Summary: The article reports on the release of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Developing New Quality Productive Forces," which outlines 19 major tasks to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's theory. Xi Jinping stressed that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the development of new quality productive forces in light of local conditions must be placed in a more prominent strategic position. The piece details efforts to accelerate building a modern industrial system, improve the national innovation system, and coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. It highlights examples of traditional industries transforming, emerging industries growing, and forward-looking arrangements for future industries, alongside breakthroughs in key core technologies. The article concludes that advancing these efforts will help seize commanding heights in international competition and cultivate new drivers for economic development.
Summary: The Jiajin Mountain Tunnel, opened a year ago, has cut travel time between Baoxing County and Xiaojin County from over an hour to 10 minutes, resolving seasonal road closures for 110,000 residents. The article links this infrastructure to the legacy of the Central Red Army's 1935 crossing of Jiajin Mountain, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's call to carry forward the Long March spirit and place the people first. The tunnel has boosted red culture tourism, with Baoxing County creating "Long March + Outdoor + Study Tours" routes and reporting over 2.3 million red tourism visits since 2025. At the other end, Xiaojin County's plateau rose industry has expanded to over 15,000 mu, with the tunnel improving logistics and reducing costs. Aba Prefecture's agricultural output value reached 19.966 billion yuan in 2025, up 4.5% year-on-year, as officials emphasize using red heritage to drive rural revitalization.
Summary: The national autumn grain harvest has passed the halfway mark as of October 10, with regional progress ranging from 35 percent in the northeast to 75 percent in the southwest, while winter wheat and rapeseed sowing are underway. Per-unit yield improvement is now the main driver of grain production growth, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs expanding the per-unit yield campaign to 1,000 counties and 20 new cities. In Huantai County, Shandong, high-yield corn varieties like Denghai 618 are promoted with increased planting density, while Xun County, Henan, has built demonstration fields covering 500,000 mu. New agricultural machinery, including hilly-area tractors and a domestically produced 410-horsepower hybrid tractor in Xinjiang, is being deployed to improve efficiency. The ministry has dispatched six working groups to 12 key provinces to guide autumn harvest and sowing operations.
Summary: The article reports that Xi'an is leveraging its Tang poetry heritage to build the cultural brand of the "Capital of Tang Poetry," following General Secretary Xi Jinping's May 2023 instruction to Shaanxi to "make good use of its own historical and cultural resources." The city has identified 18 parks with Tang poetry cultural elements and over 320 cultural elements, while integrating poetry into daily life through school activities, a 4.2-kilometer poetry corridor, and a themed radio station. New immersive experiences combine "Tang poetry + performing arts," "Tang poetry + cultural tourism," and "Tang poetry + technology," including live performances and AI digital humans. In 2025, Xi'an received 327 million visitors with total spending of 402.62 billion yuan, up 6.7% and 7.06% year-on-year respectively. The city aims to make the "Capital of Tang Poetry" brand shine brighter through creative transformation and innovative development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Summary: In the first eight months, China's total goods trade in imports and exports reached 34.78 trillion yuan, up 17.6% year-on-year, with exports at 20.17 trillion yuan (up 14.6%) and imports at 14.61 trillion yuan (up 22%). In August alone, the total was 4.65 trillion yuan, a 19.8% increase, with exports up 18.6% and imports up 21.7%, marking the sixth consecutive month that import growth outpaced export growth.
Summary: The article addresses public concerns about waste treatment, clarifying that while incineration plants in some regions face insufficient feedstock, there is no overall shortage of garbage. It attributes local "not enough to burn" situations to structural imbalances and regional mismatches between treatment capacity and waste generation, exacerbated by over-concentrated capacity layout and the effects of waste sorting. The piece stresses that waste sorting must be unswervingly advanced, as source reduction and sorted recycling hold greater ecological and economic value than incineration, which is only a fallback for harmless disposal. To resolve the contradiction, it recommends whole-chain governance, including optimizing facility layouts, linking idle urban capacity with rural needs, and diversifying revenue streams beyond power generation. The article concludes that innovation and a shift toward resource utilization can turn these "growing pains" into opportunities for high-quality industry development.
Summary: Zhang Guoqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, conducted research from October 8 to 10 in Jilin Province on advanced manufacturing and high-end scientific research instruments. He emphasized implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping's directives to strengthen and expand advanced manufacturing and enhance the independent controllability of industrial chains. Visiting enterprises including FAW Group, Jilin Petrochemical, and Jilin Chemical Fiber, he stressed deepening integration of technological and industrial innovation, strengthening enterprise-led innovation, and applying artificial intelligence across manufacturing processes. He also called for guiding state-owned enterprises to focus on advanced manufacturing, promoting equipment renewal and green technology adoption, and boosting supply chain resilience. At research institutions, he urged strengthening basic research on scientific instruments, coordinated progress in hardware, software, standards, and patents, and forming a virtuous cycle of application-driven research and iterative upgrading.
Summary: At a State Council Information Office press conference on October 10, officials introduced progress on employment and social security under the theme "A Good Start for the 15th Five-Year Plan." Li Zhong, spokesperson and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, reported that 10.52 million new urban jobs were added in the first nine months, completing 87.7% of the annual target, with the average surveyed urban unemployment rate at 5.2% in the first eight months. The ministry will implement "2 plans," "5 actions," and improve "4 aspects of systems and mechanisms," including measures to protect workers in new forms of employment and a skill-oriented salary distribution system. Song Xin, Director of the Employment Promotion Department, said the ministry will optimize regional public employment service centers, build a "15-minute employment service circle," and provide "1131" real-name services to unemployed college graduates. Li Zhong also stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the country will strive to keep basic old-age insurance participation above 95%, carry out 50 million person-times of subsidized vocational skills training, and accelerate the building of a knowledge-based, skilled, and innovative workforce.
Summary: State Councilor Shen Yiqin visited the China Administration of Sports for Persons with Disabilities on October 10 to encourage the Chinese sports delegation ahead of the 5th Asian Para Games in Nagoya, urging them to honor General Secretary Xi Jinping's care, carry forward the Paralympic and Chinese sports spirit, and win glory for the motherland. She toured the track and field venue, natatorium, and weightlifting hall, watched training, and exchanged with para-athletes and coaches on preparation, physical adjustment, and logistics. Shen stressed using the Asian Para Games as real-world training for the Los Angeles Paralympic Games, upholding fair competition and clean gold medals, and achieving success in both performance and spirit. She also called for strengthening friendly exchanges, telling China's stories and showcasing achievements in disability and human rights causes, while ensuring safe and smooth competition through meticulous risk prevention and support.
Summary: The Chinese sports delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games was established in Beijing on October 10, organized by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, and is the largest delegation China has sent to an overseas Asian Para Games. The delegation totals 500 people, including 312 athletes from 25 provinces, covering 13 ethnic groups, with an average age of approximately 28.8 years. Cheng Kai, Chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and Chairman of the Chinese Paralympic Committee, serves as head of the delegation, with Zhou Zhangkui as executive head and Chang Zheng as deputy head and secretary-general. The delegation will compete in 335 minor events across 17 major sports at the games, which will be held from October 18 to 24 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. A relevant official stated that the delegation will strive for "two successes simultaneously" in athletic performance and spiritual civilization, showing the international community the good spiritual outlook of Chinese disabled people in the new era.
Summary: The State Administration for Market Regulation has drafted a revised Food Safety Law and is soliciting public comments, aiming to implement Xi Jinping's "four strictest" requirements for food safety. The revision consolidates primary responsibility by requiring food businesses and online platforms to appoint food safety directors and officers, and establishes systems for production process control and express delivery security checks. It strengthens supervision of key areas, adding sections on school food safety with principal responsibility and meal accompaniment, and on online food business operations, clarifying platform and livestream responsibilities. The draft also optimizes management systems, expands risk monitoring to food additives, and incorporates infant supplementary food into special supervision, while strengthening smart supervision through "Internet + artificial intelligence" and improving the legal liability system with differentiated penalties and credit management. The administration will refine the draft based on public feedback and accelerate the legislative process.
Summary: The State Administration for Market Regulation publicly solicited opinions on the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised Draft for Comment)" on October 10, marking a major systematic revision since the law's 2009 promulgation and 2015 revision. The draft adds dedicated sections on "school food safety" and "online food business operations," establishing a principal responsibility system and shared meals for campus dining, while bringing new business formats such as livestream e-commerce into the scope of adjustment for the first time. It also requires online catering service providers to publicly disclose in real time video of food processing, and mandates food production enterprises to install monitoring equipment connected to market regulation departments, incorporating "Internet + artificial intelligence" into smart regulation. The revision directly confronts controversies like "severe punishment for minor violations" by shifting fines to multiples of the value of goods involved, and narrows punitive damages claimants to "consumers who purchase out of the need for personal life consumption," excluding professional malicious claimants. Experts cited include Li Chunlei of People's Public Security University of China, Liu Jinrui of the China Law Society, Liu Junyun of Beijing Technology and Business University, Sun Juanjuan of Hebei Agricultural University, and Liu Peng of Renmin University of China.
Summary: Aquaculture farmers are carrying out management and maintenance operations in the kelp farming area of Longwangtang waters in Dalian, Liaoning Province. The photo was taken by Lü Wenzheng (Image China).
Summary: The National Information Center of the National Development and Reform Commission released high-frequency data showing that in the third quarter, existing and incremental policies worked in concert, pushing the economy to maintain a trend of "maintaining stability while making progress" and improving while remaining stable. Offline consumption payment amounts rose 2.6% year on year in the third quarter, with September growth up 0.5 percentage points from August, rising for three consecutive months, while "Shouqianba" data showed September payments up 5.7% year on year. Capital investment in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots increased by 184.1% year on year in the third quarter and 198.7% in September. On foreign trade, loaded tonnage of cargo ships departing from and arriving at major ports grew by 43.1% and 0.3% year on year respectively in the third quarter, with September figures up 53.2% and 4.5%.
Summary: The article reports on the Lilongwe Banda Water Supply Pipeline Network Optimization Project in Malawi, undertaken by PowerChina Municipal Construction Group Co., Ltd., which has extended water supply coverage from the main urban area to the suburbs for the first time. Project manager Li Chunfeng said the project resolved drinking water safety for about 50,000 villagers, while project chief engineer Zhou Mengyuan noted the intelligent monitoring system reduced the pipeline network leakage rate from 25 percent to below 12 percent. Local employees like James and Martin received training and skills through the project, with James's income tripling since joining. Elias Chimulambe, Principal Secretary of Malawi's Ministry of Water and Sanitation, stated the project has accumulated experience for the digital transformation of the national water system. Peter Dimba, Member of Parliament for the Lilongwe South constituency, praised the localized management approach, saying Chinese enterprises have helped cultivate technical talent and delivered not just water but development opportunities.
Summary: The author, executive director of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, recounts the 84th anniversary commemoration of the "Bataan Death March" in San Francisco, drawing on his father's experiences as a Filipino soldier to emphasize the atrocity's horrors. He argues that diluting, falsifying, or whitewashing history will cause future generations to lose vigilance and increase the risk of war's tragedy repeating itself. The article notes that the "Bataan Death March," alongside the Nanjing Massacre and the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, is known as one of the "three major wartime atrocities of the Far East." The author highlights efforts to incorporate this history into California's eleventh-grade U.S. history curriculum and his leadership in establishing the World War II Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Coalition. He criticizes that victims received no compensation from Japan and that this history is scantily taught in Japan and the Philippines, urging that history be told as it happened.
Summary: Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, held the 28th China-France Strategic Dialogue on October 10 in Datong with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president. Wang Yi said that China is willing to work with France to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen cooperation in traditional fields such as aerospace and nuclear energy, and expand cooperation in emerging fields including advanced manufacturing, green and low-carbon development, and artificial intelligence. He expressed hope that France will adhere to its commitment to the One-China policy and safeguard the political foundation of China-France relations. Bonne said that France adheres to the One-China policy, looks forward to close high-level exchanges, and will continue to provide a predictable business environment for Chinese enterprises. Wang Yi also said that China and Europe can fully resolve economic and trade differences through dialogue, while Bonne stated that the European side does not wish to fight a trade war with China and does not seek "decoupling" from China.
Summary: Raihan Ronodipuro, a researcher at the ASEAN-China Research Center of the University of Indonesia, said in an interview that the BRICS cooperation mechanism has provided an important platform for emerging markets and developing countries, and that BRICS countries should deepen practical cooperation and enhance the participation capacity of Global South countries in global governance. He noted that over the past 20 years, BRICS cooperation has evolved into an important platform for solidarity among emerging economies, with mechanisms like the New Development Bank offering developing countries new options for financing and financial stability. Ronodipuro stated that China has always been a stable and constructive driving force in BRICS cooperation, citing President Xi Jinping's initiatives and China's promotion of expanded membership and "Greater BRICS Cooperation." He added that the New Delhi Declaration calls for strengthening the "three-wheel drive" cooperation of the expanded BRICS, and that future efforts should translate consensus into concrete action across infrastructure, health, digital connectivity, and trade facilitation. Ronodipuro expressed hope that China, during its BRICS presidency, will help new members including Indonesia integrate into the cooperation mechanisms and promote tangible results.
Summary: South African political, academic, and business figures gathered in Pretoria for the "Governance Reading Club: China's Practice and China-Africa Cooperation," co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, the Europe-Africa Center of the China International Communications Group, and the University of Venda. Cedric Frolick, Chairperson of the National Assembly's House Chairperson of Committees, said China is the world's second-largest economy, a leading country in global scientific and technological innovation, and an important participant in international affairs. He noted that China insists on formulating long-term development plans and ensures through sustained, concrete action that these plans are completed smoothly and productively. Frolick added that China has achieved world-renowned achievements in economic and social development, and its experience is worth learning from for South Africa and other African countries.
Summary: At the dock of the Oriental Port Affairs Branch Company of Lianyungang Port in Jiangsu Province, cargo ships have been loading "Made in China" engineering vehicles and machinery for export to African countries. The photo, taken on October 10 by Wang Chun (Image China), shows a large batch of engineering machinery being loaded onto ships, presenting a bustling scene at the port area.
Summary: The Sixth China–Pacific Island Countries Political Parties Dialogue was held in Beijing on October 10, hosted by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China under the theme "Jointly Writing a New Chapter in Building a China–Pacific Island Countries Community with a Shared Future." Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended alongside political party leaders and ambassadors to China from Pacific island countries, including Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga Ratu. Liu stated that, under the joint guidance of President Xi Jinping and leaders of Pacific island countries, the building of a China–Pacific Island Countries Community with a Shared Future has achieved positive results. He said the CPC is willing to strengthen strategic communication, deepen exchanges on governance and party-building experience, and expand "political party plus" cooperation. Foreign participants said China is a true friend and good partner, reaffirmed their firm adherence to the one-China principle and opposition to any form of "Taiwan independence" activities, and expressed willingness to maintain close inter-party exchanges and deepen practical cooperation.
Summary: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson expressed condolences to the Panamanian government and people following the magnitude 7.6 earthquake, noting no reports of Chinese citizen casualties. The spokesperson said the ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Panama will monitor the situation and provide timely assistance to Chinese citizens in need, while reminding them to guard against secondary disasters.
Summary: At an October 10 State Council Information Office press conference, five procuratorial representatives discussed strengthening procuratorial supervision under the theme "Strivers on the New Journey." Xie Wenkai of Tianjin's Wuqing District described recovering over 19 million yuan in a pension fraud case and issuing procuratorial recommendations. Cong Xinsha of Hangzhou's Xihu District detailed a digital supervision model that recovered over ten million yuan in fraudulent medical insurance funds. Song Xidong of Henan's Gushi County resolved a one-house-two-buyers dispute, recovering all purchase money, while Li Ming of Heilongjiang's Tongjiang City used public interest litigation to address illegal fishing and watershed governance. Chen Furong of Guizhou's Anshun City highlighted efforts to assist harmed minors and lawfully apply conditional non-prosecution for a reformed juvenile offender.
Summary: A 66-year-old villager, Duan Yuanfa, in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, discovered a Red Army IOU for grain and a detailed record of villagers' assistance to wounded soldiers, hidden in a bamboo tube in his family's home for over 90 years. The documents, dated November 12, 1934, were authenticated by the Hunan Provincial Museum as 1930s artifacts, and local Party history officials confirmed their historical accuracy. Duan recounted that his great-grandfather, Duan Nianming, aided Red Army soldiers who refused to take villagers' grain, leading the army to issue the IOU as a formal loan. Cao Yong, director of the Suxian District Party Committee's Party History Research Office, attributed the villagers' support to the Red Army's strict discipline and kinship with the masses. Despite offers to redeem the IOU, Duan Yuanfa declined, stating its weight in his family is "far heavier than money," while the village plans to build a road and exhibition hall to preserve the legacy.
Summary: Lai Ching-te's "Double Ten" speech promoted a "city upon a hill" fantasy, ignoring facts and distorting right and wrong to incite cross-strait confrontation. The article accuses Lai of harming Taiwan's economy, politics, and livelihoods, citing a distorted industrial structure, "green terror," and the untreated "toxic oil" issue. It claims Lai is a "peace breaker" and "war instigator," citing a planned defense budget of over NT$1.3 trillion for 2027 and the mobilization of civilian resources. The piece argues that U.S.-China relations show Washington refuses to endorse "Taiwan independence," with U.S. officials urging reduced Taiwanese visits and a poll showing declining support for U.S. troops in the Taiwan Strait. It concludes that "Taiwan independence" elements face doomed extinction, as national reunification is irreversible.
Summary: Spokesperson Zhang Han of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office responded to Lai Ching-te's so-called "Double Ten" speech, stating that it ignores the truth, distorts right and wrong, misleads the public, and has ulterior motives, reflecting his "true colors" as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence." Zhang said Lai clung to "Taiwan independence" separatist thinking, played up the "mainland threat," and vainly attempted to "seek independence through military means" and "seek independence by relying on foreign forces," undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Zhang reaffirmed that there is only one China, Taiwan is part of China, and the one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community. He added that China will adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, resolutely combat "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, and promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-strait relations.
Summary: The centralized interview activity "Visiting the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park," organized by the Central Publicity Department together with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and other departments, was launched in Changchun, Jilin. The interview involves two routes, sending media reporters to conduct research in Huadian City and Hunchun City in Jilin, and Dongning City and Hailin City in Heilongjiang. It focuses on the positive results of national park construction in protecting wild populations and habitats of the Northeast China tiger and leopard, as well as forest ecosystem protection. The activity aims to showcase the natural landscapes, geological relics, and cultural heritage resources within the park, along with the development of the general control zones. Various media outlets will broadcast series of reports to guide public participation in national park construction and enhance enthusiasm for biodiversity protection.
Summary: The national railway implemented a new freight train operation diagram from 18:00 on October 10, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. The new diagram optimizes intercity freight train products, scheduling 8 express trains at 160 km/h, 58 fast trains at 120 km/h, and 85 regular trains at 80 km/h to serve time-sensitive cargo like e-commerce and express delivery. It also arranges 101 fast and 136 regular multimodal transport freight trains, and 423 cross-railway bureau group company direct trains for bulk cargo, with capacity tilted toward key materials of matters of national and social importance such as thermal coal, grain, and spring plowing chemical fertilizers. Additionally, 96 scheduled routes for China-Europe freight trains are arranged, with key optimization on return-trip routes.
Summary: On October 10, the vessel *Deep Sea No. 1*, carrying the manned submersible *Jiaolong*, arrived at the operating area of the East Caroline Basin in the western Pacific Ocean to conduct deep-sea scientific research operations. This was the 466th dive of *Jiaolong* and also the first dive conducted in this area during the second leg of China's Ocean Voyage 100 scientific expedition, with a planned diving depth of approximately 4,500 meters. The photo shows the frogman team releasing the bow cable as *Jiaolong* detaches from the mother ship. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin.
Summary: The Fifth Seminar on Inspection Theory and Practice of the CPC Inspection Theory Research Center, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was held in Beijing on October 10 under the theme "Using the Sharp Sword of Inspection to Advance Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party in Depth." The meeting emphasized that deepening research on inspection theory requires thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, firmly grasping the correct political direction, and conducting in-depth research to answer major theoretical and practical questions on inspection. It also called for striving to build a systematic and theoretically rigorous system of inspection theory, systematically summarizing the achievements and experience gained in inspection theory research, and continuously enhancing the influence of the inspection theory research platform.
Summary: An academic symposium marking the 70th anniversary of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese was held in Beijing on October 10, as the first event in the commemorative series. Themed "Shared Roots, Shared Soul, Shared Dream," it established four sub-forums on overseas Chinese roles in Chinese modernization, global changes in overseas Chinese affairs, promoting a community with a shared future for mankind, and federation work in the new era. Participants agreed that the federation's 70-year history reflects overseas Chinese following the Party, and that high-quality development requires deeper research on overseas Chinese history and conditions. Over 120 attendees included central Party and state organ officials, university and think tank experts, federation leaders, and local federation representatives.
Summary: The Jiajin Mountain Tunnel, opened a year ago, has cut travel time between Baoxing County and Xiaojin County from over an hour to 10 minutes, resolving seasonal road closures for 110,000 residents. The article links this infrastructure to the legacy of the Central Red Army's 1935 crossing of Jiajin Mountain, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's call to carry forward the Long March spirit and place the people first. The tunnel has boosted red culture tourism, with Baoxing County creating "Long March + Outdoor + Study Tours" routes and reporting over 2.3 million red tourism visits since 2025. At the other end, Xiaojin County's plateau rose industry has expanded to over 15,000 mu, with the tunnel improving logistics and reducing costs. Aba Prefecture's agricultural output value reached 19.966 billion yuan in 2025, up 4.5% year-on-year, as officials emphasize using red heritage to drive rural revitalization.
Summary: The article reports that Xi'an is leveraging its Tang poetry heritage to build the cultural brand of the "Capital of Tang Poetry," following General Secretary Xi Jinping's May 2023 instruction to Shaanxi to "make good use of its own historical and cultural resources." The city has identified 18 parks with Tang poetry cultural elements and over 320 cultural elements, while integrating poetry into daily life through school activities, a 4.2-kilometer poetry corridor, and a themed radio station. New immersive experiences combine "Tang poetry + performing arts," "Tang poetry + cultural tourism," and "Tang poetry + technology," including live performances and AI digital humans. In 2025, Xi'an received 327 million visitors with total spending of 402.62 billion yuan, up 6.7% and 7.06% year-on-year respectively. The city aims to make the "Capital of Tang Poetry" brand shine brighter through creative transformation and innovative development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Summary: Young representatives from across China, joined by descendants of veteran Red Army soldiers and experts on Party and military history, retraced the Long March route in Guizhou, visiting revolutionary sites including the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall and the Loushan Pass battlefield, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory. Participants stated that the Long March spirit had become a tangible force of faith, with university student Li Zhenyu observing that the red gene is embodied in relics like patched military uniforms and revised manuscripts. The article recounts the Gouba Conference, where Mao Zedong persuaded Zhou Enlai and Zhu De to abandon an attack, and features an immersive performance titled “The Great Turn” that depicted key Long March events, moving young audience members such as firefighter Pei Wenbo. Docent Liu Keru emphasized telling red stories with warmth and differentiation, while mine rescue deputy captain Li Yuanwei, a National Model Worker, pledged to apply the spiritual strength gained to his work. The piece concludes with young people like Guo Qirong affirming that each generation has its own Long March road and that they must write a regret-free youth through solid work and responsibility.
Summary: The article argues that cities provide young people with opportunities but also pressures, such as housing costs and workplace setbacks, requiring societal support. It highlights policy measures, including the 15th Five-Year Plan's "Supporting Youth Development" section and the *Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Youth Development-Oriented Cities*, which aim to help youth "come in, stay, live in peace, and build a career." Examples from Chongqing, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Jinan illustrate initiatives like talent stations, childcare services, AI training tracks, and recognition for "youth small shop owners." The piece concludes that when cities implement youth development policies and youth grow from being served into builders, personal growth and urban development form a positive cycle.
Summary: A disabled man who lost both arms at age four recounts his journey from being selected for the Jiangxi Province Disabled Persons' Swimming Team at 16, where he won 13 medals, to retiring in 2017 to care for his pregnant deaf-mute wife and returning to his hometown to establish a breeding cooperative. He describes developing his own methods for tasks like hoisting feed bags with his teeth and feet, and overcoming a 2021 epidemic that killed his ducks with the support of trusting villagers. The cooperative now slaughters up to 200,000 meat ducks and geese annually and hires disabled people and villagers, helping over 10 disabled friends increase their income. He has taught himself to operate a phone with his feet for e-commerce livestreaming to sell local products nationwide. This year he received the 2026 New Era Youth Pioneer Award, affirming his belief that "as long as my spirit is not lacking and my steps do not stop, there is no hurdle I cannot cross."
Summary: The article profiles the "All-Round Model Company" of the 82nd Group Army, tracing its company soul—"We want the bridge, not our lives"—to the 1935 flying assault on the Luding Bridge, where 22 warriors charged across iron chains under enemy fire. Company Political Instructor Lu Pengfei and Company Commander Huang Bin recount the battle's history, noting that only five of the warriors' names are confirmed, while the company annually selects "Twenty-Two Warriors of the New Era." The report details how soldiers like Communications Technician Zhang Ruiyong, Squad Leader Li Shengjie, Sergeant Hou Mengshao, and First-Class Sergeant Guan Yuantao adapted to new equipment and competitions by building their own "bridges" from scratch. It also highlights individual perseverance, such as soldier Guo Peng overcoming injury to rank in the company's top five, and Squad Leader Chang Wei's methodical self-improvement after competitions. The company participated in the September 3 military parade in 2025 and flood relief in Hebei and Tianjin in 2023, embodying its legacy of daring to be first.
Summary: The article argues that college national defense education should extend beyond the "enrollment season" military training and be integrated throughout students' entire university experience. It highlights examples such as Renmin University of China embedding national defense into course systems and graduation credit management, and Nanjing University of Science and Technology developing defense-themed general education courses. Practical education efforts include oral history projects with veterans, such as Eastern Liaoning University's decade-long initiative interviewing over 600 Chinese People's Volunteers veterans. The piece calls for multi-party collaboration among military, government, and enterprises to deepen open-door education and expand realization paths for national defense education. The author is affiliated with Renmin University of China.
Summary: A captain in a ground-to-air missile unit of the Air Force under the Central Theater Command describes creating a "digital-intelligence classroom" to teach comrades-in-arms how to use self-developed combat-training software. After noticing that training reviews relied on experience-based estimation, he wrote code at night to build a "toolbox" program that automatically generates charts from raw data. He taught not just software application but innovative thinking, helping soldiers customize data retrieval by scenario and improve training quality and efficiency. He has won honors including a special prize in the whole-army military modeling competition, but takes most pride in applying his learning to combat readiness. The article concludes with his reflection that scientific research results must land on soldiers' combat posts, not remain in laboratories or papers.
Summary: The article highlights the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in Yuanyang County, Yunnan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as a model of balancing protection and utilization. It details the Hani people's ancient "four elements in one structure" ecosystem and the "wooden-notch water distribution" system, which sustain the terraces and have earned three heritage titles. Local initiatives like the "Azheke Plan" promote tourism-led development, with villagers adhering to bottom lines to preserve authenticity, while returning youth like Gao Hua and Gao Wei revitalize the village through cultural and entrepreneurial activities. The government supports terrace protection with subsidies, and cultural inheritance is bolstered through intangible heritage training and performances. The article also notes the diversification of tourism formats, including the new Librairie Avant-Garde bookstore, which enriches local consumption and is expected to boost the area's future prosperity.
Summary: The article reflects on whether AI will replace human creators, citing that in the first eight months of this year, 430,000 micro-dramas were launched online—13 times last year's total—with AI-produced dramas accounting for over 90 percent, yet much of this output is "AI garbage." It argues that AI can "generate" content but cannot "experience" life, highlighting the unique life experience of creators like Liu Yixue, a girl with cerebral palsy who writes about her parents' love and growth. The piece emphasizes that great literary works require perseverance and devoted effort, citing examples like Cao Xueqin's *Dream of the Red Chamber* and Lu Yao's *The Ordinary World*. It concludes that sincere emotion and "handcrafted" work become more precious as technology advances, and that AI will not eliminate creation but only works lacking inner substance and sincerity.
Summary: The article profiles the Red Army Long March trail in Jinsha Village, Yudu County, Jiangxi, where docent Hu Shizhao leads immersive red-study tours along the 19.34-kilometer mountain path used by the Central Red Army in October 1934. Hu, a local villager with over five years of experience, integrates Hakka mountain songs and short videos into her explanations to spread red culture to younger audiences. The town has preserved the trail's original texture through minimal intervention as part of the Long March National Cultural Park, boosting rural development through red tourism. Villagers like Zhang Yougen have converted farmhouses into guesthouses, and the village's "Party branch + cooperative + farmer households" model has driven employment for over 50 households. The trail now receives more than 300,000 visitor trips annually, serving as a real-scene classroom for ideological and political study.
Summary: The article discusses how young Red Army soldiers on the Long March have been depicted in art, referencing Xi Jinping's 2014 symposium remarks on young heroes in China's history. It highlights works such as Wu Zuoren's *Crossing the Snow Mountain*, Sun Zixi's *Night Camp on the Grassland*, and Pan He's sculpture *Hard Times*, which portray youthful soldiers with solemnity and tenderness. The author argues that these "low-gaze" works translate Edgar Snow's reflections on the "special young people" into visual narratives of hope and faith. The piece concludes that this aesthetic and spiritual self-awareness of "merging the small self into the greater self" continues to resonate in new-era art creation. The author is a distinguished professor at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
Summary: The article reviews the retrospective exhibition of Fang Zengxian at the Shanghai Art Museum, highlighting his late-career work *Home Village Bench Dragon* and his earlier masterpiece *Every Grain Is Hard Earned*. It traces Fang's artistic evolution from "painting images" to "creating images," emphasizing his lifelong commitment to the cultural subjectivity of Chinese painting amid Western influences. Fang criticized contemporary figure paintings for losing traditional brush-and-ink techniques, and he advocated absorbing foreign art only within the framework of Chinese tradition. The piece concludes by applying Fang's stance to current challenges, including AI-generated art and market pressures, arguing that his legacy lies in upholding cultural identity while innovating without abandoning tradition.
Summary: This article discusses how Guangxi's unique topography has historically hindered its access to the sea, prompting over 2,000 years of water-management efforts, from the ancient Lingqu Canal to the modern Pinglu Canal. It reviews several paintings, including Li Xiyuan's Qing Dynasty album "River Journey Paintings" and contemporary works by Huang Jianfu, Wei Junping, and Jiang Xiaoming, which depict the canals' historical and modern significance. The Pinglu Canal is highlighted as a backbone project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and an "economic belt" driving regional development. The author, an associate researcher at the Guangxi Arts University, emphasizes that these artworks reflect the enduring Chinese wisdom of prospering through water management and the cultural lineage of Bagui.
Summary: The article commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March victory through recent art exhibitions, including the "Golden Sand River Beats the Cloudy Cliffs Warm" show co-hosted by the Beijing and Yunnan Federations of Literary and Art Circles. It highlights works in sections such as "Epic of the Journey," "Flying Songs of the Cloud Ridge," and "Radiant Splendor of the Capital," featuring artists like Shen Yaoyi, Shao Yachuan, Lu Zhengyuan, Sun Jingbo, Fan Di'an, Wei Haibin, Ma Jiawei, and Sun Zhensheng. The authors argue that red-themed art should deeply excavate the Long March spirit, innovate forms, and fit the contemporary era rather than simply reproduce history. They note current shortcomings in such creations, including inaccurate factual expression and single narrative dimensions. The piece concludes by urging art workers to inherit the red gene and unite efforts to walk the new Long March road.
Summary: The article discusses the modern transformation of China's traditional arts of stone appreciation and penjing (bonsai), emphasizing the need for contemporary aesthetic innovation while preserving cultural heritage. It notes that despite historic levels of participation, resources, and market activity, artistic creation and theoretical construction remain thin, with more consumption than construction. The author argues that creators must integrate insights from disciplines like astronomy, geology, sociology, psychology, and art studies, and elevate their own realm to elevate artistic quality. The piece concludes that promoting breakthroughs in these arts is a key part of the creative transformation and innovative development of China's fine traditional culture. The author is an associate research fellow at the Chinese National Academy of Arts.
Summary: Chen Shudong's oil painting *Whispering Coconut Grove* is featured in a photo report.
By: 本报记者 林 琳 张安宇
On October 9, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Developing New Quality Productive Forces" was publicly released. The Opinions put forward 19 major development and reform tasks, transforming General Secretary Xi Jinping's original theory into a guide for action and establishing a yardstick for unifying thought and action across the country in developing new quality productive forces.
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we must place the development of new quality productive forces in light of local conditions in a more prominent strategic position," stressed General Secretary Xi Jinping.
The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and launching a comprehensive push toward basically realizing socialist modernization.
At this year's "first lesson of the new year," the General Secretary stressed: "Develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, and promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation." During his first local inspection after the two sessions, the General Secretary again stressed "developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions" in Xiong'an New Area, Hebei.
Since the new era began, General Secretary Xi Jinping has creatively put forward the theory of new quality productive forces, and has provided systematic elaboration and major deployment, profoundly answering the epochal question of "what new quality productive forces are and how to develop them," providing scientific guidance for solidly advancing Chinese modernization.
Accelerate the building of a modern industrial system to provide support for developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions.
The modern industrial system is the material and technological foundation of a modern country and the carrier in which new quality productive forces are nurtured and developed.
In April 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period for some provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, stressing "taking scientific and technological innovation as the guide and the real economy as the foundation, adhering to the simultaneous advancement of comprehensively promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, actively developing emerging industries, and making forward-looking arrangements for future industries, and accelerating the building of a modern industrial system."
Following the direction charted by General Secretary Xi Jinping, all regions and departments have adhered to the simultaneous development of multiple industries, continuously accelerating the building of the modern industrial system.
"Developing new quality productive forces does not mean ignoring or abandoning traditional industries"; rather, it means letting "old trees sprout new shoots." In Handan, Hebei, the traditional steel industry is transforming from extensive smelting toward intelligent innovation; in Foshan, Guangdong, new technologies and new solutions are continuously empowering traditional industries such as furniture, home appliances, and ceramics. In light of local conditions and through differentiated development, traditional industries are radiating new vitality and vigor.
"Actively develop emerging industries," and let "experimental fields" grow into "high-yield fields." In 2025, the output value related to the six major emerging pillar industries that China is focusing on building will approach 6 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach more than 10 trillion yuan by 2030. New pillars and new tracks are continuously growing stronger, releasing enormous value and potential.
"Make forward-looking arrangements for future industries," and cultivate more growth engines. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes promoting quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications to become new economic growth points.
Improve the national innovation system to empower and enhance the development of new quality productive forces in light of local conditions.
The salient feature of new quality productive forces is innovation. At this year's "Three Science and Technology Conferences," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must enhance the capacity for systematic tackling of key problems in scientific and technological innovation and improve the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system."
Play the "concerto" well and stimulate the vitality of all types of innovation entities.
National research institutions and high-level research universities play a leading role, new-type R&D institutions accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into practical use, and the position of enterprises as the main body of scientific and technological innovation is continuously strengthened... All types of innovation entities and factors are interconnected, and the springs of innovation are flowing fully.
Bravely venture into the "uncharted territory," and make sustained efforts to strengthen basic research and enhance the capacity for original innovation.
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "We must strengthen basic research with greater intensity and more concrete measures, enhance our country's capacity for original innovation, and further consolidate the foundation for building a strong science and technology country."
Artificial synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide has achieved "technological creation of matter," the fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device has set a new world record, and domestic large models lead the global open-source ecosystem... Our country's capacity for original innovation is growing ever stronger.
Do not fear "chokepoint" bottlenecks, and step up efforts to tackle key core technologies and frontier technologies.
"Key core technologies cannot be asked for, bought, or begged for." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important assertion carries great weight.
New breakthroughs have been made in tackling key core technologies such as integrated circuits, rockets have achieved success in both sea and land recovery, and frontier technologies such as quantum communication remain in the international first tier... Technologies at key points and control points in key areas are accelerating breakthroughs, providing strong support for high-quality development and high-level security.
Coordinate and advance the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent to smooth the circulation for developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions.
"Scientific and technological innovation depends on talent, talent cultivation depends on education, and education, science and technology, and talent are inherently consistent and mutually supportive." General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly elucidated the functional positioning and linkage mechanism of the three.
Adhere to giving priority to the development of education, self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and talent-led driving, strengthen a systems perspective, deepen the integrated reform of the systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, and improve the mechanism for coordinated education through science and education. At present, China has built the world's largest education system, its ranking in the Global Innovation Index has risen from 34th in 2012 to 10th, and the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel has ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years. By advancing the development of education, science and technology, and talent in an integrated manner, the multiplier effect of high-quality development is becoming evident.
Striving forward in the 15th Five-Year Plan period, firmly grasping high-quality development as the primary task, developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, and continuously meeting the people's aspirations for a better life, our country will surely seize the commanding heights in international competition and accelerate the cultivation and shaping of new drivers and new advantages for economic development.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 张 帆 王明峰
Crossing the great mountain took at least one hour; now, passing through the tunnel takes only 10 minutes.
In October one year ago, the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel was completed and opened to traffic, greatly shortening the travel time between Baoxing County in Ya'an City and Xiaojin County in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and thoroughly resolving the difficulty that the 110,000 people on both sides of the mountain faced in traveling when heavy snow sealed off the mountain passes.
As vehicles enter the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel, history and reality converge here—in June 1935, the Central Red Army, relying on an iron will, crossed the snow-capped Jiajin Mountain on foot, and the great spirit of the Long March has been passed down from generation to generation, inspiring and encouraging the local people.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “To carry forward the great spirit of the Long March and walk well today's Long March road, we must place the people at the highest position in our hearts, adhere to everything for the people, rely on the people for everything, and strive unswervingly for the people to lead better lives.”
Bearing in mind these earnest instructions, Ya'an City, Aba Prefecture, and other places have always adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, carried forward the great spirit of the Long March, leveraged their comparative advantages, and advanced the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
The opening of the tunnel has brought the local red culture and tourism into the view of more people.
At the Jiajin Mountain pass, Li Lanchun, a tourist from Anhui, excitedly took photos as souvenirs: “Jiajin Mountain was the first major snow mountain crossed by the Central Red Army during the Long March, and this is a place we must visit on our self-driving trip.”
The Jiajin Mountain Tunnel links together the Dawei Meeting Bridge, Bifeng Gorge, Siguniang Mountain, and other sites; Baoxing County has seized this opportunity to create distinctive routes themed “Long March + Outdoor + Study Tours,” where tourists can walk the Red Army trails and purchase red culture creative products.
With the rise of red culture tourism, homestays in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township, Baoxing County, were hard to book during the National Day holiday.“From all corners of the country (天南海北, tian nan hai bei -“sky, south, sea, north”), guests have all come, and during holidays the rooms are often fully booked.”Neng Kaman, a villager of Jiajin Mountain Village in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township who runs a homestay, is also the principal of an intangible cultural heritage workshop.
With more tourists coming, local characteristic intangible cultural heritage handicrafts have also become known to more people.“We are also thinking about how to better integrate red elements with intangible cultural heritage handicrafts.”Neng Kaman said.
“Keep the red roots well, revitalize red resources, refine red culture tourism, and promote the great spirit of the Long March from generation to generation.”Yang Chen, director of the Baoxing County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Sports, and Tourism, introduced that since the tunnel opened to traffic, the red culture tourism resources of Ya'an City and Aba Prefecture have been linked into a tighter loop; since 2025, Baoxing County's red tourism visitor flow has exceeded 2.3 million person-times.
At the other end of the tunnel, the development of plateau-characteristic agriculture in Xiaojin County has accelerated.
At the Jinshan Rose Base in Maoshui Village, Dawei Town, trucks fully loaded with rose essential oil were ready to depart.After several consecutive days of heavy rain, the route commonly used for cargo transport was temporarily blocked, but Chen Wanglun, the driver responsible for this shipment, remained calm and composed.
“From the base to the tunnel takes just over 10 minutes; when the usual route is blocked, we just turn around and head for the tunnel.”Chen Wanglun said.
“Every day, raw materials and rose series products are shipped out from the base; the opening of the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel has improved the safety of cargo transport in adverse weather and ensured logistics stability.”Shi Yongjian, director of the Xiaojin County Bureau of Science, Technology, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Water Affairs, introducedthat the Jinshan Rose Base is the processing hub of Xiaojin County's plateau rose industry; driven by the base, Xiaojin County's rose planting area has reached over 15,000 mu, covering 13 townships and 46 villages, involving more than 3,000 households.
The opening of the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel has directly reduced logistics costs, effectively helping Aba Prefecture build a modern plateau-characteristic agriculture industrial system, and promoting increased industrial efficiency and higher incomes for the masses.In 2025, Aba Prefecture achieved a total output value of 19.966 billion yuan in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.
“The Red Army has left us precious spiritual wealth.”Xiang Zhengyi, director of the Aba Prefecture Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also statedthat by inheriting the red gene, gathering the strength to strive forward, Aba Prefecture will intensify efforts to develop plateau-characteristic agriculture and empower the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas through industry.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporters Zhu Jun and Yu Jingxian) It is the critical season for "three autumn" agricultural production. In Beilin District, Suihua City, Heilongjiang, rice harvesting has begun in succession. "This year we planted Suijing 306 and got it in before the frost," said Ni Jicheng, a major grain grower in Xiangyang Village, Shuanghe Town, who planted 600 mu of rice, applying diligent and meticulous farming practices (精耕细作, jing geng xi zuo - "careful, plow, fine, work") such as high-platform seedling raising in greenhouses and dense planting, achieving a per-mu yield of 570 kilograms.
The national autumn harvest has entered its peak, and autumn-winter sowing has begun in succession. According to the latest agricultural situation dispatch from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of October 10, more than half of the national autumn grain harvest has been completed. Among this, the southwest has completed 75 percent, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River more than half, the Huang-Huai-Hai region more than 60 percent, the northwest 55 percent, and the northeast 35 percent; winter wheat sowing has begun in succession, winter rapeseed has been sown on more than 10 percent of the planned area, and autumn harvest and autumn sowing are progressing smoothly.
In recent years, per-unit yield improvement has become the main driver of grain production increases. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs continues to implement the action to raise per-unit yield on a large scale for grain and oil crops, expanding the number of counties carrying out the campaign on a whole-county basis to 1,000, and adding 20 new cities carrying it out on a whole-city basis. Judging from the autumn grain production situation, all localities are accelerating the promotion and application of leading varieties, leading technologies, and leading machinery models to promote balanced yield increases across large areas of crops.
Corn is an important yield-increasing crop. In Huantai County, Shandong, high-yield, dense-tolerant varieties such as Denghai 618 and Nongda 372 are being promoted and planted on a large scale, with the average corn planting density reaching 5,116.8 plants per mu, an increase of 14.3 plants over the previous year. Xun County, Henan, as a county carrying out the corn per-unit yield improvement campaign on a whole-county basis, has laid out and built 8 hundred-mu key research fields, 10 thousand-mu demonstration plots, and 2 ten-thousand-mu high-yield tracts, implementing key technical measures such as dense planting with drip irrigation, split application of topdressing, and one-spray multiple-promotion, radiating and driving the area of the county's corn per-unit yield improvement demonstration zone to reach 500,000 mu.
A new batch of advanced and applicable agricultural machinery products has been put into frontline production. In Gansu, Chongqing, Sichuan, and other places, tractors for hilly and mountainous terrain have been driven onto sloping farmland and terraced fields. In Changji, Xinjiang, a 410-horsepower domestically produced hybrid tractor is racing across large fields, efficiently carrying out deep autumn plowing and soil preparation operations, with comprehensive operating fuel consumption about 20 percent lower than that of traditional fuel-powered machines.
"Three autumn" agricultural production is advancing in a staggered, continuous manner. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has dispatched 6 working groups and science and technology teams to 12 key provinces for autumn harvest and autumn sowing to investigate and guide autumn grain harvesting, wheat and rapeseed sowing, and autumn field management, while also guiding the implementation of key measures such as fine land preparation and pre-winter field management.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 张 铁 高 炳
In the golden autumn, visiting the ancient city, seeking the poetic charm of Xi'an.
In Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, the village of Taoxi Fort beside the Ju River is a place of poetic heritage. Here, Tang Dynasty poet Cui Hu once wrote the famous lines, "On this day last year, within this gate, faces and peach blossoms reflected each other's red." More than a thousand years later, visitors come in droves.
On phone screens, the micro-drama Face and Peach Blossom is "blooming" in the cloud. Xi'an "reinterprets" Tang poetry through imagery, blending ancient stories into the trends of the times.
One city of Chang'an, half of the Complete Tang Poems. Today's ancient city of Xi'an is becoming a "living museum of Tang poetry."
In May 2023, when General Secretary Xi Jinping heard the work report of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, he required Shaanxi to "make good use of its own historical and cultural resources." The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "deeply implement the project for the inheritance and development of fine traditional Chinese culture."
Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, Xi'an is striving to build the cultural brand of the "Capital of Tang Poetry" that fully manifests Chinese civilization, making the cultural atmosphere of this thousand-year-old capital more abundant and its poetic charm more vibrant.
Unearthing the poetic treasures of the land—
At dawn, Liu Rui, a cultural relics worker at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda Preservation Office, conducts regular "inspection and maintenance" of the pagoda. "In the Complete Tang Poems, there are dozens of poems related to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We must protect this poetic gift."
The Tang Dynasty brick, tile, and column base remains repeatedly discovered in Xingqing Palace Park evoke the splendor of "leaning on the railing north of the Aloes Pavilion." Yan Zhaoke, deputy director of the Visitor Services Department of Xingqing Palace Park, said: "We connect the Aloes Pavilion, the Tower of Mutual Glory, and other relics related to Tang poetry to create the 'Road of Tang Poetry' tour route."
Conducting a survey of Tang poetry relic sites, building a database of Tang poetry historical and cultural resources... Feng Jian, deputy director of the Xi'an Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, introduced that the city has identified 18 parks with Tang poetry cultural elements and more than 320 cultural elements including Tang Dynasty poetry, stone carvings, and poet sculptures.
The poetic tradition is integrated into daily life—
Inking movable type, laying rice paper, pressing gently... Children are experiencing rubbing prints. Student Wu Dami produced a rubbing of the line "The street in the sky, the light rain moistens like cream." "So the 'street in the sky' in the poem is today's Zhuque Avenue in Xi'an."
At the "Leyou Plain Poetry Gathering" in Yanta District, the stage play A Wonderful Journey Through Tang Poetry blends childlike innocence with poetic charm; the school-based textbook Poetic Charm of the Southern City encourages children to explore landmarks such as Fanchuan and discover Tang poetry that can be felt, touched, and recited; "Duel in Poetry, Youth!" the Xi'an primary and secondary school students' Tang poetry arena competition has attracted nearly ten thousand participating students... Xi'an has carried out a series of Tang poetry cultural education activities, with more than 2,000 schools participating annually and reaching one million participants.
Tang poetry enters ordinary streets and lanes, cultivating people through culture and enriching the city through poetry. In the Tang City Wall Relics Park, a poetry and prose cultural corridor stretches 4.2 kilometers; in the Xi'an Metro, passengers can read classic Tang poems; a Tang poetry-themed radio station uses the airwaves to present the beauty of Tang poetry through sound...
Activating the poetic elegance of scenes—
At night, in the Tang Paradise, "Li Bai" rides a small boat, reciting Invitation to Wine with abandon. Visitors board the cruise ship, immerse themselves in the live-action performance, and enjoy changing scenery with every step taken (移步换景, yi bu huan jing - "move step, change scene"), accompanied by poetry.
"Tang poetry + performing arts" creates new immersive experiences. The water dance and light show Chasing Dreams of the Great Tang on the lake performs an average of more than 150 shows per year, with a cumulative audience exceeding one million; with the activation of Tang poetry resources, performances such as The Song of Everlasting Sorrow and The Lychee of Chang'an are hard to get tickets for.
"Tang poetry + cultural tourism" gives rise to new scenes. Combining Tang poetry culture, Xi'an has launched themed travel routes such as "Autumn wind rises over the Wei River" and "Qufiang flowing cups, Wangchuan mist."
"Tang poetry + technology" empowers new trends. In the Chang'an Twelve Hours themed block, AI digital humans recite poetry and invite visitors to interact; in the Qujiang Flight Theater, visitors "travel through" into the mountain scenery of Dwelling in the Mountains on an Autumn Evening and "soar over" the sky above Chang'an's 108 wards.
Performing arts, travel photography, cultural creativity, dining... Tang style and Tang charm give rise to new scenes, new business forms, and new vitality. In 2025, Xi'an received 327 million visitors, with total visitor spending of 402.62 billion yuan, up 6.7% and 7.06% year-on-year respectively.
Striving forward in the 15th Five-Year Plan, Xi'an makes good use of Tang poetry as a unique historical and cultural resource, and through creative transformation and innovative development, makes the "Capital of Tang Poetry" cultural brand shine ever brighter.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Ouyang Jie) According to customs statistics, in the first eight months, the total value of China's goods trade in imports and exports was 34.78 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%. Among this, exports were 20.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.6%; imports were 14.61 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22%.
In August alone, the total value of China's goods trade in imports and exports was 4.65 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.8%. Among this, exports were 2.73 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%; imports were 1.92 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%, with the monthly year-on-year growth rate of imports exceeding that of exports for six consecutive months.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 寇江泽
Reading the news recently, I see that incineration plants in many places are "not getting enough to eat," and there is not even enough garbage to "burn." Is sorting still necessary? There are also individual places where garbage "cannot be piled up anymore." How should this contradiction be resolved?
— Netizen of People's Daily Online
The netizen's question reflects public concern about waste treatment and waste sorting. Implementing waste sorting concerns the quality of the living environment of the broad masses and concerns the conservation and utilization of resources.
The enormous demand for waste treatment has given rise to enterprises related to solid waste disposal and resource utilization. The end-of-pipe treatment capacity of China's household waste has been greatly enhanced, and the level of waste reduction and utilization has continued to improve. In individual regions, the load rate of incineration plants is on the low side and feedstock is insufficient, so aged waste is being excavated and co-incinerated, and there is even cross-regional "scrambling for garbage," giving people the illusion of a "garbage shortage."
First, it must be clarified: is the garbage really "not enough to burn"?
On the whole, there is no "shortage" of garbage to burn. In recent years, the volume of household waste generated has grown steadily, and the pressure of "garbage besieging cities" has not been fundamentally eliminated. But locally, there do indeed exist situations where incineration plants are "not getting enough to eat."
Data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development show that there are 1,137 household waste incineration plants nationwide, treating an average of 1.158 million tons of household waste per day, with an average load rate of 88.7 percent. Industry experts say that the load is within a reasonable range, and that "not enough to burn" is not a shortage in the total volume of garbage, but rather a structural imbalance and regional mismatch between waste treatment capacity and waste generation.
From the perspective of regional distribution, incineration plants in the southeastern coastal provinces are densely laid out, while the layout in some provinces in other regions is relatively sparse. The imbalance between urban and rural areas is also a prominent problem. In some cities, where waste sorting is fully covered, incineration plants are "not getting enough to burn"; in villages in some underdeveloped regions, garbage is still being piled up at will and burned in the open.
In previous years, some regions laid out incineration capacity ahead of demand and in an overly concentrated manner. As waste sorting has advanced, source reduction has taken effect, and incineration treatment technology has continuously improved, incineration treatment capacity in some regions has become excessive. Since the revenue of incineration plants is linked to the volume of waste treated, it is not difficult to understand why the phenomenon of "scrambling for garbage" has emerged.
Why must waste sorting be unswervingly advanced?
China's waste governance has always adhered to the principles of reduction, resource utilization, and harmlessness. Waste-to-energy incineration is only a fallback means of end-of-pipe harmless disposal.
The purpose of building waste incineration plants is to solve the problems of land occupation and heavy pollution in landfill disposal, and to achieve waste volume reduction and energy recovery — not to deliberately manufacture garbage as a "production feedstock." If reduction is relaxed and sorting is abandoned in order to satisfy incineration capacity, it would be no different from confusing the fundamental with the incidental (本末倒置, ben mo dao zhi - "root, end, reverse, invert").
From an economic perspective, from generation to treatment, garbage consumes land, energy, labor, and other resources throughout the entire process. The costs of sorting, collection, transfer, and disposal are far from being covered by the revenue from power generation. From the perspective of pollution emissions, the more garbage an incineration plant treats, the greater the total volume of pollutants it emits.
By contrast, source reduction and sorted recycling have ecological and economic value far higher than sending waste into the incinerator. Sorted recycling is also conducive to the efficient and stable operation of incineration plants. If mixed garbage is sent directly into the incinerator, the kitchen waste contained in it will lead to a high moisture content and incomplete combustion, reducing power generation efficiency and increasing fuel consumption. Therefore, source reduction and waste sorting are mandatory questions that must be answered well.
On one side "not getting enough to eat," on the other "cannot be piled up anymore" — how can this be resolved? The most fundamental approach is to break out of the fixed mindset of end-of-pipe disposal and return to the track of whole-chain governance.
At the source, unswervingly advance waste reduction and sorted recycling, strictly control excessive packaging of commodities, and restrict the indiscriminate use of disposable products. In planning, coordinate and optimize the layout of incineration treatment facilities, and link idle incineration capacity in cities with rural waste disposal needs. In industry, move beyond the model of simply incinerating garbage to generate electricity, and shift toward the comprehensive development of "urban mining," expanding diversified revenue from waste treatment fees, recycling and reuse of renewable resources, carbon emission reduction, and other sources.
In the course of industrial development, one will always encounter "growing pains," which are usually also where opportunities lie. Replace end-of-pipe fallback with whole-chain recycling, take the diversified operational path of resource utilization and recycling, resolve the contradiction of garbage being simultaneously "not enough to burn" and "unable to be piled up" through continuous innovation, promote the high-quality development of the waste treatment industry, and contribute to the steady and long-term progress of building a Beautiful China.
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Changchun, October 10) Zhang Guoqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, conducted research from October 8 to 10 in Jilin Province on the development of advanced manufacturing and the independent innovation of high-end scientific research instruments. He emphasized the need to thoroughly implement the important instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping, implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the direction of intelligence, green development, and integration, continuously strengthen and expand advanced manufacturing, continuously enhance the level of independent controllability of industrial chains, and accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone.
In Changchun City and Jilin City, Zhang Guoqing successively visited enterprises such as FAW Group, Jilin Petrochemical, and Jilin Chemical Fiber, learning in detail about production and operation, research and development innovation, and industry development. He emphasized the need to make greater efforts in promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, and vigorously develop advanced manufacturing. It is necessary to strengthen the principal position of enterprises in innovation, encourage enterprises, especially large enterprises, to strengthen basic research, strengthen industry-university-research collaborative tackling of key problems, deeply implement the high-quality development action for key industrial chains in manufacturing, accelerate breakthroughs in a batch of key core technologies and key common technologies, and consolidate the technological foundation. It is necessary to focus on developing a new generation of intelligent manufacturing, empower the entire process of manufacturing research and development, production, and management with artificial intelligence, accelerate the building of high-quality data sets, actively cultivate industry-specific vertical models and intelligent agents, and cultivate large-scale industrial application scenarios. It is necessary to pay attention to making good use of means such as technological transformation and process upgrading, give play to the guiding role of policies such as equipment renewal, accelerate the widespread application of digital intelligence technology and green technology, and promote the renewal and upgrading of traditional industries. It is necessary to guide state-owned enterprises to focus on their main responsibilities and core businesses to strengthen their layout in the advanced manufacturing field, promote integrated innovation, application integration, and factor agglomeration, drive upstream and downstream coordination and linkage, and continuously enhance the resilience and competitiveness of industrial and supply chains.
Zhang Guoqing also conducted research at high-end scientific research instrument research institutions. He emphasized the need to strengthen basic theoretical research on scientific research instruments, fully give play to the role of national strategic scientific and technological forces such as national laboratories, national scientific research institutions, high-level research universities, and leading science and technology enterprises, deeply root in scientific principles, accumulate technological heritage, and promote source and underlying breakthroughs through systematic tackling of key problems. It is necessary to adhere to the coordinated advancement of hardware, software, standards, and patent layout, make integrated deployments for tackling key problems in complete scientific research instruments, key components, special software, and reagents, as well as the development of standards and patents, and enhance product consistency and performance stability. It is necessary to accelerate the enhancement of common supporting capabilities such as system integration, standards and metrology, pilot testing and verification, and inspection and testing for scientific research instruments, promote the promotion and application of independently developed technology products, and form a virtuous cycle of promoting research through practical application (以用促研, yi yong cu yan - "use, promote, research") and iterative upgrading.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 邱超奕
On October 10, the State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences under the theme "A Good Start for the 15th Five-Year Plan," introducing the relevant situation regarding the promotion of high-quality development in employment and social security.
The reporter learned from the press conference that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's urban areas added a cumulative total of more than 62 million new jobs, and the participation rate of basic old-age insurance was raised to above 95%. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will anchor itself to the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan, make every effort to strengthen the high-quality supply of policies and services, and continuously promote the high-quality development of human resources and social security undertakings.
In the first nine months, 87.7% of this year's target for new urban jobs was completed
Li Zhong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Vice Minister, stated that in the first nine months of this year, 10.52 million new urban jobs were added, completing 87.7% of the annual target; the average surveyed urban unemployment rate in the first eight months was 5.2%, and the overall employment situation remained stable.
Anchoring itself to the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will focus on implementing "2 plans," namely the employment support plan for college graduates and other young people, and the plan to improve the employment quality of flexible workers and workers in new forms of employment. It will carry out "5 actions," including the action to promote employment by adapting to the development of artificial intelligence, the "Skills Illuminate the Future" training action, the action to promote employment for migrant workers, the action to supply high-quality public employment services, and the "Human Resources Services +" integrated development action. It will improve "4 aspects of systems and mechanisms," with the focus on formulating and issuing measures for protecting the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment. In addition, it will improve the mechanism for adjusting the minimum wage standard, build a skill-oriented salary distribution system, and improve the long-term mechanism for addressing wage arrears.
Song Xin, Director of the Employment Promotion Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, stated that the layout of the national regional centers for public employment services will be continuously optimized, and the radiating and driving role of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will be better leveraged. The five-tier public employment service network at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels will be continuously building a dense and solid defense system (织密筑牢, zhi mi zhu lao - "weave dense, build solid"). Home-based employment service stations, standardized zero-hour markets, and embedded community employment service facilities will be built in a coordinated manner, creating a "15-minute employment service circle."
In recent years, the number of college graduates has continued to increase. "Among the employment of key groups, college graduates rank first. We adhere to placing the employment of college graduates and other young people in a prominent position, and make every effort to help them find employment smoothly," Song Xin said.
The human resources and social security departments will strengthen policy incentives. On the one hand, they will improve and implement policies such as tax and fee reductions, employment subsidies, and refunds for maintaining stable employment, to encourage various business entities to stabilize and expand employment; on the other hand, they will make every effort to stabilize the scale of recruitment by government agencies, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises, and coordinate the implementation of grassroots service projects such as the Western Plan and special-post teachers. They will vigorously cultivate new occupations and new positions, and strive to expand growth points for youth employment.
They will strengthen service guarantees. In terms of matching people with positions, they will deepen the activity of bringing public employment services into campuses, carry out the "Career Guidance for the Future" series of recruitment services, and promote efficient matching. They will implement the action to improve the employment skills of one million young people, strengthen training in the currently popular field of artificial intelligence, implement the plan to develop one million employment internship positions, and mobilize various enterprises to provide high-quality internship positions. They will continue to carry out special actions to clean up and rectify the order of the human resources market, and lawfully and severely crack down on illegal and non-compliant acts such as employment discrimination and abuse of internship periods.
They will strengthen targeted assistance. For some college graduates who have left school without finding employment, they will deeply implement the employment service tackling action, and generally provide "1131" real-name services, that is, providing each graduate who has left school without employment with at least 1 policy briefing, 1 career guidance, 3 job recommendations, and 1 training or internship opportunity. If graduates still have not found a job, they can log on to the "Unemployed College Graduate Job Search Registration" mini-program developed by the human resources and social security departments to register their personal situation and service needs, and the human resources and social security departments will promptly provide employment services.
Strive to keep the participation rate of basic old-age insurance stable at above 95%
As of the end of September this year, the number of participants in the national basic old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance reached 1.079 billion, 251 million, and 327 million respectively, and the cumulative balance of the three social insurance funds was 11.2 trillion yuan.
Li Zhong stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it is necessary to continuously enhance the sustainability, fairness and accessibility, security, convenience, and standardization of the system.
Expand coverage and improve quality, and deeply implement the action for high-quality participation in social insurance. Further promote the growth of the number of participants, the optimization of structure, and the improvement of quality, and strive to keep the participation rate of basic old-age insurance stable at above 95%, unemployment insurance participation reaching 255 million people, and work-related injury insurance participation reaching 345 million people during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The focus is on encouraging and supporting flexible workers, migrant workers, and workers in new forms of employment to participate in employee old-age insurance, and establishing and improving a participation mechanism in which employers, platform enterprises, and workers jointly raise funds and reasonably share the burden. At the same time, promote the expansion of the pilot program for occupational injury protection, and bring more workers in new forms of employment into the scope of protection. In terms of unemployment insurance, continue to expand coverage, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, individually owned businesses with employees, and social organizations.
Improve the system and continue to deepen reform. Improve and implement the national unified system for old-age insurance, improve the fund coordination and adjustment mechanism, strengthen the assessment, reward, and punishment mechanism, and accelerate the realization of unified and standardized policies. Improve the social insurance actuarial system, and regularly carry out medium- and long-term revenue and expenditure forecasts.
Ensure security and build a dense and solid risk prevention and control system. Continuously improve the fund safety supervision system that covers all types of insurance and runs through the entire process, improve the cross-departmental coordinated supervision mechanism, and maintain a high-pressure stance against fraud and insurance fraud. At the same time, continue to standardize the investment and operation of basic old-age insurance funds and annuity funds, and steadily achieve value preservation and appreciation and expand strategic reserves.
Build a national electronic map of vocational skills training institutions
Li Zhong stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the country will strive to carry out 50 million person-times of subsidized vocational skills training, add 40 million person-times of newly obtained skills certificates, of which 14 million person-times will obtain skills certificates at the level of senior worker and above.
To improve the quality of supply, it is necessary to closely align with the cultivation of new quality productive forces such as artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, and the needs of "one old, one young" livelihood services, focus on the employment needs of key groups, and strengthen the supply of urgently needed and scarce training programs. For example, carry out general education on artificial intelligence for all workers, carry out the cultivation of digital engineers for practitioners in specialized positions, and carry out artificial intelligence-related training for students in schools. Improve the lifelong vocational skills training system, build a national electronic map of vocational skills training institutions, and promote the construction of electronic archives for skills training.
To strengthen support and guarantees, build a number of national-level high-skilled talent training bases, skill master studios, public training bases, enterprise training bases, and skills competition training bases. Build a number of high-quality technician colleges and 100 high-quality majors, and organize 10,000 backbone teachers from technical colleges to participate in work-study integrated teacher training. Formulate and revise a number of national occupational standards, and further improve the authority, circulation, and recognition of skills certificates.
To strengthen coordinated efforts, improve the cross-departmental coordination mechanism around key links such as the development of occupational standards and the implementation of special training. At the same time, give full play to the leveraging role of training subsidies, commendations, and awards, and stimulate the initiative of enterprises, industry associations, and training and evaluation institutions.
Not long ago, the 48th WorldSkills Competition was held in Shanghai, and the Chinese delegation's contestants achieved excellent results. Wu Liduo, Director of the Vocational Capacity Building Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, stated that it is necessary to give full play to the demonstration and leading role of the WorldSkills Competition, bring the results of the competition into classrooms, workshops, and various skills competitions, deeply carry out the "Skills Illuminate the Future" training action, strive to increase the proportion of skilled talents in the employed population to 35% by 2030, and accelerate the building of a knowledge-based, skilled, and innovative workforce.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Li Changyu) State Councilor and Director of the State Council Working Committee on Disability Affairs Shen Yiqin on the 10th visited the China Administration of Sports for Persons with Disabilities, where she called on and mobilized the Chinese sports delegation about to depart for the Asian Para Games in Nagoya, encouraging them to bear in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's care and instructions, vigorously carry forward the Paralympic spirit and the Chinese sports spirit, do their utmost in preparation and competition, and win greater glory for the motherland and the people.
Shen Yiqin successively visited the track and field venue, the natatorium, and the weightlifting hall, where she watched training in the relevant events, had cordial exchanges with the para-athletes and their coaches, inquired about pre-competition training arrangements, physical condition adjustment, and logistical support, and encouraged everyone to fight with great courage and determination, do their utmost, strengthen confidence, take advantage of a favorable trend, and strive for the best results.
Shen Yiqin stressed that with an eye to the Los Angeles Paralympic Games, the Asian Para Games should be used as real-world training to temper a Chinese Paralympic team capable of fighting and winning. She called for upholding fair competition, maintaining good competition discipline and civilized etiquette, winning gold medals of morality, gold medals of style, and gold medals of cleanliness, and achieving success in both competitive performance and spiritual civilization. She called for strengthening friendly exchanges, telling well the stories of China and of Chinese people with disabilities, and showcasing the new achievements of China's undertakings for persons with disabilities and its human rights cause. She called for effectively preventing and defusing various risks, making meticulous and thorough arrangements for service and support, and ensuring the safe and smooth completion of the competition by the Chinese delegation.
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Zheng Zhi) The Chinese sports delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, organized by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was established in Beijing on the 10th. This is the largest delegation China has sent to an overseas Asian Para Games.
The Chinese sports delegation totals 500 people, including 312 athletes (146 male and 166 female), drawn from 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, covering 13 ethnic groups, with an average age of approximately 28.8 years, the oldest being 50 and the youngest 16. All athletes are amateurs, coming from different groups such as workers, students, office workers, and freelancers. Cheng Kai, Chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and Chairman of the Chinese Paralympic Committee, serves as the head of the delegation; Zhou Zhangkui, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director-General, serves as the executive head; and Chang Zheng, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director-General, serves as deputy head and secretary-general.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games will feature 18 major sports, including athletics, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair fencing, blind football, wheelchair basketball, and sitting volleyball, with over 500 minor events. It is expected that more than 3,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will participate. The Chinese sports delegation will compete in 335 minor events across 17 major sports.
A relevant official stated that the Chinese sports delegation will keep in mind the oath of "mission on our shoulders, striving in our actions," striving with great perseverance (顽强拼搏, wan qiang pin bo - "tenacious, struggle") and striving to be first through courageous effort (奋勇争先, fen yong zheng xian - "brave, fight, compete, first"), working hard to achieve two successes simultaneously (双丰收, shuang feng shou - "double, abundant, harvest") in athletic performance and spiritual civilization, and to show the international community the good spiritual outlook of Chinese disabled people in the new era and the achievements of the development of the cause for disabled people. Through their outstanding performance at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, the delegation will inspire and encourage the vast number of disabled people to actively participate in sports and fitness activities, integrate into society, realize their dreams, and make new and greater contributions to comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
The 5th Asian Para Games will be held from October 18 to 24 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. This is China's fifth time participating in the Asian Para Games.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Lin Lili) In order to earnestly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important directive spirit on the "four strictest" requirements for food safety, and to safeguard public health and life safety, recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation researched and drafted the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised Draft for Comment)" and is now soliciting public comments.
The main contents of the revision include 5 aspects: Consolidating primary responsibility. It stipulates that food production and business operators and online food trading platform operators shall, in accordance with regulations, appoint food safety directors and food safety officers, clarify job responsibilities, and strengthen training and assessment; requires food production enterprises to establish a food production process control record system; establishes a system for postal and express delivery enterprises to conduct real-name collection, inspection of items upon collection, and security screening through machines; regulates commissioned production behavior, clarifying the qualification conditions of the commissioning party and the commissioned party.
Strengthening supervision of key areas. A special section on "School Food Safety" is added, establishing the principal (kindergarten director) responsibility system and a system for accompanying meals in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens during collective dining; a special section on "Online Food Business Operations" is added, implementing tiered filing management and clarifying the primary responsibilities of platforms, livestream room operators, livestream marketing personnel, and other parties; clarifying that cross-border e-commerce enterprises bear the primary responsibility for the safety of imported food, food additives, and food-related products in cross-border e-commerce.
Optimizing food safety management systems. The scope of food safety risk monitoring is expanded to include food additives and food-related products; infant and toddler supplementary food is incorporated into special food supervision with filing management implemented; regulating food labeling and commercial publicity, strictly prohibiting false or misleading information (虚假误导, xu jia wu dao - "false, mislead"); strictly managing food inspection and regulating commissioned inspection behavior.
Strengthening smart supervision. Promoting the application of "Internet + artificial intelligence" in supervision, clarifying that food production and business operators shall install monitoring equipment at key risk points in food production and business operations, and connect real-time surveillance video information to the information systems of market supervision and administration departments of local people's governments at or above the county level; granting regulatory departments the authority to conduct non-site inspections such as IoT monitoring and video patrols.
Improving the legal liability system. Setting differentiated penalty ranges by type of violation; strictly implementing "penalties to individuals," imposing penalties on responsible personnel for intentional violations, egregious conduct, and violations that cause serious consequences; completing the penalty provisions corresponding to newly added obligations to increase the cost of violations; implementing a food safety credit management system and cross-departmental disciplinary action for dishonesty.
Next, the State Administration for Market Regulation will improve the revised draft based on feedback from the public comment period, and accelerate the revision process in accordance with legislative procedure requirements, providing a solid legal guarantee for regulating food production and business activities, preventing and defusing risks, strengthening supervision and law enforcement, and safeguarding the people's food safety.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 林丽鹂
On October 10, the State Administration for Market Regulation publicly solicited opinions on the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised Draft for Comment)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comment"). This is a large-scale systematic revision of the Food Safety Law following its promulgation and implementation in 2009 and its relatively substantial revision in 2015.
For the first time, new business formats such as livestream e-commerce are included within the scope of adjustment
Campus food safety involves a large volume of meal supply, a sensitive dining population, and a high degree of social concern. The Draft for Comment adds a dedicated section on "school food safety," establishing a principal (kindergarten director) responsibility system and instituting a system of shared meals by accompanying personnel for centralized dining in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens.
"The provisions of the current Food Safety Law on campus food safety are relatively principled in nature. Relying solely on departmental rules or regulatory documents lacks sufficient authority and binding force, making it necessary to further elevate the level of legislation and strengthen the law's binding force. In recent years, in the course of promoting the special rectification of prominent problems with 'campus meals,' we have explored and formed a set of highly effective and practical (行之有效, xing zhi you xiao - "go, that, have, effective") working measures, and it is necessary to elevate these into institutional provisions," said a person in charge of the Food Coordination Division of the State Administration for Market Regulation.
New business formats such as online retail, online food ordering, livestream e-commerce, and cross-border e-commerce are constantly emerging, and food safety problems under these new business formats are becoming increasingly prominent. The Draft for Comment adds a dedicated section on "online food business operations."
"This revision has achieved full coverage extending from platform responsibility to operators within the platform, and from traditional e-commerce to livestream marketing," introduced Li Chunlei (李春雷), a professor at People's Public Security University of China. For example, the responsible subject has been uniformly standardized from "third-party platform providers for online food transactions" to "operators of online food transaction platforms," and the management targets have been expanded from "food business operators accessing the network" to "operators within the platform and livestream room operators," bringing new business formats such as livestream e-commerce into the scope of adjustment for the first time.
Liu Jinrui (刘金瑞), a research fellow at the Institute of Rule of Law of the China Law Society, said: "In addition to requiring operators within the platform and production and business operators who sell food through self-built websites to display food label information for prepackaged food on the product detail page, this revision also newly adds requirements for public disclosure of information on edible agricultural products, requiring the marking of their name, place of origin, contact information, business address, and so forth in a prominent position on the product detail page, and encouraging the display of information such as edible agricultural product commitment-to-standard conformity certificates and traceability labels."
In addition, with regard to the issue of food additives that concerns the public, Liu Junyun (刘筠筠), a professor at the Food Safety Law Research Center of Beijing Technology and Business University, introduced that the Draft for Comment establishes a filing and record management requirement for the sale of food additives. The core objective is to fill the institutional shortcomings in the sales segment of food additives, consolidate the primary responsibility of food production and business operators, strengthen the capacity for source tracing and process control, build an integrated regulatory chain for production and sales, enhance the precision level of in-process and post-hoc supervision of food additives, and achieve early detection, early warning, and early handling of risks.
Online catering service providers are required to publicly disclose in real time video of the food processing and preparation process
Traditional regulatory methods can no longer match the industrial characteristics of the food sector, which has a large volume, scattered distribution, and new business formats emerging in an endless stream (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong - "layer, emerge, not, exhausted"). Sun Juanjuan (孙娟娟), an associate professor at Hebei Agricultural University, introduced that the Draft for Comment requires online catering service providers to publicly disclose in real time, in video form, the food processing and preparation process of catering food, subject to social supervision; and requires food production and business enterprises to install monitoring equipment at key risk-control points and to connect real-time video information to the information systems of market regulation departments at or above the county level. In addition, the Draft for Comment also explicitly requires people's governments at or above the county level to accelerate the application of "Internet + artificial intelligence" in the field of food safety, so as to enhance the effectiveness of territorial supervision and management.
"The inclusion of smart regulation in the law is not merely a technological application upgrade; it also carries important institutional value and significance for improving the quality and effectiveness of regulation," said Liu Peng (刘鹏), a professor at Renmin University of China. "By using technical means to transform enterprises' control responsibilities from internal optional actions into statutory requirements subject to government regulation and social supervision, and by fully disclosing food safety-related information, it is possible to reverse enterprises' mentality of taking chances and force enterprises to proactively strengthen process control."
The greatest difficulty in food safety problems lies in the highly asymmetric nature of information. The implementation of smart regulation can effectively increase the quantity, quality, speed, and effectiveness of food safety information disclosure, and effectively safeguard consumers' right to know and right to choose. "Smart regulation can transform previously closed production and business operation segments into transparent public information, and expand the right to evaluate food safety from sole government regulation to comprehensive social co-governance," Liu Peng said.
Directly confronting controversial issues such as "severe punishment for minor violations" and "professional consumer-rights litigants"
When the current Food Safety Law was revised in 2015, the starting point for fines was raised from the original 2,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan, reflecting the legislative approach of using severe punishments to control disorder (重典治乱, zhong dian zhi luan - "heavy, punishment, govern, chaos") and playing an important role in safeguarding food safety. However, in law enforcement practice, problems such as "severe punishment for minor violations" and "professional consumer-rights litigants" have sparked controversy.
"The most systematic modification in the legal liability chapter of this revision is the comprehensive adjustment of the method for calculating fines, marking the shift of administrative penalties in food safety from rough discretionary determination toward gradient-based refined governance," Li Chunlei introduced. Under the original law, for cases where the value of the goods involved was less than 10,000 yuan, an absolute numerical fine was generally applied, such as "a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan," and regardless of the scale of the violation, the fine was determined within the same range. Violations involving goods worth one hundred yuan and those worth more than 9,000 yuan were both subject to the same fine range, making "severe punishment for minor violations" likely to occur. After the revision, the main penalty provisions have been uniformly changed to fines calculated as multiples of the value of the goods involved, enabling the amount of the fine to match the scale of the violation more precisely.
The Draft for Comment also makes important modifications to the provisions on punitive damages for consumers. Li Chunlei introduced that the subject entitled to claim punitive damages has been narrowed from "consumers" to "consumers who purchase out of the need for personal life consumption," excluding non-life-consumption purchasers such as professional malicious claimants from the scope of application of punitive damages, responding to the problems of rampant professional claims and frequent malicious litigation in practice. The relevant judicial interpretation of the Supreme People's Court has already made clear that punitive damages should be supported within the scope of "reasonable personal life consumption needs." The Draft for Comment confirms this adjudication rule at the legal level, both preserving the institutional channel through which consumers can defend their rights through punitive damages and curbing malicious claim behavior aimed at profit-making.
Return to TopRecently, aquaculture farmers are carrying out management and maintenance operations in the kelp farming area of Longwangtang waters in Dalian, Liaoning Province.
Photo by Lü Wenzheng (Image China)
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Liu Zhiqiang) High-frequency data released by the National Information Center of the National Development and Reform Commission show that in the third quarter, existing policies and incremental policies worked in concert and took effect collectively, pushing the economy to maintain a trend of maintaining stability while making progress (稳中有进, wen zhong you jin - "stable, within, have, advance") and improving while remaining stable, with growth momentum continuing to accumulate.
On the consumption front, big data on offline consumption show that in the third quarter, the amount of various types of consumer payments increased by 2.6% year on year, with the growth rate up 0.7 percentage points from the second quarter, of which goods consumption grew by 4.5%. In September, the amount of offline payments increased by 3.1% year on year, with the growth rate up 0.5 percentage points from August, rising for three consecutive months. Data from "Shouqianba," which reflects the vitality of small and medium-sized merchants, show that in September, the amount of payments increased by 5.7% year on year, with the growth rate up 1.3 percentage points from the previous month. Since the third quarter, China's various consumption-promotion policies have continued to expand in scope and intensify, residents' willingness to consume has steadily recovered, and market consumption demand has been continuously released.
On the investment front, in the third quarter, especially in September, various policies for stabilizing investment formed a combined package and were implemented in coordination, with the guarantee of investment funds significantly strengthened. Capital investment data show that in the third quarter, capital investment amounts in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots increased by 184.1% year on year, and in September increased by 198.7% year on year.
On the foreign trade front, the high-prosperity trend continued. In the third quarter, the loaded tonnage of cargo ships departing from and arriving at major ports increased by 43.1% and 0.3% year on year respectively, up 43.0 and 0.7 percentage points from the second quarter; among them, in September, the figures increased by 53.2% and 4.5% year on year respectively.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 郑 翔
At dawn, as the sun climbed above the horizon, the village of Maringonde in Banda Township, Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, gradually came alive. Some villagers carried buckets, others held basins, gathering one after another at the newly built water collection points, waiting to fetch water. Villager Mary turned on a brand-new tap, and clear running water instantly flowed into her bucket, the splashing water bright and free of any impurities. "Before, we had to walk five kilometers to the river to fetch water; now we can get clean water just at the entrance to the village," she said happily.
This is the visible change that the Lilongwe Banda Water Supply Pipeline Network Optimization Project has brought to villagers' lives. The project, undertaken by PowerChina Municipal Construction Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "PowerChina Municipal"), began construction in February 2024, was completed and entered its warranty period on June 30, 2025, and recently passed acceptance inspection. The smooth commissioning of the project is now helping the locality resolve its long-standing water supply difficulties.
"For the first time, the water supply coverage has been extended from the main urban area to the suburbs"
Banda Township, where Mary's family lives, is located about 30 kilometers east of the Lilongwe city outskirts. Due to funding and planning reasons, this area had long been excluded from the municipal centralized pipeline water supply system. Now, with the implementation of the Lilongwe Banda Water Supply Pipeline Network Optimization Project, the newly built pump house, storage reservoirs, and 29 kilometers of pipelines have been put into use, and this area has begun to be incorporated into the municipal water supply management system.
The project has a total of 27 standardized water collection points. At present, the water resource utilization rate in this area has risen to 85 percent, and the water supply stability rate has reached over 98 percent, directly resolving the drinking water safety issue for about 50,000 villagers and indirectly benefiting 15,000 permanent residents in the surrounding area.
According to project manager Li Chunfeng, since 2018, PowerChina Municipal has successively implemented five water supply projects in Lilongwe. The early projects mainly focused on repairing the aging pipeline network in the core area of the main city, striving to unclog the "main arteries" of water supply and resolve the "last kilometer" bottleneck in the old urban area. Li Chunfeng said: "The Banda project, for the first time, extended the water supply coverage from the main urban area to the suburbs, allowing this livelihood project to benefit a broader group of people."
Kasomsuwa, 33 years old, owns about 2,000 square meters of land on the outskirts of Lilongwe. Due to unstable irrigation water sources, the returns from growing vegetables had never been satisfactory. "In the past, farming depended on the weather; even with orders, I dared not take on more," he said. After the water supply project was put into operation, the irrigation water source was guaranteed, and he immediately expanded his planting scale, newly planting water-intensive but high-yield vegetable varieties such as tomatoes and onions. "With a stable water source, everyone's enthusiasm for production has greatly increased. Catering, car washing, and other service establishments on the outskirts have opened one after another, and the surrounding communities have also become livelier."
"In the suburbs, the water supply project emerged from nothingness into existence (从无到有, cóng wú dào yǒu - "from nothing to something"), and everyone's satisfaction has far exceeded our expectations," Li Chunfeng introduced. Following this project, PowerChina Municipal also signed the Msandwe project, which will extend water supply coverage to 30 kilometers west of Lilongwe.
"The projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises have achieved remarkable results in expanding water supply coverage and ensuring residents' access to water," said David Mbewe, chairman of the board of the Lilongwe Water Board, the project owner.
"Accumulating experience for the digital transformation of the national water system"
The Mzuzu Dam is the water source of the project. Standing atop the dam, the view suddenly opens up — the forest on the banks is lush and verdant vegetation (郁郁葱葱, yù yù cōng cōng - "lush, green, and luxuriant"), stretching as far as the eye can see. Crisp bird calls constantly rising and falling in succession (此起彼伏, cǐ qǐ bǐ fú - "rising and falling, one after another") echo through the woods. "Compared to directly drawing from rivers with unstable flow, the dam's regulation capacity is the key to ensuring water supply," said project safety director Yuan Guangming.
"The original intention of the project design was not only to let local residents have water to drink, but more importantly, to let them drink good water. We ensure the safety of every drop of drinking water from the source," Yuan Guangming said. The dam is equipped with a dedicated water intake and grilles, which can intercept branches, weeds, and other debris and regulate the intake volume. After raw water undergoes natural sedimentation in sedimentation tanks, it enters the purification area for coagulation, filtration, and disinfection treatment. The final treated water is stored in clean water tanks pending transfer and output. Each process step is subject to strict water quality testing, with key indicators monitored in real time, ensuring that the entire water supply process meets standards.
The pumping station is the "power heart" of the entire water supply process. Treated clean water is pressurized and sent to the hilltop storage reservoir, then delivered through the main and secondary pipeline networks. However, the completion of this system was no easy task. Lilongwe is located on a plateau, with high groundwater levels, many soft-soil road sections, and complex terrain along the route, making pipeline laying difficult. In response, the project team innovatively adopted methods such as riprap displacement and dewatering with soil replacement, which both ensured the safety of foundation pits and stabilized the pipeline foundations. When crossing roads and rivers, trenchless techniques such as directional drilling and segmented pipe jacking were flexibly applied, minimizing the impact of construction on traffic and residents' daily lives.
Once the pipelines are laid, management must keep pace. The project's daily water supply capacity can reach 15,000 cubic meters. To improve water supply efficiency and ensure water quality, the project is equipped with an intelligent water supply monitoring system that can track water pressure, flow, and leakage conditions in real time and support remote dispatch. "The system collects data through sensors, transmitting information such as water levels, flow, and leakage back in real time, achieving comprehensive monitoring and dispatch management of the entire water supply process. The pipeline network leakage rate has dropped from 25 percent to below 12 percent, electricity consumption has been reduced by 20 to 30 percent, and water supply efficiency and operation and maintenance levels have reached the advanced standards of similar African cities," introduced project chief engineer Zhou Mengyuan. "This system is currently quite mature in China, and its application in African countries is gradually increasing. We have conducted centralized training for local employees and arranged for staff to learn operations together with the owner until they have fully mastered it."
"The application of the intelligent monitoring system has made water supply data more transparent and fault response more timely, accumulating experience for the digital transformation of the national water system," said Elias Chimulambe, Principal Secretary of Malawi's Ministry of Water and Sanitation. He stated that this project has not only effectively alleviated the urgent water needs of local residents but has also explored a viable path for the digitalization and sustainable development of Malawi's national water supply system.
"It gave me a job and also taught me skills that provide lifelong benefits"
"Today's inspection went smoothly, and no leakage points were found." When reporters met James, he had just completed a day's work inspecting the pipeline network for leakage points.
James, 42, is the project's pipeline network operation and maintenance team leader, responsible for leading the daily operation and maintenance of the pump house and pipelines. Who would have thought that when he first arrived at the project, he was completely ignorant of something (一无所知, yī wú suǒ zhī - "knowing nothing at all") about pipeline network operations. "We adopted methods such as 'one-on-one' master-apprentice pairing and hands-on practical teaching, providing hands-on, step-by-step guidance (手把手, shǒu bǎ shǒu - "hand in hand, personally") to him in hot-melt butt fusion and pressure testing," Zhou Mengyuan said. Through systematic training and continuous practice, James mastered the full set of water supply operation and maintenance skills and has now become a backbone member of the project team.
James's current income has increased threefold compared to when he first joined. "Before, I relied on odd jobs to support my family, living hand to mouth with uncertain food supply (吃了上顿愁下顿, chī le shàng dùn chóu xià dùn - "eat one meal and worry about the next"). Now I have a fixed salary, and I feel much more at ease," James said proudly. "I am also the first person in the village to understand water supply technology. The Chinese enterprise not only gave me a job but also taught me skills that provide lifelong benefits."
There are many employees like James on the project. Martin, a Kenyan employee, has worked at PowerChina Municipal for eight years and is skilled in pipeline construction. Every time he rushes to a leakage site, he can quickly diagnose the cause of the fault and accurately report the required spare parts model. On one occasion, when the project's 800-millimeter diameter main water pipe burst, he led the team in rapid repairs: cutting the damaged pipe, cleaning the pipe opening, and reinforcing the pipe foundation... He is also called the "leak-stopping expert" by his colleagues.
Peter Dimba, Member of Parliament for the Lilongwe South constituency, highly praised the project team's localized management approach. "Chinese enterprises have not only helped us build water supply projects but have also helped Lilongwe cultivate a group of technical talents," Dimba said. "What they have delivered is not just water, but opportunities for development. All of this truly benefits local residents."
(People's Daily, Lilongwe)
Return to TopBy: 塞西莉娅·盖尔兰
Diluting, falsifying, or even whitewashing history will only cause future generations to lose vigilance and increase the risk of the tragedy of war repeating itself.
This year, the San Francisco National Cemetery in California, United States, held an event commemorating the 84th anniversary of the "Bataan Death March." The "Bataan Death March," together with the Nanjing Massacre and the Death Railway between Burma and Thailand, are known as the "three major wartime atrocities of the Far East." Remembering this history is meant to enable the world to truly draw lessons from war. Especially for contemporary young students, only by clearly recognizing the cruel reality of war and understanding that peace is extremely difficult to obtain or achieve (来之不易, lai zhi bu yi - "come, arrive, not, easy") can they grow into the backbone of future society who bear responsibility. History will not dissipate with the wind, nor should it be falsified; otherwise, tragedy may repeat itself in new forms.
I grew up in the Philippines. The war stories my father told sounded like Western cowboy stories to me as a young child. It was not until 2011 that I gradually came to understand the cruel truth behind those stories.
My father enlisted in November 1941. On December 8 of the same year, the Philippines was attacked by Japanese forces. Less than a month later, on January 5, 1942, soldiers' food rations were cut in half; by March, rations had been reduced to one-quarter of the original amount. On April 3, 1942, Japanese forces began carpet-bombing Mount Samat. By that time, the vast majority of soldiers were already extremely weak and frail (虚弱不堪, xu ruo bu kan - "weak, not, able to bear") from disease and hunger. In utter despair, some soldiers chose to take their own lives. My father once told me that he was writing his last letter at the time. When I asked him whether he had ever thought of ending his life, he remained silent, and only scalding tears quietly welled up in his eyes.
With no reinforcements, no air support, and suffering from hunger and disease, the American and Filipino defenders held out on the Bataan Peninsula for 99 days until they were forced to surrender on April 9. The vast majority of soldiers were by then disease-ridden and feeling extremely hungry (饥肠辘辘, ji chang lu lu - "hungry, stomach, rumbling"), yet they were forced to march 65 miles (approximately 105 kilometers) through an extreme tropical environment to the O'Donnell prisoner-of-war camp. Along the way there was no food, water, shelter, or medical supplies, and large numbers of people died from hunger, disease, and wanton killing by Japanese troops. After arriving at the camp, approximately 20,000 Filipino soldiers and 1,600 American soldiers also died. This event later became known as the "Bataan Death March."
In interviewing Filipino and American veterans, I found that many of them had never mentioned those painful experiences to their children or families. Whenever they recalled the horrific life-and-death march of those years, or the suffering and torment they endured on the way to the POW camp and afterward, they would often break down emotionally, weeping so hard that one cannot speak (泣不成声, qi bu cheng sheng - "weep, not, become, sound"). It was precisely by listening to the stories of these veterans that I came to appreciate more deeply the sacrifices they made, and to cherish even more the hard-won years of peace we enjoy today.
To this day, the war crimes committed by Japanese militarism during World War II face the risk of being selectively forgotten. How to preserve the integrity and truth of historical memory is a question every generation must confront. We should collect original documents as much as possible and present unvarnished historical facts to young students. Between 2014 and 2016, the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, headquartered in California, cooperated with local education authorities in the state's curriculum revision process, incorporating the history of the Philippine theater of World War II into the eleventh-grade U.S. history curriculum framework, with the relevant content included in Chapter 16. This recommendation was approved by the California State Board of Education in July 2016. Recently, I also took the lead in establishing the World War II Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Coalition, aimed at honoring the group of nurses who did their utmost to save tens of thousands of lives. The younger generation must confront the cruel truth of war, and must also recognize that peace is never a gift that comes easily, but an achievement that must be safeguarded with care.
The victims of the "Bataan Death March" received no compensation from Japan. This important chapter of World War II history has not been incorporated into the education system in Japan; in the Philippines, the relevant teaching content is also pitifully scant, which is heartbreaking. History should be told according to the way it actually happened, and must never be selectively edited to cater to current political maneuvering or diplomatic winds. Diluting, falsifying, or even whitewashing history will only cause future generations to lose vigilance and increase the risk of the tragedy of war repeating itself.
(The author is the executive director of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society)
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Taiyuan, October 10) Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, held the 28th China-France Strategic Dialogue on October 10 in Datong with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president.
Wang Yi said that the China-France Strategic Dialogue has served head-of-state diplomacy and consolidated political mutual trust. China is willing to work with France to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and to make new efforts for China-France and China-EU relations to develop steadily and enduringly, and for promoting peace, stability, and development in the world.
Wang Yi stated that China is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with France, continue to strengthen and expand cooperation in traditional fields such as aerospace and nuclear energy, and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as advanced manufacturing, green and low-carbon development, and artificial intelligence. He expressed the hope that France will provide policy support and a favorable environment for Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in France. China and France should strengthen communication and coordination, jointly promote the implementation of the four major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, and work together to build a more just and equitable global governance system. He expressed the hope that France will adhere to its commitment to the One-China policy and safeguard the political foundation of China-France relations.
Bonne said that France is willing to work with China to continuously build a comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect, friendly and mutual trust (友好互信, you hao hu xin - "friendly, mutual, trust"), solid and stable (扎实牢固, zha shi lao gu - "solid, real; firm, strong"), and vitality. France adheres to the One-China policy. France looks forward to close high-level exchanges between the two sides, strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation (互利合作, hu li he zuo - "mutual, benefit; combine, work") in various fields, and better benefiting the people of both countries. France will continue to provide a predictable business environment for Chinese enterprises. France positively evaluates China's global initiatives and is willing to strengthen multilateral coordination with China.
Wang Yi said that China and Europe can fully resolve economic and trade differences through dialogue and push the relationship back onto a track of stable and healthy development. He expressed the hope that France will continue to play a constructive role in China-EU mutually beneficial cooperation.
Bonne said that the European side does not wish to fight a trade war with China, does not seek "decoupling" from China, and is willing to be a credible and reliable partner of China.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 曹师韵
"The ever-growing BRICS cooperation mechanism has provided an important platform for emerging markets and developing countries to expand their development space and enhance their international voice." Raihan Ronodipuro, a researcher at the ASEAN-China Research Center of the University of Indonesia, said in a recent interview with a reporter that in the future, BRICS countries should further deepen practical cooperation and continuously enhance the participation capacity of Global South countries in global governance and the formulation of international rules.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation. "Over the past 20 years, BRICS cooperation has evolved from an economic concept in research reports into an important platform for solidarity and cooperation among emerging economies and Global South countries," Ronodipuro said. The establishment of mechanisms such as the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement has provided developing countries with new options for broadening financing channels and safeguarding financial stability. At the same time, trade and investment among BRICS countries have continued to expand, mechanisms such as local currency settlement have been explored, and extensive cooperation mechanisms have been established in fields including health, agriculture, science and technology, education, and people-to-people exchanges.
"The continuous growth and expansion of the BRICS cooperation mechanism conforms to the trend of the times characterized by the profound evolution of the world pattern and the collective rise of the Global South, and also reflects the common aspiration of emerging markets and developing countries to enhance the representativeness and voice of developing countries in global governance and to participate more deeply in the formulation of international rules," Ronodipuro said. The concept of BRICS cooperation has gained recognition from a growing number of developing countries.
At the New Delhi BRICS Summit, President Xi Jinping proposed that BRICS countries should be pioneers in promoting innovative development, pioneers in safeguarding peace and stability, pioneers in advancing mutual learning among civilizations (文明互鉴, wen ming hu jian - "civilization, mutually, learn from each other"), and pioneers in reforming and improving global governance. He also put forward five initiatives for deepening BRICS cooperation: the Artificial Intelligence Open Source and Inclusive Initiative, the Trade and Investment Facilitation Initiative, the Digital Industry Cooperation Initiative, the Intelligent Manufacturing Cooperation Initiative, and the Science and Technology Talent Cultivation Initiative.
"Throughout the course of BRICS cooperation, China has always been a stable and constructive driving force," Ronodipuro said. The series of initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping have pointed out a clearer direction for BRICS cooperation. He believes that China has actively promoted the expansion of BRICS membership and "Greater BRICS Cooperation," continuously expanding its "circle of friends" with developing countries, reflecting an open and inclusive concept of cooperation. China has continuously advanced practical BRICS cooperation through infrastructure cooperation and technology sharing and other means.
The New Delhi Declaration states that, building on the foundation of BRICS cooperation over the past 20 years, the "three-wheel drive" cooperation of the expanded BRICS in political security, economy, trade and finance, and people-to-people exchanges should be further strengthened. By promoting peace, building a more representative and more equitable international order, revitalizing and reforming the multilateral system, advancing sustainable development and inclusive growth, and deepening the BRICS strategic partnership, the aim is to benefit the people of all countries. In Ronodipuro's view, in the future BRICS countries need to further translate consensus into concrete action, promote the implementation of more specific cooperation projects in fields such as infrastructure, health, digital connectivity, and trade facilitation, and enable ordinary people to enjoy more of the fruits of BRICS cooperation. At the same time, BRICS countries also need to strengthen coordination on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, the Group of Twenty, and the World Trade Organization, so as to promote a global governance system that better reflects the interests and aspirations of the vast number of developing countries.
Ronodipuro said that China can continue to play an important role in practical BRICS cooperation in the future. "China can share development experience and technology, support capacity building in developing countries, and further promote dialogue between BRICS countries and ASEAN countries," he said. "I very much look forward to the arrival of the BRICS 'China Year.' I look forward to China, during its presidency, further consolidating and expanding the achievements of BRICS cooperation, helping new members, including Indonesia, better integrate into the various BRICS cooperation mechanisms, and promoting more tangible results in cooperation across various fields."
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Johannesburg, October 10) The "Governance Reading Club: China's Practice and China-Africa Cooperation" was held on the 9th in Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital. Political, academic, and business figures from South Africa exchanged views on topics including the Chinese Communist Party's governance experience and China-Africa relations. The reading club was co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, the Europe-Africa Center of the China International Communications Group, and the University of Venda.
Cedric Frolick, Chairperson of the National Assembly's House Chairperson of Committees in South Africa, said that China is the world's second-largest economy, a leading country in global scientific and technological innovation, and an important participant in international affairs. China insists on formulating long-term development plans and ensures through sustained, concrete action that these plans are completed smoothly and productively. China has achieved world-renowned achievements (举世瞩目, ju shi zhu mu - "raise, world, gaze, look") in economic and social development, and its experience is worth learning from for South Africa and other African countries.
Return to TopIn recent days, at the dock of the Oriental Port Affairs Branch Company of Lianyungang Port in Jiangsu Province, several cargo ships have been orderly loading "Made in China" engineering vehicles and machinery, preparing to sail to African countries, presenting a bustling scene (一派繁忙, yi pai fan mang - "one, batch, busy, scene") at the port area.
The photo shows a large batch of engineering machinery being loaded onto ships for export at the dock on October 10.
Photo by Wang Chun (Image China)
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Bai Yuanqi) On October 10, the Sixth China–Pacific Island Countries Political Parties Dialogue, hosted by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was held in Beijing under the theme "Jointly Writing a New Chapter in Building a China–Pacific Island Countries Community with a Shared Future." Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, as well as political party leaders and ambassadors to China from Pacific island countries, including Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga Ratu, attended the event.
Liu Haixing stated that, under the joint guidance of President Xi Jinping and leaders of Pacific island countries, the building of a China–Pacific Island Countries Community with a Shared Future has achieved positive results. The Communist Party of China is willing to strengthen strategic communication with political parties of Pacific island countries, deepen exchanges on governance and party-building experience through exchanging and learning from each other (交流互鉴, jiaoliu hujian - "exchange, mutually learn from"), expand "political party plus" cooperation, and contribute the strength of political parties to the building of a China–Pacific Island Countries Community with a Shared Future.
The foreign participants stated that China is a true friend and good partner of Pacific island countries. The island countries firmly adhere to the one-China principle, oppose any form of "Taiwan independence" activities, and are willing to maintain close inter-party exchanges with China, deepen practical cooperation and regional coordination, and promote greater development of bilateral relations.
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 10) In response to a question from reporters regarding the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck Panama, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on the 10th that China extends its condolences to the Panamanian government and the people in the disaster-affected areas. As of now, there have been no reports of Chinese citizens killed or injured in the earthquake.
The spokesperson stated that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Panama will continue to closely monitor the relevant situation and provide necessary assistance to Chinese citizens in need in a timely manner. We remind Chinese citizens in Panama to guard against secondary disasters caused by the earthquake.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 倪 弋
On October 10, the State Council Information Office held a press conference with Chinese and foreign journalists under the theme "Strivers on the New Journey," inviting five representatives from the procuratorial system to exchange views with Chinese and foreign journalists around the theme "Strengthening Procuratorial Supervision, Fulfilling the Duties of the State's Legal Supervision Organs."
"General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized 'striving to let the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case.' The two characters 'feel' (感受) carry profound weight, requiring us to handle cases to the satisfaction of the common people." Xie Wenkai, a fourth-level senior prosecutor at the People's Procuratorate of Wuqing District, Tianjin, introduced that he had handled a pension fraud case involving more than 22 million yuan, in which over 160 elderly people filed reports with agitated emotions. If we merely arrested people and filed prosecutions, but the money could not be recovered, the problem would still not be fully solved for the elderly.
Xie Wenkai intervened early to guide investigation, gathering evidence of fraud and also tracing the flow of funds, preventing the stolen money from being transferred or squandered; facing the suspect's resistance and the family's non-cooperation, he lawfully and resolutely ordered seizure, freezing, and detention, and urged each person to return illicit gains through legal education, ultimately recovering more than 19 million yuan. After the verdict was announced, he issued procuratorial recommendations, promoted regulatory gap-filling, and carried out anti-fraud legal outreach.
In handling a case involving a new-type online platform, Cong Xinsha, a fourth-level senior prosecutor at the People's Procuratorate of Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, studied the platform's operating model, grasped the essence of defrauding property, and ultimately brought the criminals to justice (bringing criminals to justice (绳之以法, sheng zhi yi fa - "rope, with, law")) for the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes.
Some pharmacies purchased or rented medical insurance cards, fraudulently invoicing drugs and treatment items to extract medical insurance funds. Cong Xinsha promoted the construction of a "digital supervision model for fraudulent empty-billing in medical insurance," using the mastered settlement records of involved insurance cards to screen suspicious pharmacies, then cross-checking pharmacy settlements to trace suspicious cardholders, colliding data to generate batch leads, and through case-filing supervision, pursuing omitted offenders, and adding omitted charges, coordinated with relevant departments to recover a total of over ten million yuan in medical insurance funds.
"Resolving conflicts and disputes requires being 'close-to-the-heart and knowing-the-heart' — being close-to-the-heart means being a confidant of the masses, keeping the interests of the masses at heart; being knowing-the-heart means being a confidant who understands the masses, carefully analyzing the demands of the masses." Song Xidong, a fourth-level senior prosecutor at the People's Procuratorate of Gushi County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, introduced a dispute he had resolved involving one house sold to two buyers. The first buyer was a migrant worker who had spent enormous time selecting the house and absolutely refused to let it go; the second buyer was an elderly person who, having used all his savings to purchase the house, was determined to keep it at all costs. The salesperson who had misappropriated the funds faced criminal punishment and was tempted to give up on oneself after a setback (破罐子破摔, po guan zi po shuai - "break, jar, broken, smash").
The first choice of both buyers was to obtain the house, and their bottom line was to recover the purchase money. Song Xidong communicated repeatedly with the buyers, and the first buyer agreed to withdraw. He also explained to the salesperson that returning stolen goods was a legal obligation, and that failing to voluntarily return proceeds would not only lack grounds for leniency but would also result in compulsory recovery. In the end, all the purchase money was recovered, and ownership of the property was settled. "When we walk an extra stretch of road, the masses avoid an extra detour; when we expend an extra measure of effort, society gains an extra measure of peace." Song Xidong said.
In the perennial no-fishing zone in the lower reaches of the Songhua River within Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, illegal fishing had repeatedly defied bans, and indiscriminate dumping and construction on the banks had affected flood discharge safety. Li Ming, a fourth-level senior prosecutor at the People's Procuratorate of Tongjiang City, after filing a public interest lawsuit, issued procuratorial recommendations to the relevant administrative departments respectively, activated the "River-Lake Chief + Chief Prosecutor" coordination mechanism, promoted multi-departmental joint action, conducted inspections and rectification of illegal fishing, cleared illegal structures, and jointly carried out watershed governance with upstream and downstream authorities.
This former fishing beach has now been incorporated into the Sanjiangkou National Wetland Park, and waterbirds have returned. "From lucid waters and lush mountains to blue skies and white clouds, from black soil protection to the construction of a beautiful homeland — wherever the expectations of the masses lie, our supervision follows." Li Ming said.
A minor named Xiaoli (pseudonym) suffered harm, and her mother alone bore the family's burden. Upon learning of this situation, Chen Furong, a third-level senior prosecutor at the People's Procuratorate of Anshun City, Guizhou Province, conducted family education guidance for Xiaoli and coordinated with relevant departments to provide assistance. After the college entrance examination in June this year, Xiaoli immediately informed Chen Furong that she had been admitted to university. Upon hearing the good news, Chen Furong and her colleagues continued the assistance effort, contacting caring enterprises and civil affairs departments to apply for a 10,000-yuan scholarship and student loan for Xiaoli.
A 16-year-old sophomore named Xiaojie(pseudonym) was lured by the pitch of "easy money," assisted others in arranging vehicles and notifying travel information, and was suspected of the crime of organizing others to illegally cross the national (border) boundary. During interrogation, Xiaojie shed tears of regret. Chen Furong learned that Xiaojie observed school rules, had average grades, but had long been addicted to online games, had repeatedly clashed with his parents over game recharges, and had gradually become estranged. Considering that Xiaojie had participated in the crime due to others' inducement, had a shallow degree of criminal involvement, that his conduct was incidental in nature, and that he had strong potential for reform, she lawfully made a conditional non-prosecution decision for him, setting a six-month probation period. At the same time, she coordinated education authorities, women's federations, professional social workers, and other multi-stakeholder forces to provide academic assistance to Xiaojie, who ultimately gained admission to university. "We solidly and meticulously carry out the work of 'education, reform, and redemption' of minors, striving with all our might to protect the healthy growth of minors." Chen Furong said.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 孙 超
How long can an IOU be kept by its "creditor"? In Cailing Village, Liangtian Town, Suxian District, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, the answer from four generations of the family of 66-year-old villager Duan Yuanfa is: more than 90 years.
The IOU was for grain: "This is to certify that I have borrowed from Dr. Duan Nianming twenty dan of paddy rice, and have additionally received twenty silver dollars as a donation. This certificate is hereby issued as proof." The signatures are those of Red Third Army soldiers Li Weixiang and Liao Yuncai, dated "November 12, 1934."
There is also another written record, documenting in full the process by which villagers built shelters, dug caves, and treated wounded Red Army soldiers, totaling more than 220 characters.
Until 2025, Duan Yuanfa did not know that these cultural relics were hidden in a box in his home. More than 20 years ago, his father Duan Weiguang had instructed him on his deathbed: "Descendants of later generations, do not lose that box."
What was in the box? It was not until last year, during the renovation of the old house, that he discovered the treasures inside — only by fully unrolling a large roll of linen cloth could one see a small bamboo tube about two fingers thick. The two precious written records, rolled up inside a wedding gift list, were hidden in the deepest part of the bamboo tube.
Upon hearing of this, Cao Yong, director of the Party History Research Office of the Suxian District Party Committee, and his colleagues rushed over immediately. "There are quite a few places where Red Army IOUs have been discovered, but very few come with such detailed records of the relevant circumstances at the time. The preciousness of this find can well be imagined."
Work on protection, textual research, and authentication was immediately launched.
Consulting Party history and military history, the time and location of the Central Red Army's Long March through the area both match the records on the written documents. The villagers mentioned in the documents can also be traced in the clan genealogies. The Cultural Relics Collection and Appraisal Center of the Hunan Provincial Museum confirmed them to be "paper and bamboo artifacts from the 1930s."
Within the extraordinary and grand in scale (波澜壮阔, bo lan zhuang kuo - "wave, surge, magnificent, vast") history of the Long March, a moving episode has been restored to light.
"According to what my family members told me, at that time my great-grandfather Duan Nianming discovered that many people had come to Muqi Ridge, carrying guns, and some of them were wounded," Duan Yuanfa said. According to accounts passed down from his father's generation, it was already late autumn, and frost had fallen on the mountains, yet these people would rather go hungry and endure the cold than touch a single grain of rice in the fields.
What kind of army was this? The villagers, who had experienced the Southern Hunan Uprising and had seen with their own eyes the troops of Zhu De, had an answer in their hearts: it must be the Red Army!
Duan Nianming was the village's "herbal medicine doctor" and enjoyed considerable local renown. He invited the Red Army soldiers to come down the mountain to stay, but they declined; the villagers carried grain up the mountain to deliver it to them, but the Red Army still would not accept it.
In the end, unable to resist the villagers' repeated insistence, the Red Army cadres accepted the grain in the form of a "loan," wrote out the IOU, and before the troops set out, they also recorded in detail the process of the villagers' selfless assistance and left it with the villagers.
Unfortunately, eight soldiers still died of their severe wounds and were ultimately laid to rest there, leaving behind a Red Army grave. From then on, Muqi Ridge acquired a new name — "Red Army Slope" — and the villagers often went into the mountains to sweep the grave and pay their respects.
"Why did the common people all support the Communist Party the moment it arrived? Why do the common people still cherish its memory after the Red Army left?" Cao Yong said, it is precisely because the Red Army had strict discipline and treated the masses as their own kin.
Stories of the deep bond between the army and the people are by no means isolated cases in the area. According to historical materials preserved in the Suxian District Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall, from the start of the Long March to the end of 1934, when the main forces of the Red Army passed through the area, the Party Committee of Chen County, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, organized the masses to raise 120,000 kilograms of grain and 28,000 pairs of straw sandals for the Red Army, and took in 417 wounded and sick soldiers...
After learning of the existence of the IOU, the relevant authorities offered to redeem it on behalf of the Red Army, but Duan Yuanfa declined every time. "The weight this IOU carries in our family is far heavier than money!"
Li Zixiang, secretary of the Party branch of Cailing Village, said that this Qingming Festival, visitors paying respects at Red Army Slope came in a continuous stream of people or things (络绎不绝, luo yi bu jue - "continuous, connected, not, cease"). The local area has put the story of the IOU on display boards and brought it into classrooms, making it a vivid teaching resource for red education. The village also plans to build a hardened road leading to Red Army Slope to better protect the Red Army grave, and to build an exhibition hall to display the IOU...
Return to TopBy: 钟一平
In his so-called "Double Ten" speech, Lai Ching-te once again played up the "mainland threat," incited cross-strait confrontation and antagonism, ignoring the facts (罔顾事实, wang gu shi shi - "disregard, facts"), distorting right and wrong (颠倒是非, dian dao shi fei - "upset, right, wrong"), misleading the public, and having ulterior motives (用心叵测, yong xin po ce - "use, heart, cannot, fathom"). In particular, the speech prominently emphasized building a so-called "city upon a hill," which is nothing more than another fantasy and delusion fabricated by Lai Ching-te himself — ridiculous, contemptible, and pitiable.
No matter how beautifully the big talk is delivered or how well the pie is drawn, it cannot cover up the erosion and harm Lai Ching-te has inflicted on Taiwan's economy, politics, and people's livelihoods since taking office. Economically, the technology industry dominates exclusively while traditional industries continue to decline, forming a distorted pattern of "one industry thriving while a hundred industries wither," making Taiwan's industrial structure increasingly monolithic and fragile, with ordinary people shut out of development dividends. Politically, he has vigorously pursued "green terror" and persecuting those with different views (党同伐异, dang tong fa yi - "same, party, attack, different"), turning the judiciary into a tool for political suppression, wantonly besieging opposition forces and suppressing dissenting voices, fully exposing his nature of "fake democracy, true dictatorship." On people's livelihoods, he frequently issues empty promises and ignores real problems, with the "toxic oil" chaos left untreated for a long time and its harm spreading, while the people's most basic rights to safety and livelihood go unprotected. One must ask: how can Taiwan, so ravaged by Lai Ching-te, "stand atop the mountain peak"?
In reality, what the people of Taiwan want is not some lofty "mountain peak," but a real Taiwan where they can live in stability and have a tomorrow and a future — a Taiwan that can truly land on the ground and settle in the hearts of the people. But this is not the Taiwan Lai Ching-te wants. His "mountain peak" is the "mountain peak" of partisan self-interest, the "mountain peak" of "Taiwan independence" elements, and has nothing whatsoever to do with ordinary Taiwanese people.
Even more contemptible is that Lai Ching-te has never been a builder of mountains or cities, but is an out-and-out "peace breaker," "danger maker," and "war instigator." For 2027, he plans to allocate over NT$1.3 trillion in defense budget, continuously squeezing livelihood spending; he fawning sycophantically to gain favor (摇尾乞怜, yao wei qi qian - "shake, tail, beg, pity") with external forces, using large amounts of the people's hard-earned wealth to purchase arms from abroad, continuously hollowing out Taiwan; he mobilizes reserve soldiers for exercises, converts civilian factories and vehicles into military resources, turns convenience stores and temples into wartime hubs and ammunition depots, and the youth service plan he had halted is making a comeback after a setback (卷土重来, juan tu chong lai - "roll, earth, again, come")... While Lai Ching-te's mouth shouts about building a "city upon a hill," his hands are busy transforming Taiwan inch by inch into a battlefield, pushing young people step by step into the fire pit, and stuffing 23 million Taiwanese compatriots into a powder keg.
Such a cold-blooded, shameless "Taiwan independence" element — his ending and fate were in fact long ago sealed, and this can be seen more clearly against the backdrop of China-U.S. relations. Since the beginning of this year, the meetings between the heads of state of China and the United States in Beijing and Washington have released important signals to the outside world: achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully proceed two things proceeding together without conflict (并行不悖, bing xing bu bei - "parallel, walk, not, conflict"), achieve mutual success, and benefit the world. On the Taiwan question, the U.S. side attaches importance to China's concerns and recognizes that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the greatest common denominator between the two sides, and that "Taiwan independence" is the common enemy of China and the United States, with managing "Taiwan independence" being a key link in building a constructive and strategically stable relationship between the two countries. From President Trump's clear statement that he does not wish to see anyone move toward "independence," to U.S. government officials asking Taiwanese officials to reduce visits to the United States and not become a "stumbling block" in advancing China-U.S. relations, to the latest U.S. think tank poll showing a significant decline in support for U.S. troops being sent to the Taiwan Strait — all of this fully demonstrates that the U.S. position of refusing to endorse "Taiwan independence" and refusing to serve as its backer is becoming increasingly clear.
With their fawning sycophancy having lost its "master," Lai Ching-te and his ilk are shattered and their dreams are broken. When the fantasy of "seeking independence by relying on external forces" collapses, and when the false narratives of "resisting China to protect Taiwan" and "defending Taiwan" go bankrupt, they have no choice but to pile up lies and delusions into a vague and unrealistic (虚无缥缈, xu wu piao miao - "empty, nothing, misty, indistinct") so-called "city upon a hill" to continue deceiving the Taiwanese people. But this cannot change the doomed fate of "Taiwan independence" elements, who will go from being "pawns" to "discarded pieces," and then to extinction.
"Resolutely combating 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces" is an attitude that is consistent from beginning to end (一以贯之, yi yi guan zhi - "one, with, through, connect"), and moreover an action of carrying out what one has promised (言出必行, yan chu bi xing - "word, out, must, act"), fully demonstrating our firm resolve, unwavering will, and strong capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Looking ahead, the trend toward national reunification is irreversible, and the trend toward national rejuvenation cannot be stopped. Any scheme attempting to split Taiwan from China will inevitably be met with unanimous opposition from the Chinese people, including our Taiwanese compatriots, and any act attempting to block the great cause of China's reunification will inevitably be crushed to pieces by the wheels of history.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Jiang Lin) In response to content concerning cross-strait relations in the so-called "Double Ten" speech delivered by Lai Ching-te in Taipei on October 10, Zhang Han, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said in response to a question that Lai Ching-te's speech, ignoring the truth (罔顾事实, wang gu shi shi - "disregard, facts"), distorting right and wrong (颠倒是非, dian dao shi fei - "upset, right, wrong"), misleading the public and having ulterior motives (用心叵测, yong xin po ce - "use, heart, cannot, measure"), is his "true colors performance" as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence." In his speech, he stubbornly clung to "Taiwan independence" separatist thinking, played up the "mainland threat," peddled the false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism," and vainly attempted to seek independence through military means (以武谋独, yi wu mou du - "use, military, plot, independence") and seek independence by relying on foreign forces (倚外谋独, yi wai mou du - "rely, external, plot, independence"), provoking cross-strait confrontation and antagonism and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Zhang Han stated that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China — this is the true status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The one-China principle is a basic norm of international relations and a universal consensus of the international community, and it is also an important component of the postwar international order. The future of Taiwan can only and must be decided jointly by all Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan.
Zhang Han stated that we will adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, broadly unite compatriots from all walks of life in Taiwan, resolutely combat "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, and safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We will uphold the concept of "the two sides of the strait are one family," deepen cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, promote the peaceful development and integrated development of cross-strait relations, and advance the great cause of national reunification and the great cause of national rejuvenation.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Changchun, October 10) (Reporters Jiang Xuehong, Yin Jie) On the 10th, the centralized interview activity "Visiting the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park," organized by the Central Publicity Department together with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and other departments, was launched in Changchun, Jilin.
This centralized interview involves two interview routes and will organize media reporters to conduct in-depth research and interviews in Huadian City and Hunchun City in Jilin, and Dongning City and Hailin City in Heilongjiang, focusing on the positive results of national park construction in promoting the protection of wild populations and habitats of the Northeast China tiger and Northeast China leopard, as well as forest ecosystem protection, and vividly showcasing the natural landscapes, geological relics, and cultural heritage resources within the national park, as well as the development of the general control zones.
During and after the interview process, various media outlets will broadcast series of reports in important page positions, time slots, and on their affiliated websites and new media platforms, guiding the whole society to participate in national park construction and enhancing the whole society's enthusiasm for and consensus on protecting biodiversity and cherishing the ecological environment. This interview is an important component of the centralized interview "Beautiful China Tour: Visiting National Parks."
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporter Li Xinping) The reporter learned from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.: From 18:00 on the 10th, the national railway implemented a new freight train operation diagram, further optimizing China's railway logistics product system.
Optimizing intercity freight train products. After the implementation of the new diagram, 8 express intercity freight trains with a maximum speed of 160 km/h, 58 fast intercity freight trains with a maximum speed of 120 km/h, and 85 regular intercity freight trains with a maximum speed of 80 km/h are scheduled to operate, better serving time-sensitive cargo transportation such as e-commerce, express delivery, and daily necessities among domestic urban agglomerations.
Optimizing multimodal transport freight train products. After the implementation of the new diagram, 101 fast multimodal transport freight trains with a maximum speed of 120 km/h and 136 regular multimodal transport freight trains with a maximum speed of 80 km/h are scheduled to operate.
Strengthening the supply of direct transportation products for bulk cargo. After the implementation of the new diagram, 423 cross-railway bureau group company direct trains for bulk cargo are scheduled to operate, with transportation capacity tilted toward and priority guaranteed for key materials of matters of national and social importance (国计民生, guo ji min sheng - "state, calculate; people, livelihood") such as thermal coal, grain, and spring plowing chemical fertilizers, ensuring rapid and efficient delivery.
Optimizing China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train products. After the implementation of the new diagram, 96 scheduled routes for China-Europe freight trains are arranged, with key optimization carried out on return-trip China-Europe freight train routes.
Return to TopOn October 10, the vessel Deep Sea No. 1, carrying the manned submersible Jiaolong, arrived at the operating area of the East Caroline Basin in the western Pacific Ocean to conduct deep-sea scientific research operations. This was the 466th dive of Jiaolong and also the first dive conducted in this area during the second leg of China's Ocean Voyage 100 scientific expedition, with a planned diving depth of approximately 4,500 meters. The photo shows the frogman team releasing the bow cable as Jiaolong detaches from the mother ship.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (He Zhaoyu, Shao Rong) The "Fifth Seminar on Inspection Theory and Practice of the CPC Inspection Theory Research Center," hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was held in Beijing on the 10th, under the theme "Using the Sharp Sword of Inspection to Advance Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party in Depth."
The meeting noted that deepening research on inspection theory requires thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, firmly grasping the correct political direction, conducting in-depth research to answer major theoretical and practical questions on inspection, striving to build a systematic and theoretically rigorous system of inspection theory, and systematically summarizing the achievements and experience gained in inspection theory research, while continuously enhancing the influence of the inspection theory research platform.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 10) (Reporters Jiang Lin, Zhang Yifu) The "Roots, Soul, and Dream: Academic Symposium Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese" was held in Beijing on the 10th. This symposium is the first event in the series of activities commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.
The symposium, themed "Shared Roots, Shared Soul, Shared Dream," established four sub-forums: the mission of overseas Chinese in Chinese modernization; new changes in overseas Chinese affairs in different countries and regions from the perspective of a century of profound changes; overseas Chinese and the promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind; and the development of the work of the federation and overseas Chinese affairs in the new era.
Participants engaged in in-depth discussions around the symposium theme and sub-topics, and unanimously agreed that the 70-year development history of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese is a history of listening to the Party, following the Party, and rallying the hearts and strength of overseas Chinese for the cause of the Party and the people. The high-quality development of the federation's work requires deepening research on the history, conditions, and affairs of overseas Chinese.
More than 120 people attended the symposium, including comrades from relevant departments and bureaus of central Party and state organs, experts and scholars from universities and think tanks, leading comrades from relevant departments and units of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and representatives from local federations of returned overseas Chinese.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 张 帆 王明峰
Crossing the great mountain took at least one hour; now, passing through the tunnel takes only 10 minutes.
In October one year ago, the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel was completed and opened to traffic, greatly shortening the travel time between Baoxing County in Ya'an City and Xiaojin County in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and thoroughly resolving the difficulty that the 110,000 people on both sides of the mountain faced in traveling when heavy snow sealed off the mountain passes.
As vehicles enter the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel, history and reality converge here—in June 1935, the Central Red Army, relying on an iron will, crossed the snow-capped Jiajin Mountain on foot, and the great spirit of the Long March has been passed down from generation to generation, inspiring and encouraging the local people.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “To carry forward the great spirit of the Long March and walk well today's Long March road, we must place the people at the highest position in our hearts, adhere to everything for the people, rely on the people for everything, and strive unswervingly for the people to lead better lives.”
Bearing in mind these earnest instructions, Ya'an City, Aba Prefecture, and other places have always adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, carried forward the great spirit of the Long March, leveraged their comparative advantages, and advanced the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
The opening of the tunnel has brought the local red culture and tourism into the view of more people.
At the Jiajin Mountain pass, Li Lanchun, a tourist from Anhui, excitedly took photos as souvenirs: “Jiajin Mountain was the first major snow mountain crossed by the Central Red Army during the Long March, and this is a place we must visit on our self-driving trip.”
The Jiajin Mountain Tunnel links together the Dawei Meeting Bridge, Bifeng Gorge, Siguniang Mountain, and other sites; Baoxing County has seized this opportunity to create distinctive routes themed “Long March + Outdoor + Study Tours,” where tourists can walk the Red Army trails and purchase red culture creative products.
With the rise of red culture tourism, homestays in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township, Baoxing County, were hard to book during the National Day holiday.“From all corners of the country (天南海北, tian nan hai bei -“sky, south, sea, north”), guests have all come, and during holidays the rooms are often fully booked.”Neng Kaman, a villager of Jiajin Mountain Village in Qiaoqi Tibetan Township who runs a homestay, is also the principal of an intangible cultural heritage workshop.
With more tourists coming, local characteristic intangible cultural heritage handicrafts have also become known to more people.“We are also thinking about how to better integrate red elements with intangible cultural heritage handicrafts.”Neng Kaman said.
“Keep the red roots well, revitalize red resources, refine red culture tourism, and promote the great spirit of the Long March from generation to generation.”Yang Chen, director of the Baoxing County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Sports, and Tourism, introduced that since the tunnel opened to traffic, the red culture tourism resources of Ya'an City and Aba Prefecture have been linked into a tighter loop; since 2025, Baoxing County's red tourism visitor flow has exceeded 2.3 million person-times.
At the other end of the tunnel, the development of plateau-characteristic agriculture in Xiaojin County has accelerated.
At the Jinshan Rose Base in Maoshui Village, Dawei Town, trucks fully loaded with rose essential oil were ready to depart.After several consecutive days of heavy rain, the route commonly used for cargo transport was temporarily blocked, but Chen Wanglun, the driver responsible for this shipment, remained calm and composed.
“From the base to the tunnel takes just over 10 minutes; when the usual route is blocked, we just turn around and head for the tunnel.”Chen Wanglun said.
“Every day, raw materials and rose series products are shipped out from the base; the opening of the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel has improved the safety of cargo transport in adverse weather and ensured logistics stability.”Shi Yongjian, director of the Xiaojin County Bureau of Science, Technology, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Water Affairs, introducedthat the Jinshan Rose Base is the processing hub of Xiaojin County's plateau rose industry; driven by the base, Xiaojin County's rose planting area has reached over 15,000 mu, covering 13 townships and 46 villages, involving more than 3,000 households.
The opening of the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel has directly reduced logistics costs, effectively helping Aba Prefecture build a modern plateau-characteristic agriculture industrial system, and promoting increased industrial efficiency and higher incomes for the masses.In 2025, Aba Prefecture achieved a total output value of 19.966 billion yuan in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.
“The Red Army has left us precious spiritual wealth.”Xiang Zhengyi, director of the Aba Prefecture Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also statedthat by inheriting the red gene, gathering the strength to strive forward, Aba Prefecture will intensify efforts to develop plateau-characteristic agriculture and empower the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas through industry.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 张 铁 高 炳
In the golden autumn, visiting the ancient city, seeking the poetic charm of Xi'an.
In Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, the village of Taoxi Fort beside the Ju River is a place of poetic heritage. Here, Tang Dynasty poet Cui Hu once wrote the famous lines, "On this day last year, within this gate, faces and peach blossoms reflected each other's red." More than a thousand years later, visitors come in droves.
On phone screens, the micro-drama Face and Peach Blossom is "blooming" in the cloud. Xi'an "reinterprets" Tang poetry through imagery, blending ancient stories into the trends of the times.
One city of Chang'an, half of the Complete Tang Poems. Today's ancient city of Xi'an is becoming a "living museum of Tang poetry."
In May 2023, when General Secretary Xi Jinping heard the work report of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, he required Shaanxi to "make good use of its own historical and cultural resources." The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "deeply implement the project for the inheritance and development of fine traditional Chinese culture."
Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, Xi'an is striving to build the cultural brand of the "Capital of Tang Poetry" that fully manifests Chinese civilization, making the cultural atmosphere of this thousand-year-old capital more abundant and its poetic charm more vibrant.
Unearthing the poetic treasures of the land—
At dawn, Liu Rui, a cultural relics worker at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda Preservation Office, conducts regular "inspection and maintenance" of the pagoda. "In the Complete Tang Poems, there are dozens of poems related to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We must protect this poetic gift."
The Tang Dynasty brick, tile, and column base remains repeatedly discovered in Xingqing Palace Park evoke the splendor of "leaning on the railing north of the Aloes Pavilion." Yan Zhaoke, deputy director of the Visitor Services Department of Xingqing Palace Park, said: "We connect the Aloes Pavilion, the Tower of Mutual Glory, and other relics related to Tang poetry to create the 'Road of Tang Poetry' tour route."
Conducting a survey of Tang poetry relic sites, building a database of Tang poetry historical and cultural resources... Feng Jian, deputy director of the Xi'an Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, introduced that the city has identified 18 parks with Tang poetry cultural elements and more than 320 cultural elements including Tang Dynasty poetry, stone carvings, and poet sculptures.
The poetic tradition is integrated into daily life—
Inking movable type, laying rice paper, pressing gently... Children are experiencing rubbing prints. Student Wu Dami produced a rubbing of the line "The street in the sky, the light rain moistens like cream." "So the 'street in the sky' in the poem is today's Zhuque Avenue in Xi'an."
At the "Leyou Plain Poetry Gathering" in Yanta District, the stage play A Wonderful Journey Through Tang Poetry blends childlike innocence with poetic charm; the school-based textbook Poetic Charm of the Southern City encourages children to explore landmarks such as Fanchuan and discover Tang poetry that can be felt, touched, and recited; "Duel in Poetry, Youth!" the Xi'an primary and secondary school students' Tang poetry arena competition has attracted nearly ten thousand participating students... Xi'an has carried out a series of Tang poetry cultural education activities, with more than 2,000 schools participating annually and reaching one million participants.
Tang poetry enters ordinary streets and lanes, cultivating people through culture and enriching the city through poetry. In the Tang City Wall Relics Park, a poetry and prose cultural corridor stretches 4.2 kilometers; in the Xi'an Metro, passengers can read classic Tang poems; a Tang poetry-themed radio station uses the airwaves to present the beauty of Tang poetry through sound...
Activating the poetic elegance of scenes—
At night, in the Tang Paradise, "Li Bai" rides a small boat, reciting Invitation to Wine with abandon. Visitors board the cruise ship, immerse themselves in the live-action performance, and enjoy changing scenery with every step taken (移步换景, yi bu huan jing - "move step, change scene"), accompanied by poetry.
"Tang poetry + performing arts" creates new immersive experiences. The water dance and light show Chasing Dreams of the Great Tang on the lake performs an average of more than 150 shows per year, with a cumulative audience exceeding one million; with the activation of Tang poetry resources, performances such as The Song of Everlasting Sorrow and The Lychee of Chang'an are hard to get tickets for.
"Tang poetry + cultural tourism" gives rise to new scenes. Combining Tang poetry culture, Xi'an has launched themed travel routes such as "Autumn wind rises over the Wei River" and "Qufiang flowing cups, Wangchuan mist."
"Tang poetry + technology" empowers new trends. In the Chang'an Twelve Hours themed block, AI digital humans recite poetry and invite visitors to interact; in the Qujiang Flight Theater, visitors "travel through" into the mountain scenery of Dwelling in the Mountains on an Autumn Evening and "soar over" the sky above Chang'an's 108 wards.
Performing arts, travel photography, cultural creativity, dining... Tang style and Tang charm give rise to new scenes, new business forms, and new vitality. In 2025, Xi'an received 327 million visitors, with total visitor spending of 402.62 billion yuan, up 6.7% and 7.06% year-on-year respectively.
Striving forward in the 15th Five-Year Plan, Xi'an makes good use of Tang poetry as a unique historical and cultural resource, and through creative transformation and innovative development, makes the "Capital of Tang Poetry" cultural brand shine ever brighter.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 苏 滨 任彤彤
“Across ten thousand rivers and a thousand mountains, we do not forget the road we came from; blood and fresh life watered a land of blooming flowers……” In front of the site of the Zunyi Conference, the melody of the song “Do Not Forget the Original Aspiration” (《不忘初心》) slowly resounded, and a group of young people stood in neat formation, solemn and silent, listening intently.
In the golden autumn season, on the occasion of commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the "Retracing the Long March" activity for young people of the new era was held in Zunyi, Guizhou. Young representatives from all over the country, together with descendants of veteran Red Army soldiers and experts on Party and military history, followed the route that the Central Red Army once marched through Guizhou, successively visiting revolutionary sites including the Memorial Hall of the Zunyi Conference, the Loushan Pass Red Army Battle Site, the Gouba Conference Site, the Qinggangpo Battle Site, and the Memorial Hall of the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, experiencing a spiritual force that transcends time and space.
University teachers and students, docents of red memorial halls, journalists…… Young representatives from all walks of life walked along the way, observed along the way, and reflected along the way. The Long March spirit was no longer just words on the pages of books, but had become a force of faith that could be seen with one's own eyes and felt in one's heart.
“The red gene has never been an abstract concept; it is hidden in military uniforms covered with layer upon layer of patches, carved into manuscripts revised over and over again, and fused into the march on the road of firm advance.”
In autumn in northern Guizhou, a two-story small building stood solemnly under the sunlight. On the lintel, the six large characters “Site of the Zunyi Conference” (遵义会议会址) shone brilliantly.
In the meeting hall of that year, a long rectangular wooden table witnessed that important meeting of great turning significance.
From January 15 to 17, 1935, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held an enlarged meeting here, ending the rule of the erroneous “Left” dogmatic line within the Central Committee and righting the course of the revolution.
Entering the exhibition hall of the Zunyi Conference Memorial, worn straw sandals, rusted compasses, old-fashioned marching water bottles…… Soft lighting spread over each revolutionary relic one by one.
“Only by being in the midst of it can one truly experience the power of faith.” Li Zhenyu, a 2025-grade master's student in Electrical Engineering at Guangxi University, watched with full attention, “The peaceful days of today were exchanged for by countless revolutionaries of that time who groped in the fog and held fast in desperate situations.”
Like many young people, this was Li Zhenyu's first time in Zunyi. Facing relics that had passed through the flames of war one after another, and listening to stories of survival against all odds one after another, she could not help but sigh: “The red gene has never been an abstract concept; it is hidden in military uniforms covered with layer upon layer of patches, carved into manuscripts revised over and over again, and fused into the march on the road of firm advance.”
In Gouba Village, Zunyi, tens of kilometers away from the site of the Zunyi Conference, there stands a huge sculpture of a kerosene lamp. More than 90 years ago, the Gouba Conference was held here, discussing whether the Red Army should attack Daguxinchang. On the first day of the conference, after democratic voting, Comrade Mao Zedong's opinion was not adopted.
Late that night, Comrade Mao Zedong, carrying a kerosene lamp, walked along the mountain path to Comrade Zhou Enlai's residence to explain in detail the advantages and disadvantages, and then went to persuade Comrade Zhu De. The next day, the participants accepted their proposal and gave up attacking Daguxinchang.
“This decision enabled the Central Red Army to avoid the danger of possibly falling into a heavy enemy encirclement.” Listening to the docent's introduction, the young representatives seemed to see that dim lamp of that time, illuminating the mountain paths and field ridges, and also illuminating the road ahead for the Chinese revolution.
Along that mountain path of that time, the young representatives marched on foot for 7 kilometers, from those stirring years of struggle toward the great transformation of the mountains and villages.
In Huamao Village, Fengxiang Town, Zunyi, everyone walked into the Pottery Art Cultural Creative Street, visited the “Red Family” agritainment, and admired paper-pulp embossed flower paintings. Peng Longfen, director of the village committee, told them about the development and changes of Huamao Village over these years.
Gao Qiang, a host of Yunnan Radio and Television Station, sighed with emotion: “History illuminates the road ahead, and struggle writes great transformation. Only by not forgetting the road we came from and continuing to strive can we walk well the Long March road of the new era.”
Four Crossings of the Chishui River, skillful crossing of the Jinsha River, forced crossing of the Dadu River, flying capture of the Luding Bridge…… On the journey of 25,000 li, the Red Army officers and soldiers overcoming many difficulties (斩关夺隘, zhan guan duo ai -“cut pass, seize obstacle”), time and again breaking out of the enemy's heavy encirclement and pursuit, writing a heroic epic of creating miracles in desperate situations and standing tall in times of peril.
“Retracing the Long March is not only measuring a geographical distance, but also a relay of spirit.” The young representatives stated one after another that the Long March spirit remains fresh after a long time (历久弥新, li jiu mi xin -“last long, stay new”), and from it one can continuously draw the strength of faith, the courage to struggle, and the wisdom of the people.
“Tell red stories in a way that is closer to the ground and has more warmth”
The lights were dim, and smoke of gunpowder filled the air. Whistling gunshots and dull cannon roars rose and fell one after another. In the center of the stage, Xiao Lu, a 19-year-old radio operator, stood thin and alone, clutching tightly her radio set. This was the Red Army's “ears” and“mouthpiece”, and also the faith that she would guard with all her might.
“I can lose anything, but only it I cannot lose! This is my weapon!” Xiao Lu's shout was slightly hoarse, yet it carried an unshakable stubbornness and firmness, piercing through the bursts of gunfire and cannon sound effects, touching the hearts of the young audience.
This was a scene from the immersive performance piece “The Great Turn” (《伟大转折》). The piece, centering on key events of the Long March such as the Xiangjiang River Campaign, the Zunyi Conference, and the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, showcased the Red Army soldiers' tenacious revolutionary will and their lofty pursuit of ideals and convictions.
As the performance ended, the entire hall was silent for a moment, and then resounded with prolonged applause. Many people's eyes were reddened, and they quietly wiped away tears. Pei Wenbo, Party branch secretary of the Baota District Baota Fire Rescue Station in Yan'an, still fixed his gaze on the stage, “After watching this performance, those years of arduous trekking and bloody fighting suddenly became tangible and palpable, and I also more truly felt the hardship of the revolutionary forebears' journey.” His words were full of reverence.
“A performance is a dialogue with history; one must find ways to immerse oneself in it, deeply touch that period of history, and then interpret it with heart and soul, so that the audience can remember the great achievements of the revolutionary martyrs and cherish the hard-won happy life of today.” The actress playing Xiao Lu was Liu Chun Cen, a post-2000s young actress. To play this role well, she visited in person the places involved in the piece and unearthed the historical stories behind them. “This is not ordinary performance work; as the young generation, spreading red culture well carries great responsibility and glorious mission.”
Liu Chun Cen's words immediately resonated with the young representatives present.
“Red storytelling is the same; avoid reading mechanically from a script (照本宣科, zhao ben xuan ke -“follow book, recite text”) and having a thousand people speaking with one voice; one should try to differentiate by audience, by scenario, and by depth, telling red stories in a way that is closer to the ground and has more warmth.” Liu Keru is 22 years old this year, and is a docent at the Central Red Army Long March Rally and Departure Historical Museum in Yudu, Jiangxi. Having worked for more than a year, she has already accumulated considerable experience. “Red stories themselves possess a powerful appeal; to leave a deeper impression on the audience, one must be interested in the content of the explanation oneself, dig out the storytelling, find the memory points, and enhance the interaction.”
Since serving as a docent, Liu Keru has also gained much emotion. Once, when explaining for a group of young people from Hong Kong and Macao at the old site of the East Gate Ferry, a young person stood silently before the stone stele of the ferry, and solemnly saluted. “At that moment, I deeply felt that the cause we are engaged in is of extraordinary significance. The great Long March spirit, through the telling of red stories, is bringing about influencing someone imperceptibly (潜移默化, qian yi mo hua -“subtle move, silent transform”) changes.” Liu Keru said, “We pass on this faith, letting more people feel the power of faith.”
After watching the immersive performance “Red Ribbon” (“红飘带”) at the Guizhou Long March Culture Digital Art Museum, Gao Qiang was deeply moved. ““Technology empowerment makes red history vivid and tangible; this immersive experience is far more shocking than learning from books.” He said, “Like that red flag passed on in relay, hand after hand, letting the Long March spirit continue to be inherited in the hearts of young people of the new era.”
“To walk well the new Long March road, young people are the active practitioners”
Mountain wind swept through the pine forest, and the sound of waves surged in waves. Everyone climbed the stone steps and ascended the Loushan Pass Red Army Battle Site.
“The strong pass is a road truly like iron, yet now we stride afresh from its summit. From its summit, green mountains are like seas, and the setting sun is like blood.” Before the stele of the poem, all the young representatives recited in unison “Remembering Qin'e: Loushan Pass” (《忆秦娥·娄山关》), and the sonorous words pierced through the valley, echoing long in the forest.
Before the Loushan Pass Red Army Battle Monument, the docent's voice brought everyone's thoughts back to the years of war more than 90 years ago. “In 1935, the Battle of Loushan Pass broke out; Zhong Chibing, then political commissar of the 12th Regiment of the 3rd Red Army Corps, led his troops in the charge. In the fierce fighting, his right leg was hit by a bullet, and he was severely wounded and fell unconscious.”
At that time, medical conditions were extremely poor; there was no anesthetic, no surgical instruments, and doctors could only find a firewood chopper and half a carpenter's saw to amputate his leg. Zhong Chibing managed to survive three amputations and miraculously came back to life.
The docent continued: “Later, Zhong Chibing refused to stay behind, insisting on following the army on the Long March, climbing snow mountains, crossing grasslands, breaking through countless enemy encirclements, pursuits, and blockades, and ultimately, with his iron will, reached northern Shaanxi.”
This story deeply struck the hearts of every young person present. “People need faith; without faith, it is very difficult to firmly do one thing and overcome the difficulties encountered.” Li Yuanwei, deputy captain of the Mine Rescue Brigade of Yonggui Energy under Guizhou Yunei Investment Co., Ltd., sighed with emotion.
As a post-1990s Party member, Li Yuanwei has worked on the front line of mine rescue for more than 10 years and has received honors such as National Model Worker, National Technical Expert, and National May Day Labor Medal. He said: “I will bring the spiritual strength I gained here into my actual work and make more contributions within my ability to society.”
The green mountains were silent, and the monument stood tall. Before the Qinggangpo Battle Site in Tucheng Town, Xishui County, young representatives, uniformly dressed, stood with the trenches where the Red Army once charged back and forth beneath their feet, and before their eyes the white marble monument engraved with the names of the martyrs. A live ideological and political lesson with the theme “Illuminate the Long March Road with Faith” was underway.
“The shallow trench everyone is stepping on now is the charging trench of the Red Army soldiers. Back then, they stepped on almost the same mud, rushing toward the mountaintop against dense gunfire. This is not a special-effects scene from a film or TV drama; it is a real life-and-death struggle that actually happened.” The instructor, breaking the rigid model of traditional ideological and political teaching, based on the overall terrain of Qinggangpo, spread out the battle campaign situation map, and unhurriedly traced back the years of war more than 90 years ago.
From the Red Army soldiers' tenacious resistance in desperate situations, to the revolutionary forebears' pattern of responsibility and courage in facing crises head-on, daring to correct mistakes, and daring to break through; from the grassroots soldiers' sincere original aspiration of sacrificing one's life for a righteous cause (舍生取义, she sheng qu yi -“discard life, take righteousness”), to the Communists' unswerving and steadfast (坚定不移, jian ding bu yi -“firm, not move”) ideals and convictions, the tragic course and special historical significance of the Qinggangpo Battle were vividly restored.
“Each generation has its own Long March road, and each generation has its own mission and responsibility. As young people of the new era, we should write a regret-free youth with solid work and responsibility.” Guo Qirong, a 2025-grade master's student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, was born in an old revolutionary base area in Jiangxi, and the red land nurtured his feelings of family and country.
As a post-2000s young person, facing the many possibilities of the future, Guo Qirong frankly admitted that he too would fall into confusion: “What kind of person should I become in the future, and what kind of career should I pursue?” He said that history is the best textbook; studying red history in ordinary times has given him profound spiritual guidance and made his ideals and convictions firmer. “In the future, when I enter society, I will also carry forward the spirit of the forebears and integrate my personal pursuits into the overall development of the country.”
“To walk well the new Long March road, young people are the active practitioners!” Pei Wenbo sighed with emotion, “We should inherit the Long March spirit, bravely shoulder heavy burdens based on our own posts, live up to our youth, and write our youth's answer sheet through solid work.”
Return to TopBy: 张一夫
During the holiday, I returned home and gathered with friends, and we talked about the cities where each of us strives. Over the past few years, everyone has been working hard in different cities, experiencing both the frantic and disorganized manner (手忙脚乱, shou mang jiao luan - "hand, busy, foot, confused") of first entering society and the transformation and growth of gradually adapting to urban life. After several years, everyone has shed some of their youthful greenness and gained more steadiness and certainty.
Stepping out of the ivory tower and integrating into the rhythm of the city, everyone's steps in chasing dreams have not ceased, yet the real-life tests have already been arriving in rapid succession (接踵而至, jie feng er zhi - "heel, follow, and, arrive"): settling down and finding a place to live — how to cope with the rent of "pay one month's deposit and three months' rent in advance"; building a career and moving forward — to whom does one pour out the grievances of workplace setbacks; growing and maturing — where does one find the breakthrough for the anxiety of insufficient skills... The city provides a broad stage for young people to chase the light and pursue their dreams, but it also places thresholds and pressures before them. This tests not only the young people's own composure and resilience, but also calls on the whole society to pay joint attention and give full support.
What is gratifying is that the thoughts and aspirations of young people are being transformed step by step into tangible policy measures. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan sets up a dedicated section on "Supporting Youth Development," clearly stating the need to "help young people solve practical difficulties in schooling and employment, innovation and entrepreneurship, marriage, love and childbearing, housing security, and social integration." In April this year, 15 departments jointly issued the Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Youth Development-Oriented Cities and Assisting in Building Modern People's Cities, proposing to systematically optimize a development environment for young people in which they can "come in, stay, live in peace, and build a career." Policies are being implemented one after another and taking effect, building a solid backing for youth sprinting forward with all their might.
When settling in a city, what young people feel first is the warmth of a city. From a bed upon first arrival to inclusive childcare services after a child is born, every concern in daily life requires the care and patience of services. In Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, current students and graduates coming for internships, employment, and entrepreneurship can stay in talent stations with three months free and three months at half price; Shanghai has issued Several Measures on Accelerating the Construction of a Youth Development-Oriented City, which includes both "one-stop services for citizens' marriage and childbirth" and childcare subsidies, as well as community childcare "baby houses" and winter and summer care classes for primary school students with love. A city's attractiveness lies not only in its extremely bright and eye-catching (耀眼夺目, yao yan duo mu - "dazzle, eye, snatch, eye") high-rise buildings, but also in responding to the everyday concerns of daily necessities, allowing young people to put down their burdens and set out with minimal burdens (轻装上阵, qing zhuang shang zhen - "light, equipment, go, battle"), making the confidence for striving more abundant.
Attracting people in is important, but what matters more is helping them stand firm and develop well — this tests whether a city can continuously provide young people with classrooms for learning, steps for growth, and soil for deep cultivation. Facing the gap in AI skilled talent in manufacturing, Suzhou in Jiangsu Province has launched 10 special training tracks, including AI industrial vision and intelligent connected vehicles, bringing courses into universities, enterprises, and industrial parks; Jinan in Shandong Province has included "youth small shop owners" in the recognition of high-level E-category talent, allowing young people to fully display their strengths on different tracks. With channels for skill improvement and recognition for innovation and entrepreneurship, the talents of young people can be fully released, realizing two-way empowerment and symbiotic growth between youth and the city.
The city is an important space for young people to pursue a better life and realize social value, while young people are an important force for cities to enhance development vitality and accumulate development momentum.
For young people, finding the fit between their own strengths and the city's industrial needs allows their steps forward to be steadier and go farther. Some are rooted on the front line of production, diligently honing their skills and forging the foundation of industry; some are deeply engaged at the forefront of science and innovation, boldly venturing into the "no-man's land" of tackling key technologies; some devote themselves to urban services, guarding the daily lives of thousands of households... What young people value is not only remuneration, but also a track that allows them to fully display their strengths (一展所长, yi zhan suo chang - "one, display, what, excels"). Young people and cities move toward each other, injecting the vitality of innovation and creativity into the city's industrial soil and nourishing its cultural roots, thereby accumulating the city's development potential and making the nourishment for youth's upward growth more abundant.
When more and more cities put "youth development-oriented cities" into practice, and when more and more young people grow from being served into builders, personal growth and urban development form a positive cycle — the city is full of vitality because of its youth, and young people achieve great things (大有作为, da you zuo wei - "great, have, do, act") because of the city.
When youthful ideals take root in the fertile soil of the city, and personal growth resonates with urban development at the same frequency, they can stir up an endless and continuous vitality (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "life, life, not, cease") of forward-moving power and paint an even more splendid chapter of youth.
Return to TopBy: 周绍芙
Without arms, how does one live?
An accident when I was 4 years old left me permanently without arms. To this day, I remember that when I was little, the first time I used my toes to pick up chopsticks from the ground, I picked them up once and dropped them once. My toes were rubbed red and raw, formed scabs, and were rubbed raw again... At that time, I often thought, why did fate set such a difficult hurdle for me?
Later, I gradually came to understand: since I cannot choose my circumstances, why not try to learn to be strong?
At 16, I was selected for the Jiangxi Province Disabled Persons' Swimming Team, beginning a 7-year journey of pursuing my dream in the arena. Usually, I put in several times the effort of others, with an average daily training distance of over 10,000 meters. When others touched the wall and turned with their hands, I used my forehead, and bumps and bruises were a common occurrence. Relying on day after day (日复一日, ri fu yi ri - "day, repeat, one, day") of persistence, I won 13 medals in national-level and provincial-level disabled persons' competitions.
Fate set a difficult hurdle in my life, but I refused to be defined by my disability. I became increasingly convinced that as long as one works steadily and hard, is self-reliant and self-empowered, even a disabled person can carve out a world of their own.
In 2017, in order to care for my deaf-mute wife, who was pregnant (身怀六甲, shen huai liu jia - "body, carry, six, pregnancy"), I chose to retire from the team and return to my hometown. Over these years, I established a professional breeding cooperative, delved deeply into the planting and breeding industry, raising ducks and geese, raising fish and growing rice, and devoted myself wholeheartedly to entrepreneurship in the countryside.
I explored and developed a set of working methods of my own: for feed bags weighing dozens of kilograms, I would bend down, bite the bag opening tightly with my teeth, use my shoulder for leverage to hoist it, and precisely control the amount of feed with my feet; for daily pond inspections and disease prevention, poultry house upkeep, and field management, I did everything personally, big or small (doing everything personally, personally involved, doing everything myself)...In this way, I gradually propped up my fledgling enterprise.
In the autumn of 2021, a sudden large-scale epidemic caused the ducks at the breeding farm to die, and the enterprise suffered a heavy blow. The borrowed start-up capital and the wages owed to the villagers weighed on me so heavily that I could hardly breathe. In the midst of the difficulty, I stayed in the duck shed all night to investigate the problem, sought advice from agricultural technical experts everywhere, explored the patterns of breeding, and racked my brains day and night to find ways to remedy the situation.
What moved me was that the villagers always chose to trust me and stay with me in my perseverance. By gritting my teeth and holding on, I finally stabilized the situation, stopped losses in time, and safeguarded the foundation of the cooperative.
Going through many hardships (历经风雨, li jing feng yu - "experience, go through, wind, rain"), one finally sees the rainbow. Now, the base's annual maximum slaughter volume of meat ducks and meat geese reaches 200,000 birds. During the busy farming season, the base can absorb six or seven dozen villagers for work, genuinely providing the villagers with a channel to increase their income right at their doorstep.
Having walked through adversity, I understand all the more how hard it is to make a living. The cooperative has always given priority to hiring disabled people and villagers who stay behind in the village for nearby work, and over the years has successively helped more than 10 disabled friends steadily increase their income.
Keeping pace with the times, I have worked hard to practice operating a mobile phone with my feet, taught myself short-video filming and e-commerce livestreaming, and together with the villagers, through online platforms, sell the rice, poultry, and aquatic products of my hometown to all parts of the country.
This year, I was honored to be awarded the 2026 New Era Youth Pioneer Award. To me, this honor is both recognition and a spur to do better. I may be missing a pair of hands, but as long as my spirit is not lacking and my steps do not stop, there is no hurdle I cannot cross.
My feet can stand on the ground, and they can also "hold up" my sky. In the future, I will continue to take root in this land, tend the fields well, manage the breeding well, and strive together with the villagers, writing my own blazing youth amid the everyday life of the countryside.
(The author is the head of the Xinxin Professional Breeding Cooperative in Jishui County, Jiangxi Province; compiled by People's Daily reporter Zhou Huan)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李龙伊
At dawn, at a training site in the Central Plains, the entire "All-Round Model Company" of a brigade of the 82nd Group Army of the Army assembled, preparing to head to the training ground. In front of the barracks, officers and soldiers shouted in unison the company's soul — "We want the bridge, not our lives" — the roar shaking the heavens.
These five simple words strike at the heart of every officer and soldier. This company soul traces back to a single battle.
Turn the lens to May 29, 1935. The Luding Bridge over the Dadu River spanned 13 iron chains, suspended dozens of zhang in the air, with the bridge planks almost entirely stripped away by the defending enemy, and machine-gun muzzles on the opposite bank trained on the Red Army's position. Red Army officers and soldiers who had marched and fought for a full day and night stood at the west bridgehead, the natural barrier looming before them. Charge forward, or retreat?
Twenty-two warriors stepped forward to form an assault team. Company Commander Liao Dazhu rushed to the front, shouting as he climbed the chains: "Follow me!" Enemy bullets struck the iron links, sending sparks flying. The defending enemy also set fire to the wooden planks piled at the bridgehead; a wall of flame rose, and the iron chains burned scorching hot.
Charge! Through the sea of fire, onto the bridgehead, into hand-to-hand combat. Two hours later, Red Army officers and soldiers seized the Luding Bridge, opening the lifeline for the Central Red Army's northward advance.
The feat of seizing the Luding Bridge by flying assault became the spiritual source of a company; the spirit of "we want the bridge, not our lives" in turn carried this company through decades of wind and rain. Today, stepping into this heroic company awarded the title "All-Round Model Company," reporters found that although iron chains may rust, the courage to "seize the bridge" has never faded.
Thirteen iron chains forged the soul of a company
"The Dadu Bridge spans the river, its iron chains cold" — this line of poetry, widely known and highly praised (脍炙人口, kuai zhi ren kou - "roast, glaze, people's mouth") from the pen of Comrade Mao Zedong, tells of the battle to seize the Luding Bridge by flying assault.
In the display case of the company's honor room lies a section of iron chain. This is the company's "family heirloom," taken from the Luding Bridge of that year. The links are rusted dark, the surface pitted and dense with depressions, the marks of artillery scorching and blade and gun impacts clearly visible. Every time new soldiers join the company, their first lesson unfolds before it.
"On the first day new soldiers joined the company, the squad leader brought us into the honor room and stood us before that oil painting of the flying assault on the Luding Bridge," recalled Deputy Squad Leader Ma Shaoyang. "The 22 warriors charged forward through a hail of bullets, climbing the bare iron chains. Some were hit and fell into the Dadu River, without even leaving their names behind."
He paused: "It was only then that I truly understood how much ancestors' blood had dyed this battle flag red."
Company Political Instructor Lu Pengfei brought the reporter before the display case and recounted the details of that year.
In May 1935, after the Central Red Army arrived at the banks of the Dadu River, Chiang Kai-shek concentrated heavy forces to attack from the south and block from the north, vowing to make the Red Army a "second Shi Dakai." The Luding Bridge became the focal point of contention between the two armies.
"'Flying' in 'flying assault' is half the speed of the forced march, half the ferocity of climbing the chains," Lu Pengfei said.
When the order to seize the Luding Bridge was issued, the regiment to which this company belonged was still 240 li of mountain road from the bridge, with a time limit of one full day and night. The darkness was like an overturned pot bottom; heavy rain, mud, and hunger pressed down all at once. Officers and soldiers fought as they marched, covering 240 li within one day and night, arriving at the west bridgehead one step ahead of the enemy.
On the opposite bank, the enemy held the position with heavy forces, machine-gun fire points densely arrayed. The 22 warriors launched their assault.
When assault team member Li Youlin charged across the bridgehead, his saber had been scorched scalding hot by the flames, fused firmly to his palm. Comrades poured water to help him remove the blade, tearing away skin and flesh together. From then on, he became a man without palm prints.
Another warrior, Liu Jinshan, was left with extensive burns. After the battle, he only remembered that his lips were numb, his hands trembling, his ears ringing so he could hear nothing, and only one word remained in his heart — charge.
"Today, 22 stone pillars stand before the monument in Luding County town, representing the 22 warriors who seized the bridge," Lu Pengfei said, pointing to a photograph in the display case. "Only five names are carved on the pillars: Liao Dazhu, Wang Haiyun, Li Youlin, Liu Jinshan, and Liu Zihua. The names of the remaining warriors remain difficult to confirm to this day."
After the victory of the Long March, the First Army Group awarded this company the title "All-Round Model Company," and the 22 assault team members were hailed as the "Twenty-Two Warriors of the Flying Assault on the Luding Bridge."
As the years passed, the company soul shouted for decades never changed. "Now every year on the company anniversary, we select the 'Twenty-Two Warriors of the New Era,'" said Company Commander Huang Bin. "Soldiers who charge to the front on major missions and win gold and silver in competitions and assessments have their names solemnly recorded in the company honor book."
Platoon Leader Wang Yunhui once retraced the Long March route. Standing at the Luding bridgehead, gazing at the surging river below, he asked himself the same question again and again: "If I were on that smoke-filled battlefield of that year, would I dare, like the old company commander, to shout 'Follow me'?"
Every officer and soldier of the company who stands before this section of iron chain in the honor room asks himself this question once in his heart. Generations of "All-Round Model Company" officers and soldiers have written their answers with their actions.
Opening the company history, this company's "firsts" are especially numerous. The company's predecessor unit was the "Ye Ting Independent Regiment"; the first pilot of the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Six Points for Attention" and the first soldiers' committee both fell to this unit.
"We want the bridge, not our lives" was the resolve at the moment of seizing the bridge; "daring to be first" is the unchanging posture of generations of officers and soldiers on this long journey.
If there is no ready-made "bridge," then build one yourself
How difficult is a transformation starting from zero?
In 2017, as the military underwent adjustment and reform, a batch of new informatized equipment was fielded. In the motor pool, officers and soldiers circled the new equipment again and again, excited yet daunted: there were no textbooks, and no experience either.
"Time cannot wait, and the generation of combat effectiveness cannot wait even more." Communications Technician Zhang Ruiyong, Gunnery Technician Zhao Jinpeng, and Squad Leader Du Hongfei volunteered and formed a research and key technology group.
"'All-Round Model Company' soldiers cannot wait for methods to be delivered to their doorstep," Zhang Ruiyong said. Which subjects to train and how, which links were prone to getting stuck, which past experiences could still be carried over — they sorted through item by item and verified again and again. A few months later, the professional materials and training standards they had organized were promoted throughout the entire brigade.
For Zhao Jinpeng, who had served more than a decade, transformation meant his experience being reset to zero. "The ancestors faced a natural barrier and desperate straits when seizing the bridge; what I face is merely a shortfall in capability," Zhao Jinpeng said. "'We want the bridge, not our lives' demands not only that we charge through blood on the battlefield, but also that we dare to break through and fight hard on the road of reform."
When equipment changes generations, training methods must change generations too. On the road of transformation, if there is no ready-made "bridge," then build one yourself.
During field training in 2024, wind and sand, rain and snow piled up together, and the original communications operation methods plummeted in efficiency. Wind and sand struck the screens, and officers and soldiers wearing tactical gloves had to touch the controls, inevitably causing mis-touches, missed touches, and delays — at critical moments, communications even failed.
"There are no small matters in preparing for war and fighting." Squad Leader Li Shengjie was not satisfied with "as long as it works." He led his squad to repeatedly test parameters and adjust procedures under different weather, different terrain, and different time periods. Without altering the main circuits or damaging the original structure, they added an external keyboard to the vehicle-mounted computer, allowing precise operation even with tactical gloves on. This innovation was low-cost and highly practical, and was soon rolled out across the entire brigade.
Unmanned operations are another entirely new track, and also a new "Luding Bridge."
Sergeant Hou Mengshao started from zero. When he received the notice for the group army's drone training assembly, the company commander gave only one instruction: "Take first place!" But once he arrived at the training team, he discovered that everyone around him was a competition expert from various units. In the first assessment, he ranked at the bottom.
At the training team's first roll call, the neighboring unit sang its company song at full volume, the sound crashing over him and abruptly awakening the company soul in his mind. "Compared to the life-and-death trials the revolutionary ancestors faced, what is this little difficulty?" Hou Mengshao resolved secretly that he would definitely train real skills.
By day he practiced hands-on with his squad; by night he held the simulator and pored over details, often staying up until two or three in the morning. "When I was extremely sleepy, I would pinch my thigh to stay alert," Hou Mengshao said. Later, he took first place in the obstacle-crossing flight subject, first in the mounted infantry company, and first in the battalion, with his overall score ranking among the forefront of the entire brigade.
That year, in the armored specialty competition, First-Class Sergeant and Squad Leader Guan Yuantao volunteered. During preparation, the sealed infantry fighting vehicle cabin, after being baked in the sun, exceeded 50 degrees Celsius. He trained on duty 12 hours a day, and at night he still had to inspect the vehicle part by part.
"During training, I had a white piece of paper stuck in my vehicle with the company soul written on it. When the heat was unbearable, I looked up at it; when I was exhausted and wanted to slack off, I looked up at it, and I had strength," Guan Yuantao said.
On the night before the competition, the fighting vehicle suddenly developed a serious malfunction, and the next day was the full-process assessment that would determine qualification for advancement. Guan Yuantao crawled into the engine compartment, checking circuits line by line and testing components item by item, working from dusk until dawn the next morning. After a night of hard fighting, his body approached its limits. During the competition, waves of fatigue kept washing over him. "At that moment I thought, the successors of the 'All-Round Model Company' must display the style of the flying assault on the Luding Bridge — daring to endure hardship and daring to tackle tough problems." He remembers the scene vividly.
In the end, Guan Yuantao successfully completed all the difficult and dangerous subjects and stood out among the many competition elites.
"The ancestors had no ready-made bridge planks under their feet, and today we have no ready-made lesson plans in our hands. Roads others have not walked, we walk first; hurdles others have not overcome, we charge first," Huang Bin said.
Only when everyone is outstanding is it truly "All-Round Model"
The bulletin board beside the training ground often has people gathered around it. When the score sheets are posted, some look at rankings, but more people fix their eyes on their own shortcomings.
"A company's excellence cannot be propped up by just a few top performers," said Squad Leader Liu Peiyang. Only when everyone is outstanding is it truly "All-Round Model."
In his first year of service, soldier Guo Peng fractured a toe. After half a year of recuperation, his lower limbs suffered severe muscle atrophy. The company took care of him and assigned him to the cooking squad. But the fire in his heart never went out.
Since his lower limbs could not be trained, he focused exclusively on his upper body. Sandbags were tied to his hands, not removed even while eating or sleeping; gritting his teeth and persisting, his arm strength grew bit by bit. Later, sandbags were tied to his thighs, and he gradually built up his cardiorespiratory fitness. When the company organized runs, he limped along behind the formation, sprinting with all his might in the final kilometer. His 3-kilometer run improved by two and a half minutes; his pull-ups increased from 3 to 32.
In the first assessment after returning to the company, Guo Peng squeezed into the company's top five. Huang Bin remarked at a company meeting: "A former invalid who can charge to the forefront of the company — this is the fine example of an 'All-Round Model Company' soldier!" Guo Peng said he persisted with all his might simply because he wanted to keep pace with the company and become a truly good soldier.
Squad Leader Chang Wei's growth also began with identifying and filling shortcomings.
In 2023, the group army organized a competition of a hundred outstanding squad leaders, with nine subjects assessed consecutively, testing comprehensiveness, stability, and resilience under pressure. On the night before the assessment, after lights-out, he mentally rehearsed the entire process once; if he made a mistake, he started over. He wrote the error-prone points on small cards and flipped through them again before entering the examination hall.
That day, in the latter half of the physical fitness assessment, his legs felt like they were filled with lead. One movement was not executed properly and points were deducted. He silently reminded himself: the next movement must be done to the best of my ability.
After finishing the last subject, he sat by the roadside and wrote down each deduction point one by one in his notebook. "The end of the competition is not the end of training," Chang Wei said. "In the next assessment, the next mission, the same problems may still appear."
Whether capability is truly outstanding is tested in major missions.
Stepping onto the parade ground, they are elite soldiers who fear no difficulty —
In 2025, the company selected six officers and soldiers to participate in the September 3 military parade. Before the training assembly, Ma Shaoyang was eliminated in the first assessment. "The company sent me to participate in the parade; I cannot disgrace the company." So he asked the instructor to drill his movements individually, measured his stride against a ruler, timed himself with a stopwatch, and in the make-up assessment earned the qualification to enter.
During the training assembly, to correct his leg alignment, he used backpack straps to bind his two legs tightly straight every night, the binding making them sore and swollen. To train rifle-handling stability, he hung a 3-liter water bottle on the rifle as weight; when the skin on his hands wore raw, he put on a band-aid and kept training.
"It hurt for real and was tiring for real, but I never thought of retreating," Ma Shaoyang said. "The old predecessors faced such difficulty in the flying assault on the Luding Bridge and did not retreat; my little difficulty is even less reason to sound the retreat."
On the day of the parade, the "All-Round Model Company" officers and soldiers on review strode across Tiananmen Square with high spirits, accepting the review of the Party and the people. "At that moment, there was only one thought in my heart: from the Luding Bridge to Tiananmen, we must win glory for the company and live up to the glory of our predecessors," said Deputy Squad Leader Niu Fujiang, who participated in the parade.
Putting on military uniforms, they are the people's own soldiers guarding the people —
In 2023, flooding struck many areas of North China, and the company was ordered to rush to the aid of Gaobeidian City, Baoding, Hebei Province, and Jinghai District, Tianjin. Through the night they carried sandbags and built levees, mud caking their trouser legs, blisters forming on their hands, so exhausted that even standing they wanted to close their eyes — but no one stopped. A peach orchard was flooded with standing water; if the peaches were not harvested soon, they would rot in the ground. That was the year's income for the local farmers, so without a second word they went into the fields to rush the harvest.
"We must both hold the levee and look after the people's livelihoods after the disaster," said Squad Leader Fan Anjie. On the day of withdrawal, many residents came spontaneously to see them off; some carried bottled water, some held boiled eggs, endlessly thanking them and waving. "At that moment, all the exhaustion was worth it."
"All-Round Model Company" — five characters written on the flag, and even more deeply planted in the hearts of every officer and soldier.
In the evening, on the training site, a key-point seizure and control exercise had just concluded. These successors of the warriors of the flying assault on the Luding Bridge must still seize one new victory after another in the new era.
(Gong Zeyuan contributed to this report)
Return to TopBy: 曹 渝
Standing at attention in military posture, drilling in formation, long-distance marches... During military training, many college students experience military training up close for the first time, taking a vivid lesson in national defense education. However, as the more than ten days of training draw to a close and the camouflage uniforms are put away in the closet, a question follows: how can national defense education in colleges and universities break free of the time constraints of the "enrollment season" and continue to exert its force throughout the process of student growth?
National defense education is not an "exclusive course" for first-year students; it should also be integrated into daily life and maintained on a regular basis. Today, more and more colleges and universities are gradually improving their systems of routine national defense education, extending it to all stages of the university experience. This is not only an extension of education along the time dimension, but also an expansion of the depth and breadth of educating people, and moreover an inherent requirement of education serving the national strategy.
Moving from the "enrollment season" to the "entire course of study," so that national defense education accompanies students' growth and development, requires promoting the organic integration of regular education and concentrated education. National defense education cannot try to accomplish everything in a single attempt (毕其功于一役, bi qi gong yu yi yi - "finish, all, achievement, at, one, battle"); it is not something that can be achieved through a single on-site teaching session or a single military experience. Some colleges and universities regularly hold "I Love National Defense" speech contests and knowledge competitions, insist on weekly flag-raising ceremonies and speeches under the national flag, carry out commemorative activities at important time nodes, and rely on student organizations such as national flag guard teams and military knowledge clubs to carry out national defense education on a routine basis.
At the same time, following the laws of cognitive development of young students, the connotation and extension of national defense education should be organically integrated into professional teaching, daily management, and campus culture building. Some colleges and universities have made a series of beneficial attempts. For example, Renmin University of China has embedded national defense education into course systems such as "Soldiers and Society" and "History of Veterans' Affairs and Policy Practice," and incorporated it into graduation credit management; Nanjing University of Science and Technology, relying on the "Harbin Military Engineering Spirit" National Defense Science and Technology Innovation and Practice Education Base, has developed general education courses with national defense characteristics, inviting research experts to give on-site lectures around weapons and combat operations; at Wenshan University in Yunnan, national defense education has been organically integrated into ideological and political theory course teaching, routinely inviting groups of combat heroes and models into the classroom to tell vivid stories and real cases, and leading teachers and students to visit tunnels and study the "Old Mountain Spirit," making national defense ideological and political education "substantive."
While national defense education deepens its position in the classroom, it is also continuously forming "integration points" in practical education. In recent years, colleges and universities in Liaoning, Hubei, Shaanxi, and other places have launched projects related to "oral history of veterans," organizing students to participate in interviews with veterans, and in recording and compiling their accounts. At Eastern Liaoning University, a "dialogue" that has lasted for ten years is still continuing. Since 2016, teachers and students of the university have traveled across 16 provinces, visited more than 600 veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and left behind nearly one million characters of oral history transcripts. Some students, after graduation, have taken up positions at the Museum of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea as docents, telling the red stories to more people. Relying on this integrated education model, students are no longer merely learners, but have become disseminators of ideas and practitioners of mission.
Looking across the country, martyrs' memorial facilities, military camps and police stations, and national defense education bases in various places are all vivid and lively off-campus classrooms. The multi-party forces of the military, government, enterprises, and others are driving the education model to iterate and upgrade toward multi-party collaboration and all-domain linkage. Looking to the future, colleges and universities should continue to deepen open-door education, coordinate and integrate various resources inside and outside the campus, promote the interconnection of resources and the complementarity of online and offline education, continuously expand the realization paths of national defense education in the new era, make national defense education more heartfelt and more effective, and gather youthful strength for building a strong country and a strong military.
(Author's affiliation: Renmin University of China)
Return to TopBy: 邹 帛
In the evening, the lights in the company's study room turned on right on time, and several comrades-in-arms walked in one after another, finding seats and sitting down. My "digital-intelligence classroom" was about to begin its session again.
On the projection screen, newly developed combat-training software made its debut. As I ran the program, I explained it to everyone. Soldier Xiao Tang introduced it to the new comrades: "Today we're learning how to use the software to build simulation models and make data visual."
In 2022, after graduating with a degree in electronic information, I was assigned to the company. In the early days, I noticed that most of the company's training reviews relied on experience-based estimation, and the data-processing steps were cumbersome. Watching my comrades train hard but lack a scientific tool, I resolved: I would use what I had learned to solve the pain points in training and let technology empower combat readiness.
Replacing complex raw data with visual graphics, replacing tedious manual operations with interactive interfaces, and allowing data to be dynamically simulated and run in a simulated adversarial environment—this process is like the simulated training before live-fire target practice. Only by thoroughly deducing all kinds of complex scenarios in advance can one face real combat situations with a clear idea of the situation (心中有数, xin zhong you shu - "heart, inside, have, number") and respond with composure.
At first, I trained during the day and wrote code at night. It took me several months to produce a "toolbox" program that automatically generated charts from raw data, making everything immediately obvious at a glance (一目了然, yi mu liang ran - "one, eye, clearly, understand"). But it wasn't enough for me alone to know how to program—I needed more comrades to see how useful this method was and be willing to learn and apply it. So the "digital-intelligence classroom" began.
How to edit programs to solve practical problems, how to improve training models to enhance training quality and efficiency... What I taught was not just software application, but innovative thinking. As the course deepened, I could feel the imperceptible change over time (潜移默化, qian yi mo hua - "subtly, move, silently, transform") in everyone's way of thinking, and more and more comrades gained a deeper understanding of weapon and equipment performance and target-track determination.
After one class, a comrade said excitedly to me: "Previously, calculating data relied on manual entry. Now, using the program you wrote, we can customize by scenario on demand and automatically retrieve data—it's both simple and efficient, and clear and intuitive."
Over the years, I have won the special prize in the whole-army military modeling competition, a second prize in a maker competition, and other honors, but what makes me most proud is using what I have learned to help my comrades improve training quality and efficiency. Scientific research results cannot just stay in the laboratory or be written into papers—they must land on the soldiers' combat posts and be embedded in the practice of combat readiness.
A cool breeze blew gently, and the autumn air grew stronger. Walking out of the study room, the full moon hung high in the sky, witnessing us young officers and soldiers launching yet another charge toward the battlefield of the future.
(The author is a captain in a ground-to-air missile unit of the Air Force under the Central Theater Command; compiled by Ren Tongtong and Li Linze)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘 阳 杨文明
Driving three hours southeast from Kunming, one reaches Yuanyang County in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan. Crossing the Honghe River and ascending the Ailao Mountains, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, a World Cultural Heritage site, unfold before one's eyes.
The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces are both the land where local people live and farm and a magnificent landscape known worldwide. In 2013, the Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Today, guided by the scientific concept of balancing protection and utilization, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces are radiating new vitality, showcasing to the world the unique survival wisdom and cultural charm of the Chinese nation.
An Ancient Survival Wisdom Deeply Bound to Nature, Passed Down Through Generations
In early August of the lunar calendar, the Hani people celebrate the New Rice Festival, with every household singing and dancing to welcome the harvest. Zhang Ping made early preparations to welcome the arrival of the New Rice Festival. In Azheke Village, Xinjie Township, Yuanyang County, neighbors all call Zhang Ping "Xiaohua."
Before 6 p.m., dozens of people had crowded into Xiaohua's home, with vehicles bearing Fujian license plates parked at the door. "They drive Fujian-plated cars, but they are Yuanyang people returning home," Xiaohua said. The New Rice Festival is a day to joyfully welcome the harvest, and even villagers from the farthest places rush back to celebrate. On the dining table were Hani chicken with dipping sauce, Hani fermented soybean dishes, rice-flower fish... As the villagers drank wine brewed from red rice, blessings such as "cuozhuobisa" (good fortune and auspiciousness) and "duosa" (cheers) and enthusiastic toasting words rose one after another.
More than 1,300 years ago, the Hani people migrated to the Ailao Mountains, reclaiming terraced fields and planting red rice. In the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, the forests, villages, and terraced fields distributed along the mountainsides, together with the water systems flowing through them, form an ecosystem of "four elements in one structure."
"The Hani people believe that forests nurture water, water nurtures fields, fields nurture rice, and rice nurtures people, forming a complete ecological chain of interconnection. They actively protect, utilize, and cultivate the forests," said Li Xuedong, chairman of the Yuanyang County Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
The water system flows slowly out of the forests, passes through the villages, and irrigates the terraced fields level by level. When it converges into the Honghe River valley below the Ailao Mountains, temperatures of 30 to 40 degrees Celsius continuously lift water vapor back up to the Ailao Mountains, where rainfall again nourishes the forests, villages, and terraced fields. Tens of millions of small terraced fields stacked on the mountainsides are equivalent to countless small artificial reservoirs, which together with the forests at the mountaintops constitute the region's water storage guarantee system.
Wearing rubber boots and holding a sickle, 67-year-old Lu Zhixiang began his day's busy work just as the sun rose above the terraced fields. He is a "gou gou ren" (water channel keeper) publicly elected by the villagers of Quanfuzhuang Village, Xinjie Township, Yuanyang County.
The "water channel keepers" are the "public servants" of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, highly respected and with great prestige (德高望重, de gao wang zhong - "virtue, high, respect, weight"). Each household in the village contributes a portion of rice as remuneration for the water channel keepers. Lu Zhixiang said one of his tasks is to patrol the water channels of each household daily and clear blockages. The longest water channel he is responsible for is 2.5 kilometers, and the shortest is also seven to eight hundred meters, keeping him busy from sunrise to sunset every day.
Lu Zhixiang's most important job is to evenly distribute the irrigation water for all terraced fields of every household in the village through the traditional "wooden-notch water distribution" system. The "wooden-notch water distribution" system is a scientific water allocation mechanism passed down for thousands of years in the Hani Rice Terraces. It uses a section of horizontal wood to regulate the water flow of the channels, fairly and justly distributing the limited mountain spring water to each plot of terraced field according to the terraced area of each household. Under this system, the locality has achieved the sound utilization of water resources with measured extraction and measured use.
Represented by the "wooden-notch water distribution" system, all the spiritual and material needs of the Hani people are deeply bound to nature, forming a survival wisdom of interacting with nature. They regard water as the soul of life. Every year during the "June New Year" festival, they carry out the "fetching new water" activity, carrying back new water from the village wells, and in the following days, a small amount of new water is added to every dish prepared, receiving the blessings bestowed by nature.
In recent years, the local government has promoted the "rice-fish-duck" integrated farming model in the Hani Rice Terraces, transforming the single income from rice cultivation into comprehensive income from rice, fish, ducks, and duck eggs.
Relying on such an ecosystem and farming wisdom, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces have also been recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System and included in the World Heritage Irrigation Structures list, becoming the world's first model to hold "three heritage titles" in one.
Safeguarding Ethnic Cultural Traditions Passed Down for a Thousand Years
In the afternoon, 25-year-old Hani woman Gao Hua was teaching the children of Azheke Village to dance the "Luozuo Dance."
The ancient Hani village carries ethnic traditional cultural customs passed down for a thousand years. But it also once faced the threat of a large number of people going out to work, the hollowing out of the village, the difficulty of sustaining traditional production and lifestyle, the near disappearance of traditional cultural customs and skills, and the situation of traditional "mushroom houses" being "demolished for new construction."
In January 2018, the Yuanyang County Party Committee and County Government invited the team of Professor Bao Jigang from Sun Yat-sen University to specially formulate a tourism-led development plan for Azheke Village — the "Azheke Plan" — to "let those who understand the terraces manage the terraces," guiding villagers to establish a village collective company, develop rural tourism, with operating income belonging to the entire village.
To participate in dividend distribution, villagers must strictly adhere to four bottom lines — no leasing, no selling, no destruction; no introduction of social capital; no disorderly operation; no destruction of traditions — with violators subject to deduction of corresponding dividends, to ensure the authenticity of the village. With the advancement of the "Azheke Plan," the previously renovated "mushroom houses" gradually restored their original appearance, becoming landscapes and homestays more favored by tourists. Since the implementation of the plan, cumulative dividends have reached 4.5606 million yuan, with an average dividend per household exceeding 70,000 yuan, and it has also created 48 jobs for the entire village.
Gao Hua is a college graduate who returned to her hometown. A few years ago, she graduated from Yunnan Honghe Vocational and Technical College with a major in early childhood development and health management and once worked as a teacher in a kindergarten in Kunming. After the implementation of the "Azheke Plan," Gao Hua returned to the village and gradually grew into a member of the Aichun Village Committee, to which Azheke Village belongs, and the person in charge of the Azheke Village Collective Tourism Company.
The "Azheke Plan" is changing this ancient Hani village. Gao Hua said: "In the past, most villagers could only speak the Hani language and dared not actively communicate when seeing tourists. Now the villagers have become very confident and enthusiastic, and will actively invite tourists to eat at their homes."
"In recent years, more and more young people are returning to their hometowns, and the number of returning population has already exceeded the number of people going out to work," said Ma Youde, Party branch secretary of Azheke Village, who is also a returning youth. "Returning young people generally have a strong sense of identity with their hometown and hope to tell the story of Azheke well to the outside world, so that more people can understand the Hani Rice Terraces and the ethnic characteristics of the Hani people."
In Azheke Village, 71-year-old Ma Jianchang, a national-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, is the "treasure" of the entire village. Ma Jianchang's special skill is singing and passing on Hani ancient songs, Hani four-season production tunes, and other traditional ethnic ballads. Having begun learning at age 16, Ma Jianchang is already the thirty-first generation inheritor of these ethnic ballads. Now, he has taught these skills to his two sons. Ma Jianchang still sings the Hani four-season production tunes, used for agricultural work, together with his family while farming his own fields. When to sow seeds, when to distribute water — it is all in the songs.
"The core of cultural inheritance is to establish cultural confidence. On the one hand, we must make tourists love the relevant cultural content; on the other hand, we must provide corresponding subsidies to intangible cultural heritage inheritors and carry out inheritance and innovation of traditional culture according to the preferences of tourists of different age groups," said Wei Yiwen, Party secretary of Xinjie Township.
In recent years, the local publicity and culture and tourism departments have continuously carried out training of grassroots cultural talents such as local cultural figures who inherit Hani ancient songs and Hani four-season production tunes, and have collected and compiled catchy Hani nursery rhymes. "Older tourists are more interested in Hani ancient songs, while younger ones are more interested in Hani nursery rhymes," Wei Yiwen introduced. The promotion of the "Luozuo Dance" has also further covered campuses and online platforms, and the number of villagers who can sing and dance traditional songs and dances has increased significantly.
Taking Azheke Village as a model, Yuanyang County scientifically protects and inherits the traditional ethnic features and customs. At present, the county's heritage area has 261 intangible cultural heritage inheritors and 98 intangible cultural heritage inheritance projects, an increase of 137 people and 22 projects respectively compared with before the World Heritage application. Cultural inheritance art troupes have been formed, Hani ancient song performances are carried out on a regular basis, and activities such as the "opening the rice seedling gate" live farming culture festival have been organized, effectively guiding the masses to safeguard and inherit the Hani Rice Terrace culture well.
Enriching Cultural Tourism Formats to Drive Rural Revitalization
In Huangcaoling Village, Xinjie Township, a young man named Ma Chunsheng, known as "Brother Xiao Ma," is an internet celebrity. In 2008, Ma Chunsheng began operating a homestay, and now he often introduces the magnificence of his hometown's terraces on social media, and his business is flourishing and developing rapidly (蒸蒸日上, zheng zheng ri shang - "steam, steam, sun, rise").
Wei Yiwen approached him, hoping he would lead the villagers to get rich together: "The guests at the homestays come to see the terraces; if the villagers don't make money, who would be willing to farm the terraces? If you lead the masses to farm the terraces well, everyone can become prosperous together."
In 2022, Ma Chunsheng established the "Brother Xiao Ma Rural Tourism Farmers' Cooperative," with 65 households joining that year, growing to 80 households by 2026. In the village, 46 households are also earning a living from tourism by operating homestays and opening restaurants.
To encourage villagers to plant red rice and protect the terraces, the Yuanyang County Party Committee and County Government issue an annual terrace protection subsidy of 200 yuan per mu to planting households. The "Brother Xiao Ma Rural Tourism Farmers' Cooperative" helps villagers monetize their agricultural products. The cooperative purchases red rice at market prices and, after selling, returns profits to villagers by the jin. Last year, dividends were distributed twice, with "dividends plus sales" exceeding 200,000 yuan, and the villagers' willingness to farm has increased.
Wei Yiwen also urged Ma Chunsheng to go out more. "I dropped out of school very early. The secretary advised me, 'You missed gaining knowledge through reading and experience through travel (读万卷书，行万里路, du wan juan shu, xing wan li lu - "read, ten thousand, volumes, book; walk, ten thousand, li, road"), so don't miss it again,' and told me to go out and see more," Ma Chunsheng said. Having seen more, his mind has also become more active. "In the next step, I plan to lead the villagers to deeply explore the characteristics of our village, tell the local stories of farming culture, Hani ancient songs, and fireside evening talks well, and create differentiated tourism experience projects."
In recent years, under the guidance of the local government and the drive of returning youth, the cultural tourism formats of the Hani Rice Terraces have begun to diversify, with more new immersive consumption scenarios emerging.
Seeing the tremendous changes the "Azheke Plan" has brought to his hometown, 24-year-old Gao Wei decided to return to his hometown to start a business. He combined the traditional fire pit of Hani dwellings with a modern café, opening "Fire Pit Coffee" in Azheke Village, "so that tourists who are tired from walking can have a place to rest and experience our fire pit culture," Gao Wei said.
From November to April each year, the Hani Rice Terraces are in their water-filling period, with the terraces like mirrors and the scenery extremely beautiful, making it the local tourism peak season, and "Fire Pit Coffee" has good revenue. During the off-season, many villagers go out to work, but Gao Wei is not idle either. "I go out to learn coffee-making skills, bring in good coffee beans, and roast them over the fire pit, hoping to provide tourists with a more unique experience."
Looking out from Bada Terraces, the largest terraced area in Yuanyang County, one can see on the opposite side of the mountain an "eye" opened by the earth — that is the Librairie Avant-Garde Hani Rice Terraces store. This August, through the mutual effort from both sides (双向奔赴, shuang xiang ben fu - "two, directions, run towards") of government investment attraction and the bookstore's independent site selection, the Librairie Avant-Garde Hani Rice Terraces store began operations.
"The Hani Rice Terraces are world-famous. We hope that while everyone enjoys the scenery, we can also provide a new type of consumption space and enrich the local cultural tourism consumption formats," introduced Weng Xin, manager of the Yunnan regional management center of Librairie Avant-Garde. Even before the tourism peak season, the bookstore's foot traffic has remained at four to five hundred people per day. The cultural and creative products developed by the bookstore featuring Hani and terrace elements are very popular, and many local aunties come to take photos in ethnic costumes. Facing the upcoming tourism peak season, Weng Xin is full of confidence: "A photography shop has newly opened across from the bookstore, and the customer flow of nearby restaurants has increased. The diverse formats are mutually reinforcing, and beautiful scenery and the fragrance of books will surely achieve mutual success. The future will certainly be even better."
Return to TopBy: 何思琦
When AI (artificial intelligence) can create, will those who create be replaced?
A seemingly simple question, yet one that invites deep reflection. When the author conducted research on micro-dramas in Hengdian, Jinhua, Zhejiang in early this year, an extra who was a regular on the set asked: will AI completely replace live-action filming? As the wave of technology surges forward, such questions linger in the minds of content creators.
Take micro-dramas as an example, and look at a set of the latest data: in the first eight months of this year, 430,000 micro-dramas were launched online, 13 times the total for the whole of last year, of which AI-produced dramas account for over 90 percent. However, while AIGC (AI-generated content) expands the space of imagination, it has also accumulated a large amount of AI garbage. Producing low-quality work carelessly (粗制滥造, cu zhi lan zao - "crude, make, careless, create"), formulaic replication, and even plagiarism and content theft are something that is seen very often (屡见不鲜, lv jian bu xian - "repeatedly, see, not, fresh").
The problems faced by micro-dramas also reflect the problems faced by the entire content creation industry in the algorithmic age. When AI's assembly-line mass-produced content floods the market, how are sincere works, imbued with life experience and creative original intent, to break through and grow?
AI can "generate" content, but it cannot "experience" life. Take writing as an example. Liu Yixue, a girl born after 2005 in Xiji, Ningxia, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy from a young age, but she uses words to record her parents' love and the days of her gradual growth. She says: "I want to write, and I need to write. I want to knead the wind of Xihaigu, the pain of growing up, and the light in my heart, bit by bit, into my creation, and write them into my life." The core competitiveness of creation lies not in the proficiency of technique, but in the unique life experience of the creator. Perhaps AI can learn several styles of writing to depict the vicissitudes of human life (悲欢离合, bei huan li he - "sadness, joy, separation, reunion"), but an expression like Liu Yixue's, which uses all one's strength to face fate head-on and grows from the depths of life, is something AI cannot empathize with, let alone simply replicate with a few prompts.
To be sure, AI possesses powerful learning capabilities and ultimate production efficiency. However, literary and artistic creation that adheres to original intent is precisely valuable for that bit of "slowness" and that bit of "clumsiness." Throughout history, great literary and artistic works have all been the crystallization of accumulating much to release it gradually (厚积薄发, hou ji bo fa - "thick, accumulate, thin, emit"). Works passed down through generations and masterpieces of the ages are inevitably works of unwavering perseverance and devoted effort. Cao Xueqin wrote Dream of the Red Chamber "reading and revising for ten years, adding and deleting five times"; Liu Qing immersed himself in the lives of farmers for 14 years, making the characters in The Story of the Founding lifelike and vivid (栩栩如生, xu xu ru sheng - "vividly, like, enter, life"); when Lu Yao wrote The Ordinary World, he shut himself away in a cave dwelling for a long time to write, continuing for six years... Creation is inherently a process of taking root downward, inseparable from the persistence of striving earnestly and tirelessly (孜孜以求, zi zi yi qiu - "diligently, use, with, seek") and constantly striving for perfection (精益求精, jing yi qiu jing - "refined, more, seek, excellence"). As Zhang Ergun, a poet and winner of the Ninth Lu Xun Literature Prize, put it, "approaching the ideal of writing in a manner close to prostrating oneself." This steadfastness in settling down to deep cultivation is a quality unique to humans that algorithms cannot generate.
The further technology advances, the more precious sincere emotion becomes, and the more prominent the value of so-called "handcrafted" work. A good work is essentially the realization of emotional communication between people, and must ultimately rest on living people and real destinies. In the film Welcome to the Dragon Restaurant, the line "eat well" carries the Chinese people's cherishing of a happy life and their attachment to home and homeland; the film A Letter to Grandma tells of the warmth of people looking out for and helping one another (守望相助, shou wang xiang zhu - "guard, watch, mutually, help"), moving not only audiences in Chaoshan but also touching the shared emotions deep within countless Chinese people. The two works differ in narrative subject matter, yet both place the destinies of ordinary people at the center of their narratives, allowing artistic expression to resonate on the same frequency as the public's inner feelings. It is precisely for this reason that Lan Hongchun, the director of A Letter to Grandma, was shedding tears profusely (潸然泪下, shan ran lei xia - "tears, fall, down") while watching Welcome to the Dragon Restaurant, saying that he "felt a distant echo."
The closer the narrative is to reality and the more it cares for individuals, the more directly the work can reach people's hearts and endure over time. In this "fast" era, taking time to do "slow" things is precisely what sincere creation ought to be. When AI makes content production easy, those creators willing to put in painstaking effort, speak the truth, and film genuine emotion will instead become the "ballast stone" of the industry. From another perspective, technology will not eliminate creation; what it eliminates has never been anything but works and people that lack inner substance and sincerity.
AI cannot change the essence of creation. As long as there are still people willing to tell stories sincerely, creation will not become outdated, and creators will retain their irreplaceable value.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 杨颜菲
Autumn mountains layered in green, the forest sea deep and secluded. "I heard long ago that there is a pristine Red Army trail here, so today I deliberately brought my child to walk it." Ms. Liu, a tourist from Ji'an, Jiangxi, holding her child's hand, stood at the entrance of the Red Army Long March trail in Jinsha Village, Qilushan Town, Yudu County, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, her gaze looking toward the depths of the dense forest.
Jinsha Village lies deep among the mountains of southern Jiangxi, where a 19.34-kilometer mountain path winds through the forest sea. In October 1934, after the Central Red Army crossed the Yudu River, multiple units secretly marched westward from here, breaking through the first blockade line of the Kuomintang army. Along the trail are distributed the Siyuan Well, the former site of the General Medical Office of the Fifth Red Army Corps, the site of the blocking-action battlefield, and others, preserving the marks of those years of beacon-fire warfare.
"The stone slabs you are stepping on beneath your feet are the road the Red Army marched by night back then." At the entrance to the ancient trail, docent Hu Shizhao raised a hand to signal the group to slow their pace, her voice clear and steady, and an immersive red-study tour began.
The mountain path is rugged, and some sections allow only one person to pass sideways. Accompanied by the breeze through the forest, Hu Shizhao spoke in a slow and captivating manner (娓娓道来, wei wei dao lai - "small, small, speak, come") about the details of those beacon-fire years: "Back then the great army marched by night deep in the mountains, with no lanterns and scarce grain supplies, relying on wild vegetables and mountain springs to stave off hunger, and breaking through under cover of darkness. The villagers voluntarily gave way, quietly delivered grain, sheltered the soldiers, and silently protected the Red Army passing through."
"Before, I had only studied the Long March in books. Today, walking it in person and listening for myself, I truly realize how difficult the Red Army's march was and how deep the villagers' feelings for the Red Army were." A student said with emotion.
Hu Shizhao is a native-born resident of Jinsha Village. For more than five years, she has been rooted on the deep-mountain ancient trail, persisting in giving explanations. She has made more than 500 round trips on the rugged mountain path, excavating the Long March stories hidden deep in the mountains unknown to anyone, and telling them far and wide.
In order to bring the red stories closer to young people, Hu Shizhao integrates Hakka mountain songs into her situational explanations, giving the forest explanations more local flavor; in her spare time she films short videos, recording the ancient trail's appearance and the march stories, and spreads red culture on online platforms. Online traffic diversion, offline experience — the pristine ancient trail, once silent deep in the mountains, has gradually gained popularity.
For a long period of time, this ancient trail was merely a mountain path used by villagers to gather firewood. Relying on the construction of the Long March National Cultural Park, Qilushan Town adheres to protection first and minimal intervention, only repairing damaged road surfaces, adding signage facilities, and improving safety protection, preserving to the greatest extent the ancient trail's original texture and its appearance of age.
The red heat has driven rural development. Villagers have been able to "eat the red-tourism rice" at their own doorsteps. Idle farmhouses have been converted into guesthouses, farm courtyards have opened agritainment businesses, and mountain forest specialties such as high-altitude honey, dried bamboo shoots, lingzhi mushrooms, and camellia oil sell smoothly.
"Now the ancient trail is popular, tourists are more numerous, our own house has been converted into a guesthouse, and our income is much more stable." Villager Zhang Yougen said with a smile. Through the "Party branch + cooperative + farmer households" model, Jinsha Village integrates red-study, ecological agriculture, and Hakka cultural resources, driving more than 50 households to find employment nearby, and the village collective economy is steadily growing stronger.
Today's Jinsha Village has continuously improved infrastructure, and the red culture and tourism formats are increasingly rich. This deep-mountain ancient trail receives more than 300,000 visitor trips annually, becoming an important real-scene classroom for ideological and political study.
The setting sun pierces the forest, light and shadow dappled. Another study group steps forward along the stone steps. Hu Shizhao walks and talks as she goes, and the melody of mountain songs gently echoes through the valley.
Return to TopBy: 黄宗贤
At a symposium held at the National Minorities Primary School in Haidian District, Beijing in 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech that "there are many stories of young heroes in our country's history, and a large number of young heroes also emerged in the revolution, construction, and reform undertakings led by the Communist Party of China." On the Long March road more than 90 years ago, the footprints of a group of young heroes were engraved.
Heroes have emerged from youth since ancient times, but when young people appear in large groups or crowds (成群结队, cheng qun jie dui - "gather, group, tie, team") amid the smoke of gunfire, this is by no means a heroic legend of ordinary times, but a tragic inevitability of a nation at a moment of deep peril. It is precisely because these young people, who should have been enjoying the affection of their parents, stepped onto the front stage of history that the unconquerable mettle of a nation is most profoundly demonstrated. Edgar Snow recorded this group of "special young people" in Red Star Over China; they served as messengers, buglers, and propagandists in the Red Army, and were in high spirits — "seeing them, you would feel that China was not without hope." This reflection is precisely the spiritual starting point for later generations of art workers to repeatedly gaze upon the young Red Army soldiers. When the 25th Red Army made its strategic shift in 1934, most of its soldiers were only 13 to 18 years old, and the magazine Communist International called them the "Children's Army." They were at an age still appearing very youthful or immature (稚气未脱, zhi qi wei tuo - "childish, air, not, shed"), yet the fate of the nation was already pressed upon their shoulders; this contrast has also struck the hearts of generations of art workers.
Long March-themed art creation has continued without interruption (延绵不断, yan mian bu duan - "extend, stretch, not, continuous") for decades, constituting a deeply moving or soul-stirring (震撼人心, zhen han ren xin - "shake, startle, people, heart") visual epic, and the young Red Army soldiers have never been absent from this sustained visual narrative. Their images are by no means a romantic embellishment, but have evoked an especially genuine aesthetic resonance in the long river of the nation's advance. Wu Zuoren's 1951 oil painting Crossing the Snow Mountain takes the towering Jiajin Mountain as its background; in the picture, a group of Red Army soldiers carrying packs and holding wooden sticks struggle upward along an icy slope, with the figures of young soldiers in oversized uniforms and soft-brimmed caps faintly visible among them. Though small, they do not become a foil to the scene. They stand in the surging forward-moving ranks, transforming into points of starlight rising ceaselessly upward. The artist uses the environment to set off the difficulty of the Red Army crossing the snow mountain, confirming the firmness of their will. Through vivid character portrayal, the still-tender bodies of the young soldiers are integrated into the spirit of "ten thousand rivers and a thousand mountains are but idleness," and spiritual strength arises spontaneously in the fusion of the vast mountains and rivers with the arduous expedition.
The young figures in grand compositions are indeed spirited, but what makes people linger even longer are often those works that lower their gaze. Many art workers gather the long expedition between shoulders, feet, brass bugles, and flute sounds, using restraint and tenderness to paint hope amid tragedy. Sun Zixi's oil painting Night Camp on the Grassland captures a moment of bivouac; in the faint light of the campfire, a young Red Army soldier with a childish face leans against an old Red Army soldier's back, fast asleep, the rifle cradled in his arms almost as tall as he is. The painter does not depict fierce combat, yet quietly brings out the courage and faith of the young Red Army soldier. Cai Liang's oil painting Sons of the Poor Peasants approaches from another angle, not directly portraying the young soldiers' faces, but vividly depicting their backs as they earnestly plead to join the army. The two young men's mud-stained feet, their extremely simple packs, and their postures of looking up and earnestly requesting to join the army make the viewer feel as if they can hear the unspoken "take us along" across the canvas, and feel their sense of responsibility in longing to defend their homes and country.
Pan He's sculpture Hard Times casts this sense of responsibility into eternity with lyrical artistic language. An old soldier plays the transverse flute while a young soldier nestles close, listening; the bitterness and joy of the revolution are thus fused into one. Zhao Yixiong's oil painting Propagandist on the Long March Road and the sculpture Little Bugler by Xiao Lian and Yang Yufa in collaboration approach from the angles of slogans and the brass bugle respectively, transforming "summons," "optimism," and "faith" into visual vocabulary. The young propagandist shouts slogans in a childish voice, cheering the soldiers on; the little bugler stands with one hand on his hip and the other holding the bugle, each note of the horn gathering the strength to move forward. These figures jointly proclaim: though the young Red Army soldiers were still youthful and immature, their faith was already established.
The primary common feature of this batch of low-gaze works is writing solemnity through childishness. The creators practice a concrete aesthetics, guiding the viewer's gaze to the fine details, translating Snow's reflection into the hope contained in the young soldiers' shoulders, feet, bugles, and flutes, and letting the grand narrative fall back into real life experience. The depiction of the environment does not seek a full view of gunpowder smoke; restrained portrayal naturally reveals weight of a thousand jun. Art workers doing the same thing without prior agreement (不约而同, bu yue er tong - "not, appointment, but, same") lower their gaze toward the young soldiers, not to belittle the weighty history, but to give it a more genuine warmth. When later generations meet the bright eyes in the paintings, what they read is not only history, but also the aesthetic and spiritual self-awareness of "merging the small self into the greater self."
More than 90 years later, this self-awareness still echoes. The unyielding will of the nation in times of peril and the strength of growing up amid suffering have never vanished, and will surely continue continuing endlessly with renewed vigor (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "birth, birth, not, cease") in the art creation of the new era.
(The author is a distinguished professor at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute)
Return to TopBy: 陈 翔
In the exhibition hall of the "Breaking Through the Uncharted Realm — Retrospective Exhibition of Fang Zengxian" at the Shanghai Art Museum, a painting made me pause for a long time. This nearly two-and-a-half-meter-square Home Village Bench Dragon is a work created by Fang Zengxian at the age of 71. The painting depicts the custom of dragon lantern dancing during the Lantern Festival in his hometown. To complete the work, Fang Zengxian returned to his hometown many times to gather material, taking four years to finish it. Amid the densely packed crowd, a "long dragon" formed by many benches linked together winds through; the combination of accumulated ink and broken ink makes the picture both weighty and richly layered, with calligraphic lines crisscrossing through it, together forming vivid and lifelike (生动传神, sheng dong chuan shen - "vivid, lively; transmit, spirit") figures.
This powerful late-career work is but one epitome of Fang Zengxian's sustained exploration and innovation. As early as 1955, at the age of 24, Fang Zengxian produced the representative work of modern Chinese figure painting, Every Grain Is Hard Earned. At that time, having just returned from an investigation trip to Dunhuang, and with no ready-made models or experience to draw upon, he built on the tradition of bone-method brushwork in Chinese painting, absorbed Romanian structural drawing techniques, reduced reliance on chiaroscuro and light-and-shadow effects, and created a freehand figure-painting method suited to portraying the vivid images of working people, resolving the problem that traditional Chinese painting found it difficult to keep pace with the demands of the times.
From Every Grain Is Hard Earned to Home Village Bench Dragon, Fang Zengxian summarized his artistic path as: "In the past I painted images; later I created images." If "painting images" emphasizes reproducing the objective object, then "creating images" means the artist actively re-creates the object, allowing the image to grow out of brush and ink. From "painting" to "creating," the leap and elevation between the two lies not only in technique but even more in concept and attitude.
Fang Zengxian is widely recognized as the founder and representative painter of the Zhejiang school of figure painting, having made a key contribution to the modern transformation of Chinese painting. At the same time, one question ran through his entire life: when Western concepts of form are introduced, where does the cultural subjectivity of Chinese painting lie?
Fang Zengxian once introduced Western sketching techniques, but he also stressed that this solved only the problem of "drawing accurately"; the foundation of Chinese painting lies in establishing the bone through line, and in the spirit and resonance of brush and ink. In Chinese painting creation, brush and ink are not merely painting techniques but possess independent aesthetic value. In his later years he criticized some unhealthy phenomena in the painting world of the time, holding that many figure paintings were "clearly slowly traced out, and the traditional Chinese painting techniques of line, dot, texture stroke, wash, and dye have completely vanished" (荡然无存, dang ran wu cun - "completely, gone; nothing, exist"). This was of course not a simple anxiety over technique, but a vigilance over the gradual loss of cultural subjectivity.
Precisely for this reason, he never treated innovation as a replacement for tradition. In his later years, Fang Zengxian returned to calligraphy and line drawing to relearn, reflecting that he had "awakened too late." From the freehand brushwork of Wang Geyi, and from the accumulated and broken ink of Huang Binhong, he saw new possibilities for expressing a sense of weight in figure painting; from the lines of running and cursive script, he discovered modern vitality. Tradition, for him, was not a heritage to be enshrined, but a mineral deposit awaiting extraction. He held: "Chinese painting is done according to traditional Chinese methods; Western art is for reference. However Chinese painting changes, it will never depart from its fundamental things." That is to say, absorbing the foreign must be rooted in one's own cultural tradition.
This stance ran through Fang Zengxian's entire life. Whether in his early reforms or his later retrospection, upholding the cultural subjectivity of Chinese painting was always the bottom line from which he never retreated. He once said: "The artistic path I have walked all my life is the path of an ascetic monk... I am one who seeks a small path amid tangled grass and mud." He trudged along this small path, his questioning never ceasing, his direction never wavering.
Chinese painting creation today likewise faces new challenges. Artificial intelligence can generate a work that looks very much like Chinese painting in a few seconds; when technology becomes increasingly adept at imitation, where lies the irreplaceability of the human being? Another trap comes from the logic of traffic and clicks: painters are pushed along by exhibitions and the market, and when external driving forces affect internal artistic judgment, the courage to "create images" becomes increasingly scarce. A deeper anxiety is: in the face of the dual impact of globalization and digitalization, how is the identity of Chinese painting to be established? If innovation is understood as chasing world trends and catering to Western standards, then what is lost will be not merely the distinctive character of one painting genre, but a civilization's right to express itself.
Fang Zengxian's value lies not only in having left behind a replicable painting method, but even more importantly, he left behind a fundamental stance: anchored in the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation, neither slighting tradition, nor being conservative and refusing to adopt new ideas (故步自封, gu bu zi feng - "old, step; self, seal"), nor ceasing to search tirelessly for truth or meaning (上下求索, shang xia qiu suo - "up, down; seek, search"). This is perhaps the most plain and also the most profound meaning of "opening a new realm where no one has gone": the new realm is not in the distance, but in that very moment when you resolve to find a new way to do things (另辟蹊径, ling pi xi jing - "separately, open; strange, path") without forgetting the road you came by!
(The author is Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Artists Association)
Return to TopBy: 冯凤举
Guangxi's topography is unique, high in the northwest and low in the southeast overall, ringed by mountains that naturally lock in its southward water routes to the sea, making it difficult to unleash its locational advantages of being along the coast, along rivers, and along the border. Therefore, for more than 2,000 years, the people of the land of Bagui have never ceased their steps in the dream of cleaving through mountains toward the sea. From the ancient excavation of the Lingqu Canal connecting the Li River and the Xiang River, to the completion today of the Pinglu Canal realizing the long-cherished wish of connecting rivers to the sea, Guangxi's road of opening up has grown ever wider, and the Chinese nation's wisdom in water management has been continuously carried forward in painting.
The Lingqu Canal is a great project created by the working people of ancient China. It pioneered the use of ship locks, using flash locks to control water by leveraging its force, allowing boats to traverse mountains and ridges (翻山越岭, fan shan yue ling - "flip, mountain, cross, ridge"), hence it is also called the Flash Lock River, and it still nourishes the local people today. In the Qing Dynasty, Li Xiyuan traveled north by boat along the Li River and the Lingqu Canal, sketching from life along the way to create the album "River Journey Paintings," in which the page "Flash Lock River" depicts precisely the Lingqu Canal. The painting's brushwork and ink are light and delicate, with the Lingqu Canal winding through mountain valleys, sparse woods leaning against the banks, and a small boat moving slowly. On the painting, the author inscribed his own verse: "Several days of flying sails held at the Flash Lock River, one stretch of water ends and one stretch of slope begins. Rowing straight up to the Red Sand Weir, mountain winds on both banks stir the boatmen's songs," revealing the water transport character of the Lingqu Canal and leaving viewers with boundless imagination.
As water veins flow and cultural veins continue, the wisdom of prospering through water management passes from one river into another. Huang Jianfu's Chinese painting "Two Canals Reflecting History, Rivers and Seas Surging Together" adopts a diptych format, placing the ancient Lingqu Canal and the modern canal in the same picture, with mountains and waters connected and spirit and vitality interlinked. The left panel shows the water-dividing pond of the ancient Lingqu Canal, with the sound of flowing water (流水潺潺, liu shui chan chan - "flow, water, murmuring, murmuring"), boats at ease, and the city walls of Xing'an hidden in mist; the right panel shows the new-era appearance of the Pinglu Canal, with the canal cutting through mountains and ridges, winding and surging forward, large ship lock hubs standing in the river valley, and lined-up cargo vessels ready to depart. One painting contains both ancient and present, and two chapters of water management epic separated by more than 2,000 years are perfectly fused within the scroll.
As a backbone project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the Pinglu Canal is also an "economic belt" driving development. This vitality is reflected in Wei Junping's Chinese painting "Century River" (see image). The work likewise adopts a diptych format, allowing the source of the Pinglu Canal and its sea entrance to face each other from afar. In the left half of the picture, the waters of Pingtang River Mouth are calm, sandbars are gentle, and houses are neatly arranged; in the right half, the river water rushes onward, and the sea entrance presents a scene of bustling activity. The mountains and waters of the left and right panels connect, each independent yet with spirit and vitality running through, creating a sense of depth across time and space. The work uses light and lively brushwork to spread out the new appearance of urban and rural areas on both banks, indirectly highlighting the great potential of the Pinglu Canal in promoting regional economic development and other aspects.
With one river running through, Bagui faces the sea, and the Pinglu Canal is moreover a strategic hub connecting the domestic and international dual circulation. Jiang Xiaoming's Chinese painting "Clouds Surging over Bagui, River Connecting Rivers and Seas" focuses precisely on this theme, using romanticist techniques to centrally display the representative landscapes of the Pinglu Canal. The painting absorbs the aesthetic concept of "vast landscapes depicted in a small space" (咫尺千里, zhi chi qian li - "a foot, a chi, a thousand, a li") from traditional landscape painting, incorporating modern elements such as canal ship locks, port docks, and ecological corridor bridges entirely into the picture, and skillfully uses clouds and mist to run through the entire composition, setting off the real with the void, allowing towns, mountains and rivers, and engineering scenes to blend naturally, vividly presenting the new atmosphere of Bagui's rivers connecting to rivers and seas.
From the thousand-year-old ancient canal to the century-spanning project, the Chinese nation's conviction of managing water to prosper the country continues unbroken. Painters of ancient and modern times, with the same feelings, use brush and ink to depict this canal story spanning a thousand years, ensuring that the cultural lineage of Bagui is passed down without interruption.
(The author is an associate researcher at the Guangxi Arts University)
Return to TopBy: 柳 妍 马小虎
Over ninety years have passed, and the spirit of the Long March has become deeply embedded in the bloodline of the Chinese nation, serving as a powerful spiritual driving force that inspires generations of Chinese sons and daughters to keep striving forward with determination (砥砺前行, di li qian xing - "grind, polish, move forward"). To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, a series of related art exhibitions have been held recently, condensing many "invisible red memories" from different perspectives into vivid, lifelike, and inspiring paintings. Among them, the "Golden Sand River Beats the Cloudy Cliffs Warm" art exhibition, co-hosted by the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Yunnan Federation of Literary and Art Circles, brings together nearly a hundred fine works by veteran, middle-aged, and young artists. It not only vividly interprets the profound connotation of the Long March spirit becoming more vibrant with the passage of time (历久弥新, li jiu mi xin - "endure long time, become more new"), but also provides experience and inspiration for the creation of red-themed art in the new era.
Around major historical events, the magnificent journey is reproduced from multiple perspectives, which is particularly fully reflected in the "Epic of the Journey" section. For example, Mr. Shen Yaoyi, who has been deeply engaged in Long March-themed creation for decades, measures the long journey with repeated on-site sketching and fills the gaps in Long March imagery frame by frame. Also, Shao Yachuan's oil painting "Crossing the Chishui River Four Times with Surprise Troops" captures the marching dynamics of Red Army soldiers crossing the Chishui River at night. The leaping torches, surging river waters, and stretching columns interweave on the canvas, fully displaying the Red Army's flexible and mobile military wisdom of taking someone by surprise (出其不意, chu qi bu yi - "go out, its, not, intention") through the contrast of light and shadow. Lu Zhengyuan's sculpture "Grassland Party Branch" (see picture) turns faith into a solidified epic, allowing viewers to deeply feel the spiritual power that transcends time and space through contemplation. These works are not simple reproductions of historical scenes and heroic figures, but rather deeply excavate the Long March spirit and carry out visual translation, leading viewers to retrace vast distances and many mountains (千山万水, qian shan wan shui - "thousand, mountain, ten thousand, water") and to appreciate the revolutionary's family-and-country feelings of faith as solid as mountains and original aspiration as bright as torches.
If the Long March is a majestic and profound red epic, then the journey of the Red Army through Yunnan is a vivid and striking in style (浓墨重彩, nong mo zhong cai - "thick, ink, heavy, color") chapter within the entire epic. A group of artists went to the Jinsha River bank, the site of the Zhaxi Conference, and other places, touching history and feeling the changes of the times, interpreting the bold poetic sentiment of "Golden Sand River Beats the Cloudy Cliffs Warm" with their brushes. Their works are gathered in the "Flying Songs of the Cloud Ridge" section. For example, Sun Jingbo's oil painting "Golden Sand River Beats the Cloudy Cliffs Warm - Jiaoping Ferry under the Setting Sun" fuses revolutionary poetry into the sunset scene of the ferry crossing. The shimmering river waters and the vast, boundless mountains are shrouded in the soft light of dusk, and the quiet mountains and rivers carry the breathtaking story of crossing the river. Fan Di'an's oil painting "The Great of the Nation - Baihetan Hydropower Station" turns its gaze to the super project on the bank of the Jinsha River, with bright colors, concise brushstrokes, and a far-reaching artistic conception. History and reality meet in the picture, allowing viewers to truly perceive the powerful strength of the Long March spirit that transcends time and space.
The brush records history, and even more, it reflects the times. In the "Radiant Splendor of the Capital" section, many painters closely combine the inheritance of the Long March spirit with the development of the new era, painting magnificent pictures. Wei Haibin's oil painting "Splendid Sub-center" uses a bird's-eye view to freeze the bright and dazzling lights (灯火璀璨, deng huo cui can - "lamp, fire, bright, resplendent") of the night scene of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center. The dots of light tell of the beautiful prospect of stable mountains and rivers and a prosperous country and peaceful people (国泰民安, guo tai min an - "country, prosperous, people, peaceful") on the new Long March road. Ma Jiawei's oil painting "Singing Tomorrow - Building the Millennium Xiong'an" and Sun Zhensheng's Chinese painting "April in Full Bloom" respectively depict the vigorous vitality of urban development from multiple perspectives such as regional integration and the lives of urban youth. The vivid images profoundly interpret the enterprising posture of people in the new era who inherit the red bloodline and bravely shoulder the mission of the times.
The charm of red-themed art creation lies in allowing viewers to feel the temperature of history and draw the strength to strive forward. At present, due to the scarcity of image materials and oral history, some Long March-themed art creations still have problems such as inaccurate factual expression, insufficient in-depth exploration of details, and a single narrative dimension. A deep reading of the exhibited works reveals that red-themed art creation is by no means a simple historical reproduction. Rather, on the basis of respecting historical facts, it should deeply excavate the spiritual core, innovate forms of expression, and fit the context of the times, so that the red narrative can radiate new vitality. On the new journey, the vast number of art workers should continue to deeply cultivate red themes, and with more works of profound thought, exquisite artistry, and fine production, inherit the red gene, carry forward the national spirit, and unite people's hearts and efforts (凝心聚力, ning xin ju li - "condense, heart, gather, strength") to walk the new Long March road well.
(The authors are respectively the resident Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Beijing Artists Association and a council member of the Beijing Artists Association)
Return to TopBy: 谷 泉
Stone is one of humanity's oldest objects of aesthetic appreciation. China's culture of stone appreciation is highly developed, with its humanistic interests extending into politics, economy, society, and every aspect of daily life, and this remains true to this day. Penjing (bonsai) is a Chinese original creation—a plastic art that takes the binding, pruning, and cultivation of plants as its main body, with the arrangement of rocks as a supplementary element, synthesizing the achievements of many art forms. Stone appreciation and penjing, though belonging respectively to the art of inorganic objects and the art of organic objects, share common ground. Both are arts steeped in Chinese civilization, movable "sacred mountains" and "immortal isles," "desk-top gardens" in which Chinese people lodge their hearts' longing for forests and streams, and concrete embodiments of the Chinese ideal world, vividly interpreting the relationship between humanity and nature. Over thousands of years, stone appreciation and penjing have accumulated profound cultural heritage, with aesthetic achievements that are dazzling and magnificent (璀璨夺目, cui can duo mu - "bright, shining, snatch, eye"), and have flourished alongside astronomy and ritual, poetry and song, garden architecture, and more.
Since the 20th century, the modern transformation of traditional culture has become a universal pursuit across all artistic fields, and stone appreciation and penjing are no exception. Because traditional concepts are too powerful, contemporary stone appreciation and penjing have encountered various developmental difficulties—this is only to be expected. Stone appreciation and penjing are mature art forms; creators must follow the basic laws of creation, break down preconceptions, and carry on tradition while creating something new (继古开今, ji gu kai jin - "follow, ancient, open, now"). If they cannot create a contemporary aesthetic, repeat the old path, and have form without spirit, stone appreciation and penjing will find it difficult to burst forth with vigorous vitality for the times.
It is undeniable and beyond doubt (毋庸置疑, wu yong zhi yi - "no, need, doubt, question") that stone appreciation and penjing today are at their most prosperous and richest moment: the number of participants, the resources invested, market transaction volumes, the frequency of exhibitions and displays, and the channels of information dissemination are all at historic highs. Add to this the continuous emergence of new stone varieties and the fact that penjing creators in other countries are racing against each other (你追我赶, ni zhui wo gan - "you, chase, me, catch up"), and the artistic quality ought to have risen substantially. Yet regrettably, the artistic creation, academic research, theoretical construction, and aesthetic judgment concerning stone appreciation and penjing today remain somewhat thin, and do not match the vivid demands of the masses in real life. On the whole, contemporary stone appreciation and penjing are characterized by more consumption than construction.
Today's China is vastly different from ancient China, and the concrete embodiment of the ideal world is also completely different. Stone appreciation and penjing, as works of art, have never been merely stones and plants to be admired, but rather reveal the will of the times in the guise of stone appreciation and penjing. How could the contemporary aesthetic creation of stone appreciation and penjing stop at "thin, wrinkled, perforated, translucent" or "one inch, three bends"? The spiritual connotation connected behind the external ingenuity is the real point. Besides deepening the foundation of traditional learning, at this very moment the design of stone appreciation and penjing—which has already moved from the scholar's desk to public life and commercial spaces—must also incorporate profound and penetrating insights (真知灼见, zhen zhi zhuo jian - "true, knowledge, burning, insight") from disciplines such as astronomy, geology, sociology, psychology, and art studies. The road ahead is certain to be one of splitting open mountains and breaking rocks, clearing obstacles and overcoming difficulties (披荆斩棘, pi jing zhan ji - "tear, thorns, chop, brambles"), and then advancing grand and majestic in scale (浩浩荡荡, hao hao dang dang - "vast, vast, surging, surging"), surging ever forward.
The shape, weight, volume, color, texture, grain, variety, and place of origin of stones and plants—all of these can serve as entry points for contemporary aesthetic creation. They are the same at every moment, yet different at every moment; they possess a sense of eternity, yet also a freshness that aligns with the reality of each moment. This captivating quality of changing yet unchanging is unique to Asian art and poses endless challenges to contemporary creators. We should not stop our steps, nor can we stop our steps—using stones and plants to connect the vast changes in the world over time (沧海桑田, cang hai sang tian - "blue, sea, mulberry, fields") of the historical process is precisely the living source of stone appreciation and penjing creation.
Stone is a non-renewable resource—how could it become a cultural fast-moving consumer good?! How could the old trees growing long-lived in pots be achieving success in a single step (一蹴而就, yi cu er jiu - "one, kick, and, achieve")?! Beautiful stone appreciation and penjing are not only aesthetic objects, but also philosophical products, and moreover cultural resources for contemplating society and life. Today, more and more people understand that erecting stones and cultivating trees also involves establishing virtue and nurturing people. It is not the case that placing a large stone in front of a building means one possesses culture; nor can arbitrarily twisting tree branches be called art. Creating within a narrow framework of thinking, one cannot properly handle stones and plants. Only when the realm of the human being is elevated will the quality of art rise accordingly, and the world will then become suddenly becoming clear or enlightened (豁然开朗, huo ran kai lang - "suddenly, open, bright").
Stone appreciation and penjing have always been arts with profound Chinese cultural connotations. Contemporary stone connoisseurs and penjing practitioners must not only be diligent in creation, read widely, and write extensively, but also open their minds and invite experts from other disciplines and enthusiasts of Chinese culture to participate in creation. Together, people should build the "Kunlun" and "Penglai" of the new era. From this perspective, promoting the breakthrough of the contemporary aesthetic of stone appreciation and penjing is an important component of the creative transformation and innovative development of China's fine traditional culture.
(The author is an associate research fellow at the Chinese National Academy of Arts)
Return to Top