (2016 to 2025).

Manufacturing is an important pillar of the South Korean economy. In 2025, computers, electronics and optical equipment accounted for 37.4 percent of manufacturing, ranking first among all industries, up 14.7 percentage points from 2016. At the same time, the share of traditional manufacturing industries such as transport equipment, machinery and chemicals has mostly declined or stagnated. South Korean media analysis suggests that since the beginning of this year, driven by the continued improvement of the semiconductor industry, South Korea's manufacturing sector may have deepened its dependence on semiconductors. How to cultivate new growth momentum and reduce dependence on a single industry has become an important issue facing the South Korean economy.

In the industrial plan released in September 2025, the South Korean government proposed cultivating new industries and tapping new growth momentum to make South Korea a powerhouse in cutting-edge industries. Specific measures include promoting the development of the AI (artificial intelligence) and humanoid robot industries, and raising the industrial AI application rate to 70 percent by 2030; vigorously developing climate technologies such as carbon emission reduction technology and clean hydrogen energy, and cultivating new energy industries to address climate change. The plan also proposes innovating the mainstay industries to make South Korea one of the world's top four manufacturing powers. Specific measures include upgrading mainstay industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, automobiles and shipbuilding; promoting the transformation of industries such as steel and chemicals; and building a mutually beneficial and win-win industrial ecosystem through technology transfer and supply chain cooperation between large, medium and small enterprises.

In August this year, the South Korean government released the "Economic Structure Innovation Promotion Direction," and starting from the fourth quarter of this year, it will sequentially formulate and publish AI manufacturing process innovation and upgrading plans for major manufacturing industries such as steel, petrochemicals, home appliances, shipbuilding and automobiles. The plan is to promote the intelligentization of manufacturing infrastructure by integrating AI technology, increase industrial added value, and advance the green transformation. The South Korean government stated that the South Korean economy continues to grow driven by the semiconductor industry, but the gaps between assets, income, labor, generations and regions have also further widened, and comprehensively promoting structural innovation in manufacturing has become urgently necessary.

Anton Hyun, a professor of economics at Seoul National University, emphasized that South Korea must as soon as possible transform into a knowledge industry that supports new growth points and core technologies. Bae Kwan-pyo, a professor at the Graduate School of National Policy at Chungnam National University, said that South Korea's advantage lies not only in the semiconductor industry, but also in a comprehensive manufacturing system covering automobiles, shipbuilding, steel, petrochemicals, secondary batteries and biotechnology. South Korea should shift toward a system of industrial multipolarity, that is, developing multiple flagship industries so that they can compensate for each other's losses at different stages.

In addition, the AI transformation of South Korea's manufacturing industry still faces many difficulties. Yonhap News Agency reported that the AI transformation of South Korea's manufacturing industry is facing multiple difficulties such as funding, talent and uncertainty in the external environment, and requires strong government support. A report recently released by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology shows that among more than 1,200 enterprises in the manufacturing sector, the proportion of enterprises that have not introduced AI reached 79.2 percent, and among these enterprises, only 18.6 percent have clear plans to introduce AI in the near future. The report recommends that the South Korean government enable manufacturing enterprises to personally experience the advantages brought by AI technology and further improve productivity.

(Our newspaper, Seoul, August 23)

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Editor: Zou Zhipeng, Zhang Huizhong, Chu Jun

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"Invoice Upon Transaction": How Many Hurdles Remain? (Finance)

By: 王 观

Recently, the six-month pilot campaign for prize-bearing invoices in many places across the country has come to a successful conclusion, and this campaign has set off a wave of consumers actively requesting invoices after consumption. Some people wonder: since consumers' willingness to request invoices is rising, why can't we simply issue the invoice as soon as payment is completed? From passively waiting for consumers to request invoices to achieving "invoicing upon transaction," how many hurdles still need to be crossed? In recent years, tax authorities in many places have actively explored models such as "invoicing upon payment" and "tax payment upon invoicing" in scenarios including accommodation, catering, and parking, and have already accumulated a large amount of practical results and experience. It is worth expecting that starting this November, the retail refined oil sector will fully implement the new "invoicing upon transaction" model, opening a window for the whole society to observe the digital reform of invoicing.
Promoting "invoicing upon transaction" is an inevitable choice for responding to market pain points and optimizing the business environment. For a long time, high-frequency consumption scenarios such as catering, retail, and parking have been plagued by the difficulty of "obtaining invoices." During peak customer flow periods, manual invoicing queues are time-consuming, manual entry of information is prone to errors, and a large number of ordinary consumers often give up on requesting invoices; many small and medium-sized merchants lack professional financial and tax personnel, and situations of delayed invoicing and shirking or refusing to issue invoices occur from time to time, with invoice-related complaints remaining high all year round. "Invoicing upon transaction" embeds the invoicing logic into the business transaction link, achieving issuance of the invoice upon completion of the transaction and automatic push of the invoice, compressing manual operation costs at the source, effectively reducing the burden on small and medium-sized merchants, and also providing consumers with complete vouchers for rights protection, achieving two-way empowerment of convenience for the people and benefit for enterprises.
Of course, the key to "invoicing upon transaction" is not simply making invoicing faster. Invoices are the digital vouchers of the market economy and also the core carrier of tax collection and administration. Under the traditional collection and administration model, the three flows of transactions, funds, and invoices are disconnected from each other, leaving opportunities for concealing uninvoiced income and issuing false invoices, and making dynamic supervision of scattered tax sources more difficult. Promoting "invoicing upon transaction" is a key lever for reshaping the regulatory logic and maintaining fair market order — relying on the Leqi platform (乐企平台), transaction traceability identifiers can be affixed to invoices, so that every invoice corresponds to a real business record; by setting intelligent risk control indicators such as amount matching, invoicing frequency, and red-letter reversal ratios, tax supervision is promoted to transform from post-hoc auditing to precise prevention and control during and before the event. When the three flows of transaction, fund, and invoice data are interconnected in real time, the base of tax sources becomes clearer, and declaration data can be cross-verified, which will effectively compress the living space for tax-related violations, safeguard a fair and just market competition environment, and help build a unified national market.
In the process of reform implementation, the long-term promotion of "invoicing upon transaction" still faces multiple practical difficulties. First, the cash register systems of different merchants and the data standards of various payment platforms differ, and stable data-sharing channels among tax, market regulation, banking, and other departments have not yet been fully established, which restricts the deep interconnection of relevant data. To clear this technical bottleneck, it is necessary to strengthen top-level coordination, issue standardized interface specifications for the entire chain of transactions, payments, and invoicing, and, while strictly safeguarding data security and privacy, build a cross-departmental normalized data collaboration mechanism to lay a solid data foundation for the large-scale implementation of the reform. Second, many small and micro merchants have a weak digital foundation, and the system conditions of different business formats vary greatly; while exploring pilot projects first, attention should also be paid to classified measures, and adapted access paths should be introduced for different business entities. At the same time, some merchants have concerns about the "transparency" of business data, and ordinary consumers without reimbursement needs may not have a strong willingness to request invoices; these are also important factors affecting the depth of promotion. In this regard, targeted publicity and guidance should be carried out, explaining to merchants the actual benefits of compliant operation, and popularizing to consumers the practical value of invoice-based rights protection, so as to make efforts to resolve the problems of cognitive mismatch and insufficient motivation.
Refined oil takes the lead, and behind it is the trend. From prize-bearing invoice campaigns stimulating consumers' awareness of requesting invoices, to the continuous deepening and promotion of "invoicing upon transaction," what is changing is not just the way invoices are issued, but also the thinking on tax governance. It can be foreseen that, based on the foundation of real transactions, tax authorities will continue to clear the bottlenecks at the technical, scenario, and conceptual levels, further improve various supporting measures, promote the deepening and solidification of smart tax construction, and safeguard high-quality economic development.

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"Bank Stations" Arrive at Village Entrances (Financial Insights: Enhancing Diversity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility of Financial Services)

By: 本报记者 琼达卓嘎

The summer Qiangtang grassland: herds of yaks scatter like black pearls across the vast pasture. Ciren Wangdui, a herder from Daqian Township (达前乡), Seni District (色尼区), Nagqu City, Tibet, is calculating whether to take out another loan to expand his breeding operation.

In the past, he would not have entertained the idea. "It's too far — you have to ride dozens of kilometers, and one trip is not even enough to get it done."

Daqian Township sits at an average elevation of 4,500 meters and administers nine administrative villages across a vast territory. To handle an ordinary withdrawal, herders used to have to ride a motorcycle over the Jianggula Pass (江古拉山口), taking nearly half an hour to reach the Agricultural Bank's Kongma business outlet. Today, a comprehensive financial service station stands at their doorstep. Withdrawals, transfers, social security card activation, credit services, and many other operations can all be completed in one stop.

On the snow-covered plateau, financial services are steadily extending into remote farming and pastoral areas. Tibet has established 5,516 Jinsui Huinong service points (金穗惠农服务点), achieving 100 percent coverage of basic financial services for administrative villages. "Bank post stations" have been set up at village entrances, mobile service vehicles drive into pastures, and credit services are delivered into herders' tents, injecting financial living water into the production and daily life of the masses.

Deploying service points nearby, payment services cover the highest administrative township

Pumajiangtang Township (普玛江塘乡), Langkazi County (浪卡子县), Shannan City, at an average elevation of 5,373 meters, is the highest administrative township in the country. With a total population of barely a thousand, it was long a "low-lying area" for financial services.

Opening a business outlet there was clearly not cost-effective — so how could the masses' financial needs be met?

The Shannan branch of the People's Bank of China guided financial institutions to deliver a set of combined services: setting up Huinongtong service points (惠农通服务点) in village convenience stores, cooperatives, and other venues, equipping them with smart POS terminals and self-service kiosks, so that farmers and herders can handle small cash withdrawals, transfers, remittances, and other transactions without leaving their villages. At present, financial institutions have established Huinongtong service points in all six administrative villages of Pumajiangtang Township.

"I buy things at the village shop and withdraw cash in the same trip," said Duoji, a herder from Sazang Village (萨藏村), with genuine praise.

These financial service points, which the masses call "bank post stations," are taking root on the snow-covered plateau in various forms. The Nagqu branch of the People's Bank of China has issued a standardized construction plan, specifying the "eight-have" (八有) construction standards for comprehensive financial service stations, with unified signage, business announcements, financial service terminals, and basic security protection facilities. Beyond basic services such as withdrawals, transfers, and inquiries, the stations are progressively adding diversified convenience services including social security card activation, small-change and damaged-note exchange, and consultation on "three rural" (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) loans. As of the end of June this year, Nagqu had built 39 comprehensive financial service stations and 1,198 farmer-assistance cash withdrawal service points, achieving 100 percent coverage of counties (districts) and townships (towns).

Chilie, head of the Daqian Township comprehensive financial service station, is a living example of inclusive finance driving income growth for the masses. In his early years, he opened a restaurant with a 30,000-yuan targeted poverty alleviation micro-loan. Today, he has not only been approved for a 300,000-yuan "Diamond Card" loan but has also mastered the operation of agricultural POS machines through one-on-one pre-job training, earning 3,600 yuan in service compensation from the lead bank each quarter. The small comprehensive financial service station has both broadened Chilie's family income channels and made him a "financial link" in the pastoral area trusted by his neighbors and rooted at the grassroots.

From the northern Tibetan grasslands to the southern Tibetan valleys, from border villages to remote mountain pastures, the network of financial services benefiting the people is being woven ever denser. The Tibet branch of the People's Bank of China is vigorously advancing the construction of payment service networks at the village level, opening up the "last mile" of payment services.

As of the end of June this year, Tibet had built a total of 5,579 farmer-assistance cash withdrawal service points and 210 comprehensive financial service stations, achieving full coverage of payment services in rural areas.

When services travel one more kilometer, the masses travel dozens fewer

With outlets set up in villages, can all villagers be reached?

The answer is no. In Tibet, especially in pastoral areas, the population is scattered, and fixed outlets alone cannot achieve full coverage of services.

The Tibet branch of the Agricultural Bank of China has broken new ground with its "Gesanghua" (格桑花) financial service model, implementing "nine visits" (九走进) services and establishing a routine service mechanism of "once a week plus on-demand home visits."

In Qiemu Village (切玛村), Qiangga Township (强嘎乡), Linzhou County (林周县), Lhasa, villager Ouzhu was quite worried for a while. Living in a remote area, unfamiliar with financial policies, and facing high costs of traveling to the county seat for business — these factors combined to leave Ouzhu's ambition to expand yak breeding stuck at the "money bag" stage.

When the "Gesanghua" financial service team of the Agricultural Bank of China's Linzhou County sub-branch learned of this, they immediately loaded up mobile financial service equipment and drove more than an hour to Qiemu Village. Beside Ouzhu's cattle pen, the team members explained in Tibetan, sentence by sentence, the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment period for the specialized livestock breeding loan, taught him by hand how to fill out the application materials, and completed identity verification, information entry, and other procedures on-site through mobile terminals.

In less than a week, the 200,000-yuan loan arrived, and Ouzhu immediately purchased six yaks. "I never expected it to be so simple and smooth." Today, the number of yaks in Ouzhu's herd has grown from the initial six to more than fifty, and the family's annual income is expected to exceed 80,000 yuan this year.

"Whatever the herders need, we strive to provide. When services travel one more kilometer, the masses travel dozens fewer," said Danzeng Dunyue, a member of the "Gesanghua" financial service team of the Agricultural Bank of China's Linzhou County sub-branch. Every time he sees the villagers full of drive after receiving their loans, he feels that all the running around was worth it.

The "Gesanghua" financial service team serves not only as "propagandists" for financial policies and "attendants" for loan applications, but also as "explainers" against telecom fraud. On every home visit, team members bring bilingual Tibetan-Chinese brochures and, drawing on real cases, remind farmers and herders to guard their "money bags."

In counties without self-operated outlets, the Tibet branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China extends financial services to the "last mile" of farming and pastoral areas through a combination of agency outlets and mobile service vehicles.

To better serve the masses, the Tibet branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China has launched a Tibetan-language mobile banking app, becoming the fourth financial institution in the country to offer a Tibetan-language mobile banking platform. As of the end of June this year, the Tibetan-language mobile banking app of the Postal Savings Bank of China's Tibet branch had 77,000 users, with transactions exceeding 1.1 billion yuan.

At present, five banks in Tibet have completed Tibetan-language versions of their mobile banking apps, and nine banks provide Tibetan-Chinese bilingual services on payment terminals such as ATMs.

Building credit "passports," specialized loans invigorate plateau industries

People in remote areas seeking to develop industries have long faced financing difficulties: no valid collateral and no credit history.

In Chesuo Village (车所村), Jomda County (江达县), Qamdo, a reshaping of the credit system is changing all this. In the "Diamond Card Village" assessment conducted by the Agricultural Bank of China's Jomda County sub-branch, Chesuo Village was among the first batch of model villages to receive the designation. Villagers enjoy differentiated financial services under equal conditions, including service priority, simplified procedures, and increased loan limits. After the designation, the average credit limit per household in the village increased by 50,000 to 70,000 yuan. To date, 280 households in Chesuo Village have received loan support, with a loan balance of 31.2 million yuan.

Under the guidance of the Tibet branch of the People's Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China's Tibet branch has innovatively applied an integrated "Party building + finance + technology" service model to advance the construction of the rural credit system. As of the end of June this year, the bank had cumulatively assessed 49 credit counties, 592 credit townships (towns), 5,145 credit villages, and 307,300 credit households, with coverage rates of 66.22 percent, 86.2 percent, 95.36 percent, and 61.7 percent respectively; more than 435,300 "Four Cards" (Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Copper) had been issued, with both issuance coverage and usage rates exceeding 90 percent.

A credit assessment is becoming a "passport" for Tibetans to get rich. Credit has value, and empowerment has a path — for villages and towns designated as "Diamond Card Villages" or "Diamond Card Towns," the personal credit of farmers and herders and the collective credit of the village are continuously transformed into capital for rural industrial development and confidence for farmers and herders to increase their incomes.

The credit system has opened up financing channels, while industrial loans channel financial living water precisely into the fields and pastures. In Nagqu, the Agricultural Bank of China's Nagqu branch has innovatively launched the "Rural Revitalization · Yak Industry Loan," breaking the constraints of traditional guarantee methods.

Guore Zhaxiyangzong Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. in Jiaqiong Town (佳琼镇), Baingoin County (班戈县), Nagqu, is a locally significant yak breeding enterprise that had previously hit a bottleneck in transformation and upgrading due to insufficient funds. After the "Rural Revitalization · Yak Industry Loan" was launched, the enterprise used its yaks on hand as collateral and smoothly obtained a 7 million yuan loan. In January this year, after repaying the 7 million yuan loan, the enterprise obtained another 10 million yuan loan. The Agricultural Bank of China's Nagqu branch, relying on the People's Bank of China Credit Reference Center's "Unified Registration and Publicity System for Chattel Financing," handled the mortgage registration, achieving registration and public notice of living-animal collateral, turning the previously "dormant" yak assets into valid collateral for financing.

Today, the enterprise's breeding scale has nearly doubled, and its returns have risen substantially. "This was truly 雪中送炭 (xuě zhōng sòng tàn - "send charcoal in a snowstorm," timely help in times of need) — it solved our biggest problem in expanding operations," said Zhaxi Redan, the enterprise's person in charge. "Our confidence in development is even stronger now."

In recent years, the Tibet branch of the People's Bank of China, building on the resource advantages of plateau-specific agriculture and animal husbandry, has made living-animal mortgage loans a key lever for financially supporting comprehensive rural revitalization, guiding banking financial institutions across the region to continuously broaden the scope of collateral and explore biological living-animal mortgage loans. As of the end of June this year, the region had launched five types of living-animal mortgage loan products, with a loan balance of 95.85 million yuan.

Yao Jingchao, Party Secretary and President of the Tibet branch of the People's Bank of China, stated that the branch will guide financial institutions to optimize resource supply, increase credit support at the rural frontline, promote the extension of quality financial services to the grassroots and directly to people of all ethnic groups, empower comprehensive rural revitalization with financial living water, continuously enhance the well-being of the masses, and build a solid financial foundation for Tibet's high-quality economic and social development.

Reporter's Notes

At 5,373 meters, understanding "finance for the people"

In Tibet, when financial services are mentioned, the phrase heard most often is "the last mile." At first I thought it was a standard formulation from official documents — until I walked the Qiangtang grassland and climbed Pumajiangtang, and understood the weight of those five characters on the plateau.

Daqian Township in Nagqu sits at an average elevation of 4,500 meters. Herder Ciren Wangdui had to ride a motorcycle over the Jianggula Pass, nearly half an hour, to reach the nearest business outlet for a single withdrawal. In snowstorms, the mountain road was impassable. The three characters "too far" are the most tangible distance between financial services and farmers and herders.

Following the "Gesanghua" financial service team of the Agricultural Bank of China's Linzhou County sub-branch, the vehicle bumped along for over an hour before reaching Qiemu Village. Beside herder Ouzhu's cattle pen, the team members explained loan policies in Tibetan and taught him by hand how to fill out the forms. In less than a week, the 200,000-yuan loan arrived, and Ouzhu's yaks grew from six to more than fifty. Opening up the "last mile" depends on a vehicle, a mobile terminal, sentence-by-sentence explanations in Tibetan, and the team members' determination to shuttle back and forth despite altitude sickness. At present, the "3+2" model has been rolled out across the region — three days at the outlet, two days visiting villages and households — and 5,516 Jinsui Huinong service points have brought basic financial service coverage for administrative villages to 100 percent.

During the interviews I met more specific individuals: Chilie, head of the comprehensive financial service station in Daqian Township, Nagqu, who started with a 30,000-yuan poverty alleviation loan and has now been approved for a 300,000-yuan "Diamond Card" loan; Chesuo Village in Jomda County, Qamdo, which was designated a "Diamond Card Village" and saw 280 households receive 31.2 million yuan in loans; and the breeding enterprise in Baingoin County, Nagqu, which obtained a 10 million yuan loan using living yaks as collateral, nearly doubling its breeding scale. The credit system ensures farmers and herders can "get loans," and living-animal collateral brings "dormant" assets to life.

On the return journey, gazing at the continuous snow mountains, I suddenly understood that on the snow-covered plateau at an average elevation of over 4,000 meters, the "last mile" has never been just one mile — it is an elevation of 5,373 meters, a cold of minus 30 degrees Celsius, a perilous crossing of mountain passes, and a trek of slipping wheels and trudging on foot.

Precisely because of this, the opening of this "last mile" is all the more precious. It connects on one end the national policy of inclusive finance, and on the other the daily necessities of plateau farmers and herders. The wheel ruts left by mobile service vehicles, the signals jumping on mobile terminals, the white breath of Tibetan-language explanations — these small connections turn "financial work must firmly stand on the people's side" into a warmth that the masses can hold in their hands.

Here, financial services are not just numbers and procedures, but a road that must be traveled even 翻山越岭 (fān shān yuè lǐng - "cross mountains and ridges," to travel over difficult terrain), and a promise by a group of people not to let a single farming or herding household be left behind. The "last mile" at 5,373 meters tests not only one's legs, but also the ability to reach people's hearts.

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Opening New Growth Space for the Intelligent Economy (Finance Tea House)

By: 黄 河

Promote the construction of a service system for authoritative content featuring on-demand supply, measurable use, and embeddable business operations, opening up new growth space for the intelligent economy

At present, artificial intelligence is moving from the "digital world" toward the "physical world." As AI accelerates its integration into various industries and business scenarios, the role of information resources is also continuously expanding from supporting model development to serving product applications. How to promote the transformation of long-accumulated information resources into sustainable market value has become a new topic in the development of the intelligent economy.

The economic value of authoritative content stems from the growing demand for high-quality information in vertical scenarios. The deeper AI penetrates into professional fields such as finance and law, the higher the requirements for information professionalism, accuracy, and timeliness. Authoritative content formed through professional collection, fact-checking, and editorial review, when embedded as high-quality data into the AI foundation, can reduce the repetitive costs of information searching, screening, and verification, improve the accuracy and operational efficiency of AI in handling professional tasks, and thereby achieve market value that transcends single dissemination.

However, for authoritative content to move from "useful" to "valuable," it still faces three constraints: supply, measurement, and application. First, some content is scattered across different carriers and business systems, with format standards, labeling systems, and authorization statuses that are not fully unified, making the cost of continuous invocation high. Second, after content is integrated into AI products, there is a lack of clear records of specific uses and invocation situations, leaving authorization pricing and revenue distribution without a basis. Third, some applications are limited to information retrieval and general question-answering, making it difficult to truly meet needs in specific scenarios and business processes. Breaking through these constraints is the key to authoritative content becoming a valuable resource in the intelligent economy.

First, use actual application needs to drive the supply of authoritative content. Around professional scenarios such as industrial research, financial services, and public governance, conduct structured processing of authoritative content and establish dynamic update mechanisms, then provide categorized retrieval and continuous push services according to user needs, and integrate into AI products through data interfaces, real-time information streams, and other means, reducing users' costs of searching, screening, and integrating information.

Second, improve the value return mechanism for the use of authoritative content. Classify authorization according to different uses such as model training, intelligent retrieval, and content generation, and record invocation situations, making the correspondence between content use and revenue returns clearer. For example, the "AI News Feed" (Factiva AI News Feed) service developed by Dow Jones, a globally renowned financial information provider, on the one hand provides news and data licensed for AI use based on differentiated application scenarios, and on the other hand continuously records effective content invocation situations based on user behavior, thereby providing a basis for usage measurement, revenue accounting, and reconciliation auditing.

In addition, promote the embedding of authoritative content into the actual work processes of vertical industries. Around high-frequency professional tasks in industries, embed authoritative content into business links such as research, analysis, and decision-making, develop intelligent services that can directly assist professional work, and enhance the added value of content. For example, Thomson Reuters, which has long provided information services to professional markets such as law, taxation, and risk management, supported by its massive legal database, has launched the generative AI-driven legal assistant (CoCounsel) to assist practitioners in completing tasks such as data search, document review, and document drafting, which can greatly improve the efficiency of transactional work.

As the intelligent economy enters the stage of industrial application and scenario development, professional information itself is also giving birth to new markets. Promoting the construction of a service system for authoritative content featuring on-demand supply, measurable use, and embeddable business operations is conducive to cultivating a more mature professional data and knowledge service market, allowing long-accumulated information resources to release new economic value and opening up new growth space for the intelligent economy.

(The author is a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Renmin University of China and director of the Institute for Public Communication and Governance Modernization.)

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本版责编：齐志明

Layout Design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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Keep the "oil bottle" firmly in our own hands (Tech Talk)

By: 王汉中

Last August in Ergun, Inner Mongolia, the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (中国农业科学院油料所), together with the Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences (内蒙古农牧业科学院), bred five new spring rapeseed varieties including "Beiya You No. 1" (北亚油1号), marking a key step forward for China in the field of early-maturing, high-yield, high-quality rapeseed breeding for cold regions. This year, the series was demonstratively planted on 600 mu in Hulunbuir, showing the advantages of high and stable yields and good adaptability, which will strongly support large-scale rapeseed planting in high-latitude, short-frost-free-period regions.

Why is this breakthrough important? Because it concerns the stability of China's oilseed supply and can put more Chinese oil in the "oil bottle."

At present, China's edible vegetable oil has a relatively high degree of external dependence, a prominent shortcoming in the agricultural sector. As the main source of the two major nutrients of fat and protein, oilseeds are not just a "supporting role" for seasoning, but a "main force" for the human body to obtain essential nutrients; choosing appropriate edible oil is beneficial to health. Promoting domestic oilseed production increases and accelerating import diversification are both needs for ensuring supply security and can also strongly support the "Healthy China" (健康中国) initiative.

To ensure the security of China's oilseed supply, the strategic complementary role of rapeseed and soybeans should be fully brought into play. Rapeseed oil accounts for more than 50% of the oil output of domestically produced oilseed crops, and has unique advantages for winter planting, able to utilize large amounts of winter fallow fields in the south, avoiding competition for land with staple grains. More importantly, rapeseed has huge potential for production increase and area expansion.

In Asian regions north of 45 degrees north latitude, including parts of China's Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, and Jilin, reserve cultivated land resources such as saline-alkali land are very abundant and can be used to develop short-growth-period spring rapeseed production. In addition, rotating short-growth-period spring rapeseed with spring soybeans can help alleviate the obstacle of continuous soybean cropping in the black soil region of the Northeast. However, the natural conditions of the North Asian region (frost-free period of less than 100 days and relatively low effective accumulated temperature) are harsh, and the adaptability of existing varieties is seriously insufficient, causing the North Asian oilseed industry to face the bottleneck of "lacking chips and souls, having no seeds to plant." To this day, Hulunbuir still plants on a large scale varieties bred in Qinghai 20 years ago.

Seeds are the "chip" of agriculture. To breed new spring rapeseed varieties suitable for high latitudes with extremely short growth periods, Chinese researchers have proposed a dual-driven breeding strategy of "biotechnology + ecological breeding" (Bt+Eb). Biotechnology covers modern breeding methods such as molecular markers, gene editing, and microspore culture; ecological breeding emphasizes "where you plant, there you breed," pushing breeding work deep into the ecological environment of major production areas. From 2024 to 2026, large-scale variety identification was carried out in multiple ecological zones including Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Hubei, and Sichuan. Research found that varieties of the same genotype have quite different yields in different ecological zones, confirming the significance of ecologically adaptive breeding.

Good seeds bring good harvests. At present, the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has established five major ecological breeding bases in Wuhan, Hubei; Chengdu, Sichuan; Anyang (安阳), Henan; Ergun (额尔古纳), Inner Mongolia; and Haidong (海东), Qinghai, covering China's major rapeseed production areas and the typical environment of the "North Asian oil valley." The application of this system has achieved notable results: the bred dense-tolerant variety "Zhongyouza 501" (中油杂501) achieved a yield of 377.68 kg per mu in 2025 in Dongtai (东台), Jiangsu, setting a new record for mechanized harvesting of 100-mu plots in the Yangtze River basin; the extra-early-maturing variety "Zhongyouzao No. 5" (中油早5号) achieved a mechanized harvest yield of 201.96 kg per mu in 2026 in Xinfeng (信丰), Jiangxi, with a full growth period of only 166 days, setting a new record for mechanized harvesting in the rice-rice-oilseed three-cropping system; the saline-alkali-tolerant variety "Zhongyou 281" (中油281) achieved a yield of 284.11 kg per mu in Dongying (东营), Shandong, providing a new option for winter planting on saline-alkali land around the Bohai Rim; and "Beiya You No. 1" has laid key variety support for developing the rapeseed planting potential of the North Asian region.

At present, the world's century-old changes are accelerating, and grain and oil security has become more urgent and necessary. Ensuring edible oil supply is a systematic project. With science and technology as support, conceptual innovation as guidance, and global layout as the foundation, the "biotechnology + ecological breeding" breeding system will provide momentum for oilseed production capacity breakthroughs and independent and controllable supply chains, and consolidate the variety foundation for firmly holding the "oil bottle" in our own hands.

(The author is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This article was compiled from an interview by staff reporter Yu Sinan (喻思南).)

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Making the "Artificial Sun" a Reality (Deep Observation · The "New" Driving Force in Future Industries)

By: 本报记者 谷业凯

Nuclear fusion is the principle by which the sun emits light and heat. It refers to a nuclear reaction in which two or more light atomic nuclei, under extremely high temperature and pressure, combine to form heavier atomic nuclei while releasing enormous energy. Fusion energy is safe, clean, and virtually inexhaustible. For this reason, this ideal energy source for humanity's future is also called the "artificial sun."

How can fusion energy move from the laboratory to industry, and when will it enter ordinary households? A reporter recently conducted interviews on this topic.

Once commercialized, it will greatly reduce humanity's dependence on fossil fuels and is expected to reshape the global energy system

The reason fusion energy is regarded as the "artificial sun" lies first in the fact that its main fuel, deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen), is extremely abundant and widely distributed on Earth. Duan Xuru (段旭如), chief scientist in the fusion field of China National Nuclear Corporation, explained that deuterium exists in large quantities in seawater, and the deuterium extracted from each liter of seawater can, through fusion reactions, release energy equivalent to burning 300 liters of gasoline.

Second, fusion energy has inherent safety and environmentally friendly characteristics. Because fusion reactions require extremely demanding conditions such as temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, if a reaction fault occurs, the reaction will automatically stop because the reaction conditions are no longer met, and there is no risk of meltdown. In addition, there are no long-lived radioactive products, and the operation process produces no greenhouse gases. "Therefore, once fusion energy is commercialized, it will greatly reduce humanity's dependence on fossil fuels and is expected to reshape the global energy system and achieve sustainable economic and social development," Duan Xuru said.

At present, multiple fusion devices in China are accelerating construction, with scientific research, engineering, and industrial development advancing in parallel. In Chengdu, Sichuan, the new-generation "artificial sun," China's HL-3 tokamak (中国环流三号), has broken through "dual 100 million degrees," and is expected to carry out burning plasma experimental research by 2027. In Hefei, Anhui, the fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device has achieved steady-state operation at 100 million degrees Celsius for over a thousand seconds, and the world's first compact fusion energy experimental device project is also accelerating construction.

"Nuclear fusion is essentially the energy-supplying reaction of stars. To achieve self-sustaining fusion, the reaction conditions must be realized in a high-temperature, high-density ionized gas (plasma) environment," said Hu Zhongjun (胡忠军), a researcher at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院理化技术研究所). The existing mainstream fusion routes are divided into two major categories: magnetic confinement (represented by tokamaks and stellarators) and inertial confinement (represented by laser-driven targets), as well as new conceptual schemes such as magnetized target fusion.

Among these, tokamak magnetic confinement fusion is currently the technical route with the greatest hope of first achieving fusion energy application. Around this technical route, the Southwestern Institute of Physics of China National Nuclear Corporation (核工业西南物理研究院, hereinafter referred to as "SWIP"), the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Hefei), and other units have made a series of advances in high-parameter and long-pulse plasma operation, key fusion reactor technology development, and core component fabrication. At the same time, domestic universities and research institutes are actively participating in fusion research; private enterprises are also actively entering the new fusion energy track, and diversified technical routes are developing at an accelerated pace.

"Generally speaking, realizing the commercial application of fusion energy requires going through six main stages: principle exploration, scale experiments, burning experiments, experimental reactors, demonstration reactors, and commercial reactors," said Xiao Guoliang (肖国梁), director of a research office at the SWIP Fusion Science Experiment Institute. China is currently at the "burning experiment" stage and already possesses the plasma parameters and device operation conditions needed to carry out relevant experiments.

China has made a series of important advances in fusion device operation and key fusion reactor technology development

In recent years, China has made a series of important advances in fusion device operation and key fusion reactor technology development.

Not long ago, ISO 19991:2026, "Fusion technology — Experimental magnetic confinement fusion facilities — Supersonic molecular beam injection fueling technology for fusion devices," led by China in its formulation, was officially released. This is the first international standard in the field of fusion fueling.

Supersonic molecular beam injection fueling technology is a key fuel supply technology for controlled fusion devices and is also an original advanced fusion fueling technology developed by China. It has already been applied on more than ten magnetic confinement fusion experimental devices at home and abroad.

The leap of this technology from original research and device application to an international standard is a microcosm of China's accelerated breakthroughs in fusion research and key technologies.

In March 2025, China's HL-3 tokamak achieved, for the first time in China, high-parameter operation with "dual 100 million degrees" — ion temperature of 117 million degrees Celsius and electron temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius — setting a new record for fusion device operation in China. In May 2025, the device's fusion "triple product" reached the order of 10 to the 20th power, propelling China's fusion program rapidly toward burning experiments.

In this process, a large number of new principles, new methods, and new equipment have been put into application, including high-power microwave gyrotrons, high-power neutral beam injection heating systems, new methods for improving core energy confinement, triple-grating precision spectrometers, and compact Thomson scattering polychromators.

The high-power gyrotron is the core life component of the electron cyclotron resonance heating system of China's HL-3 tokamak and was once dependent on imports for a long time. In 2020, the SWIP team launched a scientific research campaign aimed at full localization of the complete electron cyclotron system, preparing to conquer the last technical stronghold of the system.

The gyrotron is a metal cylinder more than 2 meters high and weighing more than 300 kilograms. It looks unremarkable, but its internal structure is extremely precise and complex, with extremely high technical barriers. "We spent more than three years just on physical characteristic analysis and research. As for how to match the physical characteristics with engineering implementation, from design to process, we made countless attempts," recalled Huang Mei (黄梅), discipline leader of China National Nuclear Corporation and chief engineer of the HL-3 electron cyclotron heating system.

Exploration and optimization advanced in tandem, and manufacturing and iterative design proceeded simultaneously. After repeated attempts, the research team finally developed the high-power microwave gyrotron. This breakthrough has placed China at the very forefront of the fusion field at temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius.

As a complex systems engineering endeavor, fusion energy has also generated a large number of technical and engineering demands in materials, cryogenics, magnets, testing, and control.

"The realization of superconducting strong magnetic fields for controlled fusion depends on cryogenic environments ranging from the liquid helium temperature zone to the liquid hydrogen temperature zone. With the development of fusion energy, the scale of cryogenic refrigeration systems is also continuously increasing," Hu Zhongjun said by way of example. In large cryogenic systems, the helium gas compressor is the core power equipment.

For many years, the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences has been deeply engaged in screw helium gas compressor technology. In 2015, the institute established a joint laboratory with Fujian Snowman Co., Ltd. (福建雪人股份有限公司) to jointly tackle large-scale screw helium gas compressor technology. They broke through the conventional thinking of low rotational speed principles in traditional rotor profile design and developed a new rotor profile suitable for compressing small-molecular-weight gases, solving the problems of helium leakage and the large compression heat caused by a high adiabatic index. This effectively improved the efficiency and reliability of helium gas compressors, formed a series of industrialized products, and brought the overall technology to an internationally leading level.

What advantages does China have in developing fusion energy? Duan Xuru said that China possesses a complete nuclear industry system and rich nuclear engineering experience. It should leverage the industrial empowerment advantages of enterprises in engineering design, material production, and equipment manufacturing, focus on the key role of nuclear engineering technology throughout the full lifecycle of fusion reactors, and promote the high-quality development of China's fusion energy.

Engineering practice has formed a solid foundation, and steady progress is being made toward the goals of building engineering experimental reactors and commercial demonstration reactors

From a global perspective, the commercialization of fusion energy has taken on an accelerating trend. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency's "World Fusion Outlook 2025" report, nearly 40 countries worldwide are advancing fusion programs.

However, the commercialization of fusion energy still faces multiple challenges. At the science and technology level, breakthroughs are urgently needed in steady-state operation of burning plasma and in materials that can withstand high-energy neutron bombardment and high heat loads. At the industrial ecosystem level, issues such as supply chain maturity, economic affordability, investment sustainability, and regulatory adaptability still need to be resolved.

"China's fusion engineering practice has formed a solid foundation and is steadily advancing toward the goals of building engineering experimental reactors and commercial demonstration reactors," Duan Xuru said.

"China has listed fusion energy as an important part of its forward-looking future energy strategy and is accelerating the building of fusion science and engineering capabilities. Domestic fusion development is driven by the national scientific research system and major scientific facilities, forming a progressive path from basic physics experiments and comprehensive verification of key systems to burning plasma and engineering reactor research. Through major facility investment, special research and development programs, industrial clusters, public platforms, and supply chain localization, this is being implemented as concrete engineering tasks," Hu Zhongjun said.

Opportunities and challenges coexist. Xiao Guoliang said that in recent years, artificial intelligence has already achieved preliminary verification in plasma operation monitoring, control, and instability prediction research, and is expected to solve the problem of plasma control. It has also shown great development space and potential in fusion reactor system development, operation, and maintenance. If high-temperature superconducting magnets achieve a breakthrough, they can provide stronger magnetic fields, which is expected to greatly improve plasma performance, thereby making future fusion reactors more compact in scale, shortening construction cycles and reducing costs, and accelerating technological iteration.

In the fusion field, private enterprises have also made progress in their explorations. For example, Nova Fusion Energy Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (诺瓦聚变能源科技（上海）有限公司) has developed the field-reversed configuration small modular reactor (FRC-SMR) fusion experimental device, Nova One.

Mei Huadeng (梅华灯), head of public affairs at Nova Fusion, said that Nova One integrates the advantages of existing magnetic confinement and inertial confinement technologies, uses pulsed reaction energy to generate electricity directly, and can use multiple fuels such as deuterium-tritium and deuterium-helium-3. The goal is to achieve commercial applications of computing-power-electricity synergy with high density, 7×24-hour stable, zero-carbon, user-proximate, and cost-competitive characteristics. This year, breakthroughs in the localization of the four major core components have been successfully completed, and final assembly and integration have now begun. In October, the device will enter the commissioning and testing phase, with plans to achieve a fusion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in 2027.

The development of fusion energy cannot be separated from global scientific and technological cooperation. Since China joined the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program, a major international scientific engineering project, in 2006, more than a hundred domestic enterprises and institutions have participated in the ITER project, covering tasks such as material development, key technology and process development, processing and manufacturing, and fusion reactor integrated assembly. The contributions made by Chinese scientists and engineers have strongly promoted the development of the ITER program and have received high praise globally.

"International magnetic confinement controlled fusion research began in the 1950s, and it has now reached a stage of open cooperation and joint participation worldwide," Duan Xuru said. Fusion energy carries the mission of addressing common challenges facing humanity such as energy shortages and climate change, and open cooperation is the inevitable choice for meeting these challenges.

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Three Locks on Potent Greenhouse Gases (The Brightest Minds Around Me)

By: 张晓琴

Sulfur hexafluoride is an indispensable insulating and arc-extinguishing medium for high-voltage power equipment, yet it happens to be a potent greenhouse gas. What makes it trickier is that at the current stage, it is very difficult to find a suitable gas that can completely replace it. How can we keep it from entering the atmosphere as much as possible? This is the challenge we have been trying to solve.

From the very beginning of my career, I followed my mentor to field sites and conducted testing. Gradually, I discovered that from the moment sulfur hexafluoride is filled into equipment, through operation and maintenance, and then to recovery and reuse, every link has room for emission reduction. This is precisely the direction of our research and development efforts since 2015.

The first question was how to keep it from leaking. Combined electrical appliances are assembled from sections of equipment joined together, and gas can escape at the seams. Rather than only strengthening the internal sealing gaskets, we added an extra "lock" on the outside of the equipment — that is, we developed a composite colloid sealing material, applied it to the outside of the seams, and affixed a sturdy "tape" over the equipment joints.

This layer of "tape" was not easy to make. Power grid equipment mostly operates outdoors for long periods and is subject to vibration and heat generation. Sulfur hexafluoride is also a gas, and even the tiniest gap can become an escape route for it. Therefore, this material had to adhere tightly to metal, withstand aging and temperature changes, and maintain good air-tightness over the long term. After hundreds of formula adjustments and experimental verifications, we ultimately achieved molecular-level barrier against sulfur hexafluoride, raising the equipment's annual sealing rate to 99.9997%.

Having plugged the "leaks" during operation, the second question followed: during equipment maintenance, how can the sulfur hexafluoride inside be recovered as completely as possible? Previously, the main method was to use a compressor to pump it out — the process was fast at the beginning but grew slower and slower. Since direct pumping could not get it all out, could we use another gas to "carry" it out?

We chose nitrogen. First, we pumped out most of the sulfur hexafluoride, then filled the equipment with nitrogen to carry out the residual gas. But once the nitrogen and sulfur hexafluoride were mixed together, how could we separate them? Starting in 2020, after nearly two years of exploration, we finally found a hollow fiber membrane with a special internal pore structure. It acts like a "molecular goalkeeper," separating out the sulfur hexafluoride, while the nitrogen continues to circulate back into the equipment, carrying out the residual sulfur hexafluoride again and again.

With the gas recovered, there was a third question: how to continue using it? After sulfur hexafluoride has been in service in power equipment, it becomes mixed with moisture, particulate matter, and impurities such as sulfides and fluorides, and no longer meets the standard for direct reuse. In the past, recovered gas had to be bottled and transported to a dedicated facility. The entire process often took four to five days, and some locations could recover the gas but had no conditions for further purification.

To address this, we first developed a miniaturized detection device, moving some impurity testing that previously could only be done in the laboratory to the field site, and then integrated processes such as drying and adsorption into a vehicle-mounted purification unit. Today, during equipment maintenance, while electrical professionals work on the equipment on one side, we recover sulfur hexafluoride on the other — first testing what impurities are present, then purifying accordingly, and finally re-testing. Once it meets the usage standard, as soon as the equipment maintenance is complete, the gas just recovered can be refilled. The process that used to take four to five days is now compressed to be completed the same day, and the sulfur hexafluoride reuse rate has been raised to 99.994%.

From "plugging" to "recovering" to "reusing," linking the three stages together formed our near-zero emission reduction technology for the entire sulfur hexafluoride process. After that, we built a digital full-lifecycle management and control platform, recording the entire process from warehousing, use, and recovery to recycling. In January 2025, China's first national standard for sulfur hexafluoride gas recycling and reuse was officially implemented, providing a full-process specification for testing, recovery, purification, and reuse. Today, the technologies and equipment we have developed are not only widely deployed domestically but have also been applied in many countries around the world.

An invisible gas molecule — on one end it connects to the safety of the power grid, and on the other end to global carbon reduction. Starting from the actual application scenarios of China's power grid, we broke a big problem down into smaller ones and solved them one by one. This is precisely the meaning of technological innovation — using frontline Chinese technology and Chinese wisdom to provide a new solution for global greenhouse gas emission reduction.

(The author is a principal engineer at the Transmission and Transformation Technology Research Institute of the Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd. This article was compiled from an interview by our reporter Bai Guangdi.)

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Editor-in-charge of this page: Yu Sinan

版式设计：蔡华伟

Layout Design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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On the Baiyangdian Lake

By: 李志刚

On the day of the Beginning of Autumn, after driving more than an hour from Beijing, my wife and I made a special trip to Xiong'an to visit this city we had long been thinking about, and to tour Baiyangdian Lake, where reeds sway and lotus leaves stretch across the water.
The name Xiong'an takes one character each from Xiong County and Anxin County under its jurisdiction. The place name is rooted in a thousand years of history, yet also carries a warm and profound promise of goodness.
Stepping into Xiong'an, I immediately experienced a different kind of tranquility. The entire city is hidden within lush green forests. There are no crowded high-rises to be seen, nor noisy traffic; everywhere there are blooming parks and green spaces. In the afternoon, we drove to Baiyangdian Lake. My impression of Baiyangdian came from the movie Little Soldier Zhang Ga I watched as a child, and from the essays of the writer Sun Li. Now, standing right in it, getting along with the local villagers, the scenes from the movie and the words from the books surfaced in my mind once again. I suddenly understood that Baiyangdian is not merely a story backdrop in literary and artistic works — it is a land of water and soil with backbone. In years past, what the people living by the lake shore guarded was not only the reeds and the lake water, but also the days and the homesickness of generations upon generations on this land.
We rented a small boat at the dock. The boatman's surname was Wei, 61 years old this year, a native of Beiliu Village nearby. Old Wei was tall and lean, with sun-darkened skin and hands covered in calluses — clearly a man who had spent much time on the water, weathered by wind and sun.
As the boat left the dock, the water rippled gently. I chatted with Old Wei: "Have you always been punting boats on the lake?"
Old Wei immediately opened up. He said that in the early years, the people by the lake shore made their living from this stretch of lake water. Fishing and weaving reed mats, they worked from dawn to dusk every day, yet no matter how hard they toiled, they could not earn much money. The land was poor, income was low, and with elderly parents and children to support, staying by their doorstep meant there was no way to get ahead. In those days, Baiyangdian, though beautiful in scenery, could not keep its young people. To make a living, many chose to leave their homes and venture out into the world.
Old Wei's life had been like that of most of his fellow villagers. After finishing elementary school, he followed his parents in weaving reed mats, working from dawn to dusk all year round with little income to show for it. To earn a living, he bid farewell to his family in his early twenties and headed west, all the way to a remote small county in Xinjiang, where he ran a small business and stayed for over twenty years. Old Wei said that during those more than twenty years of striving far from home, life looked respectable on the surface, but was in fact full of bitterness. In winter, the temperature in that small county dropped to more than 30 degrees below zero, with bone-piercing cold; in summer, the sun blazed fiercely. He ran his shop alone, rising early and working late to stock goods and make sales, worrying about everything with no one to help. During festivals and holidays, while others gathered in happy reunions, he alone kept watch over his shop. In the dead of night, what he missed most was the water of Baiyangdian and the reeds by his doorstep, and his heart felt empty. In those days, he always thought that his whole life was destined to drift in a foreign land.
When the conversation turned to the changes in his hometown, Old Wei's previously low spirits vanished in an instant, and his eyes lit up with radiance. He said it was the construction of Xiong'an that gave him the opportunity. In 2017, when Xiong'an New Area was established, the news reached Xinjiang, and he was both excited and deeply conflicted — should he stay in Xinjiang or return home to take part in the construction? After that, he watched the news every day and looked at videos his relatives sent, watching his hometown change day by day: dirt roads turned into broad avenues, old bungalows became brand-new residential communities, and after treatment, the waters of Baiyangdian grew clearer and clearer, the scenery more and more beautiful, with tourists coming in greater numbers year after year...
"I thought to myself at the time: after drifting around for half my life, wasn't I just after a stable life? Now my hometown has changed completely and opportunities are everywhere — why should I keep drifting outside? Once I figured that out, I gritted my teeth, closed the shop, packed my bags, and came back home."
After more than twenty years away, his native soil had been completely transformed. The villages had become tidy, and the desolate lake shores had become beautiful scenic areas. Old Wei saw the strong momentum of the water-town tourism industry, took out his savings of many years, bought this pleasure boat, and now spends his days gliding among the lotus ponds and reed marshes, receiving visitors from all directions.
Speaking of the development of recent years, Old Wei smiled with particular simplicity: "Staying by home, no homesickness, no wandering. Working steadily, I can earn more than 300,000 yuan a year. In the old days, even if I worked myself to the bone for a whole year away from home, my income would be nowhere near what it is now. This kind of life — I wouldn't have dared to dream of it before."
As the boat reached the middle of the lake, a gentle breeze blew and the reed leaves rustled. The development of Xiong'an has benefited not only Old Wei's family. According to him, the entire village of Beiliu has genuinely shared in the benefits of Xiong'an. The former bungalows have become green spaces and parks, and every household has moved into spacious, bright apartment buildings. The residential communities are clean, with good amenities — comfortable and dignified to live in.
"And there's no need to worry about old-age support. I reached retirement age last year, and I receive a pension every month — more than enough for daily living. Our generation, we suffered hardship and wandered in our youth, toiling for half our lives. To be able, in our old age, to enjoy such good policies — to have a place to live, work to do, and money to spend — we are truly content." Old Wei pointed to the new city spreading across the open fields as he spoke to me.
I asked Old Wei: "Xiong'an is building a city of the future. Aren't you afraid that one day robots will take away your job?" Old Wei smiled and said: "No need to worry about that. In the next step, our boats will be installed with the BeiDou system, dispatched in a unified manner, with routes planned automatically, and tickets sold through an online platform. We boatmen won't have to squat at the dock competing for customers anymore! Even if all the boats eventually become unmanned, they still can't do without us! Because we can tell the stories of Baiyangdian, the stories of our own lives — robots can't do that."
Listening to Old Wei's account, I was deeply moved. The Baiyangdian written by Sun Li had a stern and noble spirit and beautiful scenery, yet it concealed a lifetime of poverty and wandering for the common people. In Little Soldier Zhang Ga, the reeds of Baiyangdian were cover, and the lake water was the rice bowl — the people relied on it to hold on to their days and their dignity. In Old Wei's childhood, the green waves of Baiyangdian could only be looked at, not satisfy the needs of life, and young people were forced to leave for distant places. In this new era, with the same lake water and the same reeds, the situation has completely changed. The wandering sons and daughters have returned one after another, and the native soil has become bustling and prosperous. The grand plan of the millennium, when all is said and done, is about letting more ordinary people live good lives. The life of an ordinary man like Old Wei — drifting in the first half, secure in the second half — is the truest epitome of the tremendous transformation of Xiong'an's native land.
The setting sun was gentle, the lake breeze soft, and the fragrance of lotus flowers drifted lazily across the water. When we reached the dock, the small boat came steadily to shore. Old Wei bade us farewell, turned his boat around, and headed back toward the rippling blue waves of Baiyangdian.
The evening breeze brushed our faces, and the scent of lotus clung to our clothes. Looking back at Baiyangdian and Xiong'an in the twilight, nature and modernity blended together in a scene of peace and tranquility. I thought to myself: the beauty of Xiong'an lies not only in its modern high-rises, digitalization, and artificial intelligence, but also in the stable, year-round prosperity of countless returning sons and daughters, and their hopes for abundance in every season. A stretch of blue water carries the years; a small boat witnesses the vicissitudes of life. The ordinary rise and fall of boatman Wei's half-century of life reflects the warmest and most genuine answer Xiong'an has delivered to the era.

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Dialects in Writing (Literary Thoughts)

By: 张 鸿

This summer, everyone is talking about a Chaozhou-Shantou dialect film, Love Letters to Grandma (《给阿嬷的情书》). Before its release, no one had high hopes for it: an all-amateur cast, dialogue mostly in the Chaozhou-Shantou dialect, and very few screenings. But after word of mouth carried the film to popularity, the dialect version became the one audiences actively chose. Having spent half my life working with words, I cannot help but wonder: what film can do, can literature do it too?

Dialect appearing in film is not something new. As early as 1933, there was the Cantonese sound film The White Gold Dragon (《白金龙》). In later films, Yellow Earth (《黄土地》) featured Northwestern dialect, and Crazy Stone (《疯狂的石头》) used Chongqing speech to make comedy more down-to-earth. In recent years, the Shanghai dialect in B for Busy (《爱情神话》) was praised for its stylish flair, and the Guizhou Kaili dialect poetry reading in Kaili Blues (《路边野餐》) was acclaimed. Local accents from all over have taken turns on the big screen. Now there is Love Letters to Grandma, which has made audiences across the country willingly sit through two hours of subtitles and cry.

Dialect can catch fire on screen — but what about on paper?

In my years as an editor, I have received many manuscripts containing dialect. Some are truly well written; the linguistic force that grows out of the soil loses its flavor when rendered into standard Mandarin. Guangdong is a major language province — Cantonese, Hakka, and Chaozhou-Shantou speech each have their own tone and temperament. If you have a Chaozhou-Shantou grandmother say "食未" (have you eaten?) in Mandarin, the flavor is instantly gone. Chaozhou-Shantou speech has been called by scholars a "living fossil" of classical Chinese. It is not only a historical remnant of phonology and vocabulary; more crucially, it still lives in the daily usage of generation after generation.

Dialect carries local customs and wisdom, and it also nurtures local opera and folk performing arts. What dialect brings to literature is not just special vocabulary, but an entire folk way of viewing the world.

I think dialect writing is meaningful, but dissemination is indeed a problem. I have rejected many dialect manuscripts — not because they were poorly written, but because I genuinely could not understand them. Some manuscripts have too high a concentration of dialect, full of obscure characters; reading while guessing, I set them aside by page three. A Chaozhou-Shantou friend gave me a novel whose opening paragraph used seven or eight dialect words without annotations. I told him, if this is published, who besides Chaozhou-Shantou people would read it? He said dialect writing must be authentic and unadulterated. I said authenticity is fine, but you have to make it readable for your readers.

This is not a confusion unique to me; it has been a problem throughout literary history. Dream of the Red Chamber and Water Margin, though containing some dialect, are mainly in vernacular, and have circulated far more widely than The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai (《海上花列传》), which was written mainly in Wu dialect. Zhao Shuli's novels have many dialect and colloquial expressions, but they read smoothly, because his aim was "for the common people to enjoy reading." In Liu Qing's The Builders (《创业史》), the narration uses written standard language while the characters' dialogue uses Shaanxi dialect. That sense of proportion is something few can match even today.

Some writers have gone further down the path of dialect writing. Jin Yucheng's Blossoms (《繁花》), written in "refined Shanghai dialect," won the Mao Dun Literature Prize; the book's repeated "不响" (bu xiang, "not saying anything") is understood by Shanghainese at once, while outsiders have to guess from context. Han Shaogong's A Dictionary of Maqiao (《马桥词典》) uses dialect entries as its narrative skeleton, interpreting local language through contemporary Chinese to reconstruct the microcosm of a Hunan village. Lin Bai's North Stream (《北流》) delves deep into the linguistic traits of Cantonese. These works prove the possibilities of dialect in literature. But the fact remains: use too much dialect and dissemination is limited; use too little and it seems unsatisfying, losing the authentic flavor.

Love Letters to Grandma has given me new thoughts.

Director Lan Hongchun put it plainly: Chaozhou-Shantou culture is the vehicle; love and family feeling are the core. Homesickness, perseverance, kindness — these are common to all humanity. Audiences who do not understand Chaozhou-Shantou speech can still be moved by the story. You may not understand "食未," but you can feel the warmth in that greeting.

Film has subtitles. What does literature have? Stiff annotations and parenthetical glosses cannot perfectly solve the problem, and they make reading choppy. Good dialect writing relies on context, letting readers naturally guess the meaning from the surrounding text; it relies on proportion — dialect is like salt: too much makes it salty, too little makes it bland.

With the spread of standard Mandarin, the contexts for dialect use have diminished. Many young people can only understand dialect but cannot speak it fluently, and the number of creators skilled in dialect writing has correspondingly declined. In fact, the core of dialect writing has never been whether to use it or not, but how to use it. Film built a bridge with subtitles; literature also needs its own bridge. It may be a more restrained concentration of dialect, it may be more exquisite plain description, or it may, like A Dictionary of Maqiao, reconstruct a world through the lens of dialect.

The writer must think one step further for the reader. Expression rooted in dialect must ultimately reach all readers who can empathize with human nature.

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No. 52 Wenchang Lane

By: 王 峰

Nanjing, No. 52 Wenchang Lane, the Tong Jun Architecture Gallery. Outside, waves of heat roll; inside, an air of stillness prevails. An exhibition titled "Picturesque Gardens" is underway.
Tong Jun was a master architect of equal renown to Liang Sicheng, Liu Dunzhen, and Yang Tingbao. In the 1930s, after returning to China from travels in Europe, Tong Jun hurried through the Jiangnan region, rescuing and recording gardens that were growing ever scarcer, leaving behind many precious historical materials. What this exhibition displays are the texts, photographs, and other materials he produced in those years.
The Tong Jun Architecture Gallery is established in the residence that Tong Jun himself designed in his day. In 1947, the 47-year-old Tong Jun, relying on only three drawings and a deadline of "fifty clear days," built a home for his wife and children on the present site. At the time, he was constantly shuttling between Shanghai and Nanjing, and his wife was in poor health; he wanted this new home to be compact yet filled with the breath of life in every corner. A cat lover, he deliberately left a small opening in the door for cats to pass through. A small window set diagonally above the living room faces the bedroom, so that even when the mistress of the house lay resting in bed, she could easily keep an eye on what was happening in the home...
The Tong family descendants continued to live in the old residence, which was later designated a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province. In 2020, Tong Jun's son Tong Linsu passed away. As for the fate of the old residence, the Tong family reached a consensus: it should be maintained over the long term and serve a greater social purpose. From then on, this house bearing the name "Tong Jun" began to step out of the private sphere and transform into an urban public cultural landmark.
As the descendant of the Tong family who inherited Tong Jun's architectural legacy, Tong Ming was pushed to the forefront.
To facilitate the restoration of the Tong Jun residence, Tong Ming returned from Shanghai to work in Nanjing, settling at Southeast University, where his grandfather had once worked. Like a kite, no matter how far he roamed, he was always held fast by a single thread. In the year of the college entrance examination, persuaded by his family, he changed his application from mathematics to architecture. He was once quite bewildered by the study of architecture, thinking that architecture was simply building houses, until later, when he sorted through Tong Jun's manuscripts, he came to understand architecture more and more, and to understand his grandfather more and more.
In order to introduce the beauty of classical Chinese gardens to the world, Tong Jun wrote the work Garden Pleasures of the Southeast in English. Later, Tong Ming retranslated it. And the old residence at No. 52 Wenchang Lane became yet another practice by Tong Ming of carrying his grandfather's architectural legacy from paper into life. Time and again he returned to the former home, holding a "dialogue" with his grandfather.
The residence itself remains in its original state; the new gallery on the west side follows the style of the old house, with fair-faced concrete walls, layered red-tile sloping roofs, and such designs as skylights, rockeries, and a small fountain, allowing it to blend into its surroundings. Stepping into the residential quarters, all the household furnishings remain as they were. The Beethoven vinyl records Tong Jun loved most in his lifetime, the complete works of Shakespeare he often leafed through, rolls upon rolls of photographic film, European travel journals densely filled with English writing, as well as various sketches and correspondence with relatives and friends, and even Tong Jun's electricity bill receipts from those years — all are preserved in place, exactly as they were.
The best architecture can always hear the voice of life. Tong Jun placed the spirit of the garden into his own courtyard, settling his own heart. His descendants chose to open the courtyard, allowing more people to find spiritual refuge here. The newly born Tong Jun Architecture Gallery has hosted exhibitions and public events of many kinds. In the urban renewal of "using the new to bring forth the old," this courtyard, steeped in three generations of the Tong family's years, has radiated new vitality.
The greenery in the courtyard of No. 52 Wenchang Lane remains as ever, flowers, plants, and trees arranged in pleasing disorder, broad banana leaves stirring up a cool breeze. Inside the gallery, Tong Ming, grounded in his grandfather's Records of Jiangnan Gardens, speaks of an Eastern aesthetics in which poetry, painting, and garden blend and coexist. Amid the jostling crowd, his voice is sometimes low, sometimes bright, as if shuttling between two times and spaces.

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Photo Report

Watercolor painting "Tianping Mountain Scenery," by Zhang Meisun (张眉孙), collection of the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆).

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A Message to Riders

By: 唐筱毅

Be a runner, run, sweat. Try shouldering the scorching sun to see if you can stamp out the shape of the wind. You swim through streets and alleys like a fish, or skim past like a gust of wind. How good this is. You can love with abandon the city's noons and dusks.

Your wheels grind over asphalt, over the gasping breath rising and sinking in the fiery air. Elevators go up and down, door plates burn in your palm. A "thank you" pops open like an iced soda. How good this is. You have trampled the heat waves into rhythmic lines of verse.

Now the plane-tree leaves droop, cicada cries twist into rope, and your running posture gives the whole summer a tilted beauty. When the setting sun stretches your shadow into another road, how good this is. You let every waiting arrive at its address.

Your beads of sweat hide a small sea. Your back carves the blazing sun into a medal. How good this is. To live so seethingly, planting a cool tremor in every ring of the doorbell.

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Painter Forest Rangers (Encounter)

By: 周钰姣

I met Old Quan on the town street; he was hunched over, holding his phone to take photos. A man leading an ox, two old women chatting, and the yellow dog at their feet — all were captured in his lens. "What are you taking photos of these for?" I couldn't help asking out of curiosity. He was a bit shy, scratched his head: "For painting."

Painting? These words coming from a mountain man nearly sixty years old made me pause. The Old Quan before me was not tall, wore a black jacket washed to gray, and whenever he spoke he only knew to rub his two rough hands together and grin a simple, honest smile. "Are you a painter?" I asked. He quickly shook his head: "I'm a forest ranger." But then he pointed across the river: "My works are hung in there." That's right, he said "works" — no longer shy, but proud.

In the Yangdeng Rural Art Museum (羊磴乡村美术馆), quite a few of Old Quan's works are hung — oil paintings and acrylic paintings, with bright color blocks and naive, unpolished lines. What Old Quan paints most are portraits: a female sanitation worker in the morning mist, an old man leaning on a cane gazing into the distance at sunset, a woman selling fish... The faces of the figures are exaggerated and plain, without excessive technique, yet they leap off the canvas alive, each one like crops growing out of the mud with the seasons. "Who are they?" I asked. Old Quan patted the phone in his pocket: "My fellow villagers." "How long have you studied painting?" "I never studied." I was taken aback again.

One afternoon in the autumn of the year before last, Old Quan was returning from his forest patrol, passed by the Yangdeng Rural Art Museum, and the curator invited him in to sit a while. As they chatted, the curator handed him a paintbrush: "Want to try?" Painting? Old Quan, who had grown crops for most of his life, would never have dared to think of it! The brush burned his hand, and burned the paper too. And he didn't know what to paint, so he painted himself — washing his face in the creek every day and using it as a mirror, didn't he know what he looked like? Four days later it was finished, the brushstrokes stumbling and unsteady. He tilted his head, looking left and right; the self in the painting grinned widely, and he grinned too. They both smiled at that self.

Later he painted an oil painting, "The Forest Ranger": in a dense forest stands a man in patrol clothes, and on the green grass at his feet, colorful mushrooms seem to be hopping and jumping. Unexpectedly, "The Forest Ranger" actually 翻山越岭 (fān shān yuè lǐng - "overturn mountains, cross ridges," to traverse mountain after mountain, i.e., to travel far or overcome great difficulties) and was exhibited in Beijing.

Old Quan, who had been a forest ranger in the village for a full ten years, became obsessed with painting from then on. Every day after patrolling the mountain forest, no matter how tired and worn his body was, as soon as he sat before the canvas, he perked up. The mountains and ridges he had walked, the flowers and grasses he had seen, the animals and strange rocks he had encountered — all surged to the tip of his brush and came alive on the canvas. Sometimes he was already lying in bed, but his mind was still working, so he got up again, turned on the light, and added a few strokes. Before, he only dared to call them "pictures"; gradually he dared to call them "works" — admiring his own works, Old Quan couldn't quite say what he felt inside; it was just two words: bright and open. Those hands that gripped a sickle to open paths on patrol were still rough, but when holding a paintbrush they now had a steady and delicate strength.

In Yangdeng Town (羊磴镇), I also met many more "Old Quans" and their works. Some used scrolls more than ten meters long to paint the changes in their hometown over the years; some copied the flowers and plants around their houses and, together with old sisters from the same village, embroidered them with colored thread... Their works have no precise forms, but they have the roughness and vitality that grow out of the mountain wilds.

Why does this small Guizhou town, located at the border of Guizhou and Chongqing, have such an artistic atmosphere? Old Quan said that fourteen years ago, a group of teachers came from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (四川美术学院); they encouraged the villagers to farm when busy and paint when free. "They didn't teach you how to paint, they just gave you materials and encouragement. They let you paint the fellow villagers around you, the crops, the farm tools, the livestock — expressing your true feelings."

After Old Quan's works were exhibited in Beijing, the villagers all called him a painter. He shook his head like a rattle-drum: "What painter? I just like painting for fun." Everyone praised him for having artistic cells. What is art? He thought for a long while, then said: "It's the life I live."

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Flower Ciba (Multi-Flavor Studio)

By: 王 杰

After my younger brother and I started working, arranging our marriages became a major concern weighing on our mother's heart, and the hardship of it, in her own words, was that "even just pounding the flower-glutinous-rice cakes had to be done six times." Of course, our mother found hardship in it, but she also found joy in it, because every time she finished pounding the flower cakes, it signified that she would gain a daughter-in-law and fulfill a mother's fervent wish.

Flower glutinous-rice cakes are indispensable in Bouyei marriage customs. In our hometown, in the complete process of a marriage, the groom's side sends flower glutinous-rice cakes to the bride's family three times in total. The first time is when both the man and the woman have expressed intent to discuss marriage; the matchmaker leads relatives and friends carrying flower glutinous-rice cakes to the woman's home for a "courtship visit." If the woman's side accepts the cakes, it means preliminary consent. The woman's family will distribute the cakes to relatives and friends, and they will understand tacitly — this family is going to have a daughter married off, so they should plan ahead to attend the wedding feast. The second time is for the formal betrothal; the man's side invites an elder of high prestige to serve as the "gift escort," leading a group of relatives and friends carrying flower glutinous-rice cakes wrapped in red paper, rice wine, pork hind legs, betrothal gifts, and so on to the woman's home, to discuss matters such as the wedding date. The third time is the day before the bride is fetched; the man's side prepares the flower glutinous-rice cakes in advance and hands them to the relatives and friends who will go to fetch the bride on the wedding day. The woman's family will organize an interception on the road the bride-fetching party must take, and the groom's procession must use every means at their disposal to break through the barriers — either by singing antiphonal mountain songs, drinking the door-blocking wine, or playing small games like guessing riddles. If they truly cannot break through, they scatter the flower glutinous-rice cakes and seize the gap while the interception party scrambles for the cakes to pass through quickly.

Every time the flower glutinous-rice cakes were made, our mother would invite relatives to help. The night before, our father and mother would first soak the glutinous rice for the cakes. The next day, after the uncles and aunts arrived, everyone would split up and get busy.

Our father and the uncles were in charge of building the stove. First they would stack bricks to form a stove platform, then set a large wok on top, place a wooden steaming barrel over the wok, and add water to the wok until it reached the waistline of the steaming barrel. Our mother and the aunts were busy rinsing the glutinous rice that had been soaked overnight, rubbing and washing it twice, draining the water, and then pouring it into the wooden steaming barrel. At this point, the fire could be lit to steam the rice. While the rice was steaming, our father and the uncles brought over the wooden mortar and pestles, preparing to pound the cakes.

Pounding the glutinous-rice cakes is physical labor, requiring our father and the uncles to work in pairs, taking turns. Each person held a pestle, striking alternately with force like hoeing the ground, then using techniques of pushing, pulling, squeezing, and pressing, until the glutinous rice became a thick, sticky rice paste. Our mother and the aunts were not idle either; they carried over several square tables and pushed them together, spread a clean white cloth on top, and brought out the previously prepared cooking oil and roasted, ground soybean flour.

After the cakes were pounded, our mother and the aunts began kneading them. They would pour a little cooking oil and rub it between their hands to ensure every inch of skin was coated. Hot glutinous-rice cakes are highly sticky, but with the oil they do not easily stick to the hands, which makes it easier to shape the cakes. Our mother and the aunts were all skilled at kneading the cakes, producing cakes of even size, round and smooth. The cakes were laid out neatly on the white cloth to air-dry, turned over every half hour, until they were completely set.

At this point, only the final step remained: stamping patterns. Our mother had already borrowed the stamping mold in advance, which was shaped like a seal. The pigment was edible; after being crushed and mixed with water and stirred, the mold was dipped in the pigment and then pressed onto the cakes. The cakes sent for the courtship visit were generally stamped with a magpie, symbolizing the announcement of good news and good fortune. The cakes sent for the formal betrothal were stamped with twin lotus flowers on one stem, peonies, twined branches, or mandarin ducks, or birds flying wing to wing — all representing beautiful wishes. The cakes sent when fetching the bride were stamped with the character "囍" (double happiness), blessing doubled happiness and shared joy for the couple. After the stamps dried, the flower cakes were stacked two by two, slightly stuck together, symbolizing pairing and never being separated.

My younger brother's wife is Bouyei, and our mother completed the flower glutinous-rice cakes according to the proper procedure. My wife is Han Chinese from the neighboring county, and our mother treated her the same, making the cakes three times. When the cakes were sent for the first courtship visit, my father-in-law was both happy and troubled — happy that our mother had not slighted his daughter, troubled that so many flower cakes would take forever to eat. I explained to my father-in-law that the cakes sent were not meant for him to finish alone; he could share them with relatives, friends, and neighbors. My father-in-law did so, and it turned out everyone loved eating them, and even asked that more cakes be sent next time. This brought our mother great comfort. Her thinking was simple: although flower glutinous-rice cakes are nothing rare, they carry the sincerity and deep affection of taking a bride. On the one hand, the process of pounding the cakes was the whole family's enjoyment of the joy of marrying; on the other hand, it seemed that the more devoutly one upheld the traditional craft, the more it demonstrated a mother's care for her new daughter-in-law.

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Editor: Ma Yong

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　　We welcome submissions from all readers. Submissions must be original and first-published, and must not be submitted to multiple publications simultaneously.

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