People's Daily - October 1, 2026

People's Daily - October 1, 2026

Article Index

Page 01版:要闻

Page 02版:要闻

Page 03版:要闻

Page 04版:要闻

Page 05版:要闻

Page 06版:广告

Page 07版:广告

Page 08版:副刊

Page 01版:要闻

Reception Celebrating 77th Anniversary of Founding of PRC Held in Beijing

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) The reception celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was held on the evening of the 30th in the Great Hall of the People. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the reception and delivered an important speech. (Full text of the speech on page two. He emphasized that, after long-term exploration and practice, socialism with Chinese characteristics has demonstrated enormous superiority, the modernization level of our country's system and capacity for governance has been continuously raised, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable. As long as we strengthen our confidence, anchor our goals, and move forward steadily step by step, success will certainly belong to the great Communist Party of China, the great Chinese people, and the great People's Republic of China.

Li Qiang presided over the reception. Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng attended the reception. Approximately 800 Chinese and foreign guests gathered together happily (欢聚一堂, huan ju yi tang - "joyfully, gather, one, hall"), jointly celebrating the birthday of the People's Republic of China.

The banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People was bright with festoon lights, brimming with a joyous and festive atmosphere. Above the rostrum hung high the solemn national emblem, and the large-character year numerals "1949—2026" were especially conspicuous against the backdrop of bright red flags.

At around 17:30, to the lively strains of the "Welcoming Guests Overture," Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders entered the banquet hall, and the entire venue burst into warm applause.

The reception began. All present rose, sang loudly the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, and the majestic "March of the Volunteers" echoed through the hall.

Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, he first extended festive congratulations to the people of all ethnic groups across the country, to the officers and men of the People's Liberation Army and the officers and soldiers of the People's Armed Police Force, to the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation; he extended sincere greetings to the compatriots of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the compatriots of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan compatriots, and overseas Chinese; and he extended heartfelt thanks to the friendly countries and international friends who have long cared for and supported China's cause of construction.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, over the past 77 years, our Party has united and led the people in unremitting struggle, creating the two great miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, achieving the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is now striving forward with vigor toward the Second Centenary Goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. At this moment, we feel immensely proud of the achievements of New China that have attracted worldwide attention, and are full of confidence in the bright prospects of Chinese modernization.

Xi Jinping emphasized that, since the beginning of this year, the entire Party and the people of the whole country have forged ahead with determination and striven with all their might, formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan, solidly advancing work in all areas, our country's economy has pressed forward against headwinds, moving toward the new and toward the better, demonstrating great resilience and vitality, and the cause of the Party and the state has made new progress and achieved new results. We must adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of the new development pattern, further deepen reform and opening up, better coordinate development and security, promote the economy to continue moving toward the new, the better, and the good, effectively safeguard and improve people's livelihoods, strive to complete the year's goals and tasks, and achieve a good start for the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, we must unswervingly implement the principles of "One Country, Two Systems," "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong," "Macao people administering Macao," and a high degree of autonomy, support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating into and serving the country's overall development, and maintain long-term prosperity and stability. We must deepen cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, resolutely combat the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and advance the great cause of national reunification.

Xi Jinping emphasized that, we must adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace, promote the implementation of the four major global initiatives, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and inject more certainty and positive energy into a world intertwined with change and turmoil.

To the strains of lively music, Chinese and foreign guests raised their glasses to jointly celebrate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, wishing China prosperity and flourishing, the people happiness and well-being, and wishing that the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of all countries in the world will last forever.

Also attending the reception were: members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission, Vice Chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, Vice Premiers of the State Council, State Councilors, the Director of the National Commission of Supervision, the President of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Vice Chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee, comrades who have retired from leading positions, as well as comrades who once served as members of the Central Military Commission.

Also attending the reception were: responsible comrades of relevant departments of the Central Committee, the State Council, the military, and mass organizations, responsible comrades of the central committees of the democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of personages without party affiliation, representatives of recipients of national honors and awards in Beijing, representatives of national model workers and advanced individuals, representative personages of ethnic minorities who have made important contributions to the stability, development, and unity of ethnic minority regions, some compatriots from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, compatriots from the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan compatriots, and representatives of overseas Chinese and foreign nationals of Chinese descent in Beijing, diplomatic envoys of various countries accredited to China, representatives of international organizations accredited to China, and some foreign experts, among others.

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Martyrs' Memorial Day Flower Basket Presentation Ceremony Held in Beijing

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) Paying tribute to the glory of martyrs, gathering the mighty force of rejuvenation. The ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes on Martyrs' Memorial Day was solemnly held on the morning of the 30th at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, Han Zheng, among others, together with representatives from all walks of life, attended the ceremony.

On the solemn Tiananmen Square, the bright five-star red flag fluttered in the wind, and the Monument to the People's Heroes stood tall and imposing. In the center of the square, the giant flower basket "Blessings to the Motherland" conveyed fine wishes for the prosperity and strength (繁荣昌盛, fan rong chang sheng - "prosperous, flourishing, thriving, flourishing") of the motherland. On the north side of the monument, two groups of flower beds featured 18 wreaths composed of white chrysanthemums and other fresh flowers, conveying the deep remembrance of all Chinese people for the martyrs.

Approaching 10 o'clock, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, Han Zheng, and other Party and state leaders arrived at Tiananmen Square to attend the ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes.

A trumpeter from the PLA military band sounded the "Martyrs' Memorial Day Bugle Call," its deep and far-reaching notes stirring the hearts of all present.

"Honor guards, take positions!" At the command, the guards of honor from the three armed services, with vigorous and powerful steps, marched in goose steps to the front of the monument and stood at attention with rifles in hand.

At exactly 10 o'clock, the ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes officially began. The military band played the"March of the Volunteers," and the entire assembly sang the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in unison.

After the national anthem was sung, all present stood in solemn silence, observing a moment of silence in memory of the martyrs who bravely sacrificed their lives for the cause of China's people's liberation and the cause of national construction.

After the moment of silence, children holding fresh flowers faced the Monument to the People's Heroes and sang loudly the song"We Are the Successors of Communism," and rendered the Young Pioneers salute.

In front of the formation, nine large flower baskets presented in the names of the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council, the CPPCC National Committee, the Central Military Commission, the democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and patriotic non-partisan personages, the people's organizations and people from all walks of life, the veteran soldiers, veteran comrades and relatives of martyrs, and the Chinese Young Pioneers, were arranged in a row. On the red ribbons of the baskets, the words"the people's heroes live on forever in immortality" (永垂不朽, yong chui bu xiu - "forever, descend, not, immortal") were especially conspicuous.

The military band played the soulful"Flower Offering Melody," and 18 honor guards lifted the flower baskets, walking slowly toward the Monument to the People's Heroes, and placed the baskets on the monument's base.

Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders ascended the monument's base and stood before the baskets, gazing at them intently. The vibrant red anthuriums, the fragrant blooming lilies, and the gracefully blossoming oncidium orchids conveyed deep remembrance and high reverence for the people's heroes.

Xi Jinping stepped forward and carefully straightened the ribbons on the flower baskets. Subsequently, Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders walked slowly around the monument, paying homage to the Monument to the People's Heroes.

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. Walking on the long march road of the new era, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the entire Party, the entire military, and people of all ethnic groups across the country inherit and carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party and the great Long March spirit, and are filled with high aspirations and lofty ambitions (壮志满怀, zhuang zhi man huai - "ambition, full, chest"), united as one, striving unremittingly to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

Children and representatives from all walks of life also walked in turn to the front of the monument, laid flowers, and paid homage to the monument.

The ceremony of presenting flower baskets was presided over by Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, some vice chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, state councilors, the president of the Supreme People's Court, the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and some vice chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee attended the ceremony.

Responsible comrades of relevant central Party and government departments, military departments, and people's organizations, as well as of the Beijing municipal government, heads of the central committees of the democratic parties, responsible persons of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of non-partisan personages, veteran soldiers, veteran comrades, and relatives of martyrs in Beijing, representatives of recipients of national honors and awards in Beijing, members of the national ethnic minorities visiting delegation, and representatives of the masses from all walks of life in the capital, among others, participated in the ceremony.

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Xi Jinping and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Exchange Congratulatory Messages on 35th Anniversary of China-Brunei Diplomatic Relations

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(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30) On September 30, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, celebrating the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the traditional friendship between China and Brunei has a long and continuous history and has become stronger through the test of time, and that the two countries, in their joint march toward modernization, have established a model of mutual respect, treating each other with equality, and common development between large and small countries. Over the 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Brunei have continuously deepened political mutual trust, achieved fruitful results in cooperation across various fields, and witnessed closer people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Last year, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid a state visit to China, and the two sides reached important consensus on jointly building a China-Brunei community with a shared future, leading the bilateral relationship into a new historical stage of development.

Xi Jinping emphasized that I attach great importance to the development of China-Brunei relations, and am willing to work together with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, taking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity, to carry forward the traditional friendship, strengthen the alignment of development strategies, continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, push forward the building of a China-Brunei community with a shared future to keep making solid progress, better benefit the peoples of both countries, and make greater contributions to regional prosperity and stability.

Haji Hassanal Bolkiah stated that over the 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Brunei and China have always trusted, respected, and understood each other. In 2025, the two countries reached important consensus on building a community with a shared future. I look forward to taking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brunei and China as an opportunity, to further tighten the bonds of bilateral relations, deepen exchanges and cooperation in fields such as economy, trade, investment, national defense, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, jointly achieve prosperity and progress for both countries, and better benefit the peoples of both countries.

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Page 02版:要闻

Speech at the Reception Celebrating the 77th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China

By: 习近平

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Ladies and gentlemen,

Comrades and friends,

Today, we are gathering together in great joy (欢聚一堂, huan ju yi tang - "joyfully gather in one hall") to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. First of all, on behalf of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, I extend festive congratulations to the people of all ethnic groups across the country, to the officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army and the officers and soldiers of the People's Armed Police Force, and to the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation! I extend sincere greetings to our compatriots in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese! I extend heartfelt thanks to the friendly countries and international friends who have long cared for and supported China's development cause!

Over the past 77 years, our Party has united and led the people in unremitting struggle, creating the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, achieving the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is now striving courageously toward the Second Centenary Goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. At this moment, we are immensely proud of the remarkable achievements of New China, and full of confidence in the bright prospects of Chinese modernization.

Comrades and friends!

Since the beginning of this year, the entire Party and the whole country have been striving for progress with determination (锐意进取, rui yi jin qu -"sharp intent, advance, strive"), formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan, solidly advancing work in all areas, effectively responding to various risks and challenges. Our country's economy has pressed forward despite pressure, moving toward the new and the superior, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality, and the cause of the Party and the state has achieved new progress and new results.

Facing the complex and intertwined international and domestic situation, we must adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability (稳中求进, wen zhong qiu jin -"seek progress amid stability"), fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of the new development pattern, further deepen reform and opening up, better coordinate development and security, promote the sustained development of the economy toward the new, the superior, and the better, earnestly safeguard and improve people's livelihoods, strive to complete the year's goals and tasks, and achieve a good start for the 15th Five-Year Plan.

We must unswervingly implement the principles of One Country, Two Systems, "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong," "Macao people administering Macao," and a high degree of autonomy, support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating into and serving the country's overall development, and maintain long-term prosperity and stability. We must deepen cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, resolutely combat the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and advance the great cause of national reunification.

We must adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace, promote the implementation of the four global initiatives, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and inject more certainty and positive energy into a world characterized by constant change and turmoil (变乱交织, bian luan jiao zhi -"change, chaos, interweave").

Comrades and friends!

Through long-term exploration and practice, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has demonstrated enormous advantages, the modernization level of our country's governance system and governance capacity has been continuously improved, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has become an irresistible force or trend (势不可挡, shi bu ke dang -"momentum, not, can, block"). As long as we strengthen our confidence, anchor our goals, and move forward steadily step by step, success will certainly belong to the great Communist Party of China, the great Chinese people, and the great People's Republic of China!

Now, I propose a toast:

To the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China,

To China's prosperity, strength, and the well-being and happiness of the people of all ethnic groups across the country,

To the friendship and cooperation between the Chinese people and the peoples of all countries of the world,

To the health of all the distinguished guests, comrades, and friends present here,

Cheers!

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30)

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Strengthening Inclusive, Fundamental, and Safety-Net Livelihood Construction

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(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30) The 19th issue of Qiushi magazine, to be published on October 1, will carry an important article by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, titled "Strengthening the Construction of People's Livelihood Work That Is Inclusive, Fundamental, and Provides a Safety Net." This is an excerpt of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses from November ​2012 to January ​2026.

The article emphasizes that in Chinese modernization, people's livelihood is of paramount importance. The people's aspiration for a better life is our goal of struggle. Our goal is very grand, yet also very simple — in the final analysis, it is to let the common people live better lives. We must adhere to ensuring and improving people's livelihood in the course of development, encourage joint struggle to create a better life, and continuously realize the people's aspiration for a better life.

The article points out that we must adhere to a people-centered approach, strengthen the construction of people's livelihood work that is inclusive, fundamental, and provides a safety net, realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, focus on solving the urgent, difficult, and anxious problems of the people, improve the basic public service system, raise the level of public services, enhance balance and accessibility, and solidly advance common prosperity. We must hold the bottom line, highlight key points, improve institutions, and guide expectations; make coordinated efforts in education, income distribution, employment, social security, medical and health care, housing, and other aspects of work; continuously push for new progress in ensuring that children are nurtured, the young receive education, workers are remunerated for their labor, the sick receive medical treatment, the elderly are cared for, residents have housing, and the weak are supported; continuously promote social fairness and justice; and make the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security more substantial, more guaranteed, and more sustainable. For all kinds of people in difficulty, we must pay special attention, special care, and special concern to them, always keep their safety and well-being in mind, care about their suffering, and do everything possible (千方百计, qian fang bai ji - "thousand, ways, hundred, systems") to help them resolve their difficulties and worries.

The article points out that people's livelihood work directly meets the people face-to-face and settles accounts with them; it admits of no falsehood whatsoever, and promises made must be fulfilled. We must handle matters one after another, and work year after year. We must adhere to doing one's best within one's power (尽力而为, jin li er wei - "exhaust, strength, and, act") and acting according to one's capability (量力而行, liang li er xing - "measure, strength,and, act"), coordinate needs and possibilities, and base the guarantee and improvement of people's livelihood upon sustainable economic development and financial resources. We must guide the broad masses to establish the concept of improving their lives through hard work and prosperity, making the improvement of people's livelihood both the direction of the Party's and government's work and the goal of the people's own struggle.

The article emphasizes that the fundamental purpose of economic development is to better guarantee and improve people's livelihood, and grasping people's livelihood is also grasping development. We must organically unify economic development and the improvement of people's livelihood, embed the requirements of improving people's livelihood into the formulation of economic development policies simultaneously, consider the effects of promoting economic development in the formulation of people's livelihood policies simultaneously, and make the improvement of people's livelihood and economic development effectively connect and complement each other to enhance both (相得益彰, xiang de yi zhang - "mutually, gain, and, manifest").

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Forge Ahead with Perseverance and Create New Splendor on the New Journey (Editorial)

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A refreshing breeze ushers in golden autumn, and the mountains and rivers are resplendent.

As we forge ahead on the new journey and open the opening chapter of the 15th Five-Year Plan, we usher in the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China — a major festival celebrated by people across the entire country (普天同庆, pu tian tong qing - "all, heaven, together, celebrate").

Over the past 77 years, the Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in creating the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, writing the most magnificent epic of Chinese modernization in the global modernization process, and ushering in an unprecedented bright prospect for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"By the middle of this century, we must build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal. Time waits for no one! History waits for no one!" At this year's July 1 Party Anniversary, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued the great call to "strive with all our might to create new historical glories."

Continuing the struggle and creating new glories — we are full of confidence and ambition.

Today's China continues to develop toward the new, the superior, and the better, firmly grasping historical initiative.

Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has pressed forward despite headwinds, presenting a development trend of momentum turning toward the new and structure turning toward the superior, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality.

Artificial intelligence empowers all walks of life and various industries (千行百业, qian hang bai ye - "thousand, row, hundred, industry"), humanoid robot shipments lead the world, and production and sales of new energy vehicles grow steadily... By leading the development of new quality productive forces with high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology, "Intelligent Made in China" has become yet another shining calling card of Chinese modernization.

From "not being able to build a single tractor" to "the world's largest manufacturing country with the most complete range of industrial categories," the material and technological foundation of our country's development has become even more solid — "this is the right path we have taken!"

Today's China maintains strategic resolve amid turbulent clouds, continuously expanding its space for development.

"Jiuzhang-4" has refreshed the world record in photonic quantum information technology, and China is the only country in the world that simultaneously masters recovery technologies for both sea-based and land-based rockets... "Accelerating the transformation from a global participant and contributor in science and technology to a pioneer and leader," our country has become one of the fastest-rising countries in innovation capacity.

The Pinglu Canal, the first grand canal since the founding of New China to connect rivers with the sea, has been completed and opened to navigation; the "two rice bowls" of grain and energy are held steadily and firmly;the "sinews and bones" of the modern industrial system are strong and its "blood vessels and meridians" are unobstructed; east-west regional collaboration is advancing toward mutually beneficial and win-win (互利共赢, hu li gong ying - "mutual, benefit, together, win") outcomes and common development. By leveraging the superimposed effects of strategies and accelerating the construction of the new development pattern, our country's development is accumulating momentum and pressing forward.

"Advancing steadily, step by step," Chinese modernization is vast, boundless, vast and magnificent in scale and spirit (气象万千, qi xiang wan qian - "air, appearance, ten thousand, myriad").

Today's China relies closely on the people to create a better life, continuously enriching the well-being of people's livelihoods.

From renovation of old residential communities benefiting over a hundred million people nationwide, to trade-in programs for consumer goods bringing green and intelligent products into every household (千家万户, qian jia wan hu - "thousand, family, ten thousand, household"), to the world's largest social security safety net being woven ever denser...

High-quality development and high-quality life are advancing toward each other, and the new era's "livelihood answer sheet" warms people's hearts.

Taking the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements as an opportunity, the vast majority of Party members and officials tighten the "master switch" of undertaking work, insisting on achieving political results for the people and through practical work.

Under the Party's strong leadership, the Chinese people firmly hold the destiny of the country's development and progress in their own hands.

Today's China stands at the forefront of creating human civilization, leading the era and leading the future.

The "15th Five-Year Plan" is not only a development blueprint for China itself, but also a cooperation list open to the world.

Installed photovoltaic power generation capacity has for the first time surpassed coal power;the cumulative downloads of domestically developed open-source large models have topped the global charts;"China Opportunity 2.0" is providing the world with more and more "innovation dividends."

Leading the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with the "Four Upholds" to unite people's hearts and efforts (凝心聚力, ning xin ju li - "condense, heart, gather, strength") and advance steadily and far;guiding BRICS cooperation with the "Four Pioneers" to clarify historical missions and elevate strategic positioning...

"Cherishing the future of humanity and keeping the well-being of the people at heart," China has always been an important engine and anchor of stability for world economic growth, anda proponent and doer in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Time is a constant, but also a variable for those who strive.

Today, a China that is ancient yet constantly renewing and improving (日新又新, ri xin you xin - "day, new, again, new") stands in the East of the world with an even more majestic posture;the Chinese people are striding with confidence, self-reliance, and self-strengthening toward an even better future; the Chinese nation is advancing toward great rejuvenation with unstoppable momentum (势不可挡, shi bu ke dang - "momentum, not, can, block").

Some foreign political figures have remarked, "China's success is precisely the success of the Communist Party of China."

Over the past 105 years, the Party has united and led the people in continuously forging glories;the fundamental reason lies in its outstanding qualities of unswervingly pursuing truth, being deeply rooted in the people, bravely shouldering historical missions, following the trends of development, daring to struggle and being skilled at it, and paying attention to strengthening itself.

Since the new era, the Party and the people have won the historical initiative of strengthening the Party and strengthening the country, fundamentally ensuring that the historical trend of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation cannot be stopped — precisely because of the Two Establishments (两个确立).

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Red Army.

"The new journey is a new Long March." Having entered a critical period, the tasks of reform, development, and stability are arduous and heavy, and there are still many tigers in the road and stumbling blocks on the path forward;we must win new victories in the great struggle with many new historical characteristics, ensuring decisive progress in basically realizing socialist modernization.

Upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership is the fundamental guarantee for advancing Chinese modernization. The upcoming Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party will study several major issues concerning persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, aiming to build our Party into an even stronger and more powerful one.

On the new Long March, we must firm up our conviction in victory, deeply understand and firmly grasp the many advantages and strategically favorable conditions of our country's development, maintain the resolve of not changing our path and not altering our will, and achieve the state of not being blocked by floating clouds that obscure the view, braving the wind and waves to forge ahead (乘风破浪, cheng feng po lang - "ride, wind, break, waves") without losing our course. We must be brave in overcoming difficulties, stirring up the determination and courage to overwhelm all difficulties rather than being overwhelmed by them, daring to struggle and being good at creating, working hard on studying new situations and solving new problems, and producing experience from them. We must unite and strive together, always adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, fully stimulate the initiative, creativity, and enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people, gather the mighty force for advancing Chinese modernization, and turn the grand blueprint into beautiful reality.

"Let us strive together for our dreams and work together for happiness." Let us unite even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply comprehend the decisive significance of "the Two Establishments," resolutely achieve "the Two Upholds," forge ahead with determination and blaze new trails, and write an even more magnificent chapter of Chinese modernization.

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Strive to Take the Lead and Set an Example in Serving the National Strategy of the New Era

By: 本报记者 丁雅诵 王永战

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Sichuan University, whose predecessor was the Sichuan Chinese-Western School founded in 1896, is the earliest-established institution of higher education in the southwestern region of our country. On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the founding of Sichuan University, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a reply letter to all faculty, students, and alumni of Sichuan University, expressing congratulations to all faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and encouraging everyone to strive to take the lead and set an example in serving the national strategy of the new era.

The sincere and heartfelt (情真意切, qing zhen yi qie - "feeling, true, meaning, earnest") care and instructions have greatly inspired educators and young students alike. Everyone has expressed that they will bear in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions, continue the red lineage, and make positive contributions to building a strong education nation, a strong science-and-technology nation, anda strong talent nation.

In the golden autumn season, a festive atmosphere pervades the campus of Sichuan University. "The General Secretary's reply letter is filled with profound care and earnest expectations for Sichuan University, which greatly encourages all faculty, staff, students, and alumni." Gan Lin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Sichuan University, said, "Cherishing the nation and its people in one's heart, taking root in the western region, and revitalizing education through talent cultivation are the fine traditions of Sichuan University. We will continue to carry forward the fine traditions, inherit the red genes, unswervingly implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, advance the development of education, science and technology, and talent as an integrated whole, and strive to write a new splendid chapter in revitalizing education through talent cultivation."

The 130-year-old Sichuan University, with its cultural lineage stretching continuously, has been passing the torch from generation to generation (薪火相传, xin huo xiang chuan - "firewood, torch, mutually, pass"), with generation after generation of Sichuan University people always closely linking the pursuit of scholarship and truth with responsibility for the nation and its people.

"Wherever the nation's needs lie, there lies our direction for tackling key problems; we must not only be able to achieve breakthroughs, but moreover be able to put them to use." Xie Heping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Academic Committee of Sichuan University, said that one must hold fast to the original aspiration of serving the country through scientific research, base oneself on the discipline's characteristic advantages, pursue true scholarship and great learning, concentrate efforts on "from 0 to 1" original innovation, and strive to transform universities' scientific research advantages into national competitiveness.

"Only by seeking true knowledge and honing real skills can one strive to take the lead and set an example." Sun Xujiang, a doctoral student in Chinese modern and contemporary literature at the College of Liberal Arts of Sichuan University, said that one must make one's scholarship more solid, delve one's specialty more deeply, and make one's steps more firm — both immersing oneself in the study at one's desk to explore academic principles, and also going out into the field to observe reality, striving in the course of learning and practice to grow into a new generation of the era that dares to shoulder heavy burdens and is capable of undertaking important tasks.

A theoretical system for direct seawater hydrogen production technology, a series of new principles and technologies for flame-retardant polymer materials, key material technologies for chromium-free ecological leather manufacturing... In recent years, Sichuan University has produced a series of scientific and technological innovation achievements.

"The important requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping have made us more clear about the direction of our endeavor." Wang Wei, Party Branch Secretary of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the School of Chemical Engineering of Sichuan University, said that they will focus on the frontiers of the chemical engineering field and industry challenges, leverage the advantages of interdisciplinary integration, continue to tackle key problems in fields such as phosphorus chemical engineering, chemical separation, energy chemical engineering, and pharmaceutical chemical engineering, and make greater contributions to building a strong education nation, a strong science-and-technology nation, anda strong talent nation.

"During my studies, the school taught us to pay attention to the accumulation of professional knowledge, pay attention to national needs, and be committed to independent innovation." Kou Xiaokang, an alumnus of Sichuan University and general manager of Sunresin New Materials Co., Ltd. Xi'an, Shaanxi, has been deeply engaged in the adsorption and separation materials industry for several decades and has twice won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. He said that he will firmly follow the path of applying what has been learned to practical work (学以致用, xue yi zhi yong - "learn, use to, achieve, application") and serving the country through industry, strive to transform basic theories into industrial results, focus on the independent research and development of new fine materials, and bravely scale new heights in the field of fine new materials.

In serving the national strategy of the new era, the education front has great potential (大有可为, da you ke wei - "greatly, have, can, do").

"The reply letter of General Secretary Xi Jinping is not only earnest expectations for Sichuan University, but also profound care for western universities and the entire higher education front across the country." Wu Wangsuo, executive deputy director of the Frontier Science Center for Rare Isotopes at Lanzhou University, was deeply inspired: "Since its establishment, the nuclear science discipline of Lanzhou University has been imbued with the red lineage of pledging loyalty to the Party and serving the country, and forging weapons for the nation. We must take root in the northwest, making hard struggles and striving ahead (艰苦奋斗, jian ku fen dou - "hard, bitter, struggle, strive"), and let the red genes become the strongest background color that inspires us to continuously scale new heights in nuclear science and technology and serve the national strategy."

"General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in his reply letter 'giving play to the advantages of interdisciplinary integration of liberal arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, and agriculture', which has pointed out the direction of development for comprehensive research universities." Li Boxing, director of the Development Planning Office of Sun Yat-sen University, said that Sun Yat-sen University will continue to be guided by national strategic needs and major scientific questions, continuously deepen institutional and mechanism reforms, break down barriers between schools, departments, and disciplines, and strive to transform the structural advantage of "complete disciplines" into the innovation advantage of "interdisciplinary integration".

"Only by taking root in places where the motherland and the people need us can youth bloom with splendid flowers." Pang Wei, associate professor at the School of Foreign Languages of Shaanxi Normal University, who has led teams to Tibet for several consecutive years to carry out internship teaching support, said that she will continue to take root in the western region of the motherland, be committed to revitalizing education through teaching, guide graduates to hold fast to the three-foot lectern, and write a glorious chapter of youth in the places where the motherland needs them most.

Li Ce, professor at the School of Artificial Intelligence of China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), conducts scientific research on urban public safety intelligent sensing technology and its engineering applications, striving to serve the construction of smart cities. She said: "I will take the spirit of the General Secretary's important reply letter as my guide, integrate my personal academic pursuits into the overall national development situation, give play to the university's advantages in multidisciplinary interdisciplinary integration, overcome technical difficulties, and at the same time integrate cutting-edge achievements into teaching, cultivating new generations of the era with feelings of family and country and composite capabilities."

"General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized 'continuing the red lineage and giving play to the advantages of interdisciplinary integration of liberal arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, and agriculture'. As a medical student participating in the integrated research of medicine and engineering in orthopedics, I deeply feel that innovation must start from real clinical problems." She Zhenghang, a 2025-level doctoral student in surgery (orthopedics) at Beijing Jishuitan Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, said,"I will deeply cultivate my specialty, focus on precise decision-making and quantitative evaluation in artificial joint replacement, promote the transformation of integrated medicine-engineering achievements into diagnostic and treatment evidence, strive to become medical talent who can treat patients, excel at innovation, and dare to take responsibility, and contribute youthful strength to safeguarding the people's physical health."

(People's Daily reporters Wu Dan, Wu Yue, and Yan Yiqiao participated in the reporting and writing)

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Reception Celebrating 77th Anniversary of Founding of PRC Held in Beijing

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) The reception celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was held on the evening of the 30th in the Great Hall of the People. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the reception and delivered an important speech. (Full text of the speech on page two. He emphasized that, after long-term exploration and practice, socialism with Chinese characteristics has demonstrated enormous superiority, the modernization level of our country's system and capacity for governance has been continuously raised, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable. As long as we strengthen our confidence, anchor our goals, and move forward steadily step by step, success will certainly belong to the great Communist Party of China, the great Chinese people, and the great People's Republic of China.

Li Qiang presided over the reception. Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng attended the reception. Approximately 800 Chinese and foreign guests gathered together happily (欢聚一堂, huan ju yi tang - "joyfully, gather, one, hall"), jointly celebrating the birthday of the People's Republic of China.

The banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People was bright with festoon lights, brimming with a joyous and festive atmosphere. Above the rostrum hung high the solemn national emblem, and the large-character year numerals "1949—2026" were especially conspicuous against the backdrop of bright red flags.

At around 17:30, to the lively strains of the "Welcoming Guests Overture," Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders entered the banquet hall, and the entire venue burst into warm applause.

The reception began. All present rose, sang loudly the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, and the majestic "March of the Volunteers" echoed through the hall.

Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, he first extended festive congratulations to the people of all ethnic groups across the country, to the officers and men of the People's Liberation Army and the officers and soldiers of the People's Armed Police Force, to the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation; he extended sincere greetings to the compatriots of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the compatriots of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan compatriots, and overseas Chinese; and he extended heartfelt thanks to the friendly countries and international friends who have long cared for and supported China's cause of construction.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, over the past 77 years, our Party has united and led the people in unremitting struggle, creating the two great miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, achieving the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is now striving forward with vigor toward the Second Centenary Goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. At this moment, we feel immensely proud of the achievements of New China that have attracted worldwide attention, and are full of confidence in the bright prospects of Chinese modernization.

Xi Jinping emphasized that, since the beginning of this year, the entire Party and the people of the whole country have forged ahead with determination and striven with all their might, formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan, solidly advancing work in all areas, our country's economy has pressed forward against headwinds, moving toward the new and toward the better, demonstrating great resilience and vitality, and the cause of the Party and the state has made new progress and achieved new results. We must adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of the new development pattern, further deepen reform and opening up, better coordinate development and security, promote the economy to continue moving toward the new, the better, and the good, effectively safeguard and improve people's livelihoods, strive to complete the year's goals and tasks, and achieve a good start for the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, we must unswervingly implement the principles of "One Country, Two Systems," "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong," "Macao people administering Macao," and a high degree of autonomy, support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating into and serving the country's overall development, and maintain long-term prosperity and stability. We must deepen cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, resolutely combat the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and advance the great cause of national reunification.

Xi Jinping emphasized that, we must adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace, promote the implementation of the four major global initiatives, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and inject more certainty and positive energy into a world intertwined with change and turmoil.

To the strains of lively music, Chinese and foreign guests raised their glasses to jointly celebrate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, wishing China prosperity and flourishing, the people happiness and well-being, and wishing that the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of all countries in the world will last forever.

Also attending the reception were: members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission, Vice Chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, Vice Premiers of the State Council, State Councilors, the Director of the National Commission of Supervision, the President of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Vice Chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee, comrades who have retired from leading positions, as well as comrades who once served as members of the Central Military Commission.

Also attending the reception were: responsible comrades of relevant departments of the Central Committee, the State Council, the military, and mass organizations, responsible comrades of the central committees of the democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of personages without party affiliation, representatives of recipients of national honors and awards in Beijing, representatives of national model workers and advanced individuals, representative personages of ethnic minorities who have made important contributions to the stability, development, and unity of ethnic minority regions, some compatriots from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, compatriots from the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan compatriots, and representatives of overseas Chinese and foreign nationals of Chinese descent in Beijing, diplomatic envoys of various countries accredited to China, representatives of international organizations accredited to China, and some foreign experts, among others.

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Martyrs' Memorial Day Flower Basket Presentation Ceremony Held in Beijing

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) Paying tribute to the glory of martyrs, gathering the mighty force of rejuvenation. The ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes on Martyrs' Memorial Day was solemnly held on the morning of the 30th at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, Han Zheng, among others, together with representatives from all walks of life, attended the ceremony.

On the solemn Tiananmen Square, the bright five-star red flag fluttered in the wind, and the Monument to the People's Heroes stood tall and imposing. In the center of the square, the giant flower basket "Blessings to the Motherland" conveyed fine wishes for the prosperity and strength (繁荣昌盛, fan rong chang sheng - "prosperous, flourishing, thriving, flourishing") of the motherland. On the north side of the monument, two groups of flower beds featured 18 wreaths composed of white chrysanthemums and other fresh flowers, conveying the deep remembrance of all Chinese people for the martyrs.

Approaching 10 o'clock, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, Han Zheng, and other Party and state leaders arrived at Tiananmen Square to attend the ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes.

A trumpeter from the PLA military band sounded the "Martyrs' Memorial Day Bugle Call," its deep and far-reaching notes stirring the hearts of all present.

"Honor guards, take positions!" At the command, the guards of honor from the three armed services, with vigorous and powerful steps, marched in goose steps to the front of the monument and stood at attention with rifles in hand.

At exactly 10 o'clock, the ceremony of presenting flower baskets to the People's Heroes officially began. The military band played the"March of the Volunteers," and the entire assembly sang the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in unison.

After the national anthem was sung, all present stood in solemn silence, observing a moment of silence in memory of the martyrs who bravely sacrificed their lives for the cause of China's people's liberation and the cause of national construction.

After the moment of silence, children holding fresh flowers faced the Monument to the People's Heroes and sang loudly the song"We Are the Successors of Communism," and rendered the Young Pioneers salute.

In front of the formation, nine large flower baskets presented in the names of the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council, the CPPCC National Committee, the Central Military Commission, the democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and patriotic non-partisan personages, the people's organizations and people from all walks of life, the veteran soldiers, veteran comrades and relatives of martyrs, and the Chinese Young Pioneers, were arranged in a row. On the red ribbons of the baskets, the words"the people's heroes live on forever in immortality" (永垂不朽, yong chui bu xiu - "forever, descend, not, immortal") were especially conspicuous.

The military band played the soulful"Flower Offering Melody," and 18 honor guards lifted the flower baskets, walking slowly toward the Monument to the People's Heroes, and placed the baskets on the monument's base.

Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders ascended the monument's base and stood before the baskets, gazing at them intently. The vibrant red anthuriums, the fragrant blooming lilies, and the gracefully blossoming oncidium orchids conveyed deep remembrance and high reverence for the people's heroes.

Xi Jinping stepped forward and carefully straightened the ribbons on the flower baskets. Subsequently, Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders walked slowly around the monument, paying homage to the Monument to the People's Heroes.

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. Walking on the long march road of the new era, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the entire Party, the entire military, and people of all ethnic groups across the country inherit and carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party and the great Long March spirit, and are filled with high aspirations and lofty ambitions (壮志满怀, zhuang zhi man huai - "ambition, full, chest"), united as one, striving unremittingly to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

Children and representatives from all walks of life also walked in turn to the front of the monument, laid flowers, and paid homage to the monument.

The ceremony of presenting flower baskets was presided over by Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, some vice chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, state councilors, the president of the Supreme People's Court, the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and some vice chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee attended the ceremony.

Responsible comrades of relevant central Party and government departments, military departments, and people's organizations, as well as of the Beijing municipal government, heads of the central committees of the democratic parties, responsible persons of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of non-partisan personages, veteran soldiers, veteran comrades, and relatives of martyrs in Beijing, representatives of recipients of national honors and awards in Beijing, members of the national ethnic minorities visiting delegation, and representatives of the masses from all walks of life in the capital, among others, participated in the ceremony.

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A Great Power Leader’s Vision and Vision

By: 本报记者 黄培昭

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“Faced with a volatile and intertwined world situation, China and Africa need to strengthen solidarity and cooperation more than ever before.” Every time I read this sentence from President Xi Jinping’s reply letter to African scholars, my heart is filled with excitement.” Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, recently said in an interview with a reporter that China has always created opportunities for countries around the world through its own development, and “a China that adheres to peaceful development and continuously deepens reform and expands opening-up is a source of confidence for the vast number of developing countries.”

On August 27, 2024, President Xi Jinping replied to scholars from 50 African countries, encouraging them to continue providing intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the “Global South.” As one of the scholars who jointly signed the letter, Moshi has a profound understanding of the weight of this reply letter.

“This is not only a reply letter to African scholars, but also a weighty entrustment, which has strengthened my confidence in continuing to do a good job in research related to China.” Moshi said that the reply letter is not only an encouragement to African scholars, but also reflects President Xi Jinping’s high regard for the development of Africa-China relations and Africa-China think tank exchange and cooperation.“President Xi Jinping has always viewed Africa-China relations from the perspective of the general trend of history and the future of mankind. President Xi Jinping’s important expositions have made me even more convinced that Africa-China cooperation has a solid foundation and broad space for development.”

Moshi has long followed China’s poverty reduction practices. Over the past 20 years, he has visited China many times. From western mountainous areas to coastal cities, he has seen many formerly impoverished areas of China take on a new lease of life.“Roads are open, industries are thriving, education and medical conditions have improved significantly, and more importantly, people’s mental outlook has become completely new and refreshed (焕然一新, huan ran yi xin - “bright, transform, one, new”).” Moshi said,“President Xi Jinping proposed that in poverty alleviation, one must first alleviate the spirit; China has emancipated its thinking, renewed its concepts, and developed its economy in light of local conditions. China has completed, in a few decades, a development course that took Western countries several hundred years, simultaneously lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, creating a miracle in the history of world poverty reduction.”

In his book Up and Out of Poverty, President Xi Jinping systematically elaborated the valuable experience of China’s impoverished areas in achieving poverty alleviation and prosperity through changing ideological concepts, innovating governance measures, and strengthening leadership capacity building. Moshi believes that the development wisdom therein is of great reference significance to African countries.“In Africa, poverty in many regions is not only an economic problem, but also a problem of ideology and concepts. Many people believe that poverty is decreed by fate. China’s experience, however, tells us: poverty can be overcome, and the key is to stimulate people’s internal driving force.”

Moshi believes that African countries should learn from China’s practices of breaking the shackles of poverty consciousness, making good use of resources, and strengthening mass mobilization, and formulate poverty alleviation policies in light of their own actual conditions,“poverty can be changed through institutional design, scientific planning, and the struggle of the people, etc.”

“China has extended a helping hand with a sincere attitude to assist Africa in escaping poverty, putting into practice the concept of common development through concrete actions.” Moshi said that President Xi Jinping has always harbored deep feelings for Africa. From promoting the continuous improvement of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation mechanism, to putting forward the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith in conducting China-Africa cooperation and the correct view of justice and interests (正确义利观), to announcing the elevation of the overall positioning of China-Africa relations to a new era all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future, China has always firmly supported Africa in achieving development and revitalization.“President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized support for Africa’s industrialization and agricultural modernization process, and support for Africa’s enhancement of its capacity for independent development. This reflects the foresight and vision of a leader of a major country.” Moshi said.

In the reply letter, President Xi Jinping expressed the hope that scholars, on the basis of the “Dar es Salaam Consensus,” would intensify research and exploration on the development paths of “Global South” countries, China-Africa cooperation, and South-South cooperation, and continue to provide important intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the “Global South.” Moshi believes that this reflects President Xi Jinping’s high regard for the power of thought,“President Xi Jinping regards scholars as an important force in promoting the development of Africa-China relations, which gives us great confidence. Think tank exchange is not only academic cooperation, but also an important bridge for people-to-people bonds.”

Talking about cooperation between Africa and China, Moshi believes that high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has brought new opportunities for Africa’s infrastructure construction, agricultural technology upgrading, and energy transition.“China adheres to the principle of equality and mutual benefit, attaches no political conditions, and helps Africa enhance its capacity for independent development. This model of cooperation has won the respect of the African people.” He cited clean energy cooperation as an example, saying that Chinese enterprises have participated in multiple African clean energy projects in recent years, covering fields such as hydropower, photovoltaic, and power grid upgrading. The Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station, contracted by Chinese enterprises, has an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts, which will significantly improve the level of electricity supply in Tanzania.

“The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping has shaped a brand-new paradigm for how countries interact with each other, pointing out the direction for the development of human society.” Moshi said that building a community with a shared future for mankind takes promoting the building of a new type of international relations characterized by mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation as its basic support, emphasizing that countries, regardless of size, strength, or wealth, are all equal members of the international community.“Under the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Africa-China relations have continuously reached new heights. We have reason to believe that, on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and win-win cooperation, Africa and China will surely write an even more magnificent chapter of development together.”

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Chinese modernization’s dynamic practice broadens the paths to modernization (International Forum)

By: 埃尔辛·埃尔钦

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Rooted in a profound historical heritage and civilizational foundation, China has successfully blazed the path of Chinese modernization, creating a great miracle in the history of human development.

To understand China today, one must not only see its tangible development achievements, but also gain an in-depth grasp of China's governance practices and diplomatic propositions. As the world's second-largest economy, China has achieved development accomplishments drawing worldwide attention (举世瞩目, ju shi zhu mu - "every, world, look, eye") in the economic and technological fields, and is playing an increasingly important constructive role in international affairs.

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volume V, opens an important window for the international community to understand China's development. Chinese modernization is a key keyword of this work, and the relevant elaborations embody China's in-depth thinking on its own development path. Rooted in a profound historical heritage and civilizational foundation, China has successfully blazed the path of Chinese modernization, creating a great miracle in the history of human development: nearly 100 million rural poor people have been lifted out of poverty, advanced manufacturing, the digital economy, and modern transportation networks have developed at an accelerated pace, and research investment has continued to grow. The vivid practice of Chinese modernization has expanded the pathways for achieving modernization, powerfully confirming a truth: modernization does not equal Westernization, and every country can, based on its own national conditions, explore a development path suited to itself.

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volume V, not only systematically elaborates China's governance strategies, but is also an important document for understanding changes in the international landscape; its long-term strategic vision and thinking that coordinates global agenda items are worthy of serious consideration by international relations researchers. Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volume V, comprehensively expounds the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping. In today's world, where the interdependence of all countries is continuously deepening, establishing an awareness of jointly bearing global responsibilities is both an important conceptual advocacy and a realistic choice that conforms to the trend of the times. Building a community with a shared future for mankind is precisely the answer China gives to the times. The Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative focus on global issues in the fields of development, security, and civilization, support each other, are organically interconnected, and together constitute the strategic guidance for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, representing important intellectual achievements of China's participation in improving the global governance system.

The Analects says: "The gentleman seeks harmony without uniformity (和而不同, he er bu tong -"harmony, and, not, different"). The same principle applies to interactions between states. Turkey and China differ in political systems, cultural traditions, and historical circumstances, but this has never hindered bilateral cooperation; on the contrary, on the basis of mutual respect, it has been transformed into a driving force for mutual learning, mutual benefit, and coordinated development. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1971, high-level exchanges between the two countries have remained close, political mutual trust has been continuously consolidated, and economic and trade cooperation has steadily expanded. China is one of Turkey's major trading partners, and the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative has broad space for docking with Turkey's "Middle Corridor" plan, which can not only continuously expand the scale of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and improve the quality of cooperation, but also inject momentum into advancing the connectivity of the Eurasian continent. Looking ahead, bilateral economic and trade cooperation can be continuously expanded from traditional fields to directions such as artificial intelligence, new-energy vehicles, the digital economy, and advanced manufacturing, deepening high-level industrial collaboration and scientificand technological innovation cooperation. China has formed a leading advantage in many frontier fields, while Turkey possesses engineering talent reserves, a complete industrial foundation, an active innovation ecosystem, and a geographical location that radiates toward the European market; the prospects for deepening collaboration between the two sides are broad.

At present, the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, entering a new period of turbulence and transformation. The international landscape is undergoing profound adjustment, industrial production models continue to evolve, and global challenges such as climate change, energy security, and artificial intelligence governance are emerging one after another in an endless stream (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong -"layer, emerge, not, exhausted"), making it difficult for any country to mind only one's own interests or stay out of trouble (独善其身, du shan qi shen -"alone, good, its, body"). Upholding true multilateralism and improving global governance are the common expectations of people of all countries, requiring all parties to pool consensus, act jointly, and join forces to promote the reform and improvement of the global governance system. Turkey extensively participates in various international mechanisms and continues to play a constructive role in regional and global affairs. China is an important participant in the international system, with its influence in global governance steadily rising. The two countries share similar concepts in practicing multilateralism and possess enormous space for cooperation on the global governance agenda.

The ancient Silk Road closely connected the two ancient civilizations of Turkey and China, accumulating a friendship that has endured for thousands of years. Shouldering the important responsibility of the times for promoting human development, the two countries continue to deepen exchanges, creating a model of cooperation for peaceand connectivity in Eurasia and enhancing mutual learning among civilizations, jointly contributing to the building of a more inclusive and stable international order.

(The author is Vice Chairman of the New World Research Center of Turkey and Vice Chairman of the Turkey-China Friendship Foundation)

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Chinese Government Friendship Award Ceremony Held in Beijing

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(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30) (Reporter Wang Huihui) The 2026 Chinese Government Friendship Award ceremony was held with grandeur at the Great Hall of the People on the 30th. State Councilor Shen Yiqin presented the awards to the winning foreign experts and delivered a speech.

Shen Yiqin first, on behalf of the Chinese Government, extended warm congratulations to the winning foreign experts, and extended sincere greetings and heartfelt thanks to all foreign experts and their families.

Shen Yiqin pointed out that this year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and is also the opening year of China's the 15th Five-Year Plan. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China's economy is developing toward new quality and toward excellence, injecting extremely rare and valuable (难能可贵, nan neng ke gui - "hard, can, possible, precious") certainty into the world. The vast number of foreign experts play an important role in promoting China's economic and social development and in advancing friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries.

Shen Yiqin stated that the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for China to basically realize socialist modernization. It is hoped that more foreign experts will strive forward hand in hand with the Chinese people, jointly create a better future on the broad stage of Chinese modernization, jointly scale the heights of science on the historical opportunity of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and jointly seek the well-being of mankind under the glorious banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind. China will provide solid guarantees for foreign talent to develop stably in China over the long term.

Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, read out the award decision. In 2026, a total of 50 foreign experts received the Chinese Government Friendship Award.

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Qiushi: Inspire More Youth to Pursue Skilled Careers

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The 48th WorldSkills Competition (hereinafter referred to as "WorldSkills") recently concluded in Shanghai. A total of 1,385 young competitors from 68 countries and regions showcased their exquisite skills, embodying the theme "Skills Change the World, Skills Illuminate the Future," and turning their ingenuity and craftsmanship into momentum for the global skills movement. International organization representatives, foreign vocational education experts, foreign spectators, and volunteers interviewed by reporters said that China not only hosted a spectacular competition but also placed vocational education and training in an important position on the global development agenda.

"The whole world has witnessed this remarkable skills event together"

This edition of WorldSkills adopted a "one competition, two conferences" hosting model. Outside the competition venue, the WorldSkills Conference, the WorldSkills Expo, and rich exchange and interaction activities such as the "One School, One Team" program left a deep impression on international guests.

At the WorldSkills Conference, skills were a topic of common concern for all. WorldSkills International President Uhan said: "The WorldSkills Conference has been very productive, with many novel ideas colliding here." In a special session on the impact of artificial intelligence on the future labor market, Narmin Almarzouqi, a former UAE WorldSkills competitor, said that artificial intelligence cannot replace human "soft skills" such as critical thinking, adaptability, and emotional and social intelligence.

At the WorldSkills Expo, robots performed tai chi with smooth and flowing (行云流水, xing yun liu shui - "walk, cloud, flow, water") movements, master craftsmen demonstrated ancient book restoration techniques, and Shanxi mortise-and-tenon ancient architecture models, Jiangxi porcelain, Heilongjiang ice sculpture, Chongqing locomotives, and Fujian Shoushan stone attracted many international guests to stop and admire... The exquisite cheongsams at the Shanghai booth drew continuous praise from Louisa, an Australian girl visiting China for the first time: "Here, I can see skills from all over the world and communicate with people from different countries." Hoshiku from Namibia paid more attention to China's advanced information and communication technology and equipment, hoping to introduce it to Namibia.

Li Guangrong, a volunteer at this WorldSkills Competition, comes from Laos and is an international student in the School of Management at Shanghai Institute of Technology. "At the WorldSkills venue, I saw that although everyone's culture and language are different, the love for skills and the pursuit of dreams are universal. This volunteer experience has made me firmly believe that skills can not only illuminate an individual's future but also build bridges for cross-border exchange," Li Guangrong said.

The "One School, One Team" activity brought cross-border exchange into the classroom. As soon as he entered the Industry-Education Integration Exhibition Hall of Shanghai Vocational College of Science and Technology Innovation, Nurit from Austria, who won the Excellence Award in the Industry 4.0 category at the 47th WorldSkills Competition, immediately spotted the competition equipment for the Industry 4.0 category. "Around me, there are not many practitioners in the Industry 4.0 field, and daily exchanges and discussions are very limited. I am very curious about how Chinese schools conduct skills training. Competitors from various countries showcase their 'signature techniques,' allowing the whole world to witness this remarkable skills event together," Nurit said.

Uhan said that this WorldSkills Competition can be regarded as the best one ever held, adding, "I hope China's experience in hosting the competition can serve as a reference for other countries. Countries can use WorldSkills occupational standards to promote the quality improvement and upgrading of their own vocational education and inspire more young people to devote themselves to the skills cause."

"Proactively sharing development experience with other countries, helping them progress together"

The first WorldSkills Competition in 1950 had only 6 skill categories, while this edition featured as many as 64 skill categories, with 7 new ones added: smart security technology, rail vehicle technology, drone systems, software testing, digital interactive media design, dental restoration technology, and retail. Based on the actual development of industries, WorldSkills adjusts its skill categories every year. Although traditional categories are retained, their "core" has long since changed.

Since joining WorldSkills International in 2010, China has participated in 8 WorldSkills Competitions and has ranked first in the world in both the gold medal table and overall team score for 5 consecutive editions. In this competition, Chinese competitor He Xiaoman won the highest score in the competition with her outstanding performance in the rail vehicle technology category and received the Albert Vidal Award. Young people like her, in successive groups, have achieved growth and success in life by learning skills and participating in competitions, leading and driving the expansion, structural optimization, and quality improvement of China's skilled talent workforce. From standard-setting and mutual recognition of certificates to joint center construction and school partnerships, China's WorldSkills practice provides experience for the development of the global skills movement, enabling more countries to believe that skills can change the destiny of young people and illuminate the world's future.

Jenny Shackleton, former Standards and Assessment Advisor of WorldSkills International, has visited China more than 10 times and conducted in-depth visits to the front lines of skilled talent cultivation in China. She said that China has proactively engaged international experts for cooperation, continuously increased investment in supporting resources, gained a good international reputation in WorldSkills external exchanges, and built a solid international skills cooperation network. These practical experiences can help other members of WorldSkills International broaden their perspectives on skilled talent cultivation and promote the development of the global skills movement.

At the 2026 WorldSkills Conference Shanghai Skills Development Thematic Parallel Session, the "Shanghai Catalogue for the Comparative Recognition of Overseas Vocational Skills Certificates" was released, incorporating 16 certificates from 7 institutions in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium, covering 9 occupations including elderly care nursing, welding, Western cuisine, and intelligent building. Overseas skilled talents who meet the conditions in Shanghai can directly exchange their certificates for the corresponding Chinese vocational skill level certificates without having to retake examinations.

Nine Shanghai vocational colleges, including Shanghai University of Engineering Science, signed pairing agreements with 9 international vocational colleges, including Federation University Australia, focusing on establishing normalized cooperation in artificial intelligence, health care, elderly care nursing, and creative arts. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Shanghai Municipal Government, and WorldSkills International signed a letter of intent for cooperation, and the WorldSkills Innovation Center will be established in Shanghai, with plans to build a global platform for the transformation of skills standards and innovation.

David Hoey, Chief Executive Officer of WorldSkills International, believes that China's deep participation in WorldSkills has not only enhanced the global influence of the competition but also powerfully demonstrated that international skills competitions can effectively empower the construction of skills systems in various countries. "China proactively shares development experience with other countries, helping them progress together, demonstrating the responsibility of a major country," he said.

"China's vivid educational practice experience is invaluable"

Many international guests set foot on Chinese soil for the first time because of WorldSkills. Nearly a week of on-site observation gradually enriched their impressions of China's vocational skills education and training: in the competition venue, volunteers skillfully gave directions in multiple languages, and many venue managers were former gold medal winners; long queues formed in front of the "Try Your Skills" experience stations...

Brazil sent its largest-ever delegation of 209 people, including 71 competitors, to participate in all 64 competition categories. During WorldSkills, representatives from institutions such as Brazil's Rio de Janeiro Business Education College and the Federation of Industries of the State of Mato Grosso visited the Brazil Center in Yangpu District, Shanghai, and conducted in-depth exchanges with Shanghai vocational colleges on topics such as industry-education integration, skilled talent cultivation, and integrating WorldSkills standards into teaching.

Carlos Braguini, Director of Vocational and Higher Education at Brazil's National Service for Industrial Training (SENAI), said he hopes to learn about China's vocational education and culture through WorldSkills and draw on its talent cultivation experience. The Federation of Industries of the State of Mato Grosso has set up an office at the Brazil Center in Shanghai. The two sides are relying on this platform to explore new paths for youth skills exchange, vocational training, and industrial cooperation, with skills becoming a new bond in Brazil-China cooperation.

Sabrina Roubache, Minister Delegate for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeship attached to the French Ministry of Labour and Solidarity and the Ministry of National Education, visited Shanghai Caoyang Vocational and Technical School. The school has cooperated with France's Marseille Hotel School for more than 30 years, with successive groups of students conducting exchange visits. Roubache said that the two sides started from sharing a craft and together shaped unforgettable journeys. The French side believes that vocational education is one of the paths to excellence. "Shanghai has shown me that new technologies are constantly emerging, but the original aspiration of rigor, heritage, and pragmatism has not changed."

Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said: "China carefully studies the evaluation indicators and judging rules of skills competitions, implements them nationwide, cultivates a large number of outstanding talents, and shines in global skills competitions. The development dividends brought by WorldSkills are evident to all. Large-scale development of highly skilled talent will significantly enhance the social recognition of vocational education. For the vast number of Global South countries, China's vivid educational practice experience is invaluable and worth learning from."

(People's Daily reporters Huang Xiaohui, Cui Yin, Ji Juesu, Cao Lingjuan, and People's Daily Online reporters Tang Xiaoli and Ma Zuopeng contributed to this report)

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Deepening Multilateral Cooperation to Advance Sustainable Infrastructure Development

By: 本报记者 王旭琛

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From September 28 to 29, the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was held in Doha, the capital of Qatar. This was the first annual meeting of the Board of Governors held after the AIIB entered its second decade of development. Centering on the theme "Future-Oriented Infrastructure: Impact and Innovation," governors from AIIB members, senior government officials, partners, and representatives of relevant institutions jointly discussed cooperation agendas on infrastructure and sustainable development.

AIIB President Jin Liqun stated in his opening remarks that, since its official operation began in 2016, the AIIB has developed into a widely trusted, fruitful international multilateral cooperation platform. In the next stage, the AIIB will uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, focusing on supporting infrastructure projects in areas such as climate resilience, renewable energy, digital transformation, regional connectivity, natural conservation, and people's livelihoods.

According to reports, this year the AIIB has already made much new progress in expanding its investment scope and innovating financing methods: it approved its first South African project, supporting the country in improving public services such as urban water supply and power supply; jointly with the Asian Development Bank providing co-guarantees, it supported Pakistan in issuing its first sovereign panda bond, broadening financing channels for sustainable infrastructure construction; it approved the establishment of a "special fund" to respond to energy and food crises, and under the framework of this fund, helped Bangladesh and Fiji enhance fiscal resilience……

Qatar's Minister of Finance, chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for this term, Ali bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, stated that Qatar highly appreciates the contributions made by the AIIB in supporting infrastructure financing and promoting cross-border connectivity among members. He emphasized that the world today faces many challenges, and that sustained investment in infrastructure and pragmatic multilateral cooperation are crucial for supporting growth, enhancing resilience, and achieving shared prosperity.

Egypt's Minister of Finance, Egypt's Governor on the AIIB Board of Governors, Ahmed Kouchouk, is very optimistic about the prospects for cooperation with the AIIB. He stated that, in the process of Egypt's promotion of renewable energy development, multilateral cooperation has played an important role, "multilateral development banks have played the role of catalysts, promoting cooperation among investors and other participants," ultimately jointly advancing projects toward maturity and implementation.

The Chairman of the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of Tajikistan, vice chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for this term, Sulton Rahimzoda, stated that AIIB financing in the energy and transportation sectors has brought tangible results to Tajikistan. For developing countries, strengthening regional connectivity helps transform geographic limitations into economic opportunities. He looks forward to the AIIB continuing to promote the green transition, mobilize investment, and advance infrastructure construction to better connect people with development opportunities in the next decade.

"Against the backdrop of rising global uncertainty, infrastructure remains an important support for promoting development, enhancing resilience, and creating opportunities." Jin Liqun stated that the AIIB will continue to uphold the spirit of multilateralism and the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, working with members and development partners to strengthen project preparation, enrich financing instruments, support the implementation of more projects, and support members in achieving sustainable development.

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2026 Global South Modernization Forum Held in Cairo, Egypt

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(People's Daily, Cairo, September 30) (Reporters Jiao Xiang, Shen Xiaoxiao) On September 30, the 2026 Global South Modernization Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt, with the theme "The Wave of Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Challenges for Modernization of the Global South."

Chinese and foreign guests held that the innovation and development of artificial intelligence technology contains enormous opportunities, yet also faces governance challenges. At the 18th Meeting of BRICS Leaders, President Xi Jinping put forward important initiatives such as AI empowering new industrialization and AI open-source benefits for all, clarifying the direction of AI development toward goodness and progress. The modernization of the Global South is now at an important stage of breaking development constraints, filling capacity shortcomings, and shifting development momentum, and it is necessary to make good use of AI to continuously strengthen the endogenous driving force for development.

Chinese and foreign guests expressed that artificial intelligence is the common wealth of all humanity. Countries of the Global South must seize this rare historical opportunity, promote AI to empower all walks of life (千行百业, qian hang bai ye - "thousand, line, hundred, industry") and improve people's livelihoods and well-being. It is necessary to improve global AI governance, practice true multilateralism, bridge the intelligent divide, and promote a positive interaction between development and security. It is necessary to promote exchanging ideas and learning from each other (交流互鉴, jiao liu hu jian -"exchange, mutual, look at, learn from") in AI, adhere to openness, open-source, cooperation, and sharing, deepen theoretical and practical research, and let AI better benefit human society.

The forum was co-hosted by the State Council Information Office, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee ( National Academy of Governance), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Renmin University of China, and Cairo University. The forum featured four parallel sub-forums, and at the meeting were released the "Rise of the South — Academic Research Map of Global South Modernization" and the "Top Ten Hot Terms in Global South Modernization Research · 2026". More than 100 experts and scholars from nearly 30 countries and regions attended. Around the forum, supporting activities including academic exhibitions, youth exchanges, and think tank seminars were also held.

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Chinese envoy speaks for nearly 80 countries, urging the Global Governance Initiative to guide and rectify international human rights governance

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(People's Daily, Berlin, September 30) (Reporter Liu He) Geneva dispatch: Jia Guide, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland, on September 30 at the sixty-third session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on behalf of nearly 80 countries, delivered a joint statement on correcting international human rights governance, calling for the Global Governance Initiative to serve as the guide, and for jointly building a fair, reasonable, and inclusive global human rights governance system.

Jia Guide pointed out that the current international situation is one in which changes and chaos are intertwined (变乱交织, bian luan jiao zhi - "change, chaos, interweave"), and global human rights governance is undergoing profound adjustment. China puts forward four propositions: First, adhere to a people-centered approach, letting the people of each country judge and improve their own human rights conditions, so as to meet the needs of the people and preserve the original aspiration of human rights governance; Second, uphold sovereign equality, insisting that all countries participate, decide, and benefit on an equal footing, listening more to the voice of the Global South, advocating the principles of fairness, objectivity, non-selectivity, and non-politicization, and engaging in dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect; Third, uphold fairness and justice, oppose the politicization and instrumentalization of human rights, taking everything into account and coordinating them all (统筹兼顾, tong chu jian gu - "coordinate, take into account"), steadily advancing reform in the field of human rights, and supporting human rights bodies and human rights experts in performing their duties objectively and impartially; Fourth, abide by international rule of law, uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, ensure the equal and uniform application of international law and international rules, oppose double standards, oppose using human rights issues to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and oppose imposing one's own standards on others.

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Chinese Publishing Delegation Appears at 46th Indonesia International Book Fair

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(People's Daily, Jakarta, September 30) (Reporter Cao Shiyun) On September 30, the 46th Indonesia International Book Fair opened at the Jakarta International Expo. The China publishing exhibition area centrally displayed fine books and publishing achievements, and carried out multiple publishing-and-culture exchange activities, attracting many Indonesian readers and publishing-industry figures to visit and exchange.

This China publishing delegation brought together more than 20 publishing institutions, including Foreign Languages Press, Xinhua Publishing House, Central Compilation and Translation Press, Communication University of China Press, Peking University Press, and Tsinghua University Press, exhibiting a total of more than 1,000 fine books, covering multiple fields such as traditional culture, humanities and social sciences, language learning, academia and technology, children's reading, contemporary literature, and thought and theory. During the book fair, the China publishing delegation will carry out multiple activities such as industry seminars, copyright matchmaking, people-to-people and cultural exchange, and market research, conducting in-depth exchanges with Indonesian publishing institutions, universities, and others on copyright cooperation, translation and publishing, and innovative development of the publishing industry.

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Developing Sports Events to Stimulate Consumption Vitality

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(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30) The General Office of the State Council recently issued the "Opinions on Developing Sports Events and Stimulating Consumption Vitality" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), making arrangements for promoting the development of sports events, stimulating consumption vitality, and cultivating new momentum for economic growth.

The "Opinions" emphasizes that it is necessary to adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guide, adhere to taking the satisfaction of the people's diverse life needs and the enhancement of the people's well-being as the starting point, promote the brand-oriented, integrated, and market-oriented development of sports events, enrich the supply of high-quality events, and play an active role in expanding domestic demand, boosting consumption, and other aspects.

The "Opinions" proposes that by 2030, a modern event system with Chinese characteristics shall be basically formed, a number of sports events with world influence shall be cultivated, industrial synergy capabilities shall be significantly enhanced, event consumption vitality shall be effectively stimulated, providing strong support for high-quality development of the economy and society.

The "Opinions" deploys 17 major tasks in 5 aspects. First, strengthen the supply of event activities. Enrich competitive sports events and activities, improve the level of development of professional events, support the development of amateur event activities, and promote international exchange and cooperation in events. Second, deepen the integrated development of events. Deeply explore the integration potential of events with culture and tourism, promote the coordinated development of events with commerce, and promote the integration of events with scientific and technological innovation. Third, stimulate the vitality of event consumption. Expand event consumption scenarios, and enhance the event consumption experience. Fourth, consolidate the foundation for event development. Cultivate a number of event operation entities with strong market competitiveness and a high degree of professionalization, improve venues and facilities, strengthen talent cultivation, and strengthen the development, implementation, and application of standards such as event organization guides and participation guidelines. Fifth, improve management and support capabilities. Optimize service management, promote the further opening of public resources such as mountains, forests, roads, and others to sports events in accordance with the law, reasonably, and in an orderly manner, strengthen event governance, and strengthen safety guarantees.

The "Opinions" requires that all regions and relevant departments shall strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly promote the development of sports events, and stimulate consumption vitality. The General Administration of Sport shall, together with relevant departments, strengthen overall planning, and promote the implementation and detailed execution of all tasks.

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Modern Water Network Construction Accelerates (Authoritative Release · Getting Off to a Good Start for the 15th Five-Year Plan)

By: 本报记者 王 浩

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On September 30, the State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences under the theme "Getting Off to a Good Start for the 15th Five-Year Plan" to introduce the situation concerning accelerating the construction of a modern water network.

In the first nine months of this year, investment in water conservancy construction reached 795 billion yuan

The national water network is a comprehensive system based on natural rivers and lakes, using water diversion, extraction, and drainage projects as passageways, storage and regulation projects as nodes, and smart regulation and control as means, integrating the functions of optimal allocation of water resources, flood prevention and disaster reduction in river basins, and protection of water ecosystems.

Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying introduced that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Water Resources will accelerate the construction of the "trunk lines" of the national water network, weave dense the "branches" of the national water network, and lay solid the "nodes" of the national water network, fully leveraging the advantages of the ultra-large-scale water network project system and the effectiveness of the network. It will strive to, by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, have the coverage scope of the national water network reach 82 percent of the national land area.

Specifically, the Ministry of Water Resources will accelerate the construction of the river basin flood prevention and disaster reduction system, striving to, by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, add 15 billion cubic meters of reservoir storage capacity, with the compliance rate of important embankments reaching 91 percent; it will accelerate the construction of the system for optimal allocation of water resources and the water supply guarantee system, striving to, by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, add 40 million mu of irrigated farmland; it will accelerate the construction of the water ecosystem protection, governance, and restoration system, striving to, by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, keep the compliance rate of basic ecological flow in key rivers and lakes above 90 percent; it will accelerate the construction of the digital twin water network, striving to, by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, complete the construction of the national water network dispatching center, big data center, and river basin sub-centers.

Since the beginning of this year, the construction of the modern water network has been accelerated. From January to September, a total of 41,400 various water conservancy projects were implemented, completing 795 billion yuan in investment in water conservancy construction, and absorbing 2.01 million people in employment.

Li Ming, Director of the Planning and Programming Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, introduced that to complete the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan, it is necessary to maintain a relatively high scale of investment in water conservancy. The Ministry of Water Resources will make every effort to advance the preliminary work of projects, raise construction funds through multiple channels, and accelerate the progress of project construction.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the notable characteristic of China's flood and waterlogging disasters is their full of uncertainty. Li Guoying introducedthat the Ministry will, based on optimizing the flood prevention and disaster reduction pattern of river basins, accelerate the construction of a batch of flood control and storage reservoirs, comprehensively and systematically advance the renovation and upgrading of old reservoirs, the reinforcement and danger elimination of dangerous and defective reservoirs, accelerate the construction of river embankments and river course regulation, strengthen the construction and management of flood storage and detention areas, achieve the goals of "being able to hold back, being able to drain away, being able to divert," and improve the capacity for regulating and controlling floods.

Since the beginning of this year, cumulative irrigation water supply has approached 200 billion cubic meters

Water conservancy is the lifeline of agriculture. Since the beginning of this year, cumulative irrigation water supply has approached 200 billion cubic meters, with the irrigated area exceeding 750 million mu, and the summer grain output on irrigated farmland accounting for 88 percent of the nation's total summer grain output. Li Guoying introduced: "It is forecast that the irrigation water demand for autumn grains such as late rice, and overwintering crops such as winter wheat, will be approximately 70 billion cubic meters; we have already made water resource reserves and will make every effort to guarantee them."

Ni Wenjin, Director of the Department of Rural Water Conservancy and Hydropower of the Ministry of Water Resources, introducedthat water conservancy departments will scientifically lay out the development of farmland irrigation during the 15th Five-Year Plan, advance in an integrated manner the modernization construction and renovation of large and medium-sized irrigation districts; they will coordinate the construction of backbone projects of irrigation districts and high-standard farmland, develop, in light of local conditions, high-efficiency water-saving irrigation such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, pipeline water conveyance irrigation, and the integration of water and fertilizer, improving the complete irrigation and drainage system from water sources to farm fields.

In recent years, sudden alternation of drought and flood, and the northward shift of rain belts, have brought threats to agricultural production. The Ministry of Water Resources will continue to do well in the monitoring and early warning of rainfall conditions, water conditions, and project conditions, conduct rolling investigations to eliminate risks and hidden dangers, and scientifically dispatch flood control projects in river basins. In response to possible drought risks, it will make advance deployments, refine drought emergency response plans, and precisely implement water project dispatch and emergency water dispatch.

Rural water supply concerns the well-being of the people. The Ministry of Water Resources, together with relevant departments and local authorities, will further promote the "3+1" standardized construction and management and maintenance model of urban-rural integrated water supply, centralized water supply at scale, standardized small-scale water supply, and specialized county-wide unified management, achieving practical results and effectiveness, striving to, by 2030, achieve a national rural tap water penetration rate of 98 percent, a coverage proportion of rural population by scaled water supply projects of 78 percent, anda county-wide unified management proportion of 90 percent.

It will continue to implement the Mother River Revitalization Action

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes strengthening the systematic governance and ecological protection of important rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and water networks. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Water Resources selected 88 mother rivers to carry out revitalization actions, implementing targeted measures and precise treatment, achieving a series of landmark achievements. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it will continue to implement the Mother River Revitalization Action, making every effort to maintain the healthy life of rivers and lakes.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, while China's total economic output continued to maintain steady growth, China's total water use remained generally stable at around 600 billion cubic meters, and the efficiency of water resource utilization was improved by a relatively large margin. Sun Zhiyu, Vice Minister of Water Resources, introducedthat during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Water Resources will fully implement the rigid constraint system on water resources, being very careful and thrifty in calculations in making good use of water resources, managing water resources strictly and meticulously from every angle, and promote the water use per 10,000 yuan of GDP and the water use per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value to each decline by another 10 percent on top of the levels at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

The treatment of groundwater over-extraction continues to advance. Sun Zhiyu introducedthat the degree of over-extraction in the North China Plain has significantly decreased, with the amount of groundwater over-extraction reduced by 75 percent, and the area of severe over-extraction reduced by 92 percent.

Soil and water conservation, on the one hand, guards the peaceful and stable state of rivers; on the other hand, concerns the well-being of the people. Li Ming introducedthat the goals proposed by the Ministry of Water Resources for the 15th Five-Year Plan are: nationally add 310,000 square kilometers of soil erosion treatment area, achieve a soil and water conservation rate of 74 percent, and build more than 2,000 ecologically clean small watersheds. Let more barren mountains be clothed in green, let clear water and green banks become the everyday scenery beside the people, let fertile soil and good farmland become the solid confidence for the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and let more and better ecological products be transformed into real money in the people's pockets.

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Drawing on Red Heritage, Rural Blossoms Flourish

By: 本报记者 程 焕

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In Huamao Village, Bozhou District, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, inside the small courtyard of a cultural and creative workshop, several artisans are intently engaged in their creations. Petals and leaves of various colors and shapes are arranged to complement one another, then a layer of light-yellow paper pulp is poured over them; after drying, they become a beautiful painting full of artistic conception.

Huamao Village was originally named "Huangmaotian" (Barren Mao Field),, and was once barren and impoverished. In 1935, after the Central Red Army won the great victory at Zunyi, they rested and regrouped here for many days, leaving behind a red imprint. After the founding of New China, the place was renamed Huamao Village, to entrust people's beautiful hopes that the village would be flourishing with flowers and lush vegetation (花繁叶茂, hua fan ye mao -"flower, flourish, leaf, lush"),and that life would be prosperous, secure,and well-off.

In June 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Huamao Village for an inspection visit; the continuous fields of sunflowers were in full bloom. "No wonder everyone comes here—you can find nostalgia here." The General Secretary wittily praised the village's ecological environment.

In recent years, Huamao Village has continuously deepened its red culture and nostalgia memories, striving to comprehensively promote rural revitalization. Zhang Shengdi, who had worked away from home for many years, returned to her hometown in 2015 to start a business. Relying on the ancient papermaking technique passed down from the older generation, she established the"Huamao Renjia" cultural and creative workshop in the village. She integrates the village's red culture, earthenware pottery culture,and other elements into paper, producing distinctive paper-pulp pressed-flower paintings, and also developing cultural and creative products such as small night lights and round fans. Riding the"east wind" of the village's tourism development, the workshop quickly became a check-in spot,and its products are selling briskly.

Huamao Village, which sits close to the site of the Goutan Conference, integrates red culture into rural tourism, study tours,and the like, giving red memories more tangible and experienceable carriers. Yang Bo, a returning entrepreneur, has become a volunteer docent for the village's red culture, explaining the deeds of martyrs to students and other tourists,and leading them to experience the making of Red Army straw sandals, earthenware pottery techniques,and more. At the"Red Home" agritainment establishment in Huamao Village, tourists sit around tables, tasting home-style farm dishes. Shop owner Wang Zhiqiang introduced:"The older generation said that this courtyard of ours was, in the early years, a quadrangle courtyard, and when the Red Army was on the Long March, they once lodged here." Today, tourists come not only for the food,but also to take a look at the courtyard's environment and furnishings,and to hear the red stories.

"Red is the base color of the village,and beautiful nostalgia is our confidence in developing rural tourism." Peng Longfen, director of the Huamao Village villagers' committee, stated. As of the end of 2025, the village's collective economic income has cumulatively reached 14.81 million yuan,and the per capita disposable income of villagers exceeds 29,000 yuan. The vivid practice of deeply integrating red culture with comprehensive rural revitalization is steadily turning the vision of flourishing with flowers and lush vegetation into reality, step by step.

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Carry Forward the Spirit of Martyrs, Unite the Strength to Forge Ahead (Today's Commentary)

By: 余 璇

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On September 30, on the solemn Tiananmen Square, the Monument to the People's Heroes stood tall and imposing. General Secretary Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders, together with representatives from all walks of life, presented flower baskets to the people's heroes.

Today, how can we comfort the heroic spirits? With actions that honor the martyrs and strive to be heroes, with a stronger China and a better life for the people.

The new era is an era that produces heroes. Xu Zhenchao, concentrating deeply on something (潜心琢磨, qian xin zhuo mo - "submerged heart, ponder, grind"), honed his unique skills, and the "Zhenchao Efficiency" became renowned worldwide; Huang Danian, with diligent contribution (辛勤奉献, xin qin feng xian -"hardworking, devote"), tenaciously tackled key problems and knocked open the "door to the Earth"; Zhang Guimei burned herself to light the hopes of girls in the mountains, interpreting the connotation of heroism with selfless dedication……The grand and magnificent (波澜壮阔, bo lan zhuang kuo -"wave, surge, magnificent, vast") process of Chinese modernization offers places for active creation everywhere, places where one can exercise their skills everywhere, and needs for dedication and responsibility everywhere; when striving to be heroes, many heroes will emerge one after another.

Only in turbulent times or great changes (沧海横流, cang hai heng liu -"blue sea, cross, flow") does the true mettle of heroes show. When facing "chokepoint" technologies, they do not panic; scientific and technological vanguards are determined to tackle hard problems; before trade and economic frictions, they do not waver—"all suppression and containment will only inspire the will and enthusiasm of the Chinese people"; when facing disasters, they do not retreat, and countless figures rushing against the flow to rescue others make people feel extremely reassured. The heroic spirit that dares to overwhelm all difficulties without being overwhelmed by them has always flowed in the blood of the sons and daughters of China, surging on the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

Closely holding the baton of history, carrying forward the spirit of the martyrs, we stride forward with heads held high, charging forward without hesitation (一往无前, yi wang wu qian -"one, go, no, front").

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Service industry opens new space for domestic demand

By: 金 轩

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Promoting the high-quality and efficient development of the service industry bears on the national economy and the people's livelihood, and bears on the overall situation of modernization. In April this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on the development of the service industry, emphasizing "advancing the extension of producer services toward specialization and the high end of the value chain, promoting the high-quality, diversified, and convenient development of consumer services, cultivating more 'China Service' brands, and striving to open up a new situation in the high-quality development of the service industry."

In the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the National Service Industry Conference was held,and the "Opinions on Promoting the Expansion, Capacity Enhancement,and Quality Improvement of the Service Industry" was issued,clarifying the goals and tasks,and drawing a beautiful blueprint,as China's service industry development ushers in a new stage of expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement.

The development of the service industry is at the right time (正当其时, zheng dang qi shi - "be, just, at, time")and having great potential for success (大有可为, da you ke wei - "greatly, have, can, do").

The service industry is an important support for industrial upgrading. Modern service industries such as R&D design, industrial software, inspection and testing,and transportation and logistics play the role of "catalyst" for scientific and technological innovation and "multiplier" for manufacturing value,and can powerfully promote the industrial system's climb toward the high end of the value chain. It is necessary to promote the deep integration and mutual empowerment of modern services and advanced manufacturing through developing knowledge-intensive and technology-intensive service industries, providing important support for cultivating new quality productive forces and building a modern industrial system.

The service industry is a comprehensive carrier for improving the quality of people's lives. International experience shows that after per capita GDP exceeds 10,000 US dollars, the residents' consumption structure will shift from being dominated by goods consumption toward equal emphasis on goods and services consumption. Currently, China's per capita GDP is close to 14,000 US dollars, consumption structure is accelerating its transformation,and the people's yearning for a better life is accelerating its extension toward high-quality service fields such as cultural tourism and leisure, medical and health, elderly care and childcare. It is necessary to provide a solid guarantee for meeting the people's needs for a better life and solidly advancing common prosperity through developing high-quality, diversified,and convenient consumer services.

The service industry is a key channel for driving employment expansion. The service industry has a large employment capacity and adapts to many groups, playing the role of "reservoir" and "stabilizer" for employment. In particular, the deep integration of digital technology with the service industry has spawned a large number of new employment forms and created a large number of knowledge-intensive jobs. It is necessary to continuously broaden the employment space of the service industry through optimizing the business structure, supporting innovation and entrepreneurship,and strengthening skills training, providing a strong support for stabilizing the basic employment picture and safeguarding people's livelihood and well-being.

The development of the service industry is moving toward the new and the excellent,with a promising future (未来可期, wei lai ke qi - "future, can, expect").

Since the beginning of this year, China's service industry has maintained a steady development momentum,and vitality has continued to be released. In the first half of the year, the added value of the service industry was 41.4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%, accounting for 59.5% of GDP,and contributing 66.1% to economic growth, providing strong support for high-quality development.

Livelihood services are warmer. From the "quarter-hour convenient living circle" to canteens for the elderly, from community-embedded childcare spots to rural mobile medical service vehicles, livelihood services are more responsive to people's wishes and warmer to people's hearts. At present, the country has 82,000 elderly meal assistance points, providing meal assistance services to more than 4 million elderly people every day.

Reform and tapping potential are achieving practical results (落地见效, luo di jian xiao - "land, see, effect"). By removing institutional and mechanism obstacles such as difficulties in changing land use, poor property rights circulation,and cumbersome approval procedures, a number of old industrial plants have been transformed into new cultural experience scenes,and idle land has been re-activated.

The dividends of opening up are tangible and accessible. Unilateral visa exemption and mutual visa exemption have continued to expand,and the scope of application of the 240-hour transit visa exemption has continued to expand. In the first eight months of this year, visa-exempt foreign arrivals reached 23.72 million person-times.

The service industry has large space and ample potential for expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement. The demand of the super-large-scale market continues to be released. As of the end of 2025, China had 323 million elderly people aged 60 and above,and approximately 26 million infants and young children under the age of 3,and the care needs of the "one old, one young" are very strong. Meeting these needs is real growth space; accelerating the expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement of the service industry will be able to transform the "demand lists" of thousands of households into enterprises' "service lists" and workers' "job lists".

Technological innovation spawns new service formats and models. Scenic areas use technologies such as augmented reality (AR) restoration and digital human explanation to transform static cultural tourism into immersive experiences; instant retail platforms rely on intelligent algorithms to connect online and offline, achieving minute-level delivery; smart housekeeping and remote consultation have moved from pilot programs to daily practice. Such new scenarios are constantly being "updated," and new technologies are driving the continuous broadening of the supply boundary of the service industry.

Institutional reform promotes efficient adaptation between supply and demand. Many places have implemented the linkage of spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary schools with paid leave for employees, converting potential willingness into real consumption behavior; local governments are actively exploring ways to promote the standardized and normalized development of the housekeeping service industry, successively researching and issuing housekeeping service regulations,and releasing the potential demand for family care.

Opening up and cooperation broaden service space. The service industry and manufacturing industry "go to sea together," forming a composite advantage of "manufacturing + services" going global in coordination. As cross-border service restrictions are relaxed and service standards accelerate alignment, the "China Service" radius will continue to extend.

Anchor the goals, intensify policy implementation,and accelerate the expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement of the service industry

The Party Central Committee and the State Council have made clear arrangements for advancing the expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement of the service industry, proposing that by 2030, the total scale of the service industry will step onto the 100 trillion yuan platform,and a development pattern with higher quality, better structure, better quality,and more vitality will basically take shape. From the perspective of total scale, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's service industry scale has successively crossed three platforms of 60 trillion yuan, 70 trillion yuan,and 80 trillion yuan, reaching 80.9 trillion yuan in 2025; compared with the 2030 development goal, this means that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, there is still nearly 20 trillion yuan of incremental space.

Cultivate new growth points to give the service industry more staying power. Promote the construction of convenient living circles, increase the supply of high-quality livelihood services through multiple channels, develop models such as mutual-aid elderly care and community-embedded childcare, promote the renovation and upgrading of scenic areas,and develop diversified and immersive cultural tourism formats. Accelerate the introduction and implementation of policies and measures supporting professional service institutions in enhancing their international service capabilities, promote capacity building in fields such as foreign-related law, accounting and auditing, tax services,and the advertising industry,and intensify the cultivation of first-class brands. Promote the "going to sea together" of manufacturing-related producer services and industrial products, accelerate the cultivation and development of new formats and models such as digital service trade and "artificial intelligence + service trade," vigorously support service exports in characteristic fields such as culture, tourism,and traditional Chinese medicine,and expand the incremental space for service exports.

Strengthen factor guarantees to give the service industry more confidence. Increase financial support for the expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement of the service industry, raise the proportion of pledged financing of intangible assets,and improve the accessibility of financial services for small-and-medium enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households. Improve the diversified land supply system for the service industry,and promote the short-term utilization of idle construction land. Strengthen the support of the service industry talent team, accelerate the compilation of catalogs of scarce talents in key fields of the service industry,and advance the knowledge renewal project for professional and technical personnel. Accelerate the construction of high-quality data sets for the service industry, build lists for the opening and sharing of public data and scenario opportunities in key fields of the service industry,and establish an efficient, convenient,and secure mechanism for cross-border data flow. Improve the service industry standards system, increase standard supply,and promote the transformation of industry standards into national standards,and establish an incentive mechanism for standard publicity, implementation,and application.

Deepen reform and innovation to give the service industry more vitality. Deepen the construction of the unified national market, and remove unreasonable restrictions in factor acquisition, qualification recognition, bidding and tendering,and government procurement. Further compress the negative list for cross-border service trade,and expand pilot opening in fields such as value-added telecommunications, biotechnology,and wholly foreign-owned hospitals. Improve the statistical system for the service industry,and improve accounting methods for producer and consumer services. Build a multi-dimensional comprehensive evaluation index for service industry development, further improve the government assessment system,and fully mobilize the enthusiasm and initiative of all parties. Build a normalized operation monitoring system, make full use of new technological means such as artificial intelligence for analysis and judgment,and strengthen cross-regional and cross-departmental work coordination.

As various existing policies take effect and incremental policies accelerate their implementation, China's service industry will continue to release its potential, using the "bustling vitality" to thicken the foundation of people's livelihood, using the "new engine" to stimulate growth momentum,and continuously opening up new space for domestic demand in the process of expansion, capacity enhancement,and quality improvement.

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Zhu Zhongming elected Mayor of Shanghai

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(Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, September 30) The Fifth Session of the Sixteenth Shanghai Municipal People's Congress elected Zhu Zhongming as Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government on the afternoon of September 30.

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4 National Industry-Education Integration Communities Established

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) (Reporter Yan Yiqiao) On September 29, a collective founding meeting was held in Beijing for the industry-education integration communities of the national industrial mother machines, grain, railway construction, and new energy vehicle industries.

At the meeting, representatives of 50 enterprises and institutions from the communities collectively signed cooperation agreements, reaching 24 major school-enterprise cooperation projects covering high-end CNC machine tools, smart grain depots, plateau and high-cold railway construction, and new energy vehicle R&D and manufacturing. Support measures were released covering capital investment, scenario opening, and talent cultivation, including an annual investment of 600 million yuan for joint technological research and talent development, opening 105 production and R&D scenarios to participating entities, donating 100 complete vehicles and equipment, and launching large-scale recruitment of graduates for participating schools, providing strong support for the substantive operation of the communities.

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Page 1 editors: Hu Anqi, Luan Xinyi, Zhao Chuanbo; Page 2 editors: Lyu Li, Qi Jiarun, Guo Xueyan; Page 3 editors: Han Xiaoming, Jiang Bo, Guan Haoyu; Page 4 editors: Liu Nian, Liu Jingwen, Zhang Xueyan

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Page 05版:要闻

Loyalty and Courage Written in the Annals of History; Strengthening the Military and Serving the Nation with Distinguished Achievements

By: 中央军委办公厅

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This year marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Liu Huaqing. Comrade Liu Huaqing was an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested loyal communist fighter, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, statesman, and military strategist, and a distinguished leader of the Party, the state, and the armed forces. He threw himself into the revolution at the age of 13, and over his 82-year revolutionary career he established outstanding merits for the cause of the Party and the people and for advancing national defense and the building of the armed forces.

I. With Ironclad Loyalty to the Party, He Devoted Himself to the Revolution and Was Tempered and Grew in the Flames of War

On October 1, 1916, Comrade Liu Huaqing was born into a poor peasant family in Liu Jiayuan Village, Huaqiao Township, Ercheng District, Huang'an County (now Hong'an County), Hubei Province (now part of Dawu County). After the birth of the Communist Party of China, the revolutionary small spark that can grow into a great movement (星星之火, xing xing zhi huo - "star, small, fire") quickly became a spreading momentum like a prairie fire (燎原之势, liao yuan zhi shi - "burn, prairie, pattern, trend"), giving him the opportunity to come into contact with progressive ideas, to participate in the revolution at an early age, and this influenced and determined the course of his life. After the Huangma Uprising of 1927, he became a young red messenger and the head of the village Children's Corps. In October 1929 he joined the Communist Youth League of China, in 1930 he joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, and in October 1935 he was transferred to full membership of the Communist Party of China.

Comrade Liu Huaqing was tempered and forged in the revolutionary wars of enduring extreme hardships (艰苦卓绝, jian ku zhuo jue - "hard, bitter, extraordinary, absolute"), and quickly grew into an outstanding military and political cadre of our army. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, he took part in successive counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area, was repeatedly placed in mortal danger, yet remained unswerving in determination to fulfill a vow (矢志不渝, shi zhi bu yu - "arrow, will, not, change"), and persisted in armed struggle during the extremely difficult years of guerrilla warfare. In 1934 he took part in the Long March of the 25th Red Army, fighting through thousands of miles of shifting battles, advancing through blood and struggle (浴血奋进, yu xue fen jin - "bathe, blood, struggle, advance"), compiling and printing newspapers, drafting documents, and engraving and printing proclamations, and outstandingly completed the tasks of education, agitation, and mobilizing the masses. Together with his comrades-in-arms, he adapted the Red Army's Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention into the military song that has been sung to this day, greatly inspiring the fighting spirit of officers and soldiers. In the Battle of Dushuzhen, he suffered a serious leg wound; the organization explicitly permitted wounded soldiers to be settled locally, but he was resolute in his attitude to remain with the Red Army ranks. With this determination to follow the Red Army, to follow the Party, he endured excruciating pain, clutched the horse's tail, and followed the main force on the march. The long, long road of the Long March honed his iron will and forged his political loyalty unto death.

After the outbreak of the All-Nation War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Comrade Liu Huaqing took part in combat operations against the Japanese as a member of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, serving directly under the leadership of Comrades Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, successively holding the posts of Chief of the Division Headquarters Secretariat, Chief of the Propaganda and Education Section of the Political Department, Director of the Political Department of the Supply Department, Secretary of the Party General Branch of the Party School of the Northern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Organization Department of the Political Department of the Southern Hebei Military Region, Director of the Organization Department of the Political Department of the Pingyuan Military Region, and Deputy Political Commissar of the 6th Sub-Military Region of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region. During this period he attached great importance to consolidating and strengthening Party building, and through improving cadre work organs, establishing model Party branches, strictly enforcing Party discipline, and so on, greatly educated and trained officers and soldiers, providing a firm political guarantee for the people's War of Resistance behind enemy lines, for smashing the Japanese puppet forces' joint encirclement and "mopping-up" campaigns, and for offensive operations against Japanese and puppet troops.

During the War of Liberation, Comrade Liu Huaqing successively served as Political Commissar of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, Director of the Political Department of the 11th Army of the 3rd Army Group of the Second Field Army, and other posts, leading his troops to advance into the Dabie Mountains with the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and taking part in the Huaihai Campaign and the Crossing-the-Yangtze-River Campaign. He threaded political work throughout combat operations, creatively adopting methods such as joining the Party on the firing line, recording merits on the firing line, and reorganizing units on the firing line to inspire the fighting spirit of officers and soldiers, cultivating the army's fine combat style of "ruthlessness," "toughness," and "ferocity," promoting the organic integration of surging political fervor with tactical techniques, and achieving victory in numerous campaigns and battles. During the march, he actively organized and carried out the new-style army rectification movement centered on "venting grievances" and the "Three Checks and Three Rectifications," conducting class education, strictly enforcing army discipline, vigorously promoting military democracy, setting off a mass upsurge of military training, and winning dual victories in both military and political affairs. From June 1949, he served as Deputy Director, then Director, of the Political Department of the Military and Political Academy of the Second Field Army, and a member of the Academy Party Committee, exploring methods for establishing regular military academies and training modern military personnel, training a large number of outstanding military and political cadres for the liberation and construction of the Great Southwest.

II. Shouldering Heavy Responsibilities, Fighting on the Front Lines of National Defense Science and Industry, Unremittingly Exploring Self-Reliant Development

After the founding of New China, Comrade Liu Huaqing began his association with the sea, successively serving at the Dalian Naval Academy and the Navy's Lüshun Base, and going to the Soviet Union to study naval theory at the Voroshilov Naval Academy. In August 1961 he assumed the post of President of the Seventh Research Academy of the Ministry of National Defense, shouldering the heavy responsibility of pioneering China's ship scientific research. At this time, precisely when Sino-Soviet relations had broken down and China's peripheral security environment was deteriorating, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission decided to accelerate the process of independently, self-reliantly developing national defense science and technology and weaponry and equipment.

Comrade Liu Huaqing, together with the personnel of the Seventh Research Academy of the Ministry of National Defense, started from scratch, worked hard to build the undertaking, adopted the approach of "learning while doing, improving while doing" and "building the undertaking while training people," and after more than four years, completed the task of copying the production of five types of models of combat vessels and other equipment, achieved the transition from copying to independent design, carried out advance research on new types of conventional submarines, new types of frigates, destroyers, and nuclear submarines, and blazed a path for the development of ship scientific research suited to China's national conditions.

Comrade Liu Huaqing dared to uphold principles, sought truth from facts, and assumed responsibility in his work. In 1965 the Seventh Research Academy of the Ministry of National Defense was merged into the Sixth Ministry of Machine Building; during the merger of the ministry and the academy, and the merger of factories and research institutes, he upheld correct opinions, enabling the seven academies' various supporting specialties to be preserved relatively completely, ensuring that the people's hearts were not scattered, the strength was not scattered, and research was not interrupted. During the "Cultural Revolution," he waged a resolute struggle against the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary cliques. When he served as Deputy Director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission in 1966, he facilitated the issuance, in the name of the Central Military Commission, of the "Special Official Letter," emphasizing that no one was permitted, for any reason, to disrupt national defense scientific research and production sites, and that no one was permitted, under any pretext, to stop work or halt production, and that tasks must be completed on time, with quality assured and quantity guaranteed. During the development of China's first man-made earth satellite, "Dongfanghong-1," he dared to assume responsibility, actively supported technical personnel in working boldly, ensuring the smooth progress of the development work. He once suffered unfair treatment and was assigned back to work in the Navy, but he never diminished his fighting spirit, and continued to rack his brains for the building of naval equipment, and in 1975 submitted to Comrade Deng Xiaoping the "Report on Questions Concerning Naval Equipment," putting forward a series of major proposals, which received the attention and regard of Comrade Deng Xiaoping.

At the end of 1977, Comrade Liu Huaqing returned to the leadership post of national defense scientific research, successively serving as Deputy Director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, Deputy Director of the Science, Technology and Equipment Commission of the Central Military Commission, and other posts, participating in organizing the nation's weaponry and equipment development and construction work. He started by grasping planning, successively participating in and presiding over the formulation of important planning documents such as the Outline of the National Defense Science and Technology Development Plan and the System of the Whole Army's Conventional Weaponry and Equipment, playing an important role in clarifying the development direction of the army's weaponry and equipment and of the national defense science, technology and industry. Targeting the problem of the fragmented, multi-headed leadership and management system of national defense scientific research and weaponry and equipment, he facilitated the establishment of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, preliminarily realizing centralized, unified leadership and management of the national defense science, technology and industry. He deeply dissected the relationship between the military and scientific research, proposed and presided over the establishment of military weaponry and equipment demonstration organs, solved the problems of the acceptance organs and acceptance means for weaponry and equipment, led the finalization and production of more than 20 items of conventional and strategic weapons, ensured the quality of new-type weapons, and accelerated the pace of development.

From February 1979, Comrade Liu Huaqing worked in the General Staff Department for more than three years, serving as Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Chief of the General Staff; in addition to supervising equipment work, he also had jurisdiction over military affairs, mobilization, and other work. He led the drafting of the army's plan for streamlining and reorganization, issued the"Inspection Standards for Implementing the Common Regulations," promoted the adjustment and reform of militia organization, the revision of the Military Service Law, the establishment of a registration system for the reserve service of demobilized soldiers, and the improvement of militia military training and wartime mobilization work.

III. With His Heart Bound to the Seas, Devoting Himself to Building a Strong Navy, Leading the Strategic Service Branch to Seek Strength from the Sea

In August 1982, Comrade Liu Huaqing assumed the post of Commander of the Navy. He worked in the Navy on three separate occasions, for as long as 20 years in total, devoting enormous energy to the modernization of the People's Navy and making important contributions to it.

Comrade Liu Huaqing, with a strong sense of mission and responsibility, promoted the rectification and reform of the Navy. He went deep into the front lines to conduct research and investigation, believing that "the problems existing in the Navy must be rectified, must be reformed." Together with the group of comrades on the Navy Party Committee, he resolutely handled a series of problems left over from history, particularly from the "Cultural Revolution," and, in accordance with Comrade Deng Xiaoping's instructions, rectified the Party committee leadership, rectified the troops' work style, eliminated factionalism, and enhanced unity. He adhered to a scientific attitude and steady measures, comprehensively advancing reforms in organizational structure, education and training, equipment research, equipment maintenance, logistics support, political work, and grassroots construction, enabling the Navy troops to present a vigorous, upward momentum of development

Comrade Liu Huaqing, focusing on building a strong navy, emphasized enhancing maritime awareness and safeguarding maritime rights and interests, actively exploring naval strategic theory. He thought deeply about how to build a navy that was compact, effective, and possessed modern combat capability, personally organized many forums, led experts in repeatedly studying the Navy's strategic tasks, strategic guidance, strategic capabilities, and so on, and at the end of 1985 formally proposed and studied the naval strategy of "offshore defense," promoting the opening of a new situation in naval construction

Comrade Liu Huaqing always grasped the characteristics and laws of the Navy as a strategic service branch, concentrating efforts on enhancing maritime combat capability. He clearly stated that "there must be modern weaponry and equipment, and there must also be a group of various types of talented personnel proficient in naval warfare theory and strategic and tactical art, capable of skillfully commanding and using modern weaponry and equipment; only when the two are organically combined can a powerful combat capability be constituted." He regarded strengthening personnel training as the decisive link, elevated naval academy education to a strategic position, required that the training, selection, and use of personnel be combined, achieving documented basis for establishment, orderly entry and exit, and institutionalized management and use, and proposed training large surface warship captains from among young, outstanding pilots, deciding to establish a pilot captain training class. He advocated that the guiding ideology of naval equipment construction must shift from the quantity-oriented type to the quality-oriented type, and from the coastal-oriented type to the offshore-oriented type, participated in leading the development decisions and research, production of a large number of new types of vessels, aircraft, missiles, and other weaponry and equipment, and vigorously advocated developing large surface combat vessels and nuclear submarines. He vigorously pursued realistic military training, comprehensively and systematically advanced the improvement and innovation of military training, led the establishment of the full-training qualification examination system for ship captains, organized the first long-distance composite training voyage in the Western Pacific, the first destroyer formation visit to three South Asian countries, and other military activities

IV. Keeping the Overall Situation in Mind, Participating in Collective Leadership, Actively Advancing the Modernization of National Defense and the Armed Forces

In the late 1980s, Comrade Liu Huaqing, already past the age of seventy, began to participate in the leadership work of the Central Military Commission. In 1987 he served as a member of the Central Military Commission and Deputy Secretary-General. At that time, the problems of the national defense science, technology and equipment management system were prominent, and the whole army's weaponry and equipment were severely out of repair. He organically combined rectification, reorganization with strengthened management, proposed suggestions and plans for establishing a General Armaments Department and strengthening centralized, unified management of weaponry; formulated plans for accelerating the development and construction of the Air Force and specific implementation plans, organized the independent development of aerial refueling aircraft; in accordance with the approach of "differentiating grades, ensuring key points," concentrated efforts on solving the problem of equipment being out of repair, striving to ensure that active equipment remained in good condition; participated in leading the research, investigation, and demonstration of military reform work, organized the drafting of a work outline for accelerating and deepening military reform; presided over the drafting of suggestions on strengthening the struggle in the Nansha Islands, participated in guiding the Nansha defense struggle, achieving victory in the Battle of Chigua Reef, and guided the completion of major tasks such as establishing the Yongshu Reef Marine Observation Station in the Nansha Islands and building the airport on Yongxing Island in the Xisha Islands

In November 1989, Comrade Liu Huaqing was appointed Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. In 1992, he was elected a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and of its Standing Committee, assisting Chairman Jiang Zemin of the Central Military Commission in presiding over the day-to-day work of the Commission. During this period, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, and the outbreak of the Gulf War occurred, the international political and military landscape underwent profound changes, and the building of the armed forces needed to follow the changes in the national security situation and make achievements

Comrade Liu Huaqing resolutely implemented the Party's line, principles, and policies, resolutely implemented Mao Zedong Military Thought, Deng Xiaoping's thought on army building in the new period, and Jiang Zemin's thought on national defense and army building, adhered to placing revolutionaryization first, strengthened the army's ideological and political development, adhered to the Party's absolute leadership over the armed forces, carried forward the glorious traditions of the old Red Army, ensuring the correct direction of army building; adhered to reform and innovation, actively advanced national defense and army building under the new circumstances, participated in formulating and implementing the military strategic guideline for the new period, promoted the shift of the basis point of military struggle preparations to winning local wars under high-tech conditions; adhered to placing education and training in a strategic position, ran the armed forces according to law and with strict discipline, managed the troops scientifically, and followed the path of elite troops with Chinese characteristics; adhered to hard work and plain living, building the armed forces through thrift, striving to improve logistics support capability. He attached great importance to national defense scientific research and weaponry and equipment construction, planned and organized the development of high-tech weaponry, promoted the modernization of army equipment and the construction of the national defense industry. He promoted foreign military exchange and cooperation, participated in decision-making on our army's participation in international military observation, arms control and disarmament negotiations, military peacekeeping, and other work, promoting the opening of a new situation in our country's military diplomacy work

Comrade Liu Huaqing attached great importance to doing the work related to Hong Kong's return well, resolutely implemented the Central Committee's series of major principles and policies for resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, carefully planned the establishment of the troops stationed in Hong Kong and the preparations for their entry and stationing, laying the foundation for the PLA's entry into Hong Kong to perform defense duties

As a member of the Party's third-generation central collective leadership, Comrade Liu Huaqing participated in a series of major decisions of the Party, the state, and the armed forces, making contributions to upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. He participated in the discussion of important documents of the Party Central Committee on establishing a socialist market economy system, strengthening Party building, and other matters, and promoted their implementation. Centering on the country's economic and social development, advancing the building of a clean and honest government and combating corruption, maintaining social stability and unity, as well as hot and difficult issues of concern to the broad masses of the people, he conducted research and investigation and did a great deal of work

V. His Revolutionary Spirit and Noble Character Will Always Be Worthy of Study

Comrade Liu Huaqing's life was a glorious life, a fighting life; he devoted all his energy to the magnificent great cause of China's revolution, construction, and reform

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the unremitting pursuit of adhering to his faith and never forgetting his original aspiration. He always regarded the cause of the Party and the people as paramount; whether at the moment of life-and-death crisis or when in adversity, he was undaunted by setbacks or repeated failures (百折不挠, bai zhe bu nao - "hundred, break, not, yield"), striving ceaselessly, infinitely loyal to the Party and the people, and unswerving in determination to fulfill a vow toward the revolutionary cause. Chairman Xi points out: "Ideals and convictions are the spiritual pillar of us Communists." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must firmly believe in Marxism, maintain firm ideals and convictions, and consciously become firm believers in and faithful practitioners of the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the strong Party spirit of being wholly devoted to the Party and always loyal. He grew from the head of a Children's Corps into a senior cadre of the Party and the armed forces; whether in the era of war or in peacetime, whatever work the organization assigned him to do, he did well, and wherever the Party pointed, he fought. Chairman Xi points out: "The cause of the Party and the cause of the people are continuously forged through the loyalty and dedication of thousands upon thousands of Party members." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must be loyal to the Party's faith, the Party's organization, and the Party's cause, be consistent in both words and actions (表里如一, biao li ru yi - "surface, inside, like, one") and unified in knowledge and action (知行合一, zhi xing he yi - "know, act, combine, one"), and spare no effort in completing the duties and tasks entrusted by the Party

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the innovative spirit of daring to blaze new trails and being resolute in reform. He often said that if the army did not reform, there would be "no way out," and that"to accelerate and deepen military reform, first, one must be resolute; second, one must seek truth from facts; third, one must obey command." Chairman Xi points out: "Reform is the key move that determines the fate of contemporary China, and also the key move that determines the growth, development, and victory of our army in the future." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must deepen reform and innovation, steadily and orderly advance the implementation of reform deployments, resolutely eliminate institutional and mechanistic obstacles that hinder the development of social productive forces and affect the generation of military combat capability, and promote high-quality development

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the mission and responsibility of being determined to strengthen the military and devoted to national defense. He was adept at thinking about military questions from a strategic perspective, contributing all his effort and wisdom to army building and military struggle preparations. Chairman Xi points out: "A strong country must have a strong military; only when the military is strong can the country be secure." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must fully implement Xi Jinping's thought on strengthening the military, implement the military strategic guideline for the new era, uphold the Party's absolute leadership over the people's army, unswervingly follow the path of building a strong military with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively advance political building of the military, strengthening the military through reform, strengthening the military through science and technology, strengthening the military through talent, and running the military according to law, advance the modernization of national defense and the armed forces with high quality, achieve the centenary goal of army building on schedule, and accelerate the building of the people's army into a world-class military

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the fine work style of seeking truth from facts and being pragmatic (求真务实, qiu zhen wu shi - "seek, truth, pragmatic, reality") and doing real work and grasping real results. He paid attention to going deep into the troops to conduct research and investigation, often saying that he was "not here to give reports or instructions, but to be a primary school student," and that"listening to everyone's opinions helps me broaden my horizons and better comprehensively analyze problems." Chairman Xi points out: "Seeking truth from facts is the important way of thinking and method of work of Communists." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, understand truth and grasp laws in practice, create a strong atmosphere of speaking the truth, offering frank admonitions, and daring to struggle, dare to face contradictions head-on, take a hard line against problems, and for the work of the Party and the state, think deeply and investigate thoroughly, fulfill our duties to the utmost, do good work and achieve good results

Comrade Liu Huaqing possessed the noble sentiment of cultivating personal integrity, being clean and self-disciplined. He was open and aboveboard throughout his life, fair and upright. No matter what post he held, he never changed his heart for the people, never changed his commoner's nature, and with the feelings of a devoted son, used every possible means to achieve a goal (千方百计, qian fang bai ji - "thousand, way, hundred, plan") to seek well-being for the people of the old revolutionary base areas. Chairman Xi points out: "Only when leading cadres are fair and upright can a clean and upright atmosphere emerge; only when they are clean and self-disciplined can they shape a good image." In learning from Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must persevere in advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, always bear in mind that the power in our hands is conferred by the Party and the people and is meant to serve the people, resolutely curb the mentality of privilege and the phenomenon of privilege, and with our own exemplary actions, unite the broad masses of cadres and the people, promoting the cause of the Party and the people to continuously advance from victory to new victory

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. In commemorating Comrade Liu Huaqing, we must inherit and carry forward the noble spirit and bearing of the older generation of revolutionaries, unite even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments," strengthen the "Four Consciousnesses," firm the "Four Confidences," and achieve the "Two Upholds," combine the Party's fine qualities with new realities and continuously carry them forward, firm our confidence, continue the struggle, and strive bravely forward to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization!

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Chinese diving team reaches Asian Games century of gold

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On September 30, Chinese team athletes harvested 8 gold medals at the Nagoya Asian Games. As of the end of competition that day, the Chinese sports delegation had won a total of 151 gold, 67 silver, and 59 bronze medals, continuing to lead the medal table.

In the women's 3-meter springboard event, Chinese team athletes Chen Yiwen and Chen Jia swept up the gold and silver medals. In the men's 10-meter platform event, Lian Junjie claimed the 100th gold medal in Chinese diving team's Asian Games participation history, while Zhao Renjie took the bronze medal. The Chinese diving team secured all diving event gold medals at an Asian Games for the fourteenth consecutive time.

At the track cycling venue, the Chinese team won the women's team pursuit with a time of 4 minutes 08.818 seconds, breaking the Asian record, and claimed gold in the men's team pursuit with a time of 3 minutes 47.621 seconds, also setting a new Asian record. In the women's keirin event, Chinese team athletes Yuan Liying and Wang Lijuan swept up the championship and runner-up spots. In canoe slalom, Chinese team athletes Hu Zhaoshan and Huang Juan respectively claimed gold in the men's single kayak and women's single canoe events. Additionally, the Chinese team also harvested a gold medal in an esports event.

Several team ball-sport competitions are drawing to a close. The Chinese women's field hockey team will vie with the Indian team for the gold medal, the men's water polo team will vie with the Kazakhstan team for a finals berth, and the men's football team will vie with the Uzbekistan team for the bronze medal.

(People's Daily reporters Sun Longfei, Chen Chenxi, Gao Ji, Sun Yahui; People's Daily Online reporter Hu Xuerong)

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17 golds to close! China's track and field still striving to catch up

By: 本报记者 刘硕阳 陶相安

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On one cold, rainy night after another in Nagoya, China's track and field athletes nonetheless made people's blood boil again and again. Extremely excited or enthusiastic (热血沸腾, re xue fei teng - "hot blood, boil, surge") was how the crowds felt. On the evening of September 29 local time, the track and field events of the Nagoya Asian Games all concluded, and Chinese athletes took 3 more gold medals in events such as the women's 800 meters, fixing this Asian Games' overall tally at 17 gold, 14 silver, and 8 bronze. China's track and field athletes created their best result at an overseas Asian Games since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.

"Finished competing, 'off work' now — 3 gold, 1 silver, I'm really something!" 17-year-old Chen Yujie, competing in her first Asian Games, kept her stunning performance going all the way to the end. After taking the women's 100-meter gold on the 25th with a result that broke the Asian Games record, she went on to take the women's 200-meter silver and the women's 4×100-meter relay gold. On the final day, the 29th, Chen Yujie completed a comeback on the anchor leg, helping her teammates win China the first-ever Asian Games gold in the mixed 4×100-meter relay.

On the opening day of track and field, 19-year-old Shi Shengji overpowered the world record holder to win the men's half marathon race walk title. Facing an Olympic champion, 18-year-old Yan Ziyi's skill of securing victory with a single decisive move (一枪制胜, yi qiang zhi sheng - "one shot, achieve victory") appeared once again on the track. The outstanding performances of the post-2005 generation showcased the vigor, ambition, and sharpness of Chinese youth. While young people thrived, the veterans likewise did not slacken. "It hurts, it hurts — I train anyway." 32-year-old Feng Bin, after "making peace with injury," successfully defended her women's discus throw title. 29-year-old Wu Yanni, despite a poor start, took a bronze in the women's 100-meter hurdles.

Seventeen gold medals exceed one-third of the 50 total track and field events at this Asian Games. This is a microcosm of Chinese track and field's continuous breakthroughs in recent years. Over the past season or two, Asian records in events such as the women's hammer throw have been broken by Chinese athletes. At the World Athletics Diamond League Finals in early September, Feng Bin and Yan Ziyi both claimed titles — the first time Chinese athletes had topped the podium there since 2019.

Of course, gold medals are far from the only yardstick for measuring success. As a source inside the Chinese track and field team put it, no matter what the final result, "what matters is that we have been striving to catch up all along." This is also the truest portrait of China's track and field athletes at this Asian Games. Feng Peiyou and Li Chunhui overtook their rivals in the final sprint of their respective events to take medals. In the men's 800-meter final, Xi Xiaohang, making a vigorous effort to catch up (奋起直追, fen qi zhi zhui - "rise up, straight, chase") from last place, clocked 1:45.46 to refresh the national record he himself held. On the Asian Games track, in contests against rivals, every athlete was striving to surpass himself or herself.

The Asian championship is far from the finish line for China's track and field athletes — the Olympics and World Championships and other top-tier global competitions are the ultimate stage. Su Wen, with a result of 17.42 meters that broke the Asian Games record, took the men's triple jump title and also comfortably met the qualifying standard for next year's Beijing World Championships. During this Asian Games, the World Athletics website's qualification system for the 2027 Beijing World Championships went live. Meeting the stringent entry criteria, securing next year's World Championships berth, and challenging the very best athletes in international competition — this is what China's track and field athletes look forward to.

On the future stage, Chinese track and field will face even stronger opponents, but as long as the pace of striving to catch up has not stopped, hope remains always ahead.

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Love the Country, Love Macao; Grow Up and Succeed

By: 本报记者 富子梅

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From September 18 to 22, the Macao Special Administrative Region Government organized more than 300 teachers and students from universities, middle schools, and primary schools to travel to Beijing to participate in the "Salute to the National Flag" activity for representatives of the flag-raising teams of Hong Kong and Macao youth visiting Beijing. On September 30, the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government held a sharing session at Hou Kong Middle School for the "Salute to the National Flag" activity of the Macao youth flag-raising team representatives who visited Beijing, during which 12 members of the visiting group shared their thoughts and feelings, promoting the core values of loving the motherland and loving Macao.

At the sharing session, highlights of the visiting group's activities were played, teacher and student representatives recounted what they had seen, heard, and reflected upon, and interacted with the audience. Ke Lan, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government; Li Xuefei, Director of the Department of Education and Youth of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR; Wong Kat Ching, Vice Chairperson of the All-China Youth Federation; Kong Chi Meng, Director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government; as well as approximately 500 people, including representatives of teachers and students from Macao higher education institutions and non-tertiary education schools, and representatives of educational groups and youth associations, attended the event.

"In Tiananmen Square, with the most sincere salute and the most focused gaze, I expressed my guardianship of the national flag and my love for the motherland. At that moment, I felt immensely proud," said Long Zijun, a student at Hou Kong Middle School.

Xie Xinggu, a student at the University of Macao, perceived from the spirited and heroic bearing (飒爽英姿, sa shuang ying zi - "valiant, heroic, posture") of the flag-raisers a heart of utmost sincerity and devotion (赤诚之心, chi cheng zhi xin - "red, sincere, heart") in their love for the motherland and guardianship of the national flag. Guan Ruqing, a key member of the flag-raising team at the Macao Fujian School and a sixth-grade primary school student, said that through this trip she gained a deeper understanding of the history carried by the national flag, and that when she grows up she will strive to build up Macao and contribute to the country.

Zheng Hongguang, principal of the Macao Southeast School, said that the significance and gains of this trip have been further extended and spread through everyone's accounts, integrated into the students' learning and daily lives, and will lead them to dedicate themselves to the motherland and bring honor to it.

Kong Chi Meng introduced that the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government will continue to promote the holding of sharing sessions in multiple schools in Macao, will also carry out regular specialized teacher training on the national flag, national anthem, and national emblem, deepen patriotic education, and cultivate more young talents with feelings for the country and the nation, an international perspective, and a sense of responsibility for the times.

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Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Public Service Advertisements in Radio, Television, and Online Audiovisual Media Issued

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(People's Daily, Beijing, September 30) (Reporter Liu Yang) On September 29, the National Radio and Television Administration issued the "Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Public Service Advertisements in Radio, Television, and Online Audiovisual Media," effective from the date of issuance.

The "Opinions" emphasize that public service advertisements in radio, television, and online audiovisual media are an important component of the Party's publicity work. The "Opinions" require adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping's Thought on Culture, centering on the overall work, serving the overall situation, pooling the strength of all parties, and continuously enhancing the dissemination power, guiding power, influence, and credibility of public service advertisements in radio, television, and online audiovisual media.

The "Opinions" specify: First,, focus on the main themes and main lines. Adhere to the correct direction and orientation, adhere to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, promote the Party's innovative theories to take root in the hearts of the people, carry forward and practice the core socialist values, and inherit the fine traditional Chinese culture. Second, strengthen organizational guidance. Improve support projects, strengthen comprehensive evaluation. Expand funding sources, optimize the use of funds, and support the broad participation of social forces. Third, promote the creation of high-quality works. Issue key topics and creative guidelines, broaden the scope of topic selection. Encourage the use of new technologies and new business forms to innovate modes of expression, enhancing ideological depth and artistic height. Fourth, build a full-media communication system. Strengthen the exemplary and leading role of mainstream media in radio, television, and online audiovisual media, leverage the advantages of online audiovisual platforms. Coordinate online and offline channels, promote sharing and common use, enhance communication effectiveness.

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Celebrating the Glorious 77th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China

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Warmly Celebrating the 77th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China

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In this golden autumn, as the nation celebrates its birthday, Yanghe has always anchored itself to the corporate mission of "brewing for the people's better life," guarding the foundation of quality with its soft and mellow craftsmanship, building the background of dreams with innovative vitality, and practicing in the tide of the times the development philosophy of"leading the industry, leading the ranks, leading the way;serving the country, serving the people, serving the region."

From a single fine seed to a cup of fine wine, Yanghe polishes its products with the artisan spirit of striving for perfection in everything (精益求精, jing yi qiu jing - "refine, seek, seek, excellence"), deeply cultivates the track of real industry, serves social livelihood, and steadily advances toward becoming "a great enterprise with a lasting foundation and a fragrance that wafts across the world."

On the occasion of this auspicious festival, we joyously celebrate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and respectfully wish our great motherland magnificent mountains and rivers, national prosperity and peace!

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Splendid Landscapes of Our Beloved China

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With splendid landscapes (山河锦绣, shan he jin xiu - "mountain, river, brocade, beautiful"), we salute our beloved China. On the occasion of the National Day, this page invites literary and artistic workers to freely discuss their insights and gains from portraying the winners of the "July 1 Medal," to interpret the Long March spirit engraved in the rhythms of our national opera heritage, to convey the power of striving through song, to appreciate the feelings of family and country in the mountain-and-sea affection of overseas Chinese letters, and to pay tribute through dance drama to the national backbone that takes the heart as its pillar.

Starting today, the literary and art supplement launches the "Splendors of the Earth" series of special pages — seeing original aspirations in the stories of people, transmitting spirit in artistic creation, paying tribute to ordinary perseverance, and jointly celebrating a magnificent era of prosperity (盛世华章, sheng shi hua zhang - "prosperous, age, magnificent, chapter").

— The Editor

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These nine words finally let me see him (The Splendor of the Land)

By: 张 译

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On the first day of the National Day holiday, the film The Trail of the Detective began to receive the scrutiny of audiences. The prototype of the criminal investigation trace examination expert "Cui Xun" in the film is Cui Daozhi, China's first-generation criminal technology police officer, China's chief firearm and bullet trace identification expert, and recipient of the "July 1 Medal."

On June 29, 2021, at the ceremony awarding the "July 1 Medal" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Old Cui was thin and wiry, wearing an old police uniform that made the gleaming medal seem all the more radiant. I wore a military uniform for ten years and have a deep affection for the color green; that police uniform struck a resonance in my heart. To have the opportunity to shape his artistic image on the silver screen is a great honor for me.

Since Cui Daozhi transferred from the military to the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department in the 1950s, he has participated in handling more than 1,200 major and extraordinarily serious cases, and has examined and identified over 7,000 pieces of trace physical evidence, with not a single error. Now he is 92 years old, has been retired for more than 30 years, and as long as the organization calls, he still immediately rushes to the frontline of criminal investigation; the length of his working career is almost as long as the age of the Republic... The detachment, perseverance, and solitude behind this are beyond the ordinary.

Normally speaking, it is not difficult to find a fulcrum for a police officer role. His fate usually rises and falls with the case, inherently possessing strong "actionability," with low points, growth, and even an arc of light; if you additionally reverse-engineer and grasp the personality, the performance fulcrum emerges. But the words "detachment, perseverance, and solitude" — for performance, they amount to having no fulcrum at all.

The actionability of the role Cui Xun is not strong: his inner actions and the fate of the character do not change because the case changes; his external actions and personality do not include fearlessly grappling with criminals, nor persuading suspects to surrender amid laughter and curses. His actions, for the most part, are: after collecting evidence at the scene, in front of a microscope, alone, sitting.

Teacher Feng Rui's written work China's Top Detective — Cui Daozhi, Criminal Police of the Republic gave me some answers: Old Cui pioneered the "same identification" (同一认定) of fingernails and tooth marks, filling multiple technological gaps in our country. After gaining a rough understanding of some of the principles, I was a bit excited, and asked Teacher Feng: after finding thousands of people to collect fingernails, and finally succeeding after going through hardships, did Old Cui himself cry? The answer was, no.

I interviewed Old Cui's sons, and they said they did not know much about the father I was to portray in his youth and prime years. Because he was always working, and when he came home he did not talk about work; he had a few friends, not many, and how he got along with them, the family did not know, and now most of them have passed away, so I could not interview them. They only knew that whenever they thought of those few friends, the old man would still cry.

On September 6, 2025, I finally, together with teachers Feng Rui and Li Xuejian, paid a visit to the elderly Mr. Cui Daozhi.

Old Cui is very handsome, walks very fast, and says he kept running until age 84; now he still walks briskly every day. His residence is tidy and simple; on his desk there is a microscope, and on the computer screen is his just-completed teaching courseware. He said he gets excited as soon as he works, but does not like small talk or idle chitchat, "because it's boring, and maybe that's not good either." I weighed the questions I had prepared, thinking they should be quite valuable, such as "How did you manage to make no errors in more than 7,000 pieces of physical evidence?" "Which cases were brought into the light of day under your turning the tide in a critical moment (力挽狂澜, li wan kuang lan - "exert, force, control, wild, waves")?" "Which major changes made you feel deeply moved or excited (心潮澎湃, xin chao peng pai - "heart, tide, surge, swell")?"

Then I watched as Old Cui excitedly grabbed Teacher Xuejian's hand; I guessed it was because the two of them looked too much alike, standing across from each other was like looking into a mirror. But Old Cui said: "Jiao Yulu is my idol! You played Jiao Yulu!"

When Jiao Yulu was released, Old Cui's wife was still healthy. After he retired, one day he was on a business trip to another city — a very ordinary day — and had just boarded the plane when he received a phone call from the police station, saying his wife had wandered off and gotten lost; it was only then that he learned that Jin Yuyi, an expert in brain electrophysiology at the provincial hospital, had developed Alzheimer's disease.

He said the time he had spent with his children had indeed not been much, and that he felt guilty, but all three sons are people's police officers, with good character, and no one points a finger of blame at him, which makes him very gratified.

He said life now is very happy. He said the meals every day are very delicious. He said his father died when he was young. He said later his mother left home again, and from then on there was having no news or word from someone (杳无音信, yao wu yin xin - "distant, none, sound, news") from her; he chased after her through the cornfield but could never catch up, that year he was 6 years old.

My heart suddenly trembled. The person before me had used seventy or eighty years to find the answers to more than 1,200 cases and more than 7,000 pieces of trace physical evidence, yet alone had never found the answer to where his mother went! His grandfather raised him, encouraged him to join the Children's Corps and volunteer for the People's Volunteer Army. What he could never shake from his mind was forever the figure of his mother disappearing into the cornfield.

In the army there was food to eat, work to do, dignity, and more books to read. When he read Lovely China, he suddenly saw the light or understood something clearly (豁然开朗, huo ran kai lang - "suddenly, bright, open, clear"). He walked from old China into new China; under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people's army and the entire country together endowed him with the strength to trek fearlessly and climb tirelessly in difficult pursuit, and even more made him deeply feel a warmth like a mother's embrace. From then on, Old Cui has regarded the Party as his mother; his struggle is for faith, is out of gratitude. The true value of the "same identification" standard he pioneered is that, in an era when our country's criminal investigation technology started from zero, he created a paradigm of thinking; with scientific spirit and an attitude of ultimate rigor, he built a complete methodological system for trace identification...

I saw light in Old Cui's eyes, as brilliant as a gem. My eyes grew moist; I no longer asked questions, but only earnestly requested the old gentleman write a few characters for me. He wrote: "Listen to the Party, feel gratitude toward the Party, follow the Party." These nine characters finally let me see him.

My heart settled, and I no longer agonized over the performance fulcrum. After repeated discussions with director Chen Sicheng and screenwriter Teacher Zhang Ji, we believed that Cui Xun's trait is introversion and steadiness; no matter how those around him change, he alone, in the long river of time, does not forget his original aspiration and remains as steady and firm as a rock (坚如磐石, jian ru pan shi - "firm, like, rock, stone"). This role needs no consideration of "acting skill," because before sincere conviction, all techniques will be defeated.

The Trail of the Detective tells not only of Cui Xun, but also of several generations of public security officers and police represented by him. Today's China is one of the safest countries in the world; behind Safe China stand exactly these nameless heroes' silent struggle and guardianship!

With my work, I pay tribute to Old Cui, to my comrades-in-arms among the nation's public security police and auxiliary police, to the audience, and to the motherland!

(The author is an actor)

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Carrying Forward the Long March Spirit Through the Art of Our National Heritage (Elegance of the Land)

By: 杜 喆

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This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March, and the bits and pieces of creating the Peking opera Stories of the Red Army surface once again in my mind.

The Peking opera Stories of the Red Army is composed of three deeply moving (感人至深, gan ren zhi shen - "feel, reach, to, extreme") stories — Half a Leather Belt, Half a Cotton Quilt, and The Quartermaster — which together display the lofty spirit of the Red Army on the Long March, who endured a journey full of many difficulties and dangers (千难万险, qian nan wan xian - "thousand, difficulty, ten thousand, danger") while still holding fast to their revolutionary faith. The role I perform is that of the quartermaster.

As a Peking opera actor, when I first received this subject matter, a question had been hanging in my heart all along: how exactly should traditional opera present revolutionary history? How can red-theme subject matter truly return to the essence of opera itself?

For our generation of Peking opera actors, standing before us are quite a few classic modern operas. In the shaping of revolutionary heroes, the performance and physical techniques of modern opera, our senior teachers have already formed a stylistic system that is almost impossible to surpass. We study and inherit with reverence, but we also ask ourselves: what more can we still do?

At the early stage of creation, I already established a clear artistic concept: do not apply the realistic techniques of film and television, do not use slogan-style dialogue; relying on the implicitness, freehand quality, reserved blank space,and spirit-conveying expressiveness of classical Peking opera aesthetics, let the characters and stories flow naturally within the operatic performance.

Chinese traditional opera speaks of "using the void to substitute for the solid, conveying the spirit through form, uniting scene and emotion," valuing artistic conception over realistic representation, valuing spiritual resonance over surface appearance. This aesthetic is highly compatible with the temperament of the Long March spirit — that calm profundity, tragic sublimity, and silent inwardness. The bitter cold of snow mountains, marching through desperate terrain, silent sacrifice — these are themselves a kind of restrained and great sublime beauty.

The Quartermaster draws its material from the Long March story Monument. It tells of how, during the crossing of a snow mountain, a quartermaster who held all the army's supplies in his hands gave all the cotton-padded coats and dry rations to the young soldiers, while he himself, wearing only thin clothing, froze stiff in the wind and snow, transforming into a monument in the snow. The work avoids grand battlefield scenes and focuses on the individual fate of an ordinary quartermaster. It does not deliberately exaggerate the tragedy, but rather, through the ultimate steadfastness of an ordinary post, refracts the fundamental reason why the Red Army was invincible: victory stems from faith, and faith stems from original aspiration. This restrained and reserved narrative approach fully accords with the classical operatic aesthetic tradition of being sad but not distressing (哀而不伤, ai er bu shang - "sad, but, not, hurt"), tragic but not miserable.

In terms of creative method, I insisted on activating the conventionalized forms while upholding fundamental principles and break new ground. The "four skills and five methods" of Peking opera are the core of classical operatic aesthetics; while preserving the conventionalized norms of tradition, this production carries out modern adaptation of body movements, stage steps,and singing. In the snowstorm marching passage, actors employ conventionalized physical language — improved stage steps, the pitching and rising of the body, trembling of the limbs,and changes of facial expression — to virtually represent the perilous snow-mountain conditions of extreme cold, oxygen deprivation,and arduous progress. A passage of red-silk dance employs movements such as "exploring the sea" to represent the character's scene of being blown down the slope countless times by the wind and snow while searching for his separated comrades, then continuing to climb — it has a basis in real life, and even more so has conventionalized rhythm. In singing, traditional ban-shi modes such as erhuang and gaoboziare employed, using a deep, somber vocal temperament to express the bleak snow mountains and the character's forbearing, resolute inner world, achieving perfect harmony between voice and emotion (声情合一, sheng qing he yi - "sound, emotion, combine, one"), with pure and correct rhythm, preserving the musical aesthetic of Peking opera's authentic vocal style.

Traditional opera values condensed plotting, focused main lines,and profound and long-lasting charm (意蕴悠长, yi yun you chang - "meaning, charm, long, lasting"). The Quartermaster unfolds throughout around the single main line of "sacrifice and steadfastness," with clean plotting and unhurried pacing, advancing layer by layer through the soldier's doubt, the quartermaster's forbearance, walking alone in the wind and snow,and standing frozen into a monument; the ending is fixed on the static tableau of the quartermaster standing erect in the snow, completing the spiritual elevation through the classic operatic "tableau imagery".

This creative endeavor has given me confidence. I hope that through our efforts, the spirit of the Long March will be passed down from generation to generation within this national treasure of an art form.

(The author is an actor of the National Peking Opera Company.)

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Hometown Is the Root in One’s Heart (Landscapes of the Earth)

By: 李思潼

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My first encounter with Nanzhi came through a synopsis of several thousand characters. After reading the story, I was deeply moved—she carries so much strength within her. But it was only when I truly stepped into her world that I realized this courage of hers was not innate (与生俱来, yu sheng ju lai - "with, birth, possess, come"). In her letters she saw the cares of one small family, and in the remittance letters she witnessed the hardship and resilience of countless families who had gone to the South Seas. So she made one brave decision after another, and amid the tides of her era, she held fast to her original heart. In my eyes, she is an independent and resilient woman.

Since Love Letters to Ah Ma hit the screens, many people have crossed mountains and seas to read our story—they are willing to pause for the lingering affection carried in a single overseas Chinese remittance letter, believing that bonds of love across ten thousand miles have never been severed. We have also brought Love Letters to Ah Ma to many countries—we tell the stories of the remittance letters, and we also listen to the lives of our audiences. Especially overseas, where we met many Teochew people, hearing the "protagonist of the story" say that they have no regrets in this life (此生无憾, ci sheng wu han - "this, life, no, regret"), the meaning of the film thus surfaced before our eyes.

The earliest roadshows were held in the Teochew region. Many audience members shared that they, too, had stories like those in the film around them. They said some of those stories were truly bitter—so bitter that their grandparents' generation had never told them the details; because of this film, the elders in their families were willing to walk into the cinema, and after watching it, told the children about the real past. I remember one girl who saw our trailer on social media and flew back from overseas specially to see this film, because her relatives had had similar experiences. She was among the earliest audience members to recognize my performance, and I have always remembered her. Our roadshows also went to many provinces, where we met audiences from beyond Guangdong and heard different life stories.

The overseas roadshows moved me deeply. Crossing the ocean to reach another country, I saw moving emotion, warmth, and sincerity in the grandparents who had shared experiences like Nanzhi's and Shurou's. They said they had never imagined that one day, on this soil, they would see a story belonging to the Teochew region, belonging to their generation. That stretch of history had long gone untold, and they had thought it had been forgotten. Some grandparents brought their grandchildren to see the film; some people had never once returned to China, but because of the film they grew curious about this history and look forward to returning to China for a visit. As many grandparents told their stories, tears glistened in their eyes

Even when one is ten thousand miles away, the place of departure is always remembered at the bottom of one's heart. One's hometown is the root in one's heart—a concern one cannot set down no matter how far one walks. The older generation of overseas Chinese left their native soil, but in their hearts they were always concerned for their hometown and loved ones. That longing, responsibility, and bond of affection that never broke across mountains and seas helped me understand "family and country." The feeling of family-and-country devotion gathered from countless small individuals is an emotion that grows out of one's hometown, loved ones, dialect, folk customs, and the memories of one's forebears—it is the concern written into one remittance letter after another, the steadfastness of generation after generation after leaving one's hometown to seek a living (背井离乡, bei jing li xiang - "leave, well, depart, village"), and the sense of responsibility ordinary Chinese people hold toward family, native soil, and faith

Two Octobers ago, I did Nanzhi's makeup test, not knowing what shape this story would grow into. Having walked this whole road and received everyone's encouragement and recognition, I have gradually come to understand: when you bravely take that first step and walk through some necessary paths, only then can you unlock more possibilities in life

The courage Nanzhi bestowed on me will remain in my life for a long time to come

(Compiled and edited through an interview by Xiong Jie, reporter for this newspaper)

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There Is Always Beauty on the Road (Land of Splendor)

By: 周 深

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Before National Day, I held my "Deep" tour concert at the National Stadium in Beijing, and once again sang songs such as "I Love You, China," "China in the Lamplight," and "There Is Always Beauty on the Road." Some fans left messages saying that every holiday they can scroll through social media and come across Zhou Shen's songs. Being heard at such a moment is a singer's immense happiness.

This year, my first new song was "Galloping," created in collaboration with People's Daily New Media. When I first heard the demo, I was somewhat surprised. I had expected it to be passionate and grand, but it was very solid and heartfelt. Both the lyrics and melody contain the boldness of galloping, yet they do not shy away from the mud splattered on one's body along the way. The lyrics write, "Just let me tread across ten thousand peaks, having passed through wind and rain, how could the rainbow not appear?" In our lives, there are many moments when we clearly give it our all, yet still face setbacks. But even if we stumble, we can pick ourselves up, carry those wounds, and set out again with a more mature mindset. What I love most in the lyrics are the three characters "I insist on it." "I insist on it" is the resilience within every person; this resilience may sometimes seem to have gone into hiding because of blows or failures, but in fact it has always been there. No single node in one's life is a so-called failure, as long as you are willing to keep moving forward.

I often feel that a song, when created and sung, may only be 60 percent complete; only when it is heard by listeners and enters their hearts does it truly receive life.

I prefer to think of myself as a servant of the song, singing out the most core lyrics, and also blending into my performance the emotions, changes, growth, and gains I have felt in life. Sing every song well, and put myself into every song. If at some moment, listeners are moved, then that means we resonated at that instant. Just as the theme of my previous concert, "9.29Hz (Hertz)," sought to convey — resonating in harmony (同频共振, tong pin gong zhen - "same frequency, together resonate") — people who resonate on the same frequency are the best gift a creator can receive

I understand that "galloping" means "setting out." At present, technology is developing rapidly, the pace of life is getting faster and faster, and many people may feel a sense of defeat at certain moments, or even have their desire to set out doused. But after thinking things through clearly, one must still "set out." Only by doing can one accumulate the experience for the next departure. Over these years, I have heard different voices and encountered various challenges; I tell myself to learn to accept them, and then continue to set out

The song "The Whale Transformed into an Island" was recorded at home, when I was still the netizen "Kabul.'" Every time I sing this song, it feels like a reminder to me: it is because of the fans' listening that the whale on that lonely island gained a harbor to walk toward the outside world

When singing "There Is Always Beauty on the Road," in my heart, what it writes about is "lovable China." Our country is a remarkable great nation, and she also has a lovable side: the steam rising from breakfast stalls in the early morning, the helping hands extended between strangers, and the well-intentioned comments left one after another. Just as the lyrics write, "Dear you, strolling slowly on the road, look at the sun" — isn't this exactly lovable China?

I am not good at making very long plans for myself; I prefer to do well what should be done in the present: sing well, and stay on the stage singing well. This is actually difficult, but precisely because it is difficult, one must strive to gallop forward and set out again and again. Just as "Galloping" sings, strive forward, but there is no need to ignore the mud splattered on your body; daring to see it, daring to face it, makes you a courageous person

May we, on our respective journeys, be as free as the wind. Because, there is always beauty on the road

(Compiled and organized by People's Daily reporter Yang Lijuan)

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They Build a Tower of "National Character" (Splendors of the Land)

By: 韩 真 周莉亚

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From its initial conception to its premiere in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on September 10, the dance drama Pillars of the Nation (Pillars) took three years in total.For all of us, these three years have been more like a spiritual trek.

The origin of our creation of Pillars of the Nation lies in a kind of natural attraction — an instinctive curiosity about the name Lin Huiyin. The world knows her elegance and talent, knows her as the poetic "April in the World." When we truly opened the historical materials and stepped into her life, what we saw was a member of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture who carried surveying instruments across mountains and valleys, a surveyor who drew ancient architectural blueprints beneath the dim light of an oil lamp, a scholar who, amid the chaos of war, displacement, and illness, still refused to put down her pen… Her life contained poetry, but more than that, it contained pens, rulers, compasses, and the meticulous lines on blueprints. On her tombstone are carved the seven characters "Tomb of Lin Huiyin, Architect." This is the identity she wished posterity to remember her by: China's first female architect —"Engineer Lin."

As creators, the first thing we wanted to do was let the audience see a Lin Huiyin of flesh and blood, of bone and sinew, of warmth.

We read and reread every historical material, document, and memoir we could find, if only to draw a little closer to her, and then a little closer still. In those yellowed pages are survey data, travel observations, correspondence, and handwriting that remained neat even in the darkest days… The deeper we went into those years, the more clearly we felt: Lin Huiyin's story was never a solitary journey. Beside her stood Liang Sicheng. In those years when the flames of war raged unbroken, they together completed the first systematic History of Chinese Architecture written by Chinese people themselves. We also saw the colleagues of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture — Liu Dunzhen, Mo Zongjiang, Chen Mingda… They measured the nation's territory with their feet and recorded its civilization with their hands. Extending our gaze beyond the Society, what we saw was a generation of intellectuals a century ago, who held fast to their desks, continuously studying and practicing traditional culture (弦歌不辍, xián gē bù chuò - "string, song, not, stop"), and in a plain yet tenacious manner, carried forward the cultural torch of the Chinese nation.

Following in the footsteps of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture, we traveled to many places: in Hangzhou, we climbed the Six Harmonies Pagoda, looked up at the White Pagoda, and felt the gentleness and delicacy of Jiangnan's ancient architecture; in Shanxi, before the Yingxian Timber Pagoda, we seemed able to see Liang Sicheng's silhouette climbing to the top of the pagoda to survey; in the East Great Hall of Foguang Temple, the Tang-dynasty bracket sets cast huge shadows beneath the setting sun, and we imagined that moment when Lin Huiyin and Ning Gongyu gazed at each other across a thousand years…

We also visited the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University many times, holding long conversations with Director Liu Chang of the Memorial Museum of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture: from the forms and structures of ancient architecture, to the scholarly spirit of a generation of academics, we gradually found the possibility of transforming professional architectural concepts such as "surveying and mapping" and"construction" into stage language.

Over these three years, the core creative team repeatedly honed and refined its work; the script was revised many times, and the dance vocabulary was overturned and redone again and again. Sometimes, a single movement had to be practiced hundreds of times; sometimes, a passage of music had to be revised until everyone fell silent… Now, looking back, those days of repeated polishing have all become part of this work.

We also deliberated repeatedly over the name "Pillars of the Nation": was it too "hard," not like the name of an artistic work? In the end, we still chose "Pillars of the Nation" — their spines were so strong, they could bear this name.

Lin Huiyin, Liang Sicheng, and their generation once lived in an era buffeted by wind and rain, choosing to walk a difficult road, racing against time in the wilderness, conversing with civilization amid the flames of war. With the more than a thousand surveying drawings they left behind, they tell us: even if mountains and rivers are shattered, the cultural roots of a nation have never been severed. This calls to mind the mortise-and-tenon structure in ancient Chinese architecture — without a single nail or rivet, yet able to bite into one another, support one another, and stand for a thousand years without falling. That generation of intellectuals were precisely such fine timbers, mortise and tenon interlocking, together building a great hall named"the moral fiber of a nation."

Tangible pillars are the load-bearing members at the highest points of ancient architecture, using imperishable timber to hold up the world of flying eaves and bracket sets; intangible pillars are the spiritual backbone of a nation, using unyielding will to support the vault of civilization's survival. We literary and artistic workers of this generation must also do what we ought to do — through the artistic expression of this era, tell their stories, their sense of responsibility, and their moral fiber to the people of today, to young people, and to the future.

(The author is the director of the dance drama Pillars of the Nation)

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