Summary: General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during his October 16 inspection tour in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia that the broad masses of the people were the source of strength for the victory of the Long March, and that the Party and the people relied on each other through life and death. He recalled his visits to Yudu County in Jiangxi, Shazhou Yao Village in Hunan, and Huamao Village in Zunyi, Guizhou, highlighting how the Red Army's "half quilt" story and the people's support demonstrated the Party's nature and purpose. Xi stressed that the victory of the Long March fully explained that the Chinese Communist Party must take root among the people and closely rely on them to overcome difficulties. He called for working together with one heart to walk the new Long March road well and continuously satisfy the people's aspirations for a better life.
Summary: The article reports on Qingyang City, Gansu Province, carrying forward the Long March spirit and red culture in the old revolutionary base area, following General Secretary Xi Jinping's September 2024 inspection instructions to preserve red resources and build national cultural parks. It highlights the Nanliang Revolutionary Base Area's tourism growth, with Huachi County receiving 1.27 million visits and 739 million yuan in spending in the first half of the year, alongside infrastructure projects like the Taihua Highway and Wuhua Expressway linking Nanliang with other revolutionary bases. The piece also details Qingyang's digital economy push, including its "East Data, West Computing" hub achieving 215,000 PFLOPS of intelligent computing scale and handling over a quarter of national AI token operations, with token services expanding to multiple continents. Energy Bureau director Liu Xingfeng is quoted as saying revolutionary forebears crossed mountains and ridges for hope, and today the city must turn green electricity and computing power into "real gold and silver."
Summary: Premier Li Qiang held talks with Tajikistan's Prime Minister Rasulzoda in Dushanbe, stating that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Rahmon, bilateral relations have maintained high-level development, and China is willing to deepen strategic mutual trust and push all-round cooperation to new heights. Li Qiang called for aligning development strategies, promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and deepening cooperation in trade, green minerals, connectivity, clean energy, and artificial intelligence, while also expanding exchanges in culture, education, health, sports, and sub-national levels, and strengthening law enforcement and security cooperation. He emphasized that both countries, as important members of the Global South, should coordinate closely within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the China-Central Asia Mechanism, and the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. Rasulzoda noted that bilateral relations are at their best level in history, thanked China for its support, and expressed willingness to deepen cooperation in economy, trade, investment, agriculture, and emerging fields. After the talks, the two sides witnessed the signing of documents on infrastructure, education, anti-corruption, and standardization, and Li Qiang laid a wreath at the Tajikistan National Reconciliation and Revival Monument, with Wu Zhenglong participating in the activities.
Summary: The article reports on how Fujian, Shandong, and Hunan are boosting consumption through "addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division" strategies, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's emphasis on adapting to consumption structure changes and expanding quality goods and services. It details local initiatives such as nighttime consumption in Changsha, county-hopping tourism in Fujian, and Shandong's trade-in subsidies, which have driven significant sales. The piece highlights specific measures like Jinan's "Prepaid Treasure" trust system to protect prepaid funds, Fujian's childcare and elderly care subsidies, and Hunan's consumption vouchers with a 1:4.5 leverage ratio. It also covers efforts to remove barriers, including instant tax refunds for foreign shoppers in Changsha and relaxed outdoor stall regulations in Xiamen. The article concludes that these policies are injecting momentum into high-quality development and improving people's livelihoods.
Summary: The article presents four stories illustrating Tibet's transformation over 75 years since peaceful liberation, told through the lives of elderly residents who experienced the old feudal serf system. Puciren, 82, recounts learning to read and write after democratic reform, becoming a volunteer docent at the Museum of the Liberation of One Million Serfs in Tibet. Nima Wangchuk, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of the Jiuhe zhuo dance, describes how the art shifted from forced corvée labor to dignified cultural expression. Pema's family story traces pulu weaving from serf exploitation to a thriving rural revitalization industry, while Cidekyi, 82, contrasts her childhood in cattle pens with her secure life in a nursing home. The piece concludes that under the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era, the region has achieved leaps in education, culture, and livelihood, with the elderly affirming that following the Party brings ever-improving happiness.
Summary: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported that more than 70 percent of the national autumn grain harvest has been completed, with regional progress ranging from over 30 percent in south China to over 80 percent in the Huang-Huai-Hai region and the southwest. Autumn and winter planting is proceeding orderly, with winter wheat sowing past 10 percent and winter rapeseed past 30 percent. The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration reported that peak-season autumn grain purchase is orderly, with 18 million tons of medium and late rice purchased by various business entities. Autumn grain output accounts for about three-quarters of annual output, involving many varieties and wide regional coverage. Relevant departments will strengthen organization of purchases, implement market-based purchase and policy-based storage, and ensure smooth channels for farmers to sell grain and stable market operation.
Summary: China State Railway Group reported that the national railway system carried 3.71 billion passengers in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, setting a record high for the period. An average of 11,511 passenger trains ran daily, up 5.3% year-on-year, with the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway and China-Laos Railway transporting 25.845 million and 265,000 cross-border passengers respectively. International passenger trains with Mongolia, Russia, Vietnam, and North Korea supported cross-border tourism. The railway also operated 2,860 tourist trains, up 25.5%, including 947 special trains for fan clubs and sports fans, boosting catering, hotel, and cultural tourism industries.
Summary: The article is a compilation of theoretical and commemorative pieces marking the Long March, with titles such as "Grasping the Winning Way to Strengthen the Party and the State from the Great Long March" and "Printing the Footprints of Youth on the Long March Road of the New Era." It includes sections on "Telling Moving Stories, Carrying Forward the Spirit of the Long March" and "A Long Song of the Land · The Footprints of Heroes." The content emphasizes carrying forward the spirit of the Long March in the new era.
Summary: The article examines the "six networks" as a key strategic initiative for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, highlighting General Secretary Xi Jinping's October 16 inspection in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, where he emphasized the computing power network's accelerated development. It traces the planning process, including Xi's 2021 and 2023 group study sessions and the April Political Bureau meeting that incorporated the computing power network into national top-level design. The piece contrasts Inner Mongolia's green computing power base with Guizhou's big data industry, recalling Xi's 2015 visit to Guiyang and his call to strive for global leadership. It frames these projects—including the South-to-North Water Diversion and West-to-East Power Transmission—as demonstrations of Party leadership and the institutional advantage of concentrating efforts on major tasks. The article concludes by invoking the Long March metaphor, asserting that Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for success in the new era.
Summary: General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Huangqihai Lake Nature Reserve in Qahar Right Front Banner, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on October 16, where he heard reports on ecological protection and inspected the lakeshore mudflats and birds. He emphasized adhering to respecting, conforming to, and protecting nature, fully implementing the Wetland Protection Law, upholding ecological protection red lines, and carrying out restoration with natural restoration as the primary approach. The article details how the lake, which nearly dried up by 2006, has recovered to over 85 square kilometers through reduced human disturbance and natural restoration, with fish returning after nearly 27 years and migratory bird numbers increasing. Local officials, including Wang Shaojun, director of the reserve service center, and staff member Xie Xiaofei, described governance efforts such as relocating livestock farms, dredging river channels, and using a smart supervision platform with 297 monitoring devices. The piece does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article reports on the autumn harvest in Dongyujia Village, Lingcheng District, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, where large-scale grain grower Yu Shulei is harvesting 400 mu of corn. It recalls General Secretary Xi Jinping's June 24 visit to the farmland, where he encouraged growers and technicians, saying, "With a good summer grain harvest, I congratulate you. We also place our hopes on the autumn grain, striving to make this year another bumper harvest year." Yu Shulei credits integrated water and fertilizer equipment and high-yield technology, including dense planting and drip irrigation, for increased yields, while agricultural technician Gao Jianmei emphasizes that improved varieties, machinery, and methods are all essential. The article notes that Dezhou City has basically completed its autumn grain harvest as of October 15, with over 70 percent of national autumn grain harvested, and stresses the importance of safeguarding cultivated land and stabilizing grain production for national food security.
Summary: The "Deep Sea No. 1" vessel, carrying the manned submersible "Jiaolong," is conducting the second leg of China's Ocean 100 voyage scientific expedition in the high seas of the western Pacific Ocean. On October 15, the "Jiaolong" carried out a diving operation there, marking its 470th dive.
Summary: The article reports on Qingyang City, Gansu Province, carrying forward the Long March spirit and red culture in the old revolutionary base area, following General Secretary Xi Jinping's September 2024 inspection instructions to preserve red resources and build national cultural parks. It highlights the Nanliang Revolutionary Base Area's tourism growth, with Huachi County receiving 1.27 million visits and 739 million yuan in spending in the first half of the year, alongside infrastructure projects like the Taihua Highway and Wuhua Expressway linking Nanliang with other revolutionary bases. The piece also details Qingyang's digital economy push, including its "East Data, West Computing" hub achieving 215,000 PFLOPS of intelligent computing scale and handling over a quarter of national AI token operations, with token services expanding to multiple continents. Energy Bureau director Liu Xingfeng is quoted as saying revolutionary forebears crossed mountains and ridges for hope, and today the city must turn green electricity and computing power into "real gold and silver."
Summary: At the Canton Fair, Bangladeshi purchaser Du Xin visited Xinxing County, Yunfu City, and placed orders after touring local stainless steel enterprises, praising the products' craftsmanship and design. He was among over a hundred international buyers invited to the Fourth China (Guangdong Yunfu)–RCEP Industrial Cooperation Conference on October 17, where they toured factory workshops to see intelligent and green manufacturing. Yunfu's exports of stainless steel kitchenware reached 2.42 billion yuan in the first eight months of this year, up 16.9 percent year-on-year. A Yunfu Municipal Commerce Bureau official noted that local manufacturers previously did OEM work for European and American brands, and last year's similar buyer visit generated intended orders worth 66.1 million US dollars. Du Xin said the factory visit gave him more confidence, and he plans to buy one or two hundred pieces to test his country's market before bulk purchasing.
Summary: Premier Li Qiang arrived in Dushanbe on October 18 for an official visit to Tajikistan and to attend the 25th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, accompanied by State Councilor Wu Zhenglong. He was welcomed at the airport by Tajikistan's Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, who held a welcome ceremony and accompanied Li in reviewing the honor guard. Li stated that China and Tajikistan are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners, and expressed willingness to work with Tajikistan to carry forward traditional friendship and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation. He also said China looks forward to working with SCO parties to implement the outcomes of the Bishkek Summit and promote the success of the upcoming Prime Ministers' Meeting. Li arrived from Uzbekistan, where he had concluded an official visit, and was seen off at Tashkent by Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov.
Summary: APEC media reporters visiting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area said its development practices provide a vivid model for APEC economies to explore a new path toward digitalization, intelligence, and green development, raising expectations for the upcoming 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Donovan Martin, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Canada's Daily News, praised Shenzhen's transformation from fishing villages into a global manufacturing engine, highlighting BYD's new energy innovations and the coexistence of technological development with ecological protection. Bùi Minh Long, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam's Tien Phong newspaper, emphasized the region's blend of tradition and modernity, citing smart urban transport and cultural heritage as evidence of innovation and hard work driving China's rapid development. Diego Ruzalín, Director of Mexico's MPV Media Company, described the Greater Bay Area as an "answer sheet" for integrated development and practical efficiency, noting technology benefiting people and the region's role in deepening Asia-Pacific cooperation. The reporters collectively framed China's development experience as worthy of global attention, with the Greater Bay Area serving as an ideal stage for Asia-Pacific cooperation.
Summary: The 2026 World Canal Conference, themed "Innovation and Persistence: Key Choices," was held in Guilin, Guangxi, with representatives from over 20 countries conducting exchanges on canal heritage protection, water transport upgrading, and basin development, and inspecting the Pinglu Canal, Lingqu Canal, and Lijiang River. The article highlights China's canal heritage and water governance achievements, including the Pinglu Canal's green design innovations and the Lingqu Canal's continued functions, alongside data on 1.28 trillion yuan in water conservancy investment and full connectivity of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. It cites Tomas Kolarik of a Czech waterways organization praising China's canal restoration and cultural tourism integration, and Fouxun, chairman of the World Water Council, lauding China's systematic water governance solutions. China's global contributions are noted through aid projects in Togo and Kenya, and the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Water Action, among others. The piece concludes with China's willingness to cooperate with all countries to advance water transport openness, cooperation, and high-quality development.
Summary: Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović met with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Cetinje, welcoming the first visit to Montenegro by a Chinese foreign minister in history. Milatović conveyed greetings to President Xi Jinping, noted the 20th anniversary of bilateral ties, and said Montenegro firmly adheres to the one-China principle while prioritizing EU accession. Wang Yi conveyed Xi's greetings, appreciated Montenegro's one-China stance, and stated that EU integration is compatible with deepening cooperation with China. The two sides also exchanged views on international issues, including the Ukraine crisis, and visited a photo exhibition marking the anniversary. Wang Yi also met with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ervin Ibrahimović.
Summary: Foreign ambassadors to China visited Ningxia to observe its progress in new quality productive forces, rural revitalization, grassroots governance, and green development, praising China's 30 years of east-west collaboration. Guinean Ambassador Lonseny Condé highlighted Minning Town's transformation as instructive for poverty alleviation, while Uruguayan Ambassador Aníbal Cabral called it "a vivid footnote to China's poverty reduction." Bulgarian Ambassador Andrey Tehov praised the multi-ethnic inter-embedded community as a model for harmonious coexistence. Ghanaian Minister Plenipotentiary Harry Zewen lauded the Tengger Desert New Energy Base for combining clean energy with ecological protection. Tunisian Ambassador Adel Alarbi expressed interest in deepening cooperation and exploring development opportunities in Chinese modernization.
Summary: He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, met on October 18 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse with members of the International Advisory Council of China Investment Corporation (CIC). He stated that China's economy is currently generally stable and advancing toward innovation and improvement, and that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will unswervingly expand high-standard opening up and deepen reform of the financial system. He expressed hope that the council members will continue offering advice and suggestions for China's reform and opening up and the development of CIC, play a bridging and bonding role, and actively support China's economic development and Sino-foreign exchanges and cooperation. The council members expressed full confidence in China's economic prospects and the development of its financial markets, and willingness to contribute to deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between China and foreign countries.
Summary: The Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026) series of events brought thirteen international strategic academics from ten countries to Xinyu, Jiangxi, and Wenzhou, Zhejiang, to observe China's high-quality development. During the visit, former British MP George Galloway praised China's resource investment in industry and technology, while Xinyu City signed a friendly cooperation agreement with Salta City, Argentina. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has been achieving fruitful results, and former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome called China's development a stabilizer and engine for global growth that creates opportunities for Global South countries. The events were hosted by Renmin University of China.
Summary: The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Local Government Cooperation and International Friendship City Dialogue opened in Fuzhou on the 17th, with approximately 100 representatives from local governments and friendship organizations of 24 countries attending. The dialogue was co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Fujian Provincial People's Government. Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, stated in his address that the Association is willing to expand local exchanges, deepen blue cooperation, and strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Participants discussed four sub-topics, including global governance, marine economy cooperation, industrial coordination, and integrated cultural and tourism development. Signing ceremonies were held for relevant friendship city cooperation and economic and trade projects.
Summary: The Biodiversity Leaders' Summit was held on the 16th in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and issued the "Yerevan Declaration: Acting for Nature," calling for strengthened international cooperation and accelerated action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The summit was convened by Armenia, host of COP17, ahead of the formal meeting to provide political leadership and mobilize coordinated global action. The declaration reaffirms commitment to effectively implement the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework," to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and to achieve living in harmony with nature between humanity and nature by 2050.
Summary: The article recounts the story of Liu Jinshan, one of the Twenty-Two Warriors who seized the Luding Bridge in a flying assault, as told through his fountain pen now displayed at the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall. Liu, originally a child laborer named "Liu Yazi," joined the Red Army after being given trousers and a meal, and later adopted the name of his fallen regimental commander, Yang Jinshan. He insisted on joining the bridge-seizing assault team despite not being on the initial roster, writing a petition in blood, and survived the battle, receiving the fountain pen as a commendation prize. The pen accompanied him through the Long March, his studies at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, and campaigns including the great victory at Pingxingguan and the Hundred Regiments Offensive. In May 2026, his children donated the pen and 32 other relics to the memorial hall, with director Liu Ni noting it carries forward the unfading spirit of the Long March.
Summary: The article reflects on the enduring relevance of the Long March spirit, inspired by the author's child learning about it through a school activity. It highlights two stories: the naming of China's first carrier rocket "Long March" by Qian Xuesen and others, and Huang Wenxiu, a "July 1 Medal" recipient who died during poverty alleviation work. The author argues that the Long March spirit—firm ideals, fearlessness, and sharing life and death with the people—remains vital today, as ordinary people continue to strive in their posts. The piece concludes that understanding and promoting the Long March spirit helps individuals find certainty and contributes to national rejuvenation.
Summary: The article reports on how Fujian, Shandong, and Hunan are boosting consumption through "addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division" strategies, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's emphasis on adapting to consumption structure changes and expanding quality goods and services. It details local initiatives such as nighttime consumption in Changsha, county-hopping tourism in Fujian, and Shandong's trade-in subsidies, which have driven significant sales. The piece highlights specific measures like Jinan's "Prepaid Treasure" trust system to protect prepaid funds, Fujian's childcare and elderly care subsidies, and Hunan's consumption vouchers with a 1:4.5 leverage ratio. It also covers efforts to remove barriers, including instant tax refunds for foreign shoppers in Changsha and relaxed outdoor stall regulations in Xiamen. The article concludes that these policies are injecting momentum into high-quality development and improving people's livelihoods.
Summary: The article presents four stories illustrating Tibet's transformation over 75 years since peaceful liberation, told through the lives of elderly residents who experienced the old feudal serf system. Puciren, 82, recounts learning to read and write after democratic reform, becoming a volunteer docent at the Museum of the Liberation of One Million Serfs in Tibet. Nima Wangchuk, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of the Jiuhe zhuo dance, describes how the art shifted from forced corvée labor to dignified cultural expression. Pema's family story traces pulu weaving from serf exploitation to a thriving rural revitalization industry, while Cidekyi, 82, contrasts her childhood in cattle pens with her secure life in a nursing home. The piece concludes that under the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era, the region has achieved leaps in education, culture, and livelihood, with the elderly affirming that following the Party brings ever-improving happiness.
Summary: The article argues that the enduring vitality of China's fine traditional culture stems from the Two Integrations, which enable a profound "chemical reaction" between tradition and modernity. It cites examples like the Jiahu bone flute and Han dynasty brocade to illustrate how cultural heritage remains relevant through digital and creative innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping is quoted on the "second integration" as an ideological emancipation for theoretical and institutional innovation. The piece highlights applications in technology, urban development, and governance, such as Digital Dunhuang and Beijing's 12345 hotline reform. It concludes that the Two Integrations empower Chinese culture to go global and contribute to a community with a shared future for mankind.
Summary: The article reflects on the revolutionary history of western Fujian, particularly Zhongfu Village in Changting County, where a notch on the Red Army Bridge symbolizes local farm boys joining the Red Army and the deep bond between soldiers and people. It highlights how the region's past unity and sacrifice have evolved into modern high-quality development, with examples like Changting's rare earth and textile industries achieving significant production gains. The piece emphasizes that keeping the people in mind and serving them remains the core principle, as seen in local efforts like cultural tourism and forest rights revitalization. It also draws parallels between past struggles against encirclement and current perseverance in innovation, such as Shanghang County's mining sector breakthroughs and new energy technologies. The author concludes that the unity of soldiers and people is both a historical source of strength and a foundation for the region's future progress.
Summary: The article is a commentary on Rui Shoucui, a villager from Longwan Village in Jingtai County, Gansu Province, who went viral for a 23-second video of her singing folk songs and picking up litter at the Yellow River Stone Forest scenic area. It argues that her sincerity, love of life, and the vitality of local accents like Jingtai ditties and northwest Hua'er songs move people, contrasting the rough environment with her firm steps and resounding singing. The piece cites examples like *Black Myth: Wukong* and the Chaoshan Yingge dance to show how rural art forms resonate with contemporary audiences. It notes that Rui Shoucui has been invited by the scenic area to perform with other local inheritors, offering inspiration for scenic area operations to let villagers tell their homeland's stories. The commentary concludes that such authentic culture and human warmth create unforgettable memories and represent both cultural continuation and development.
Summary: The article outlines China's water resource management goals, including maintaining basic ecological flow compliance above 90% in key rivers and lakes and achieving 98% rural tap water penetration. It states that the modern water network construction will accelerate, aiming to cover 82% of the national land area by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan. The piece concludes with a poetic verse celebrating water infrastructure's role in supporting national development and water security.
Summary: The article highlights grassroots cadres in Changde, Hunan, who proactively secured a pension for a 71-year-old man with over 30 years of work history, delivering 420,000 yuan and a monthly pension of 3,700 yuan after more than a year of cross-city procedures. It praises cadres for taking initiative even when the masses do not file claims, citing similar cases in Benxi, Liaoning, where officials arranged care and benefits for a disabled elderly man. The piece emphasizes that grassroots cadres must treat small matters as major ones, making extra visits and inquiries to turn hopes the masses "dare not even imagine" into reality.
Summary: The article discusses two weight-loss news items: Chinese training camps using extreme methods causing injuries, and American patients suing a pharmaceutical company over vision damage from a "miracle weight-loss drug." It criticizes health misconceptions like extreme dieting, blind following of trends, and marketing hype amplified by short-video platforms, which have led to widespread false content. The piece advocates for scientific literacy, rational judgment, and systems thinking, emphasizing that weight management is a long-term lifestyle practice, not a quick fix. It highlights government efforts such as publishing dietary and physical activity guidelines, advancing Rational Diet and National Fitness Actions, and cracking down on false advertising and "three-no" products. Ultimately, it calls for individuals to be the "chief steward" of their own health, embracing diverse body types and fostering a healthy social atmosphere.
Summary: The article compiles remarks by senior Chinese officials on the publication of the *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, which they describe as an authoritative compilation of 78 works by Xi Jinping on cultural development from 2012 to 2026. Huang Yibing, Vice President of the Central Institute of Party History and Literature, emphasizes the collection's role in presenting the evolution of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and its embodiment of the "Two Integrations." Sun Yeli, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department and Minister of Culture and Tourism, highlights the works as a "chronicle" of cultural development in the new era and a guide for building a culturally strong country. Mo Gaoyi, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department and Director of the State Council Information Office, stresses the role of news and public opinion work in cultural cultivation and international communication. Yu Shaoliang, President of People's Daily, and Gao Xiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, discuss applying the thought to media innovation and the development of philosophy and social sciences, respectively.
Summary: The article presents excerpts from a symposium on studying Volumes I and II of the *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture*, featuring contributions from four officials and scholars. Sun Junmin, a Beijing Municipal Committee member, discusses implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in building the national cultural center, emphasizing ideological education, cultural soft power, and people-centered cultural development. Li Wentang, Vice President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, analyzes the theory of cultural subjectivity as the theoretical core of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, tracing its development from cultural confidence to the "Second Integration." Gao Shiming, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, argues that in the traffic economy era, "people-centered" literature and art must not be replaced by "user-centered" approaches, stressing the need to distinguish the people from data-driven users. Zhang Wu, a Peking University professor, asserts the historical and theoretical inevitability of the "Second Integration," linking it to Marxism's development and China's unique civilizational context.
Summary: The fourth "Liangzhu Forum" opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on October 18, with Jiang Xinzhi, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, attending and delivering a speech. Jiang noted that the forum is an important platform for practicing the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, emphasizing China's open attitude toward international collaboration in archaeology and cultural heritage. He stated that China is willing to share guardianship responsibilities, jointly explore civilization origins, build bridges of understanding, and share development fruits with all countries. During the forum, ministers of culture, heads of international organizations, and heritage experts from nearly 60 countries and regions will discuss the theme "Continuity and Renewal of Civilization: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage, Illuminating the Light of the Times."
Summary: Yichang is advancing its green intelligent inland-river vessel industry, with new-energy vessel orders now accounting for over 90 percent of the Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park's total and construction booked through 2028. The city is promoting the "electrified Yangtze," "gasified Yangtze," and "hydrogenated Yangtze," leveraging abundant green electricity, shore-power facilities at 71 docks, and battery-swapping and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Officials such as Li Xingheng of State Grid Yichang Power Supply Company and Zhou Shaobo of the Zigui County Logistics Park Management Committee detailed these efforts, while Yang Yong of the Yichang Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology noted citywide orders for over 230 vessels, over 75 percent new-energy. The article highlights the "Gezhouba," the world's first 10,000-tonne-class pure-electric inland bulk carrier, and the "Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1," with production supported by Weimai Company's marine batteries and intelligent features like autonomous navigation. By end of 2026, Yichang's green intelligent vessel industry chain output value is projected to reach 5 billion yuan, with annual construction exceeding 100 vessels.
Summary: The 9th China "Online Literature+" Conference was held in Beijing from the 15th to the 16th, where the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association released the "2025 Annual Report on the Development of China's Online Literature." The report showed that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's online literature market revenue grew from 26.720 billion yuan in 2021 to 57.472 billion yuan in 2025, doubling in size, while overseas market scale rose from 2.905 billion yuan to 6.983 billion yuan and the user base expanded from 460 million to 646 million people. The conference was hosted by the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, the Online Literature Center of the China Writers Association, the Office of the Cyberspace Affairs Commission of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and the Administrative Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.
Summary: The article reports that six central departments jointly held the "Our Festival · Double Ninth" themed cultural activity to inherit traditional culture and promote virtues such as respecting the elderly and honoring the virtuous. Various regions organized demonstration activities, including family feasts, calligraphy, opera performances, and poetry recitations, highlighting red heritage and family sentiment. In Jiangsu, events showcased elderly contributions, enjoyment, and learning through performances and salons. Inner Mongolia staged a micro drama paying tribute to elderly city builders and filial-piety models. Regions also used New Era Civilization Practice Centers for lectures, legal education, health consultations, and "Most Beautiful Family Portrait" photo shoots to foster social trends of respecting elders and striving for goodness.
Summary: The article highlights China's efforts to improve elderly care, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's encouragement for older people to find purpose and fulfillment in old age. It reports that by the end of 2025, China had 395,000 elderly care institutions and facilities with 7.679 million beds, and central fiscal funds invested 600 million yuan in meal assistance services. As of now, 82,000 meal assistance sites serve over 4 million elderly people daily. The piece also notes that 53.58 million elderly volunteers are registered, with policies promoting regular volunteer services. It concludes by wishing older people peace and comfort in their later years.
Summary: The article commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Long March, drawing lessons for strengthening and expanding the Party by examining its historical role in maintaining correct political direction, forming a strong leadership core, tempering organizations and cadres, and relying closely on the people. It emphasizes General Secretary Xi Jinping's guidance on carrying forward the great Long March spirit and advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The piece highlights the establishment of Comrade Mao Zedong's leadership at the Zunyi Meeting and draws parallels to the "Two Establishments" and "Two Upholds" centered on Xi Jinping in the new era. It stresses the need to use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to unite hearts and forge souls, and to safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee. The author is the Executive Vice President in charge of daily work of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).
Summary: The article argues that genuine feeling for the masses is essential for Party members and cadres, as it reflects their stance and determines the effectiveness of mass work. It cites General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks that acting with feeling is crucial, while going through the motions without it is "showmanship." The piece criticizes cadres who are physically present but emotionally distant, engaging in formalism or "show-style" work that fails to address real needs. It emphasizes that deep feeling arises from theoretical study and grassroots practice, and that true results are measured by whether the masses see tangible improvements in their lives. Ultimately, the article calls for sustained, heartfelt action to win public trust and create lasting achievements.
Summary: The article, authored by a researcher at Peking University's School of Marxism, discusses implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping's call to advance land greening by acting in light of local conditions, as outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan. It argues that greening efforts must be coordinated with spatial planning, respecting natural laws and resource constraints, particularly water availability. The piece advocates for classified measures, such as determining greening by land and by water, and for systematic governance of ecological elements. It also emphasizes following ecological laws in restoration, including protecting primary deserts and grasslands, while establishing monitoring and maintenance systems. Examples cited include Ningxia's "One River, Three Mountains" pattern, Chengdu's "pocket parks," and Shihezi City's drought-tolerant planting.
Summary: A reader letter to the newspaper reports that bamboo shoot farmers in Mabian County (Leshan) and Gulin and Xuyong Counties (Luzhou) in Sichuan are using sulfur to fumigate fresh bamboo shoots, a practice prohibited by the *National Food Safety Standard* and the Food Safety Law, with the reporter's investigation confirming widespread use and sales. The article notes that local officials acknowledge enforcement difficulties due to remote mountain fumigation sites, advance notice of inspections via village cadres, and light penalties, citing a case where 1,900 kilograms of sulfur-fumigated shoots led to a 500-yuan fine. Testing of purchased shoots found sulfur dioxide at 5.57 grams per kilogram, and experts warn of health risks including B-vitamin destruction, digestive tract damage, and heavy metal accumulation from industrial sulfur. The article discusses alternative preservation technologies (e.g., rapid pre-cooling, blanching, freezing) that are mature but costlier, with officials and experts urging stronger supervision, joint handling across regions, and a shift to quality-based competition, drawing on the example of Ningxia wolfberries.
Summary: A Hunan beverage wholesaler in Shangtian Community, Fenglin Subdistrict, Xinhua County, has been dumping expired beverages directly into the community drainage ditch, with large amounts crushed by vehicles on the road surface, causing seepage and mosquito breeding. The article notes that expired beverages are discarded food and should be handed to qualified entities for destruction per the Food Safety Law, as central dumping into sewers may pollute urban pipelines and natural water bodies. It urges relevant departments to verify and rectify the indiscriminate dumping. The report cites a complaint from netizen Mr. Tian on the "Message Board for Leaders" of People's Daily Online.
Summary: The article compiles reader complaints and recommendations on three issues. Yan Gaoge from Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, criticizes unsafe aerial pest control operations, recommending standardized procedures, buffer zones, and operator training. A netizen on the People's Daily Online "Leader Message Board" addresses invisible overtime in small enterprises, suggesting a balanced burden of proof and big-data monitoring to identify illegal work-hour practices. Li Cheng from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, highlights the problem of scrapped electric vehicles used for advertising at intersections, urging regulatory oversight and cleanup. The piece does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: After a newspaper report highlighted issues at the Wuchang fortress of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the Wuhan Bridge Works Section of China Railway Wuhan Group Co., Ltd. coordinated with the Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee to implement a rectification plan. The fortress had remained closed since the COVID-19 pandemic due to water seepage and facility damage, but it reopened on a trial basis on October 2, with daily hours from 8:00 to 18:00 and passable stairways. Management and use rights for the fortresses at both ends of the bridge have been transferred to relevant units in Wuhan for use as pedestrian passages. The Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee is drafting a restoration plan for the fortress walls in accordance with the Cultural Relics Protection Law and under the guidance of the cultural relic administrative department. The committee's relevant person in charge stated they will continue to improve management and service facilities to optimize the visiting experience and create a new cultural landmark for the city.
Summary: The article reports that after the "Readers' Letters" section highlighted an unattended garbage pile on vacant land near the Xinchaolongwan residential community in Dongxing City, Guangxi, the Dongxing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government formed a joint working group and fully cleared the site. The garbage consisted mainly of construction waste from owners' renovations, as the developer collected removal fees but failed to haul it away, and residents also dumped household garbage, creating an unsanitary dead end. The working group summoned the developer and property management company, deployed specialized vehicles for sorting and disposal, conducted disinfection, and leveled the land, with protective railings to be installed next. Additionally, the municipal authorities launched a citywide campaign to rectify disorder in property-managed communities, strengthen policy publicity, smooth public feedback channels, and improve long-term management mechanisms.
Summary: The article reports on grassroots Party organizations and Party members responding to severe flooding this year, following General Secretary Xi Jinping's directive to organize rescue and relief and minimize casualties. It highlights examples of Party members and cadres conducting emergency evacuations, with one village Party branch secretary, Li Yang, dying after being swept away while setting up warning checkpoints. The piece also covers coordinated efforts by central enterprises and volunteers, such as restoring communications and power, and emphasizes that Party members have built a "red barrier" protecting people's lives and property.
Summary: The 2026 World Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, themed "Jointly Embracing Change, Jointly Forging Standards, Jointly Creating the Future," was held in Tianjin from October 15 to 17, featuring supporting events such as the Luban Workshop 10th Anniversary Symposium and the release of the *World Framework for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Standards* (the *Beijing Agreement*). Speakers including Bangladesh's Education Minister Milon and UNESCO General Conference President Talha emphasized adapting education to AI, automation, and green technologies, and building internationally credible, flexible qualification systems. Thailand's Sangja Thewchansi highlighted the first Luban Workshop established in 2016, while Portugal's José Lucas described integrating local enterprise needs into curricula; China has since built 38 Luban Workshops in 32 countries. The World Vocational College Skills Competition expanded to 78 countries with an added Oceania zone and a traditional Chinese arts and crafts track. The conference concluded with the release of the *China Technical and Vocational Education White Paper 2026* and the Luban Workshop national standard, marking the first international TVET standard led by China.
Summary: The 2026 Global People Annual Ceremony was held on October 16 in the Bazhong Economic Development Zone, Sichuan, under the theme "Toward the New · Resonance," marking the 90th anniversary of the Long March's victory. At sub-forums, guests discussed sodium battery industry development and the low-altitude economy. Major General Luo Yuan stated that the Long March is a precious spiritual asset for walking well the Long March of the new era, while Ren He recounted China's large aircraft project's journey toward industrialized design innovation. Joseph Gregory Mahoney said China's industrial upgrading has been making steady, step-by-step progress along the industrial chain, and Liu Hongwei argued that AI itself is technological progress, not a bubble. The ceremony also released the Global People twentieth-anniversary collector's book series and a Z-generation youth culture digital platform.
Summary: The intangible cultural heritage dance grand parade of the Fourth Annual Conference on the Protection of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage was held on October 17 in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. More than 20 performance troupes participated, collectively showcasing the diverse charm of intangible cultural heritage dance and drum music culture. The photo shows performers presenting the Ansai waist drum. The photo was taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang.
Summary: The article reports on Jiangxi province's efforts to transform cultural resources into development momentum, highlighting the "Recite Poetry, Jiangxi GO" campaign that extends free admission to 100 scenic areas for visitors who recite famous poems. It describes how the Pipa Pavilion in Jiujiang and other literary landmarks are attracting tourists, with Jiangxi also launching special exhibitions on historical figures and taking ceramic culture exhibitions abroad. The province is using VR technology to enhance museum experiences, with cultural heritage venues receiving over 180 million visits in 2025. Jiangxi is expanding the "One Ticket, Many Enjoyments" policy to link tickets with broader consumption, and has launched a 2026 provincial cultural tourism consumption voucher campaign. The article concludes that Jiangxi received 628 million tourist visits in 2025, with poetry study tours, digital heritage, and the ticket-stub economy driving cultural, sports, and tourism integration.
Summary: JD.com's first nationwide JD Tiantandi store in Suqian, Jiangsu, integrates multiple business formats, including JD Home Furnishings, JD Made, and Qixian Supermarket, allowing consumers to shop online while browsing in-store. The article highlights that digital transformation is a key direction for physical retail innovation, following the Ministry of Commerce's "Opinions on Accelerating the Innovative Development of the Retail Industry." JD.com's offline expansion, such as the global first store of JD 101HOME in Shanghai, uses digitalization and intelligentization to create composite commercial spaces like "quality retail + cultural experience + social leisure." The company has applied artificial intelligence to over 3,000 business scenarios and increased R&D investment by more than 50 percent year on year in the first half of this year. A JD Group official stated that JD.com will continue using digital and intelligent technology to deepen the integration of the digital and the real, supporting retail innovation and the real economy's quality improvement.
Summary: The Conference on Zhuzi Studies and Dialogue among Multiple Civilizations and the Fifth Kaoting Forum, themed "Understanding Principle and Esteeming Propriety, Knowledge and Action Being Mutually Necessary — Civilizational Dialogue and the Construction of Human Social Order," was held in Nanping City, Fujian Province, from October 17 to 18. Co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the International Confucian Association, and the Fujian Provincial People's Government, the forum attracted more than one hundred experts and scholars from home and abroad. Panel discussions covered topics including "Zhuzi Studies and Chinese Wisdom in Global Governance," "Zhuzi Studies and Humanistic Care in the Digital-Intelligence Era," and "Zhuzi Cultural Heritage and the Integrated Development of the Two Sides of the Taiwan Strait." The forum also featured activities such as a performance of *Moon Mirroring Wuyi*, the finals of the "Zhuzi Cup" Chinese Poetry Competition, and an exhibition on the overseas dissemination of Zhuzi culture. Founded in 2021, the Kaoting Forum has become an important platform for promoting Zhuzi culture and deepening civilizational dialogue.
Summary: The 5th Asian Para Games opened on October 18 at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, with over 3,000 para athletes from 45 countries and regions. The article traces the event's history from the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, noting China's hosting milestones in Beijing (1994), Guangzhou (2010), and Hangzhou (2023). The Chinese delegation entered with weightlifters Yan Panpan and taekwondo athlete Li Yujie as flag bearers, with 312 athletes competing in 335 events across 17 sports. Yan Panpan expressed hope "to showcase the spirit of para athletes in unremitting self-improvement and confronting difficulties head-on," while Tan Yujiao, at her fourth Asian Para Games, aims "to fight once more for her dream." Preliminary results included Chinese blind football and women's wheelchair basketball teams securing victories, and the opening ceremony concluded with the torch lighting ceremony.
Summary: The article recounts Red Army sports activities along the Long March route on its 90th anniversary, with reporters revisiting three episodes. In Zunyi, Guizhou, in 1935, the First Front Army held a basketball game against local students on a mud court, winning 30:12, with Chen Yun praising the Red Army's ball skills and Shen Xiang highlighting the military-civilian bond. In Luhuo, Sichuan, in 1936, Zhu De organized a "May Day" sports meet featuring military skills and a dried yak dung burning competition, which He Yong said tempered bodies and drew the military and people closer. In Hadapu, Gansu, in 1936, the Second Front Army under He Long used self-made equipment for gymnastics, long jump, and mountain climbing, and after resting, launched the Chengxian-Huixian-Liangdang-Kangxian campaign, capturing several counties in ten days. The article emphasizes how sports boosted morale, training, and unity under extreme hardship.
Summary: The article reflects on the role of sports during the Long March, explaining that sports meets were held not for competition but to forge iron-hard muscles and bones, dispel tension, and boost morale. It highlights how adapting to poor conditions and local resources, the Red Army soldiers found pleasure in hardship, viewing the enemy as a "paper tiger" and perils as "gentle ripples." The piece connects this historical spirit to today's Chinese sports culture, emphasizing that the spirit of tenacious struggle is a manifestation of the era and a continuation of tradition. It calls for applying this spirit to overcome challenges on the new journey, such as high-quality development bottlenecks, technology "chokepoints," and anti-globalization currents. Ultimately, it asserts that sports elevate spirit and temper will, drawing from the Long March the nourishment of constantly striving for self-improvement.
Summary: The Agricultural Bank of China will launch its second "Agricultural Sentiment Respect for the Elderly Festival" nationwide on October 18, 2026, ahead of the Double Ninth Festival, as a comprehensive elderly-care financial service themed activity. The initiative focuses on the people-oriented, functional, and inclusive nature of elderly-care finance and will run until November 30. It includes special themed activities under "Agricultural Sentiment Services," festive gifts for elderly customers, and the rollout of new scenarios such as the "Elderly-Care Community" on the mobile banking app. The activity's scope is subject to the actual arrangements of local branches.
Summary: The article reports that Afghanistan's security and economy have improved five years after the U.S. troop withdrawal, but warns that multiple risks are accumulating and challenges remain significant. United Nations Deputy Special Representative Georgette Gagnon briefed the Security Council, noting improvements while highlighting ongoing issues in humanitarian affairs, development, human rights, counter-terrorism, and women's rights. The economy faces high unemployment, malnutrition, and rising prices, with per capita gross national income at only 390 U.S. dollars in 2024. Reconstruction projects are advancing, including the TAPI pipeline and infrastructure repairs, though progress is slowed by funding gaps and U.S. sanctions. China's Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Sun Lei urged the international community to resume assistance, lift unilateral sanctions, and return Afghanistan's central bank overseas assets.
Summary: The article analyzes Japan's economic predicament, focusing on the Cabinet's approval of a draft law to cut the consumption tax on food from 8% to 1% for two years starting in April 2027, a move that has triggered backlash within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party due to unclear funding sources and fiscal pressure. It highlights policy divergence between the government's expansionary fiscal measures and the Bank of Japan's monetary tightening, which has caused market volatility and raised government bond yields. The piece notes that the United States has exerted public pressure on Japan to control fiscal spending and accelerate monetary policy normalization, including joint foreign exchange intervention in late July. It argues that the conflicting goals of the Bank of Japan, the Japanese government, and the United States have intensified Japan's "K-shaped divergence" in the real economy. The article concludes that Japan's predicament stems from long-term structural problems, and what is needed is rebuilding fiscal discipline and advancing structural reform rather than short-term populist concessions.
Summary: The Chinese Embassy in Japan condemned Japanese leaders' ritual offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine and visits by cabinet members and parliamentarians, stating that the shrine is a spiritual tool of militarism enshrining 14 Class-A war criminals. The spokesperson said such actions desecrate historical justice, challenge the bottom line of civilization, and provoke the postwar international order, urging Japan to deeply reflect on its aggression and break with militarism. The ROK government expressed "deep disappointment and regret" and urged Japanese leaders to face history with humble reflection. A Kyodo News poll showed the Takaichi Sanae cabinet's approval rating fell to 49.1 percent, a new low and the first time below 50 percent. In France, protests involving farmers, climate activists, and students drew up to 800,000 participants, with hundreds arrested and violent incidents including arson and looting.
Summary: Yunnan launched an expedited clearance pilot for Chinese and foreign border residents at highway ports including Hekou, Mohan, Tianbao, and Jinshuihe, starting October 18, 2026, according to the Yunnan General Station of Exit-Entry Frontier Inspection. The pilot upgrades 32 clearance lanes with a registration system and "scan-code" facilities, aiming to implement institutional opening-up in immigration management and promote Yunnan's high-level opening-up. Registered border residents can pass through designated ports with clearance time reduced from one minute to ten seconds. The measure is expected to enhance port convenience, support cross-border livelihood exchanges, and boost border resident mutual trade.
Summary: The European Commission has proposed the EU Child Act to establish unified rules for protecting minors in digital services, including banning social media for children under 13 and requiring parental-managed "mini accounts" for those aged 13 to 15. The proposal follows data showing that 97% of EU youth use the internet daily and that "problematic social media use" among adolescents rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022. Several European countries, including Denmark, Spain, Greece, France, and Norway, are advancing their own age thresholds for social media use. The Commission has also preliminarily determined that Meta's Instagram and Facebook failed to meet EU Digital Services Act requirements in preventing minors under 13 from using their services, citing insufficient age verification measures. The EU is pushing for privacy-protecting age verification tools by the end of 2026 and expanding regulation to cover features like infinite scrolling and nighttime notifications, marking a shift from parental supervision and platform self-regulation to a multi-pronged regulatory approach.
Summary: The 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival opened on October 17, alongside the opening of the Shanghai Grand Opera House and the establishment of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group. The festival, themed "Art, Lighting Up the City's 'Twenty-Fifth Hour,'" will feature nearly 1,100 performances, exhibitions, and activities over one month. The Shanghai Grand Opera House, shaped like a "Chinese fan," opened with a performance featuring Chinese and foreign singers, and its first round of ticket sales sold out within an hour. The Shanghai Performing Arts Group was established to integrate the city's state-owned performing arts resources, and the *Shanghai Drama Revitalization Three-Year Action Plan (2026–2028)* was released. Fang Shizhong, executive deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the compilation of classic repertoire works is a systematic inventory of artistic endeavor and a source of new strength for "setting out again."
Summary: The 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival, the opening of the Shanghai Grand Opera House, and the establishment of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group all converged on the same day, showcasing commonalities that answer "What makes Shanghai Shanghai." The opera house, designed with a "Chinese fan" concept, offers world-class facilities and public cultural services, while the festival has grown into a bond for international cultural cooperation with "Shanghai-exclusive" projects. The article emphasizes Shanghai's dual approach of attracting global troupes and masters while upholding "Chinese characteristics" and the "people's city" concept. The Shanghai Performing Arts Group represents institutional renewal to reshape the cultural industry ecosystem, integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions. The shared direction is people-centeredness, artistry, and internationalism, with Shanghai described as "a city with great tolerance and openness."
Summary: The "Chinese Fan" of the Shanghai Grand Opera House opened on the banks of the Huangpu River on October 17, featuring three main performance spaces with 4,200 seats and a 10,000-square-meter public landscape platform. The opening concert, "The Shanghai Grand Opera House and Her Friends," began with "Ode to the Red Flag" by Lü Qiming, a "July 1 Medal" recipient, alongside works by Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini. The opening season includes Asian premieres and new productions from Teatro La Fenice, the Mariinsky Theatre, and the Berlin State Opera, with ticket sales for the Shostakovich cycle selling out in 10 minutes. The venue also serves local arts, staging Peking opera and Kunqu opera, with general manager Zhang Xiaoding emphasizing a blend of red genes, Chinese aesthetics, and contemporary expression. Serge Dorny of the Bavarian State Opera said the house will become a key force in driving performing arts development in Asia and beyond.
Summary: The 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival hosted the International Performing Arts Conference and International Dialogue from October 14 to 17, attracting approximately 500 institutions and over 2,000 guests from more than 50 countries and regions. The event featured eight thematic seminars on topics including legal boundaries of performing arts interaction, global development of young creators, and art empowering cultural tourism. Nearly 100 Chinese and foreign cultural institutions set up exhibitions, with Zhang Jiang, head of the Beijing Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra, highlighting a prior cooperation with a Swiss music project that led to performances in over 10 cities worldwide. The festival also organized city tours along three themed routes and visits to the Shanghai Grand Opera House to expand cooperation spaces. A festival official said the event aims to elevate its capacity, build itself into a key hub for global performing arts resource circulation, and unleash the agglomeration effect of the cultural "wharf."
Summary: This article marks the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March victory, visiting three schools to show how the Long March spirit is passed down through storytelling and practice. At Xidian University, teachers and students engage with the school's history of "running a school on the Long March road," integrating red heritage into ideological and political courses and summer practice programs. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics launched immersive "grand ideological and political courses" retracing the Long March, with over 5,000 young teachers and students participating at sites in Gulin, Mianning, Bazhong, and Zunyi. At Yifu Primary School in Xinyu City, Jiangxi, red culture storytelling sessions and a challenge course with checkpoints corresponding to Long March stories help children perceive the spirit through running and challenges. The article emphasizes that each generation has its own Long March, with students drawing spiritual strength to tackle scientific research bottlenecks and uphold ideals in the new era.
Summary: The article argues that red education must shift from knowledge transmission to practice-based cultivation, guiding young people to internalize the Long March spirit through experiential learning. It cites Xidian University and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics as examples of integrating red history into education through tangible stories and real-world settings. Each generation faces its own Long March, with today's students needing to cross "snowy mountains and grasslands" of scientific literacy and innovation, while the educational front must overcome "Loushan Pass" and "Lazikou" in cultivating talent and key technologies. The piece concludes that young people must take up the spiritual relay baton, facing difficulties head-on and turning red faith into strength to move forward.
Summary: The article highlights Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) students engaging in real-world practical education, including volunteering at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services and participating in a "mock CIFTIS" on campus. Students visit sites like the Xiong'an New Area and enterprises such as JD.com and Meituan, while the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Research Team publishes the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Blue Book." Party Secretary Liu Ying emphasized that educating students in real-world scenarios helps them understand national strategies and their historical responsibilities. The university is integrating digital-intelligent transformation, AI teaching assistants, and industry mentors into its curriculum, with achievements including national first-class courses and the "Digital-Intelligence +" smart teaching ecosystem. As CUEB marks its 70th anniversary, it will continue fostering virtue through education and guiding students to shoulder their missions.
Summary: The article, a teacher's commentary, describes how a primary school builds a "1+X" reading curriculum to pass on China's fine traditional culture, using unified Chinese textbooks as the core and extended reading as supplements. It details methods such as taking textbooks as a starting point for structured cultural themes, centering on children to avoid rote memorization through grade-appropriate activities, and grounding reading in life via "Five Alls" reading initiatives. The author argues that cultural inheritance lies not in memorizing knowledge points but in helping students find a spiritual homeland in language and writing. The piece is authored by the former chief principal of Jiangsu Nantong Dongzhou Primary School Education Group and deputy dean of the Nantong Teacher Development Academy.
Summary: China Minsheng Bank is promoting rural industrial revitalization through inclusive financial services, addressing the "short-term, frequent, and urgent" funding needs of farmers and small agricultural enterprises by embedding financial support into cultivation, acquisition, processing, circulation, and sales. The bank has launched data-based credit enhancement products such as the "Grain Farmers Loan" in Heilongjiang, the "Cotton Farmers Loan" in Xinjiang, and the "Order Quick Loan" for chemical fertilizer distributors in Henan, while also using scenario-specific mechanisms like the "Beehive Plan" and the "Minsheng in Zhejiang" livestream studio to support local specialty products. These efforts include government-bank coordination, chain-based financing, and digital tools to connect fields, enterprises, and consumers, with the bank reporting over 400 million yuan in financing for 128 fertilizer distributors in Henan as of end-February 2026. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: In an interview with People's Daily, Robert Walker, Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences and Professor at Jingshi College, Beijing Normal University, discussed China's poverty reduction achievements and philosophy. He described China's historic leap from extreme poverty to an upper-middle-income country as "astonishing" and a miracle, attributing it to strong leadership, economic development, and social mobilization. Walker highlighted China's multidimensional approach, including the "two assurances and three guarantees," and rejected Western claims that China's poverty line was too low or that poverty reduction efforts have been set aside. He argued that China's experience, including east-west cooperation and relocation for poverty alleviation, offers valuable lessons for global poverty reduction, while stressing the need to reform international institutions and embrace China's leadership in sustainable development.
Summary: The article discusses the difficulty small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face in recovering payments, attributing it partly to large enterprises leveraging market dominance to lengthen payment periods. In response, the General Office of the State Council issued a *Notice* with ten measures across four areas, focusing on large enterprises with large accounts payable and ample cash-type assets rather than applying a single standard indiscriminately. The *Notice* aims to fill the gap in industry-specific rules by clarifying payment period calculations, methods, acceptance standards, and maximum deadlines, while establishing closed-loop mechanisms like account monitoring and credit-based supervision. The People's Bank of China has cooperated to strengthen disclosure of accounts payable information and support enterprises in replacing accounts payable through loans and bond issuance, with inclusive loans to micro and small enterprises growing 8.3% year on year by end-June 2026. The article concludes that governing payment recovery is both a tough and protracted battle, requiring coordinated efforts to safeguard market fairness and support SMEs' high-quality development.
Summary: Large-denomination certificates of deposit (CDs), whose issuance had previously been reduced, have made a comeback since this summer, with banks from large commercial to foreign-funded institutions launching products across multiple maturities, some selling out quickly. The People's Bank of China's June draft measures relaxed transfer requirements, and banks are balancing liability stabilization with cost reduction as high-interest deposits mature and maturity mismatches persist. Conservative investors, particularly those over 50, favor these principal-guaranteed products, which offer slightly higher rates than ordinary time deposits and are protected by the deposit insurance system. Experts note the low-interest-rate environment and residents' risk-averse mentality have driven demand, while banks use CDs to retain deposits and prevent capital outflows. Financial institutions are optimizing product layouts, and analysts advise investors to avoid "low risk, high returns" illusions and diversify holdings across deposits, CDs, and treasury bonds.
Summary: The Shibo Si (Maritime Trade Supervisorate) system was the core regulatory framework for managing overseas trade in ancient China, serving as the predecessor of the modern customs system. Although its development experienced twists and turns, including recurring policies of isolating a country from the outside world, its spirit of autonomous rule of law and governance experience holds modern significance for overseas trade management and the Belt and Road Initiative. The system evolved from its Tang Dynasty prototype through institutionalization in the Northern Song, with the Yuan Dynasty unifying its legal framework, while the Ming and Qing dynasties saw its decline amid maritime bans and eventual abolition. The system promoted port prosperity and trade networks but also suppressed private commerce and fluctuated with political circumstances. Its lessons demonstrate that openness and sound rule of law bring prosperity, while closure and volatile policies lead to decline, offering insights for adhering to opening up, leveraging port advantages, and advancing high-quality development of the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road.
Summary: The article reports on water environment treatment projects in four Chinese cities, showcasing transformations from polluted waterways to clean, livable spaces. In Yiwu, Zhejiang, Hengtang Park's water clarity improved from less than 30 centimeters to 1.5 meters through pollution interception, sediment dredging, and ecosystem restoration, with the "bacteria-algae balance" technology now promoted citywide. In Guangzhou's Dayuan Village, the Shakeng Yong stream was restored after demolishing illegal factories and building sewage networks, leading to the development of an "ecological rice bowl" with e-commerce and tourism industries. In Baishan, Jilin, the Daqinggou River was dredged and landscaped, with residents forming a "river patrol team" to maintain water quality. In Nanchang, Jiangxi, the Yaohu lakeside area underwent ecological restoration with natural slope protection and floating islands, creating a popular recreational green corridor.
Summary: During an inspection tour in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on October 16, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that green development is an inherent part of high-quality development, requiring coordination with high-level protection and integrated governance of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts. The article highlights that while major rivers like the Yangtze and Yellow River have improved water quality, small and micro water bodies around the people remain problematic, prompting the State Council to forward an action plan for their protection and governance. It calls for problem-oriented, locally tailored measures, such as those in Yongfa Village, Heilongjiang Province, and the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone in Zhejiang Province, to address pollution sources and shift from end-of-pipe remediation to source emission reduction. The piece stresses that advancing this governance is a systematic livelihood project requiring earnest, sustained effort to turn these water bodies into beautiful "water cells" supporting green, high-quality development.
Summary: The article commemorates the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. It announces a special feature that follows in the footsteps of Red Army soldiers through important locations along the Long March route. The feature aims to retrieve moving stories and tell of the continuation and inheritance of the great Long March spirit. The Long March is described as a magnificent epic composed by the Communist Party of China and the Red Army.
Summary: The article recounts the Red Army's night crossing of the Yudu River in October 1934, which began the Long March, detailing the mobilization of over 800 boats and local contributions, including a coffin from an elderly man, to build pontoon bridges that were erected and dismantled daily. It highlights the historical significance of the crossing, marked by a stone inscription by General Yang Chengwu and memorial verses by Lu Dingyi and Ye Jianying. The narrative also covers the Changzheng Yuan Choir, formed by descendants of Red Army soldiers, including Yi Kemei, who honors her three Red Army grandfathers through performances. In Tantou Village, 32 of 33 recorded Red Army soldiers never returned, and the village now thrives on selenium-rich agriculture as a rural revitalization demonstration site. The article concludes by noting that five modern highway bridges, named Red Army, Assembly, River Crossing, Long March, and Victory, now span the river, replacing the original pontoon bridges.
Summary: The author, a former mineral prospector turned writer, recounts how retracing the Long March in Guizhou inspired novels and TV series, concluding that the Long March spirit is an inexhaustible spiritual resource. He highlights the story of Red Army soldier Zhong Chibing, who endured three amputations without anesthetic and completed the Long March on one leg, noting many founding generals suffered similar losses. During filming of *The Great Turning Point*, villagers like Long Aibing and Long Yuanbin, moved by seeing actors in Red Army uniforms, pooled money to buy and slaughter a yellow ox, saying "The Red Army has returned." The author cites villagers' gratitude for high-standard farmland and quotes General Secretary Xi Jinping's remark that policy success depends on whether villagers smile or cry. He concludes that the villagers' smiles reflect the flourishing rural revitalization, echoing the Red Army's sacrifices as "This prosperous age is as you wished."
Summary: The article recounts the discovery in 2011 of a Red Army "Wheat-Cutting Certificate," a wooden IOU left in Mao'ergai during the Long March, which was found in a Songpan County villager's home and later donated to the state as a national first-class cultural relic. It describes how Red Army soldiers, unable to find local people who had fled, planted wooden IOUs in fields and wrote on house wall panels to promise repayment for requisitioned highland barley. The author notes that local people initially did not recognize the Chinese characters and used the planks for mundane purposes, while some private collectors later offered high prices but owners refused to sell. The piece highlights that two more wooden IOUs were subsequently discovered, with one donated and another treasured by its owners, and reflects on Mao'ergai's transformation over ninety years since the Long March's victory.
Summary: The article describes a visit to Wuqi, Shaanxi, where the Central Red Army completed its Long March in 1935, and reflects on the area's transformation from barren land to forested county. It recounts Chairman Mao Zedong's command of the "Tail-Cutting Battle" beneath a wild pear tree and the local campaign to return farmland to forest, led by former party branch secretary Yan Zhixiong. Yan Zhixiong is quoted on the difficulties of persuading villagers to pen-feed sheep and on the success of the "Green Long March," which made Wuqi the nation's first county in returning farmland to forest. The piece highlights how lucid waters and lush mountains are now treated as invaluable assets, with the county engaging in carbon sink trading and integrating agriculture, culture, forestry, and tourism. It concludes by contrasting the Red Army's arrival at a town of eleven households with the modern, bustling county, imagining that Long March elder Xie Juezai would sleep more soundly there today.
Summary: The article recounts the story of Li Keyu, a 17-year-old Red Army bugler who blew the charge during the blocking action at Dadunliang in Huining, Gansu, in October 1936, after the First and Fourth Front Armies joined forces. Wounded in battle, he remained in Huining when the main force withdrew northward, and despite Army Commander Dong Zhentang's promise to return for him, he never saw his comrades again. Li Keyu chose to stay, became known as "Red Army Li," and later used the same bugle to call villagers to work as a production brigade captain, holding fast to his original aspiration without making special requests. The article contrasts the past with Huining's present development, noting 6,178 kilometers of rural roads, a comprehensive tourism revenue exceeding 6.1 billion yuan, and the transformation from "the most bitter thing under heaven" to moderate prosperity. It concludes that the bugle's call still inspires Huining's people to build a better homeland.
By: 本报记者 金正波 李龙伊
"We have lofty goals, and even more so patience and resolve. Just as the Red Army did on the Long March, we are now undertaking a new Long March." This was emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping on October 16 during his inspection tour in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia.
At the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the exhibition "The Great Expedition — Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Victory of the Long March of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China" has drawn a surge of visitors. Since its opening, the words most frequently written by visitors on the exhibition's interactive message board have been "Red Army" and "the people."
What force enabled that Red Army contingent, trekking through desperate circumstances 90 years ago, to break through blockades, defeat powerful enemies, and complete this great expedition that left a lasting and glorious mark in history?
The answer is written in the great practice: "The broad masses of the people were the source of strength for the victory of the Long March."
On the banks of the Jinsha River, boatmen ferried troops day and night; along the march routes, the masses delivered grain and guided the way; under white terror, ordinary people sheltered the wounded, passed on intelligence, and raised military supplies... During the Red Army's Long March, the Party and the people were relying on each other through life and death.
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "The victory of the Long March tells us: the masses of the people possess inexhaustible wisdom and strength. Only by always believing in the people, closely relying on the people, and fully mobilizing the initiative, creativity, and enthusiasm of the broad masses can we gather the mighty force derived from great unity of purpose."
Relying on the strength of the people — "When the Red Army won battles, the people were the mountain they leaned on."
In May 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping traveled by plane, train, and car, enduring a journey of more than seven hours to reach Yudu County in southern Jiangxi, part of the former Central Soviet Area.
"I came to southern Jiangxi 11 years ago, and I have always wanted to come back to see how the lives of the folks in the old revolutionary base areas have improved and how the battle against poverty is progressing. More importantly, what kind of place is Yudu? This is the Central Soviet Area, the starting point where the Red Army gathered and set out on the Long March," General Secretary Xi Jinping said with deep emotion.
In October 1934, more than 86,000 people crossed the Yudu River by night. Tens of thousands gathered without a single word leaking out, relying on the joint protection of more than 300,000 people of Yudu. Back then, the people of the Soviet Area produced more than 200,000 pairs of straw sandals in a short time. To the ordinary folks, these were unremarkable items; to the officers and soldiers of the Long March, they were the confidence to complete a journey of ten thousand li.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The victory of the Long March fully demonstrated the power of the nature and purpose of the Chinese Communist Party, and fully explained that the Chinese Communist Party must take root and blossom among the people, and must closely rely on the people to overcome difficulties and win victory."
The history of our Party is a history of the Party and the people sharing hearts, breathing together, and sharing a common destiny. Back then, the Red Army relied on the people to cross mountains and rivers and complete the ten-thousand-li Long March; today, hundreds of millions of people are lifting the Chinese nation forward courageously toward the great rejuvenation.
Taking a firm stand with the people — "winning the sincere support and endorsement of the masses with one's own exemplary actions."
On September 16, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Shazhou Yao Village in Rucheng County, Hunan Province, for an inspection and research visit, entering the special exhibition hall "The Warmth of Half a Quilt." Before the statue depicting Red Army women soldiers cutting a quilt to give to a villager, General Secretary Xi Jinping stood for a long time.
In November 1934, it was in this village that three Red Army women soldiers lodged in the home of villager Xu Jiexiu, and upon leaving, cut in half the only quilt they had and left one half for her.
Xu Jiexiu said: "What is the Communist Party? The Communist Party is people who, even if they have only one quilt, will cut half of it and give it to the common folks."
Why did the people support the Red Army? The "half quilt" reflects the original aspiration.
General Secretary Xi Jinping said with deep feeling: "When the Red Army itself was short of food and clothing, at a moment of life and death, they still had the warmth and cold of the common people in their hearts. Every small detail reflects one's care and concern!"
The victory of the Long March publicized our Party's propositions, consolidated the flesh-and-blood bond between the Party and the masses, and enabled the Party to take firm root among the people.
The reason the Chinese Communist Party has been able to win the support of the people, and the reason socialism with Chinese characteristics has been able to win the support of the people, is precisely because it has benefited the people.
Having moved into a three-story building and started a rural homestay business relying on the Shazhou scenic area... Xu Jiexiu's grandson Zhu Xiaohong remarked with emotion: "In the past, the Red Army gave us half a quilt; now the Party has brought us a happy life."
Living up to the people's trust — "to walk today's Long March road well, we must place the people at the highest position in our hearts."
In Zunyi, Guizhou, there is Huamao Village. In the past, this place was called "Huangmaotian" (Barren Thatched Field), a poverty-stricken village known far and wide; today, by developing modern and efficient mountain agriculture and promoting the integration of agriculture and tourism, it has achieved a rural transformation.
On June 16, 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping came here for an inspection. At the home of a villager running a rural homestay, the General Secretary went into rooms, looked around the courtyard, and sat together with villagers in a warm conversation. Everyone happily spoke of the Party's good policies for enriching the people, saying life was getting better and better with each passing day.
Always thinking in one's heart of the people's hardships, always planning in one's mind policies to enrich the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping said to everyone: "Whether the Party Central Committee's policies are good depends on whether the folks are smiling or crying," and "I hope the village Party branch, the village committee, and village cadres will work together with a unified mind, effort, and energy to jointly handle the affairs of the folks well."
Zunyi, this red fertile soil that witnessed the great historical turning point, has long since undergone a complete transformation from the old to the new. Smooth thoroughfares have replaced rugged mountain paths, lights have been lit in new safe homes from relocation, rural specialty industries have activated development momentum, and quality public services have benefited countless households...
On the Long March road of the new era, there are still many "Loushan Passes" and "Lazikou Passes." The more one must break through passes and seize strongholds, the more one must temper work style and cement the flesh-and-blood bond between the Party and the masses.
On June 24, 2026, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during his inspection in Dezhou City, Shandong Province: "We must work together with one heart to walk the new Long March road well, create an even brighter future, and continuously satisfy the people's aspirations for a better life."
The Chinese Communists marching on the new Long March road remain unchanged in their original aspiration and unwavering in their conviction.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王锦涛 曾亦辰
"Liyuan Fortress established political power, the Long March found its foothold. Heroic tales are countless amounts (千千万, qian qian wan - "thousand, thousand, ten thousand"), the Nanliang spirit passes from generation to generation..." In the golden October, following the sound into a farmhouse courtyard in Nanliang Township, Huachi County, Qingyang City, Gansu Province, a performance of "Nanliang Narrative Singing" was underway.
In August 1935, more than 3,000 troops of the 25th Red Army entered Qingyang from Caofeng in Pingliang, traveling approximately 230 kilometers and engaging in four battles of varying scale along the way.
In September 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted during an inspection in Gansu: "Gansu has a profound historical and cultural heritage and abundant red cultural resources. We must carry forward the red gene, strengthen the protection of cultural heritage, support the Dunhuang Academy in becoming a model for the protection of world cultural heritage and a highland for Dunhuang studies, build well the national cultural parks of the Great Wall, the Long March, and the Yellow River, and inject strong spiritual strength into modernization."
Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, the cadres and masses of Qingyang City have vigorously carried forward the great Long March spirit and passed on the red gene, enabling the old revolutionary base area to blaze a new path of development, and the lives of the people in the old base area are getting better and better.
Continuing the legacy to revitalize culture and tourism—
The Long March's passage through Qingyang sowed the seeds of revolution and left behind a source of spiritual strength.
Stepping into the core exhibition park of the Nanliang Revolutionary Base Area in the Long March National Cultural Park, the live performance "Nanliang Beacon Fire" was underway. The Loess Plateau serves as the stage, cave dwellings and mountain ridges form the backdrop, and sound, light, and shadow bring the audience back to the years of war. The Time Post Office, the Nanliang Spark Hall... scenes that can be seen, heard, and experienced bring history to life before one's eyes.
As red stories "come alive," the masses grow prosperous along with them. In the first half of this year, Huachi County received 1.27 million tourist visits, with total tourism spending reaching 739 million yuan; in Liyuan Fortress Village, Nanliang Township, farmhouse restaurants and homestays line up one after another, and the masses are able to "eat the tourism meal" at their own doorsteps.
Roads connect the plateaus and ridges, opening up new horizons—
The old base area is accelerating its development, and the changes are written across the mountains and rivers.
At the construction site of the Taihua Highway, a paving machine rumbled forward. "We are currently laying asphalt pavement and will soon enter the final stage," said Zhang Xiuzhi, the highway project manager. The Taihua Highway, with a total length of 74.2 kilometers, passes through relevant townships in Heshui and Huachi, and upon completion will end the history of Nanliang lacking a high-grade highway; the Wuhua Expressway, being advanced in parallel, starts from Wuqi in Shaanxi in the north, passes through Zhidan, and reaches Huachi in Gansu, connecting with the Daqing Expressway and others, linking Nanliang with the old revolutionary base areas of Yan'an, Zhidan, and Wuqi.
The big roads extend outward, while small roads spread across the mountain villages. Descending along Qingyang's ravines and ridges to Zhuangzi Mao, Hongde Township, Huan County, where the mountains were once high and the roads distant, 22 households had a per capita annual income of less than 6,000 yuan; now agricultural specialties leave the mountains on express delivery vehicles, tourists follow the mountain roads into the villages, mobile phones have become "new farm tools," and livestreaming has become "new farm work." "Now there's no idle season all year round, and life gets better and better!" said Chen Guilian, a Zhuangzi Mao villager who "went viral" on internet platforms with her superb skill at making oil cakes, beaming with joy. One after another, "Four- Good Rural Roads" link red culture, local customs, and distinctive industries. Qingyang is advancing the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten-Thousand Project" for integrated agricultural, cultural, and tourism development, and has already built 32 distinctive villages.
Today's Qingyang is seeing accelerated convergence of people and goods flows, integrating more quickly into the unified national market.
Moving toward the new to add momentum—
More than 90 years ago, winds and clouds surged across the high heavens and thick earth. Today, "winds and clouds" are rising again on the loess plateau.
Opening the itinerary of Qingyang's digital economy investment promotion team, Beijing, Zhuhai in Guangdong, Luoyang in Henan... one place name after another forms a trajectory of investment attraction. Anchoring targets, knocking on doors for investment, and tracking projects to landing; after contracts are signed, following up on procedures, finding supporting facilities, and solving problems, so that the major energy base and the "East Data, West Computing" hub achieve deep integration. "The revolutionary forebears crossed mountains and ridges (翻山越岭, fan shan yue ling - "flip, mountain, cross, ridge") on this loess plateau in search of hope; today we must blaze a new path on this hot land and turn Qingyang's green electricity and computing power into 'real gold and silver,'" said Liu Xingfeng, director of the Qingyang Energy Bureau.
At the Huaneng Longdong Energy Base, wind turbines turn in the wind, and the long winds are transformed into green electricity; in the "East Data, West Computing" industrial park, servers run day and night, and data rushes to the "cloud."
Looking at computing power, the intelligent computing scale of the Qingyang data center cluster is 215,000 PFLOPS (quadrillions of floating-point operations per second), accounting for nearly one-tenth of the national total; looking at tokens, it undertakes more than one-quarter of the nation's artificial intelligence token operations, with the average daily token call volume in data centers rising from 1.2 trillion times in 2023 to 12 trillion times in 2025; looking at the layout, token services have expanded to multiple continents, achieving a chain upgrade from "selling racks" to "selling computing power" and then to "selling tokens."
The long winds over the plateau are blowing strong. Red Qingyang is embarking on a new expedition.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Dushanbe, October 18) (Reporter Wang Zhou) On the afternoon of October 18, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council held talks with Tajikistan's Prime Minister Rasulzoda in Dushanbe.
Li Qiang stated that the Chinese and Tajik peoples have always harbored friendly sentiments toward each other. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Rahmon, China-Tajikistan relations have maintained a high level of development, and cooperation between the two sides in various fields has continued to deepen and solidify. Next year will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tajikistan. China is willing to work with Tajikistan to deepen strategic mutual trust, firmly support each other, and push China-Tajikistan all-round cooperation to continuously reach new heights, achieve more practical results, and better benefit the peoples of both countries.
Li Qiang pointed out that China is willing to work with Tajikistan to deeply align development strategies, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, green minerals, connectivity, clean energy, and artificial intelligence, so as to better achieve mutually beneficial outcomes (互利共赢, hu li gong ying - "mutual benefit, mutual win"). China is willing to import more high-quality goods from Tajikistan and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Tajikistan, hoping that Tajikistan will continue to provide a favorable business environment for enterprises. The two sides should expand exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, health, sports, and sub-national levels, enhance the sense of gain of the two peoples, and at the same time continue to deepen law enforcement and security cooperation to create a stable and peaceful environment for personnel exchanges between the two sides. The current international situation continues to undergo complex changes. As both China and Tajikistan are important members of the Global South, they should unite and coordinate more closely, safeguard the common interests of both countries, and uphold international fairness and justice. The two sides should further strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the China-Central Asia Mechanism, and the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, and promote the building of a more just and reasonable global governance system.
Rasulzoda stated that under the joint leadership of the heads of state of the two countries, Tajikistan-China relations are currently at their best level in history. In May this year, President Rahmon successfully visited China, and bilateral relations entered a new stage of development. China is Tajikistan's most important trade and investment partner, and Tajikistan thanks China for its strong support for Tajikistan's economic development over the years. Tajikistan is actively committed to promoting all-round Tajikistan-China cooperation, is willing to further leverage the role of the intergovernmental economic and trade cooperation committee between the two countries, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, investment, agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy and minerals, and connectivity, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as green economy, digital economy, and artificial intelligence, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and strengthen communication and coordination on multilateral platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-Central Asia Mechanism, so as to continuously achieve new results in Tajikistan-China relations.
After the talks, the two sides jointly witnessed the signing of multiple documents in areas such as infrastructure construction, education, anti-corruption, and standardization cooperation.
On the afternoon of the same day, Li Qiang laid a wreath at the Tajikistan National Reconciliation and Revival Monument.
Wu Zhenglong participated in the above activities.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者
Expanding domestic demand is a strategic move, and boosting consumption is the top priority.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Adapt to changes in the consumption structure and expand the supply of quality goods and services. Optimize the implementation of the 'two new' policies and give local governments more room for independent action. Remove unreasonable restrictive measures in the consumption field and unleash the potential of service consumption in culture and tourism, sports events, catering, health and wellness, and other areas."
From the southeast coast to the land of Qilu, and then to the shores of Dongting Lake, new policies guide new consumption, and new consumption activates new drivers of growth—
The consumption chain continues to lengthen. In Changsha, Hunan, nighttime consumption accounts for 64 percent of the share of all-day service consumption; in Shandong's counties, nighttime consumption growth has outpaced urban areas by 5 percentage points for five consecutive quarters.
Consumption hotspots continue to emerge. In the first half of this year, "county-hopping tourism" across Fujian Province exceeded 70 million person-trips, and spending on "rural tourism" surpassed 30 billion yuan.
Consumption categories are becoming increasingly diverse. Shandong has included 8 categories of products, such as robot vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, in the scope of local self-selected category subsidies. As of August 15 this year, the province had received 14.305 million applications for trade-in consumer goods.
Traveling through the three provinces of Fujian, Shandong, and Hunan, what one sees is new policies and new scenarios unleashing new vitality. "Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division"—behind each "consumption ledger" is the surging and rolling tide of new consumption drivers.
"Addition": Expanding and upgrading the supply of consumption
The debut economy is "blossoming in many places," cultural performances are "a succession of fine shows," and "sports event traffic" is accelerating its transformation into "consumption growth"... In terms of quality consumption supply, localities are constantly doing "addition"—
"Addition" means the transformation and renewal of new consumption scenarios.
At nightfall, the warm glow of earthen buildings is embedded into the green mountains. At the Nanjing Tulou Scenic Area in Fujian, in front of the Deyun Tower Square in Yunshuiyao, long lines form in front of food trucks shaped like earthen buildings and water wheels, where specialty snacks such as taro dumplings and glutinous rice cakes attract many tourists.
"During the day, I browse cultural and creative products and listen to mountain songs; at night, I take photos with the 'Big Fish & Begonia' light show and watch singing and dancing on painted boats..." said Li Xueping, a tourist from Shanxi.
"It's exciting both day and night, and there are more experiences to be had. Over the past three years, the average time visitors spend in the scenic area has increased by about 4 hours," said a relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Tulou Scenic Area.
This year, Fujian launched the first batch of 100 new "Min-style Living" cultural and tourism scenarios and put an electronic map online, with Deyun Tower Square being one of them. During the National Day holiday, Fujian's average daily number of domestic and international tourist visits and total tourist spending increased by 7.0 percent and 6.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.
"Addition" means the integrated upgrading of new consumption business formats.
Passing through a colorful dreamlike corridor, giant snack sculptures are scattered throughout... During the National Day holiday, the "Snack Kingdom" in Changsha attracted a large number of tourists, bringing together more than 35,000 snack products from around the world, with leading food companies taking turns holding new product launches and tasting events. Pushing strollers and pulling suitcases, people explore and experience as they "browse, photograph, play, and buy."
With the deep integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, first stores and first exhibitions are landing in Hunan in clusters, and queuing up to "check in" has become a daily occurrence at many commercial complexes. From 2021 to August 2026, Changsha has cumulatively introduced 1,041 quality first stores, including 58 national first stores and 171 first stores in Central China.
"Addition" means new consumption models competing to emerge.
"The livestream room is really lively!" Early in the morning, at Fuxin Fishing Port in Donggang District, Rizhao, Shandong, as fishing boats dock and catches come ashore, livestream host Pan Xin "broadcasts while walking," "taking" consumers aboard the boats to select products and negotiate prices on the spot, selling an average of 300 to 500 orders of seafood per day.
New tricks in livestream e-commerce are emerging endlessly (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong - "layer, out; not, out"). New models such as village livestreams and market fair livestreams are flourishing everywhere; light stands, phones, and microphones have become villagers' "new farming tools" and "new fishing gear"...
Shandong is vigorously advancing the "livestream+" initiative. The province has gathered more than 300,000 practitioners of livestream e-commerce, and in the first seven months of this year, the province's online retail sales increased by 8.9 percent year-on-year.
"More and more consumers have new consumption choices. Cultivating new consumption business formats, models, and scenarios has become a key lever for localities to boost consumption," said Xing Wei, director of the Social Undertakings Research Office at the Institute of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission.
"Subtraction": Easing residents' worries about the future
Last year, Chen Xinru, a resident of Jinan, Shandong, was very tempted when she saw a bakery launch a stored-value discount, but she hesitated to top up her card for a long time for fear that the shop owner might "skip town."
"Daring not to consume"—how can this be resolved?
Recently, a sign appeared next to the cash register of this shop—"This store has joined Jinan's 'Prepaid Treasure.'" Half-believing and half-doubting, Chen Xinru topped up 500 yuan. Since then, every time she consumes, her phone pops up a redemption reminder, and her balance is perfectly clear.
"Prepaid Treasure" was selected as a national standardization pilot project for 2025, with the property segregation function of the trust system at its core—even if a merchant fails in business, prepaid funds remain independently deposited and are used exclusively for refunds. At present, the number of merchants on the platform has exceeded 25,000, covering key sectors such as education and training, fitness, and catering.
To further unleash the willingness to consume, it is necessary both to safeguard the people's "money bags" and to weave a tight "safety net" for people's livelihoods.
"The affordable prices and subsidy vouchers have significantly eased the financial pressure of childcare," said Wang Ling, a nearby resident, at the Bobo Baobao Childcare Center in Fengze District, Quanzhou, Fujian. "Our child was sent here at five and a half months old, and by the time he turned one, he could recognize patterns in picture books. Our whole family is very reassured."
Launching the "Quanxiangtuo" inclusive childcare consumption subsidy vouchers, with each voucher providing a maximum deduction of 1,000 yuan for families with infants aged 0 to 2; building a "15-minute childcare service circle"... Over the past two years, the number of childcare institutions in Quanzhou has increased from 626 to 731.
"The original price is about 2,800 yuan per month; after subsidies, children of different ages are charged 1,800 to 2,300 yuan," said Lin Wenqin, head of the center. The center is publicly run and publicly operated, combining medical care with childcare, and offers full-day care, half-day care, and hourly care.
Good care for the young, and dignified care for the elderly. At the Xiangyu Ci'ai Elderly Care Center in Xiamen, Fujian, 94-year-old Guo Lili and her husband have lived here for nearly three years. "There is singing, exercise, handicrafts, and games of every kind, and our children can work with peace of mind." Xue Guoyong, president of the care center, introduced: the facility is equipped with general practice, traditional Chinese medicine, and rehabilitation departments, and has opened green channels in coordination with several top-tier hospitals; nutritionists customize meals according to southern Fujian dietary customs; and a college has been jointly established with Xiamen Open University for Senior Citizens, offering nearly 20 courses.
Fujian takes a "one chessboard" approach to ensuring services for "the elderly and the young." As of August 5 this year, Fujian had distributed 2.114 billion yuan in childcare subsidies, benefiting 688,700 people; since January this year, elderly people aged 60 and above with moderate, severe, or complete disability levels have been issued electronic consumption vouchers for elderly care services worth 800 yuan per person per month.
"Multiplication": Amplifying the policy multiplier effect
A single consumption voucher can leverage a huge market.
Last year, Hunan's "Enjoy Hunan·Xiang Dang You Hui" consumption vouchers achieved a leverage ratio of 1:4.5. At the end of September this year, seizing the peak consumption season of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the provincial and municipal levels began coordinating the investment of nearly 500 million yuan to carry out more than 100 key consumption-promotion activities across the province.
"How do I get a voucher?" In the evening, a long line formed outside a restaurant in Yuetang District, Xiangtan, Hunan, with a prominent notice on the shop window—consumption vouchers can be redeemed here, 10 yuan off for purchases over 100 yuan.
"Open the 'Piao Hai Xiangtan' mini-program and claim consumption vouchers covering four major categories of activities: dining, accommodation, entertainment, and shopping..." said brand manager Wen Sijia. "The merchant gives a 5-yuan discount, the government subsidizes 5 yuan, and consumers will come back only if they feel they are getting a good deal."
A single performance ticket can make a city famous.
At the end of September, the original opera on a revolutionary theme, Cold Moon Silent, was staged at the Fujian Grand Theatre. "When it reached the climax, I was instantly moved to tears," said Li Jing, a resident of Fuzhou, Fujian, after watching the performance, tucking the ticket stub into her bag. "Soaking in a hot spring and taking a boat ride on the inner river—there are discounts with the ticket stub."
In mid-to-late September, the Sixth China Opera Festival was held in Fujian, with 16 outstanding operas participating in the performances, Cold Moon Silent being one of them. With a single ticket stub from the opera festival, one can enjoy discounts at more than 300 partner merchants in Xiamen, the main venue, and in Fuzhou, the sub-venue, one can also enjoy half-price admission to multiple scenic areas and inner-river boat rides. The "magnetic attraction" of "a single performance" is strengthening: in the first half of this year, total revenue from commercial performances in Fujian Province increased by 62 percent year-on-year.
The trade-in policy has been strengthened and expanded, bringing green and intelligent products into thousands of households.
On October 7, next to the Jinan Olympic Sports Center, resident Zhang Minyu and her husband were trying out new photography equipment. "We both love photography, and we've had our eye on this device for a long time. Now that there's a preferential policy, we're seizing the opportunity to buy it."
It turns out that in June this year, Jinan included intelligent photography equipment and other items in the subsidy scope for the first time. "After the store discount, it was a bit over 4,000 yuan; the policy subsidy was a bit over 400 yuan; and the old camera we had put aside at home was worth another 300-plus yuan in trade-in value, so we got it for a bit over 3,000 yuan," Zhang Minyu said.
In mid-June, Shandong issued an implementation plan for self-selected category subsidies, expanding the scope of product subsidies. The multiplier effect quickly became apparent. As of August 15 this year, trade-in consumer goods in Shandong had driven sales of 115.7 billion yuan.
"Division": Removing hidden barriers to consumption
Changsha's Gaogiao Market in Hunan is the province's first wholesale-market-type point for instant tax refunds on departure. Here, the tax refund cycle has been compressed from "the month level" to "the minute level." "It's much more convenient now. In the past, I had to wait until departure to declare it," said Anna, a businesswoman from Tanzania, who bought a laptop and completed the instant refund on the spot at the market's centralized tax refund point, receiving 1,224 yuan in tax refund. "I plan to buy some more small appliances and general merchandise and ship them back to Africa."
By clearing the bottlenecks and obstacles throughout the entire process of inbound consumption, "shopping" in China is heating up. Changsha has completed the renovation of foreign card payment capabilities for more than 4,000 key merchants; improved multilingual signage in business districts and scenic areas and channels for foreign-related reservations; and expanded the number of departure tax refund stores to 255.
From "selling to the world" to "strolling the streets," new supply is continuously opening up new blue oceans.
The standardized and refined management of outdoor stall operations is becoming a new sight of urban vitality in Xiamen. Chicken cutlets go into the frying oil, aroma wafting everywhere; piles of assorted fresh fruits, juicers running nonstop... "This year, the new temporary operating points added to the outer plaza have supplemented the business mix and also drawn in foot traffic, driving an increase of 130,000 customer visits in the first half of the year," said Ni Ping, a relevant person in charge of Xiamen Yueduhui Shopping Plaza. "During the National Day holiday, foot traffic also far exceeded expectations."
In June last year, Xiamen explicitly allowed the standardized conduct of outdoor stall commercial activities, the appropriate conduct of cross-store operations, and the standardized establishment of "stall regulation points." As of July this year, the city had provided more than 6,000 stalls, and more than 21,000 stores had benefited from the cross-store operation policy.
By continuously removing the bottlenecks and obstacles hindering the construction of the unified national market, the consumption experience is becoming stronger.
In June 2026, the Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments announced the list of pilot cities for automobile circulation and consumption reform, with both Qingdao and Zibo in Shandong being selected.
How can an RV, this "mobile home," be parked with ease and lived in comfortably? During the National Day holiday, at the Langyatai Starry Sky Campsite in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, an open-air movie was being screened, independent small courtyards were set up in front of RVs, and supporting business formats such as sea excursions and fisherman's home stays were arranged nearby.
"In terms of traffic management, Qingdao is piloting classified control and clearing unreasonable driving restrictions; in terms of campsite land use, it is simplifying the approval procedures for point-based land supply and temporary land use; at the same time, it is optimizing the RV rental service network," said Yuan Xiaofan, deputy director of the Circulation Division of the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce.
"Our sales of new energy intelligent RVs have already exceeded the same period last year," said Cheng Yumu, general manager of Qingdao New Ideas Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. "The policy support is very encouraging, and orders from our peers are also growing."
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—what is being calculated is not only an economic ledger, but also a ledger of people's livelihoods and happiness. With new demand leading new supply and new supply creating new demand, consumption, the "main engine" of economic growth, roars on without pause, continuously injecting strong momentum into high-quality development and adding luster to the people's pursuit of a better life.
(People's Daily reporters Zhang Yikai, Liu Xiaoyu, Shi Yu, Li Rui, Wang Zhe, Shen Zhilin, Yang Xun)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李昌禹 刘博通 人民网记者 李 娜 邓志慧
Only those who have experienced a harsh winter can truly appreciate the warmth of spring.
Seventy-five years ago, Tibet achieved peaceful liberation, opening a new chapter in the history of the plateau; thereafter, the spring thunder of democratic reform resounded across the land, and the thousand-year-old serf system collapsed in an instant. The million serfs who "owned nothing but their own shadows" were reborn, standing upright for the first time and embracing the spring that belonged to them.
History rolls ever forward.
Under the leadership of the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era, the snow-covered plateau has achieved a great leap forward, and the emancipated serfs have long since come to enjoy the happy life their forebears could only dream of.
Livelihood is paramount; every detail matters. Education, culture, employment, healthcare, elderly care... General Secretary Xi Jinping's concerns for the people's well-being have taken root here, warming countless households like spring.
Recently, reporters ventured deep into the vast plateau to visit the Pola Mola (Tibetan, an honorific for grandfather and grandmother) who personally experienced the feudal serf system of old Tibet, listening to them tell how it was the Communist Party of China that brought true spring to the snow-covered plateau.
The story of Puciren —
A single character "person," undergoing a complete transformation
Puciren, now 82 years old, has always remembered the first Chinese character he ever learned — "person" (人).
In 1944, Puciren was born in Xigaze, Tibet. His family rented a mud-brick room from a serf owner — leaking rain and letting in wind in summer, bitterly cold in winter. Many serfs in the village could only shelter in tattered tents that let the wind through on all sides; some infants were born in cattle pens and tragically died the very same night.
Looking back on his bitter childhood, Puciren was filled with emotion: "Under the feudal serf system of old Tibet, we were not considered complete human beings. We were merely objects attached to the lords, to be disposed of at will, born without any dignity and unable to see a single ray of hope."
In old Tibet at that time, the serfs and slaves who made up over 95% of the population were stripped of all means of production, and personal freedom was out of the question. Education was monopolized by monasteries and the upper aristocracy, and the overall illiteracy rate of society was as high as 95%. The vast majority of serfs were being completely illiterate (目不识丁, mu bu shi ding - "eye, not, know, illiterate") for generations, unable to read characters, ignorant of the law, and with no way of knowing the rights they possessed.
After Tibet's peaceful liberation, the spring breeze of democratic reform swept across the plateau. Puciren, breaking free from the shackles of fate, finally stepped into the schoolhouse he had longed for.
"The teacher told us that one stroke and one stroke supporting each other is what makes a 'person' stand. After Tibet's democratic reform, we held our heads high, acting in an open and above-board manner (堂堂正正, tang tang zheng zheng - "hall, hall, upright, upright") and stood up as a person of great character and integrity (顶天立地, ding tian li di - "top, sky, stand, earth")."
This character "person" took deep root in Puciren's heart like a seed.
"Knowledge is more precious than pearls and agate." Once he learned to read, he continued studying continuously without interruption (勤学不辍, qin xue bu che - "diligent, study, not, stop"). Later, he worked as a translator in Xigaze; at 49, he went to Peking University to study English; in 2007, already in his sixties, he enrolled in a computer training class and mastered basic computer operations.
"I am no longer a 'blind man with open eyes' who cannot read a single character. I can understand policies and see the vast world outside." Puciren said he had become a bridge — giving voice to the feelings of his fellow villagers on the plateau while also conveying the Party's and the state's tangible care to people of all ethnic groups.
In 2021, Puciren became a volunteer docent at the Museum of the Liberation of One Million Serfs in Tibet. Every March 28, a special day engraved in the hearts of the Tibetan people, he always changes into neat Tibetan robes and arrives early at the museum. "This history is heartbreaking, but it must never be forgotten. I personally lived through those bitter days, so I have a responsibility to tell the true story to more people and warn the younger generation to cherish the stable and happy life of today."
Puciren has another identity — off-campus moral education counselor at the Primary School Attached to Lhasa Normal School. Over the years, he has insisted on going into schools to tell of the changes of the times and guide children to remember the path they came from: "What I most hope children understand is two characters: family and country. Without a stable country, there is no stable home. The country is not just a concept in textbooks; it is the most solid backing we have for a lifetime."
From learning his first character "person" to standing that character firmly for a lifetime, Puciren's long life is a vivid microcosm of the earth-shaking changes on the snow-covered plateau, and a living testimony to the journey of one million serfs from personal liberation to spiritual awakening.
From having no access to schooling to revering culture and learning, from an illiteracy rate of over 95% to the full implementation of 15 years of free education. Over seventy-five years of forging ahead, Tibet has built a complete modern education system, benefiting generation after generation of students on the plateau.
"Today's Tibet has created an extraordinary miracle on earth." Puciren sighed with heartfelt admiration.
The story of Nima Wangchuk —
A single drum dance, inherited and transformed
"Grandpa Nima, dance a section of zhuo dance for us again!"
In Qonggyai County, Shannan, Tibet, beside a large yak-hide drum in a small mountain courtyard, a group of children clustered around the octogenarian Nima Wangchuk, their young faces full of expectation.
The drumsticks rose and fell with a resounding beat, and the deep, sonorous drumbeats echoed across the mountains. As a representative inheritor of Tibet's Jiuhe zhuo dance, a national intangible cultural heritage, Nima Wangchuk, despite his advanced age, still stood tall and straight, the hem of his loose Tibetan robe lifting gently with his steady, flowing dance steps.
The Jiuhe zhuo dance, with a history of over a thousand years, was originally a living fossil of the plateau's indigenous folk culture. But in the sunless old Tibet, art never belonged to the dancers; it was merely an accessory for the amusement of the powerful, and the serf dancers were nothing more than tools to be driven at will and used to pay off taxes.
At that time, the young Nima Wangchuk was still a serf wantonly exploited by his lord, and performing the zhuo dance was unpaid corvée labor to offset taxes. "In the old days, we went to the monastery to dance only to earn a mouthful of tsampa to stave off hunger. The lords on the high platform looked on coldly; if there was the slightest flaw in the singing or the dance steps, not only was there no food, but we would be beaten and punished." Looking back on the past, the old man was filled with bitterness.
During the years he was forced to perform, he lived in constant anxiety. The drumbeats that should have been spirited and passionate became a heavy weight pressing on his heart. The nimble, flowing dance steps became shackles binding his personal freedom.
The earth-shaking change began with democratic reform. Back then, the Communist Party distributed grain, land, and housing to Nima Wangchuk's family, and the generations of suffering under the lords finally came to an end. The thousand-year-old zhuo dance, along with the rebirth of the million serfs, also welcomed its own renewal.
Thereafter, Nima Wangchuk joined a cultural troupe and for the first time made an honest living by dancing: "In the past, dancing the zhuo dance was hard labor for the lord; now it is performing for the villagers. It was at that moment that I truly felt that dancing is a dignified thing."
In 2014, the Jiuhe zhuo dance was successfully inscribed on the national list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage, becoming a treasure of ethnic culture under systematic protection and shared by all the people. Over the years, the old man has carefully trained more than 80 young inheritors of the zhuo dance, regularly carried out intangible cultural heritage activities in schools and grassroots public performances, allowing the ancient zhuo dance hidden deep in the plateau to step out of the mountains and onto the national stage.
"Dancing today is a sign of a happy life, of joy in the heart, of genuine love from within." Looking at the children and apprentices around him who were devoting themselves to learning the craft, Nima Wangchuk's eyes were full of expectation: "You were born in the best of times. Cherish these good conditions, cherish the happiness and opportunities of today!"
By the end of 2025, Tibet had 106 national-level representative items of intangible cultural heritage. The transformation of the thousand-year-old zhuo dance is a true microcosm of Tibet's cultural development: culture is no longer the exclusive preserve of the powerful but a spiritual treasure built and shared by the people, and the ancient cultural lineage in the new era has truly achieved continuing endlessly without interruption (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "life, life, not, cease") and passing on the torch from one generation to the next (薪火相传, xin huo xiang chuan - "firewood, fire, mutually, pass").
The story of Pema —
A single thread, weaving hope
In the Tibetan-style courtyard of Sangba Village, Wangdan Township, Bainang County, Xigaze, the sound of the loom hums steadily. For Pema's family — three generations of weavers — the thread passed down from generation to generation in their hands bears witness to both suffering and rebirth, and reflects the great changes in people's livelihoods across the snow-covered plateau.
"Grandma, rest a while if you're tired." Watching her grandmother bent over the loom, her granddaughter Paiyang gently urged. Pema, now past seventy, waved her hand repeatedly: "Not tired! Working for myself, not tired at all!" This simple remark says everything about the vastly different circumstances of the two generations.
"In the old society, weaving pulu was hard labor weighing down the serfs." As a village elder of old Tibet serf origin, Pema personally experienced those bitter years when the thread bound her body and the labor never ceased.
As a child, she followed her mother at the loom day and night. All the pulu they wove had to be handed over to the manor lord in full. Mother and daughter worked with all their might for an entire day, only to receive a single bowl of thin tsampa at the end — not nearly enough to fill their stomachs. "In those days, the thread in our hands did not weave cloth; it wove the serf's exhaustion and the serf's suffering."
The arrival of democratic reform opened a brand-new chapter in the lives of Pema's family.
Though still young at the time, she remembered this great change of fate clearly. With the complete abolition of the serf system that had oppressed the people, her family received housing and land. Her mother moved the old loom that had labored for the lord for so many years from the manor back to their own small courtyard: "From now on, every inch of cloth we weave belongs to us."
"For my mother's generation, the thread in their hands was handed down by the manor lord — it was for paying debts, for corvée labor; for our generation, the thread in our hands is picked up by ourselves — it is a livelihood, a hope for prosperity." Drolkar, who learned the weaving craft from her mother Pema since childhood, said that pulu weaving today has long shed the bitter undertone of the old days and has become a distinctive plateau industry thriving under the policy of comprehensive rural revitalization.
Today, this thread has been passed to Paiyang. As a member of the Communist Party of China, secretary of the village Party branch, and a leader of the village industry, the young Paiyang has new plans: "I not only want to carry on this craft, but also send this thread even farther."
Standing on the wave of the new era, having seen the vastness of mountains and rivers and the prosperity of cities, her experience of studying outside has made Paiyang even more resolute in her determination to inherit and innovate: "I want to carry reverence for my ancestors and gratitude for the times, inject new vitality into this old craft, and let pulu walk out of Xigaze, out of the plateau, and onto the world stage!"
The story of Cidekyi —
A single ID card, witnessing happiness
Warm sunshine spread across the courtyard of the Sangri County Nursing Home in Shannan. In the sunlight, 82-year-old Cidekyi stroked the resident identity card in her hand and hummed a familiar melody: "Grateful to the Communist Party for bringing a happy life, forever remembering the Party's kindness, forever following the Party."
In the courtyard, other elderly residents chatted and strolled, or danced to songs. Three meals a day were warm and complete, and their later years were calm and peaceful.
"This ID card is my happiness certificate." Cidekyi said that a secure old age with proper care was something the people of old Tibet, trapped in the shackles of the serf system, could not even have dreamed of.
Cidekyi lost both parents at a young age and, with no one to rely on, spent her childhood begging and wandering. "What I could never forget my whole life was winter. I had no place of my own, nowhere to shelter from the wind and snow. I could only hide in a cattle pen and warm myself against the bodies of the cattle."
Under the feudal serf system, serfs were the private property of lords, who could buy, sell, transfer, or give them away at will. Without relatives to rely on, once they grew old and lost the ability to work, they could only wander into the wilderness and die of cold and hunger.
"This thin ID card means more to me than just a card of identity — it is proof that I can hold my head high as a person." From being private property that lords could dispose of at will, to becoming a citizen of the state with legal rights and full personhood, what lies behind a single card is respect for the value of every ordinary individual.
Today, Cidekyi in the nursing home enjoys her own old age in peace. "Here I eat my fill and eat well — every meal has butter tea and tsampa. When I have nothing to do, I bask in the sun, chat with the other residents, and dance the guozhuang. Life is lively and warm."
Having lived through suffering, Cidekyi understands the weight of today's happiness all the better: "There is no such thing as born security in this world. My happiness was given to me by the Party and the state. I have no children, but the Party and the government have placed me here. Food, housing, and medical care are all guaranteed, and even my funeral arrangements will be properly taken care of."
A series of effective old-age support, medical security, and inclusive livelihood policies have woven a dense social safety net across the snow-covered plateau, ensuring that countless elderly people like Cidekyi are cared for in old age and treated in illness.
From suffering in a cattle pen to the warm tranquility of a nursing home courtyard. A single small card reflects not only the reversal of one lonely old woman's fate, but also the re-establishment of the personhood and rights of one million serfs — bearing witness to the reshaping of identity, the progress of human rights, and the warmth of livelihood.
Four stories, four lives. From illiteracy to literacy, from bondage to liberation, from "weaving suffering" to "weaving prosperity," from sleeping in the open to living in peace — the life trajectories of these four Pola Mola reflect the earth-shaking changes on the roof of the world.
On the autumn plateau, highland barley is gathered into granaries, and the earth flows with gold. This ancient land, now brimming with vitality, is performing the splendor of life with its abundant autumn colors and rising smoke from hearths. Look —
In the warm sun, Puciren is bending down to teach children to write the character "person" stroke by stroke; Nima Wangchuk spreads his Tibetan robe and dances with the younger generation; Pema rocks the loom, softly chatting with her granddaughter; Cidekyi squints and hums that familiar melody again: "Grateful to the Communist Party, bringing a happy life..."
After seventy-five years of enduring hardships and toil through wind and rain (栉风沐雨, zhi feng mu yu - "comb, wind, bathe, rain"), the snow-covered plateau has been utterly transformed. From personal liberation to spiritual abundance, from lacking food and clothing to living in peace and working happily (安居乐业, an ju le ye - "peaceful, live, happy, work"), the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era has taken root, allowing the snow-covered land to continue endlessly and change with each passing day (日新月异, ri xin yue yi - "day, new, month, change"), writing a new chapter of happiness for everyone.
"As long as we follow the Party, our good days, like highland barley wine, only get better with every sip!" Puciren's words voiced the common aspiration of the people of the plateau.
(Reported by People's Daily reporter Xu Yuyao; People's Daily Online reporters Liu Yun, Li Gen, Nuerheisha, and Tang Song participated in the reporting; Shi Quciwang also contributed to this article.)
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 18) (Reporter Yu Jingxian) According to the latest agricultural dispatch from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, more than 70 percent of the national autumn grain harvest has been completed. Among them, the northeast has passed 60 percent, the Huang-Huai-Hai region and the southwest have passed 80 percent, the northwest is close to 80 percent, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have passed 60 percent, and south China has passed 30 percent. At the same time, autumn and winter planting is proceeding in an orderly manner across various regions, with winter wheat sowing having passed 10 percent and winter rapeseed sowing having passed 30 percent.
(People's Daily, Beijing, October 18) (Reporter Wang Donghui) The reporter learned from the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration that the peak-season autumn grain purchase is proceeding in an orderly manner across various regions. Preliminary statistics show that various types of business entities have purchased 18 million tons of medium and late rice.
At present, the autumn grain harvest has begun and the grain is coming onto the market. Autumn grain output accounts for about three-quarters of the annual grain output, involving many varieties, a large quantity and scale, and a wide coverage of regions. Relevant departments will strengthen the overall organization of autumn grain purchase work, do a good job of market-based purchase and policy-based storage, implement and refine various policies and measures, and make every effort to ensure smooth channels for farmers to sell grain and stable market operation.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 18) (Reporter Li Xinping) The reporter learned from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.: In the first three quarters, the national railway system cumulatively transported 3.71 billion passengers, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, setting a new record high for the same period in history.
In the first three quarters, the national railway system arranged an average of 11,511 passenger trains per day, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway and the China-Laos Railway transported 25.845 million and 265,000 cross-border passengers respectively, with year-on-year increases of 11.8% and 37.8% respectively. The operation of China-Mongolia, China-Russia, China-Vietnam, and China-North Korea international passenger trains effectively supported "cross-border tourism."
In the first three quarters, the national railway system cumulatively operated 2,860 tourist trains, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%, including 1,613 dedicated tourist trains and 1,247 tourist route trains. A total of 947 trains such as "fan club special trains" and "sports fan special trains" were operated, driving the development of industries such as catering, hotels, and cultural tourism.
Return to TopTheory
Grasping the Winning Way to Strengthen the Party and the State from the Great Long March
Ninth Edition
Printing the Footprints of Youth on the Long March Road of the New Era
Fifteenth Edition
Telling Moving Stories Carrying Forward the Spirit of the Long March
A Long Song of the Land · The Footprints of Heroes
Twentieth Edition
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 程 龙
The "six networks" are an important move for the opening and initial progress of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
"The computing power network is one of the 'six networks' planned and constructed by the state, and the computing power industry is in an accelerated development stage with broad prospects." On October 16, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized this during an inspection in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
At present, artificial intelligence is flourishing and rising rapidly (蓬勃兴起, peng bo xing qi - "flourishing, rise"), with data, computing power, and algorithms as key elements. How to actively recognize, respond to, and seek change? A computing power network unfolds the grand blueprint of the Party leading the people in governing the country.
Strategic planning has always been acting only after careful planning (谋定而后动, mou ding er hou dong - "plan, settle, then, move").
In October 2021, when presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized accelerating the construction of new infrastructure; in April last year, presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau, he further clarified the coordinated advancement of computing power infrastructure construction.
Observing the overall situation, and then planning the overall strategy. In the opening year, key junctures have key deployments:
The Political Bureau meeting of the CPC Central Committee held in April this year proposed strengthening the planning and construction of the "six networks." The computing power network has been incorporated into the national top-level design.
Not long ago, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing New Quality Productive Forces," deploying the construction of a national integrated computing power network...
"With lofty goals, and even more so with patience and resolve." During an inspection at the Chahar High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Ulanqab, General Secretary Xi Jinping's words were full of profound meaning.
With abundant green electricity, a cool climate, and superior location, Inner Mongolia is building a green computing power guarantee base serving the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and radiating across the country.
Looking south, on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Guizhou, also one of the country's eight national computing power hubs, is transforming its comparative advantages such as a good ecological environment and cool climate into strong momentum for developing the big data industry.
In June 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Guiyang Big Data Application Display Center to hear an introduction to industry development. At that time, China's economic development had entered the new normal, "presenting three major characteristics: speed changes, structural optimization, and power conversion."
At that inspection, the General Secretary put forward lofty goals — "China's big data collection and application are just getting started; we must strengthen research, increase investment, and strive to be at the forefront of the world"; and expressed expectations for patience and resolve — "maintain strategic resolve, strengthen research and investigation, clearly see the situation, adapt to trends, leverage advantages, and break through bottlenecks."
Guizhou's exploration of using big data development as a breakthrough to promote economic and social development left a deep impression on the General Secretary. "Guizhou's development of big data indeed makes sense."
"Indeed makes sense" — where does the sense come from? Assessing the situation and trends (审时度势, shen shi du shi - "examine, time, observe, trend"), careful planning, forward-looking layout, and striving for the initiative.
In December 2017, the Political Bureau conducted a group study on implementing the national big data strategy; since then, General Secretary Xi Jinping has visited Guizhou twice for inspection, always paying attention to the digital economy...
From the land of Guizhou to the grasslands of northern Saiwai, tracing the development trajectory of the computing power network, the strategic path of governance is clearly visible: in-depth study and assessment through group studies, top-level design at the central level, on-the-ground research at the front lines, organically integrated and advanced in a coordinated manner...
Broadening the perspective, from the computing power network to the "six networks," this important layout for advancing Chinese modernization is turning the blueprint into a construction drawing.
"Implementing the 'East Data, West Computing' project and building a national integrated computing power network is an important deployment of the Party Central Committee. We must strengthen scientific planning, factor support, and security guarantees, ensure the efficient operation of completed projects, and complete subsequent project construction on schedule."
An important deployment of the Party Central Committee — how to ensure efficient operation and completion on schedule?
"Chinese modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China."
In February 2023, at the first provincial and ministerial-level seminar after the 20th Party Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the Party's leadership directly relates to the fundamental direction, future and destiny, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese modernization.
Take the water network, the first of the "six networks," as an example.
As of August 7 this year, the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has cumulatively transferred over 80 billion cubic meters of water to the north, benefiting 27 large and medium-sized cities along the route.
"Adhering to the national chessboard as a whole" and "concentrating efforts to accomplish major tasks" — these two principles were among the foremost that the General Secretary profoundly summarized from the experience of implementing major inter-basin water diversion projects.
The full navigation of the Pinglu Canal, the start of construction of the Three Gorges water transport new channel... "The Great Yu's water control of the new era" reveals the code of contemporary China's daily progress and renewal: "The Party's leadership is the most essential characteristic and greatest strength of socialism."
This applies to water control, and likewise to electricity management.
The new-type power grid carries the solid pace toward becoming an energy powerhouse.
West-to-East Power Transmission is a major national project. General Secretary Xi Jinping once sent congratulations on the commencement of power generation of the first batch of units at two hydropower stations on the Jinsha River.
The Wudongde Hydropower Station has created seven "world firsts," including the world's thinnest 300-meter-class ultra-high arch dam, and the Baihetan Hydropower Station's million-kilowatt hydroelectric generating units, the world's largest single-unit capacity, have achieved a major breakthrough in high-end equipment manufacturing... Behind the hydropower construction that rewrote industry history lies the institutional advantage of concentrating efforts to accomplish major tasks under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
South-to-North Water Diversion, West-to-East Power Transmission, "East Data, West Computing"... Among the "six networks," for what purpose are these major projects spanning mountains and rivers planned, and where are they headed?
"China has a vast territory, with obvious differences in resource endowments across the east, west, south, north, and center." During this inspection trip to Ulanqab, General Secretary Xi Jinping hit the nail on the head (切中肯綮, qie zhong ken qing - "hit, center, certain, point").
"In accordance with the strategic decisions and planning deployments of the Party Central Committee" and "based on one's own conditions, leveraging comparative advantages, and promoting high-quality development in light of local conditions."
The great tide surges forward, and what is especially needed is resolve as firm as a rock.
In the final analysis, it is essential to fully give play to the Party's core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties.
"Just like the Red Army's Long March, we are now on a new Long March, and you are one of the corps of high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology." During this trip, the General Secretary used the Long March as a metaphor, encouraging the relevant personnel at the local computing power center to make new and greater contributions.
"Who made the Long March victorious? It was the Communist Party. Without the Communist Party, such a Long March would be inconceivable." General Secretary Xi Jinping once quoted Comrade Mao Zedong's assertion, articulating the key to winning victory.
The Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the success of the Party's and the people's cause. To walk well the Long March road of the new era, this is the most reliable backbone.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 冯春梅 吴 勇 张 枨
Autumn rain shrouded Huangqihai Lake, the water and sky merging into one color. In the distance, flocks of migratory birds rose and settled onto the shallow shoals in the lake; up close, waterfowl swam and foraged, their traces appearing and disappearing intermittently.
On October 16, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to the Huangqihai Lake Nature Reserve in Qahar Right Front Banner, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where he heard reports on the strengthening of ecological environment protection by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and on the local progress in comprehensive environmental governance and ecosystem restoration of Huangqihai Lake, and inspected in person the ecological conditions of the lakeshore mudflats and the birds inhabiting the area. The General Secretary emphasized that wetland protection is most valuable when it preserves the original ecology. It is necessary to adhere to respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature, fully implement the Wetland Protection Law, strictly uphold the ecological protection red lines, make every effort to enhance the quality and stability of ecosystems, and safeguard biodiversity. For degraded wetland ecosystems, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of natural restoration as the primary approach and human intervention as supplementary, carrying out restoration in a scientific and reasonable manner.
For people who grew up by the shores of Huangqihai Lake, the changes in the ecological environment are felt especially deeply. This inland lake, which had nearly dried up, has in recent years, through the combined effect of sustained governance and natural conditions, gradually seen its waters restored, its reeds regrown, and its migratory bird numbers increased, with the wetland ecosystem gradually recovering its vitality.
Reducing human disturbance and promoting natural restoration
"We grew up eating fish from the lake." Wu Jianguo, 63, a resident of Xinhua Community in Tuguiwula Town, Qahar Right Front Banner, remembers that when he was young he often went to play by the lakeshore, where the water plants were lush along the banks and the lake held crucian carp and carp.
Huangqihai Lake is an inland lake fed by 11 surrounding rivers, and its water supply is greatly influenced by precipitation and runoff entering the lake. In the 1950s and 1960s, the water area of Huangqihai Lake remained at around 130 square kilometers. Thereafter, affected by factors such as dry and rain-scarce climate, reduced upstream inflow, increased water use in the river basin, and production and living activities along the lake, the lake surface gradually shrank, reeds decreased, and the aquatic ecosystem continued to degrade. By 2006, Huangqihai Lake had nearly dried up.
Wu Jianguo cannot forget the scene after the water receded: "A stretch of white salt-alkali flats, it pained my heart to look at it."
In 2012, the water surface of Huangqihai Lake recovered somewhat, remaining at around 25 square kilometers during the high-water period, but less than 5 square kilometers during the low-water period. For the lake to recover continuously, relying on a single period of incoming water is far from sufficient.
In recent years, in accordance with the principle of "reducing human disturbance and promoting natural restoration," Qahar Right Front Banner has continuously implemented ecological governance. Since 2021, a cumulative total of 356 million yuan has been invested, 44 governance projects have been implemented, and work has been advanced in a coordinated manner on optimizing and adjusting the reserve, enclosure management and control, grazing bans, river channel dredging, vegetation restoration, pollution control, and smart supervision.
Management has been gradually refined. Xie Xiaofei, a staff member of the Huangqihai Lake Nature Reserve Service Center, introduced that the core protection area has been enclosed since 2017, with fencing facilities subsequently improved to reduce the disturbance of human and livestock activities on the wetland. Beyond the enclosure, work on pollution control in the rivers entering the lake, surrounding grasslands, and villages must also be linked together to create conditions for wetland restoration.
Water area restored to over 85 square kilometers
In the view of Wang Shaojun, director of the Huangqihai Lake Nature Reserve Service Center, demolishing and relocating the 16 livestock farms within the reserve was an important and complex task. "The sites had to be vacated, work with the public had to be done well, and practical problems after the relocation had to be resolved." After all the livestock farms were relocated, production activities and pollution sources within the reserve were further reduced, and the wetland gained more space for resting and recuperating to recover strength.
The local area also dredged some key river channels entering the lake, advanced the restoration of degraded forests and grasslands, and built facilities for garbage transfer and sewage collection in surrounding villages to reduce non-point source pollution from daily life. Grazing ban publicity and routine patrols have been continuously carried out to prevent new disturbances from entering the core protection area.
Natural conditions have also contributed to the ecological changes — in recent years, precipitation in the Huangqihai Lake basin has increased somewhat, driving the expansion of the lake surface. By the end of September 2026, the water area of Huangqihai Lake reached 85.22 square kilometers; grassland vegetation coverage was 66.64 percent, an increase of 7.75 percentage points over 2020.
One discovery has particularly excited the reserve's staff: after an interval of about 27 years, in 2025 fish schools were once again detected in the lake. Wang Shaojun introduced that the fish found were mainly crucian carp, with a small number of carp and loach as well. The reserve strictly prohibits fishing, which is the greatest protection for the fish schools.
The changes in birds are equally evident. "In recent years, we can see the reeds growing back and the migratory birds flying back," said Du Yan, a college-graduate village cadre who returned to her hometown in Jiqing Village, Bayintala Town, Qahar Right Front Banner. A total of 168 species of birds across 19 orders have been found at Huangqihai Lake, and in the spring of 2026, a cumulative 53,810 migratory birds were observed, an increase of 51.95 percent over the same period of the previous year.
Villagers sometimes go to the lakeshore to take a look in their spare time. "Knowing that there are fish in the lake again makes us very happy. We no longer want to go fishing; we hope they can live well," Wu Jianguo said.
Smart supervision for more timely management and protection
The wetland covers a wide area, and migratory bird movements are seasonal. Relying solely on staff patrolling with binoculars makes it difficult to keep abreast of changes everywhere at all times. How to improve management and protection efficiency, promptly detect human disturbance, and continuously record bird and hydrological conditions has become an important task for the subsequent management and protection of Huangqihai Lake.
Entering the ecological protection smart supervision center of the Huangqihai Lake Nature Reserve, monitoring information on water areas, meteorology, birds, and other matters is gathered on a large screen. The smart supervision platform, put into operation in 2024, is equipped with 297 sets of various monitoring devices.
"Through the platform, we can grasp the situation in more areas in a timely manner," Xie Xiaofei introduced. The perimeter management system can issue early warnings for situations such as people, vehicles, and large animals entering the core protection area; drone patrols coordinated with ground patrols improve the efficiency of problem detection.
Another system collects images of birds and other wild animals, and the platform carries out identification, classification, and data aggregation, helping staff analyze changes in population activity.
The smart platform does not replace on-site patrols. After monitoring detects anomalies, staff go to the scene to verify; after understanding the activity areas of birds, they reduce disturbance accordingly and do a good job of protection. Wang Shaojun believes that technological development makes management and protection more timely and more targeted.
At Huangqihai Lake in the rain, waterfowl dot the shoals. "Seeing the lake water slowly come back, I feel that all these years of effort have not been in vain." Wang Shaojun deeply feels the weight of the responsibility of protection. Wetland restoration has not come easily, and only sustained protection can prolong its vitality. In the next step, the reserve will continue to strengthen routine patrols and monitoring, making a sustained, long-term effort to guard this wetland.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李 蕊 黄 超
In the autumn harvest season, the most beautiful color is none other than the golden yellow stretching across the vast fertile fields.
The harvester advances along the ridges, rows of corn stalks are drawn into the machine, and golden corn ears pour down, flooding into the grain tank.
In Dongyujia Village, Bianlin Town, Lingcheng District, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, large-scale grain grower Yu Shulei's 400 mu of corn fields are ushering in the harvest.
On June 24, on this very farmland, General Secretary Xi Jinping had a cordial exchange with large-scale grain growers, agricultural machinery operators, and agricultural technicians, encouraging everyone, saying: "With a good summer grain harvest, I congratulate you. We also place our hopes on the autumn grain, striving to make this year another bumper harvest year."
The villagers of Dongyujia Village keep his instructions firmly in mind, root themselves in the fields, work diligently, and lay a solid foundation for the autumn harvest.
"Horse-tooth kernels, slender cob cores, the kernels have all filled to the tip." Yu Shulei casually broke off an ear and held it in his palm, "Look at this corn, how solid it is."
Starting from transferring in more than 60 mu of land, Yu Shulei has gradually expanded his planting scale over the years. Year after year, he has a simple insight: "Growing grain is just like raising a child."
Water is the lifeline of crops. "In the past, I worried about irrigating the fields. Seven or eight people, carrying water hoses, would irrigate for five or six days at a stretch," Yu Shulei said.
As the machine passed, the stubble was exposed, and black drip irrigation pipes lay bare alongside. "This year we installed integrated water and fertilizer equipment. The Yellow River water, after purification and pressurization at the pump station, flows into the fields together with the fertilizer. One person can operate it, and several hundred mu of land are thoroughly irrigated." He remarked with emotion, "Technology has truly changed the fate of farmers."
Whether the equipment is worth it must be proven by the harvest and the account books.
"This year, corn yields about 200 jin more per mu, plus about 100 jin more per mu in the wheat season." Yu Shulei said, counting on his fingers.
A household account book, on one end linked to this year's harvest, on the other end linked to next year's plans. A good harvest brings good income, making life more promising, and giving more confidence for planting grain in the next season.
Looking further into the fields, there is also a farming account book behind it.
One ear of corn is a yield problem. The number of ears per mu, the number of kernels per ear, and the thousand-kernel weight — none of these can be taken lightly.
Gao Jianmei, an agricultural technician in Lingcheng District, is a rural child born and raised locally. As a child, she followed her parents to the fields, cutting wheat and breaking corn, and has a simple closeness to the land. Checking seedling conditions, inspecting pests and diseases, and explaining techniques — having spent much time running around the fields, she has become an old friend of Yu Shulei.
Over the years, this field has increased its yield year after year. In her view, "Improved varieties, improved machinery, and improved methods — none can be missing."
Improved varieties are the foundation for increasing yield. What is planted in this field is a variety that has performed well locally in recent years, with stable and high yields.
Sowing is the critical juncture for a bountiful harvest. This year, the high-yield technology of dense planting with precise regulation for corn was promoted. In Yu Shulei's fields, the density was increased from about 4,500 plants per mu to about 6,000 plants per mu, with the depth controlled at 3 to 5 centimeters, and the drip irrigation tape was laid into the ground together with the seeder.
This summer saw sustained high temperatures, which in past years would have certainly led to reduced yields. "The drip irrigation tape delivers water and fertilizer precisely to the roots, both relieving the drought and lowering the temperature in the fields; 5 rounds of water and 4 rounds of fertilizer, supplied according to need, in small amounts and multiple times; combined with low-flying drones disturbing the air to assist pollination — only then did we get through the high temperatures and stabilize the yield," Gao Jianmei said.
Household matters are linked to farming matters, and farming matters underpin national affairs.
A few extra jin of grain harvested from one field carries greater weight when placed within the grain production of the entire city and the entire country.
The red line of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land cannot be breached, and good farmland must be used to grow grain. No matter how modernized the country becomes, grain must still mainly rely on oneself. With 1.4 billion people, no one else can be relied upon for food — grain production must be firmly grasped.
The responsible comrade of the Dezhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs introduced that the city has 9.76 million mu of cultivated land and 8.27 million mu of permanent basic farmland, with a perennial grain sowing area of about 16 million mu and an output of over 15 billion jin. "Calculating the grain account well, safeguarding cultivated land, and stabilizing grain production are the responsibilities of the locality — this is the foundation for ensuring national food security."
Each plot of good farmland is connected to the rice bowls of countless households; each season of planting and cultivation reinforces the foundation of national food security.
As of October 15, the autumn grain in Dezhou City has been basically fully harvested. Looking across the country, the autumn harvest is advancing in succession —
According to the latest agricultural situation dispatch from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, more than 70 percent of the national autumn grain has been harvested. Among this, the Northeast has passed 60 percent, the Huang-Huai-Hai region and the Southwest have passed 80 percent, the Northwest is close to 80 percent, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have passed 60 percent, and South China has passed 30 percent.
At present, Yu Shulei is arranging the next season's planting: after harvesting the corn, water the fields promptly to build up soil moisture, making preparations for wheat sowing.
"You have all worked hard! May your lives improve steadily with each passing day." General Secretary Xi Jinping's good wishes left a warm page in Dongyujia Village. Within the joy of the autumn harvest, the hope for the coming year is nurtured.
Return to TopThe "Deep Sea No. 1" vessel, carrying the manned submersible "Jiaolong," is currently conducting the second leg of China's Ocean 100 voyage scientific expedition in the high seas of the western Pacific Ocean. On October 15, the "Jiaolong" carried out a diving operation in the high seas of the western Pacific, marking its 470th dive.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王锦涛 曾亦辰
"Liyuan Fortress established political power, the Long March found its foothold. Heroic tales are countless amounts (千千万, qian qian wan - "thousand, thousand, ten thousand"), the Nanliang spirit passes from generation to generation..." In the golden October, following the sound into a farmhouse courtyard in Nanliang Township, Huachi County, Qingyang City, Gansu Province, a performance of "Nanliang Narrative Singing" was underway.
In August 1935, more than 3,000 troops of the 25th Red Army entered Qingyang from Caofeng in Pingliang, traveling approximately 230 kilometers and engaging in four battles of varying scale along the way.
In September 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted during an inspection in Gansu: "Gansu has a profound historical and cultural heritage and abundant red cultural resources. We must carry forward the red gene, strengthen the protection of cultural heritage, support the Dunhuang Academy in becoming a model for the protection of world cultural heritage and a highland for Dunhuang studies, build well the national cultural parks of the Great Wall, the Long March, and the Yellow River, and inject strong spiritual strength into modernization."
Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, the cadres and masses of Qingyang City have vigorously carried forward the great Long March spirit and passed on the red gene, enabling the old revolutionary base area to blaze a new path of development, and the lives of the people in the old base area are getting better and better.
Continuing the legacy to revitalize culture and tourism—
The Long March's passage through Qingyang sowed the seeds of revolution and left behind a source of spiritual strength.
Stepping into the core exhibition park of the Nanliang Revolutionary Base Area in the Long March National Cultural Park, the live performance "Nanliang Beacon Fire" was underway. The Loess Plateau serves as the stage, cave dwellings and mountain ridges form the backdrop, and sound, light, and shadow bring the audience back to the years of war. The Time Post Office, the Nanliang Spark Hall... scenes that can be seen, heard, and experienced bring history to life before one's eyes.
As red stories "come alive," the masses grow prosperous along with them. In the first half of this year, Huachi County received 1.27 million tourist visits, with total tourism spending reaching 739 million yuan; in Liyuan Fortress Village, Nanliang Township, farmhouse restaurants and homestays line up one after another, and the masses are able to "eat the tourism meal" at their own doorsteps.
Roads connect the plateaus and ridges, opening up new horizons—
The old base area is accelerating its development, and the changes are written across the mountains and rivers.
At the construction site of the Taihua Highway, a paving machine rumbled forward. "We are currently laying asphalt pavement and will soon enter the final stage," said Zhang Xiuzhi, the highway project manager. The Taihua Highway, with a total length of 74.2 kilometers, passes through relevant townships in Heshui and Huachi, and upon completion will end the history of Nanliang lacking a high-grade highway; the Wuhua Expressway, being advanced in parallel, starts from Wuqi in Shaanxi in the north, passes through Zhidan, and reaches Huachi in Gansu, connecting with the Daqing Expressway and others, linking Nanliang with the old revolutionary base areas of Yan'an, Zhidan, and Wuqi.
The big roads extend outward, while small roads spread across the mountain villages. Descending along Qingyang's ravines and ridges to Zhuangzi Mao, Hongde Township, Huan County, where the mountains were once high and the roads distant, 22 households had a per capita annual income of less than 6,000 yuan; now agricultural specialties leave the mountains on express delivery vehicles, tourists follow the mountain roads into the villages, mobile phones have become "new farm tools," and livestreaming has become "new farm work." "Now there's no idle season all year round, and life gets better and better!" said Chen Guilian, a Zhuangzi Mao villager who "went viral" on internet platforms with her superb skill at making oil cakes, beaming with joy. One after another, "Four- Good Rural Roads" link red culture, local customs, and distinctive industries. Qingyang is advancing the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten-Thousand Project" for integrated agricultural, cultural, and tourism development, and has already built 32 distinctive villages.
Today's Qingyang is seeing accelerated convergence of people and goods flows, integrating more quickly into the unified national market.
Moving toward the new to add momentum—
More than 90 years ago, winds and clouds surged across the high heavens and thick earth. Today, "winds and clouds" are rising again on the loess plateau.
Opening the itinerary of Qingyang's digital economy investment promotion team, Beijing, Zhuhai in Guangdong, Luoyang in Henan... one place name after another forms a trajectory of investment attraction. Anchoring targets, knocking on doors for investment, and tracking projects to landing; after contracts are signed, following up on procedures, finding supporting facilities, and solving problems, so that the major energy base and the "East Data, West Computing" hub achieve deep integration. "The revolutionary forebears crossed mountains and ridges (翻山越岭, fan shan yue ling - "flip, mountain, cross, ridge") on this loess plateau in search of hope; today we must blaze a new path on this hot land and turn Qingyang's green electricity and computing power into 'real gold and silver,'" said Liu Xingfeng, director of the Qingyang Energy Bureau.
At the Huaneng Longdong Energy Base, wind turbines turn in the wind, and the long winds are transformed into green electricity; in the "East Data, West Computing" industrial park, servers run day and night, and data rushes to the "cloud."
Looking at computing power, the intelligent computing scale of the Qingyang data center cluster is 215,000 PFLOPS (quadrillions of floating-point operations per second), accounting for nearly one-tenth of the national total; looking at tokens, it undertakes more than one-quarter of the nation's artificial intelligence token operations, with the average daily token call volume in data centers rising from 1.2 trillion times in 2023 to 12 trillion times in 2025; looking at the layout, token services have expanded to multiple continents, achieving a chain upgrade from "selling racks" to "selling computing power" and then to "selling tokens."
The long winds over the plateau are blowing strong. Red Qingyang is embarking on a new expedition.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 贺林平
Setting out from the Canton Fair exhibition halls, arriving at Xinxing County, Yunfu City, about 150 kilometers from Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, young purchaser Du Xin placed orders one after another.
Du Xin comes from Bangladesh and is attending the Canton Fair for the first time this year. To his pleasant surprise, after greatly enjoying a feast for the eyes (大饱眼福, da bao yan fu - "greatly, satisfy, eye, blessing") in the halls for two days, he was also invited to attend the Fourth China (Guangdong Yunfu)–RCEP Industrial Cooperation Conference held on October 17.
"This frying pan has a stylish and cute appearance, and the color scheme makes you want to eat just by looking at it." At a local stainless steel products enterprise, Du Xin picked up a frying pan from the showroom, tossed it lightly with one hand, then curled his fingers and tapped it. "The workmanship is very fine, with a great feel to it." After each sentence, he immediately looked at the interpreter, signaling him to relay his words.
"This product has won many awards. The material innovation and the three-layer composite heat-storage technology are the highlights. After cooking, turn off the heat and it can keep warm for 2 hours, and the food won't overcook either." The product presenter was speaking readily and with confidence (侃侃而谈, kan kan er tan - "chatting, chatting, and, talking"). Du Xin simply scanned the QR code on the spot and bought one.
That day, more than a hundred international Canton Fair purchasers like Du Xin came all at once. The buses took them to factory workshops, where they could see the front line of production and also learn about the transformation achievements in intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing.
Yunfu's stone materials, stainless steel kitchenware, and other products enjoy a certain reputation both at home and abroad. Taking kitchenware as an example, in the first eight months of this year, the city's exports reached 2.42 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.9 percent. In Xinxing County, there are more than 100 stainless steel products enterprises and upstream and downstream supporting enterprises.
"In the past, many local manufacturers did OEM work for major European and American brands, and their own brands did not 'break out'." A relevant official from the Yunfu Municipal Commerce Bureau introduced that, linking with the resources of the 140th Canton Fair, Yunfu, centering on its advantageous industries such as green building materials and stainless steel kitchenware, tailored a supply-demand matchmaking activity in which Canton Fair purchasers visit the Yunfu foreign trade base. Last year, at the special event organized by Yunfu in which international Canton Fair purchasers visited the Yunfu foreign trade base, intended orders worth 66.1 million US dollars were reached on site.
"Seeing samples in the meeting hall, and looking at craftsmanship, comparing products, and discussing business by the production line — this is more intuitive and gives you more confidence." Du Xin told reporters, "Consumers in our country have a huge demand for high-quality stainless steel kitchenware. This trip to Yunfu was very rewarding. I picked out a few models that are high quality at a low price (物美价廉, wu mei jia lian - "thing, beautiful, price, cheap"), and I'll first buy one or two hundred pieces to take back and compare, test the market response, and then contact the factory for bulk purchasing."
Return to Top(People's Daily, Dushanbe, October 18) (Reporter Wang Zhou) At the invitation of Tajikistan's Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council arrived at Dushanbe International Airport by special plane at noon local time on October 18, beginning an official visit to Tajikistan and attendance at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states. State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council Wu Zhenglong and other accompanying personnel arrived on the same plane.
Rasulzoda, leading senior government officials, welcomed him at the airport and held a welcome ceremony for Li Qiang. Accompanied by Rasulzoda, Li Qiang reviewed the honor guard. Guo Zhijun, Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan, was also at the airport to welcome him.
Li Qiang stated that China and Tajikistan are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners. In recent years, China-Tajikistan relations have developed rapidly, with fruitful results in cooperation across various fields, bringing genuine and substantial benefits (实实在在, shi shi zai zai - "real, real, in, in") to the peoples of both countries. In May this year, the heads of state of the two countries held a meeting in Beijing, drawing a blueprint for deepening the development of China-Tajikistan relations. China is willing to work with Tajikistan to further carry forward traditional friendship, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly promote the development and prosperity of both countries, and better benefit the peoples of China and Tajikistan.
Li Qiang pointed out that China looks forward to working with all parties of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to implement the outcomes of the Bishkek Summit, promote the complete success of the upcoming SCO Prime Ministers' Meeting, advance new progress in cooperation across various fields, and benefit the peoples of countries in the region.
Li Qiang went to Dushanbe after concluding his official visit to Uzbekistan. When leaving Tashkent, Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and Yu Jun, Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan, were present at the airport to see him off.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 陈尚文 褚 君 王云娜
Media reporters from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies recently visited the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to experience the strong pulse of Chinese modernization. The reporters said that the development practices of the Greater Bay Area provide a vivid model for APEC economies to jointly explore a new path for Asia-Pacific transformation toward digitalization, intelligence, and green development, and also give all parties high expectations for the upcoming 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
Martin, Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Canada's Daily News:
"Shenzhen Provides an Ideal Stage for Asia-Pacific Cooperation"
"In just over 40 years, fishing villages in the Pearl River Delta have transformed into an engine that is rewriting the global manufacturing landscape" and "a vivid testimony to 'efficiency, quality, and cooperation'"... Donovan Martin, Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Canada's Daily News, expressed such sentiments in an article published not long ago.
This is Martin's fifth visit to China. At the BYD headquarters exhibition hall in Shenzhen, a series of innovative technologies on display left Martin with overwhelmingly many things to see (目不暇接, mu bu xia jie - "eye, not, able, to, catch"). "China has achieved remarkable results in new energy vehicle manufacturing, battery technology, and other fields," Martin said. He noted that the in-depth visit gave him a more intuitive understanding of China's advanced manufacturing and also allowed him to see the enormous potential of Asia-Pacific innovation-driven development and green transformation.
What touched Martin most was a scene on Shenzhen's Binhai Avenue: beside the magnificent modern skyline, the Futian Mangrove National Nature Reserve in Shenzhen was full of vitality. "Looking around the world, in many rapidly developing large cities, natural ecosystems are often replaced by concrete and high-rises. But Shenzhen has integrated large-scale wetlands into the city, providing not only natural carbon sinks and windbreaks and wave barriers, but also allowing the public to embrace biodiversity." In Martin's view, Shenzhen's practices prove that technological development and ecological protection can go hand in hand without conflict, "and behind this, the Chinese government's long-term planning and promotion of green development with a forward-looking vision are indispensable."
In Dongguan, the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse of DeRUCCI's 5G smart super factory automatically delivers materials, while robotic arms operate with precision; at OPPO's sports and health laboratory, exercise data is used for algorithm training and converted into monitoring functions for smart wearable devices... The digitalized and intelligent scenarios demonstrate the powerful effectiveness of artificial intelligence empowering the real economy. Martin believes that Chinese manufacturers are setting global design and engineering standards. "We often talk about technology being the future, and here, we see: the future has already arrived."
Martin has been closely following the APEC "China Year" and has written articles explaining the significance of the three priority areas of "openness, innovation, and cooperation." "Writing in my office in Winnipeg, Canada, gave me a macro-policy perspective; but setting foot on the land of China's Greater Bay Area, these concepts immediately came to life," Martin said. "Openness" is not an abstract economic theory — the smooth operations of global enterprises there are clear proof; "innovation" grows on this very land and is iterating and developing at an extremely fast pace; "cooperation" is reflected in people from all walks of life and all countries gathering together to discuss major plans and seek common development. "Shenzhen provides an ideal stage for Asia-Pacific cooperation."
Bùi Minh Long, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam's Tien Phong newspaper:
"In the Greater Bay Area, One Can Encounter Tradition and Modernity"
Visiting Guangzhou and Foshan, what impressed Bùi Minh Long, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam's Tien Phong newspaper, most was the spiritual strength of millions upon millions of people working diligently and striving hard.
Riding the Guangzhou Metro Line 18 at 160 kilometers per hour, experiencing the convenience and vitality brought by smart urban transportation; visiting Phase IV of the Nansha Port Area of Guangzhou Port, witnessing the efficient operation of a fully automated terminal; learning how ergonomic chairs with massage functions are manufactured... In Bùi Minh Long's view, "it is innovation and hard work that have lifted China to its current state of rapid development."
Bùi Minh Long believes that technological advancement and a long cultural lineage are the charm of Guangdong. At the Guangzhou Museum of Art, he visited the "City Pulse Through a Millennium — Special Exhibition on the 2,240th Anniversary of Guangzhou's Founding and the 1,800th Anniversary of Its Naming," and through historical artifacts and exhibition content, he felt Guangzhou's profound historical and cultural heritage; in Foshan, he made a special trip to Shunfeng Mountain Park to experience the locals' daily morning exercise; he touched the Wing Chun wooden dummy, imitated the moves with proper form, and took photos with the movie poster of "Ip Man." "In the Greater Bay Area, one can encounter tradition and modernity," Bùi Minh Long said.
"I have felt a China surging with vitality and have accumulated many vivid stories I want to tell Vietnamese readers," Bùi Minh Long said. During the visit, he recorded the cityscape, analyzed the economic ecosystem behind the economic takeoff and technological breakthroughs, and also took time to experience the life of the streets. He hopes to use these reports as a bridge so that Vietnamese readers can understand China from a richer humanistic perspective. "Mutual understanding and connection at the human level are the foundation for the development of relations between countries. I hope the media can tell more true stories of ordinary people and showcase the tangible results brought by regional cooperation."
Diego Ruzalín, Director of Mexico's MPV Media Company:
"China's Development Experience Deserves to Be Seen by the World"
"From visiting Beijing years ago to coming to Guangdong this time, my two trips to China have deeply fascinated me with this country!" said Diego Ruzalín, Director of Mexico's MPV Media Company. He noted that China has a profound historical heritage and a diverse and inclusive civilization, has always adhered to openness and connectivity, and that surging development vitality pulses across its vast land.
At the shared laboratory of the Zhuhai Hengqin Digital Zero-Carbon Island, Ruzalín and two fellow media reporters gripped a rope tightly, leaned their bodies back, and engaged in a tug-of-war with an inspection robot dog. "This was truly a novel experience!" Ruzalín exclaimed. He observed that China presents a scene of technology benefiting the people: not far away, the 220-kilovolt Qinyun Substation serves as the power hub connecting Guangdong and Macao. More than 200 intelligent terminals, including robot dogs and drones, conduct round-the-clock autonomous inspections through artificial intelligence algorithms, improving inspection efficiency by more than 70 percent and advancing fault identification from "post-incident handling" to "pre-incident warning." "Emerging technologies are making people's work safer and more efficient, and the entire society benefits from technological progress," Ruzalín said.
In Yakou Village, Zhongshan City, waves of rice paddies surge. In recent years, with the completion of the mega-project Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the village has accelerated its integration into the Greater Bay Area's "circle of friends," with tourists flocking in. Ruzalín found that while inheriting its farming traditions, Yakou Village has also developed modern rural tourism, attracting more young people to return to their hometowns and opening numerous distinctive homestays and cafés, with villagers' lives growing increasingly prosperous.
Ruzalín visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, experiencing the grandeur and convenience of the Greater Bay Area's "golden corridor" for the flow of people and goods, and learning how rule alignment and mechanism connectivity promote coordinated development among the three places. "This is a 'Greater Bay Area answer sheet' for integrated development and practical efficiency enhancement, providing a vivid example for deepening Asia-Pacific cooperation," Ruzalín said.
"China's development experience deserves to be seen by the world," Ruzalín said. He noted that what he saw and heard in Zhuhai and Zhongshan this time allowed him to decode the miracle of China's development from a micro perspective — "the Chinese government has a clear vision for how to enable the people to live better lives, fully leverages the power of planning, and insists on formulating policies based on the actual conditions of society." In his view, approaching the APEC "China Year" and entering the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, there are more stories here that can be told to the world.
(Wang Yadie, reporter for People's Daily Online, contributed to this report)
Return to TopChina is willing to work with all countries to let the wisdom of water governance and water development flow to broader lands, converging into a river of prosperity that leads development, a river of openness that connects inside and outside, and a river of friendship that links people's hearts, continuously raising the level of openness, cooperation, and high-quality development in water transport, and jointly writing a new chapter of the era of harmony between people and water.
One river connects ancient and present, one water links the world. Recently, the 2026 World Canal Conference, themed "Innovation and Persistence: Key Choices," was held in Guilin, Guangxi. Representatives from canal cities and industry organizations from more than 20 countries around the world gathered together in one place (齐聚一堂, qi ju yi tang - "together, gather, one, hall"), conducting in-depth exchanges on topics such as world canal heritage protection, water transport upgrading, and coordinated basin development, making on-site inspections of three routes — the Pinglu Canal, the Lingqu Canal, and the Lijiang River — and jointly discussing cooperation paths for canal protection and development.
Canals are flowing epics engraved on mountains and rivers. At present, the revitalization of global canal heritage, the green transformation of water transport, and the coordinated governance of river basins face many common challenges. The World Canal Conference, hosted by the Inland Waterways International, is held in rotation each year in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and serves as an important platform for exchanging ideas and learning from each other (交流互鉴, jiao liu hu jian - "exchange, mutual, learn, inspect") and building consensus in the global canal field. This is the third time the conference has come to China and the first time it has been held in Guangxi. On the land of the Eight Gui, the Lingqu Canal, the Guiliu Canal, and the Tanpeng Ancient Canal have stretched for a thousand years, reflecting the profound accumulation of Chinese water transport civilization. The Lingqu Canal, having endured many hardships over two thousand years (历经两千余载风雨, li jing liang qian yu zai feng yu - "pass through, two thousand, more than, years, wind, rain"), still plays important functions such as irrigation and ecological water replenishment to this day. Through legislative protection, restoration of remains, and revitalized utilization, local authorities have given this "living heritage" new vitality. Tomas Kolarik, head of the Czech public-interest organization for waterways and inland navigation, said that China's experience in canal restoration and the integration of culture and tourism is worth learning from.
This conference coincided with the recent completion and opening of navigation of the Pinglu Canal. "The ancient wisdom of the thousand-year Lingqu" and "the era's technology of the Pinglu Canal" were showcased side by side, using a dual-line narrative to promote dialogue and integration between historical heritage and contemporary practice, vividly interpreting the civilizational depth and spirit of the times in China's canal inheritance and development. As the first major canal since the founding of New China to connect rivers with the sea, the Pinglu Canal has carried green design through its entire life cycle, innovatively adopting technologies such as water-saving ship locks, land-water composite biological migration corridors, and ecological slope protection, with a comprehensive utilization rate of excavated earth and stone exceeding 98 percent, earning the International Green Design Award and Contribution Award. In recent years, China's water governance practice has taken solid steps, demonstrating enduring vitality through inheritance: in 2025, the country completed 1.28 trillion yuan in water conservancy construction investment and implemented 47,000 water-related projects; the West Liao River, which had been cut off for 27 years, achieved full connectivity, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal achieved full water flow connectivity for four consecutive years; since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China's total water use has achieved zero growth, and the international market share of new green ship orders has exceeded 80 percent, forming mature pathways in water resource conservation and protection and the green transformation of water transport. China's water governance philosophy is continuing a tradition or lineage without interruption (一脉相承, yi mai xiang cheng - "one, vein, mutually, inherit") and advancing steadily with the times (与时俱进, yu shi ju jin - "with, time, together, advance"), using systematic governance to coordinate water resources, water ecology, and water culture, and blazing a development path of harmony between people and water.
China's water governance wisdom and experience provide a practical model for global water governance and bring more development opportunities. In Africa, China's aid project for rural water facilities in Togo has built 305 wells, benefiting more than 170,000 people, and the irrigation and flood control project for the lower reaches of the Nzoia River, undertaken by a Chinese enterprise, has built a stable "water artery" for Kenyan farmers; in Asia, the "Lancang-Mekong Sweet Water Action" has completed 110 "small but beautiful" water supply demonstration projects, and projects such as the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan, built with China's participation, are gradually becoming important hubs for regional trade connectivity. Fouxun, chairman of the World Water Council, pointed out that China's pioneering water governance solutions are both systematic and comprehensive and will promote the establishment of a more harmonious and enduring relationship between human water use and ecological protection.
Water has no fixed form, but its benefits last for a thousand generations. China is willing to work with all countries to let the wisdom of water governance and water development flow to broader lands, converging into a river of prosperity that leads development, a river of openness that connects inside and outside, and a river of friendship that links people's hearts, continuously raising the level of openness, cooperation, and high-quality development in water transport, and jointly writing a new chapter of the era of harmony between people and water.
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Cetinje, Montenegro, October 18) (Reporters Shi Zhongyu, Zhang Xuan) On the 17th, Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović met with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Cetinje.
Milatović asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and welcomed the first visit to Montenegro by a Chinese foreign minister in history. Milatović said that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Montenegro and China, and this visit carries important symbolic significance. He said he had studied in China in the past, understood the operation of China's economy and society and the lifestyle of its people, and had also come to better recognize the importance of cooperation with China. Montenegro's current diplomatic priority is accession to the European Union, but it also attaches great importance to relations with China. Montenegro firmly adheres to the one-China principle and is committed to friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between Montenegro and China. Montenegro looks forward to continuing political dialogue with China, deepening practical cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, and bringing greater well-being to the peoples of both countries.
Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings to Milatović. Wang Yi said that China appreciates the Montenegrin government's firm adherence to the one-China principle, respects the path and governance model chosen by the Montenegrin people, and is willing to be a reliable and trustworthy good partner of Montenegro. China carries out practical cooperation with Montenegro with a sincere attitude, achieving tangible results. Wang Yi stated that China understands Montenegro's efforts to join the European Union and its choice of European integration, and believes that this process is acting in a way that is compatible and not contradictory (并行不悖, bing xing bu bei - "parallel, not, contradict") with deepening cooperation with China. He expressed confidence that after Montenegro joins the EU, it will become another good friend of China within the EU.
The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern, including the Ukraine crisis. Before the meeting, the two sides jointly visited a photo exhibition marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Montenegro and China.
During the visit, Wang Yi also met with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 陈尚文
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently organized foreign ambassadors to China for a visit to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, going deep into Yinchuan, Zhongwei and other places to gain a close-up understanding of the vigorous momentum of Ningxia's cultivation of new quality productive forces, rural revitalization, grassroots governance, and green development. The ambassadors highly praised the great achievements of China's 30 years of east-west collaboration, positively evaluated Ningxia's high-quality development, and expressed their willingness to play a bridging role and carry out exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields.
Stepping into the Minning Practice Hall of East-West Collaboration, photographs on the walls record the 30-year journey of Minning collaboration from "blood transfusion" to "blood production," outlining the transformation of Minning Town from a "dry beach" to a "golden beach." Guinean Ambassador to China Lonseny Condé watched with particular care. "China helped some people leave the desert, relocate for development, and escape poverty, and behind this cannot be separated from scientific planning and sustained investment." Condé believes that the development and changes of Minning Town are highly instructive for Guinea in addressing the challenge of poverty. "I want to lead more Guinean workers in related fields to visit Minning Town, hear the stories here, and learn from the practices here."
From skills training to entrepreneurial support, from production and processing to nationwide sales, the story of the Minning Hemei E-commerce Poverty Alleviation Workshop helping local people, especially women left behind in rural areas, to increase income and become prosperous deeply moved Uruguayan Ambassador to China Aníbal Cabral. "The products here are competitive not only locally but globally, and employee salaries are also quite considerable." Cabral remarked, "This is precisely a vivid footnote to China's poverty reduction. Since the reform and opening up, more than 800 million people in China have escaped poverty and achieved a better life, and this achievement is deeply impressive."
At the Changcheng Huayuan Community in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, the ambassadors sang and danced together with local residents of various ethnic groups and experienced intangible cultural heritage such as paper-cutting. "Here, I have seen that the cultures of various ethnic groups are well protected, and everyone's standard of living is also continuously improving." Bulgarian Ambassador to China Andrey Tehov believes that the multi-ethnic inter-embedded community provides an excellent model for the harmonious coexistence of China's different ethnic groups. "I hope this experience can be studied in depth and promoted and applied in other regions."
Driving to the Tengger Desert New Energy Base, photovoltaic panels stretching for several kilometers extend stretching as far as the eye can see (一眼望不到头, yi yan wang bu dao tou - "one eye, look, not, reach, end"). Here, while promoting diversified desert control through methods such as straw checkerboard sand fixation, multiple advanced technologies are used to achieve power generation above the panels, planting between the panels, and ecological restoration below the panels, forming a new model of forest-sand industry combining light, forest, and grass. "This is a very ingenious method, using desert land to lay photovoltaic panels, delivering clean electricity, creating economic value, while also taking into account ecological protection and curbing desert expansion." Ghanaian Minister Plenipotentiary to China Harry Zewen said that in the long-term practice of desertification prevention and control, the Chinese people have continuously explored in light of local conditions, and he believes these valuable experiences will provide useful reference for many countries, including Ghana.
Tunisian Ambassador to China Adel Alarbi said: "In China, every place you go brings new experiences and new discoveries." In his view, China has too many development stories and experiences worth telling and sharing. "I look forward to further strengthening exchanges and deepening cooperation with China, and exploring more development opportunities in the vivid practice of Chinese modernization."
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 18) He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, met on the evening of October 18 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse with members of the International Advisory Council of China Investment Corporation (CIC).
He Lifeng stated that China's economy is currently generally stable, advancing toward innovation and improvement. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will unswervingly expand high-standard opening up and deepen reform of the financial system. He expressed hope that the council members will continue offering advice and suggestions (建言献策, jian yan xian ce - "offer advice, offer suggestions") for China's reform and opening up and the development of CIC, continue to play a bridging and bonding role, and actively support China's economic development and Sino-foreign exchanges and cooperation.
Members of the International Advisory Council of CIC expressed full confidence in China's economic prospects and the development of its financial markets, and expressed willingness to continue leveraging their own strengths to contribute to deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between China and foreign countries.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 周 欢 刘军国
The Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026) series of events were held recently. Thirteen international strategic academics from ten countries visited Xinyu, Jiangxi, and Wenzhou, Zhejiang, to gain a close-up understanding of the strong resilience and vibrant vitality of China's high-quality development.
During a night tour of Jieqiao Ancient Village, they watched ramie cloth weaving and bench dragon performances, and experienced traditional culture such as pounding glutinous rice cakes; they visited the Luofang Conference Memorial Hall and the Fenyi Tiangong Kaiwu Theme Museum, watched the dance drama Tiangong Kaiwu, and learned about Song Yingxing's experience of writing biographies for all craftsmen and advocating for practical learning... In Xinyu, the guests participated in the "Tiangong Kaiwu Connecting the Globe — Xinyu Industrial High-Quality Development Dialogue." "Just as the wisdom contained in Tiangong Kaiwu suggests, we should develop and utilize natural resources reasonably and in the most efficient way," said George Galloway, former British Member of Parliament. He noted that China's investment of resources in industry and technological development has enhanced the well-being of the Chinese people and also benefited people of all countries around the world. "I will bring this precious Eastern wisdom back to the United Kingdom."
During the event, Xinyu City and Salta City of Argentina signed an agreement on international friendly cooperative city relations. José Ignacio Lupión, Minister of Production of Salta Province, Argentina, said: "The two sides share common goals and have broad space for cooperation in sustainable development, food security, and industrial innovation."
During their visit to Wenzhou, Chinese and foreign guests observed on site the practices of digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and the building of industrial and supply chains, and experienced the vitality of the private economy. At the 2026 Wenzhou Business Development Dialogue and Zhejiang Province "Belt and Road" Think Tank Forum, Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, said that high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has been achieving fruitful results (成果丰硕, cheng guo feng shuo - "result, abundant, fruitful"), and that "this initiative originated from geographical connectivity and carries a powerful force of economic linkage."
"Against the backdrop of the global economy seeking a stable anchor, China's high-quality development is becoming a stabilizer and powerful engine for global economic growth," said Mulatu Teshome, former President of Ethiopia. "China's economy has demonstrated resilience, with advanced manufacturing and modern services continuously iterating and upgrading. China's development has created numerous opportunities for global partners and is of great significance to the vast Global South countries."
The Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026) series of events was hosted by Renmin University of China and organized by the School of Area Studies (Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies) and the School of Global Leadership of Renmin University of China.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Fuzhou, October 18) (Reporter Zhong Ziwei) The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Local Government Cooperation and International Friendship City Dialogue opened in Fuzhou on the 17th. Approximately 100 representatives from local governments and friendship organizations of 24 countries, centering on high-quality joint construction of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, focused on local government coordination, practical friendship city cooperation, and people-to-people bonds, sharing practical experience and exploring cooperation pathways.
The dialogue, themed "Maritime Silk Road Gathers Wisdom for Development, Friendship Cities Foster Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Outcomes," was co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Fujian Provincial People's Government. Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, stated in his address at the opening ceremony that the Association is willing to work with all parties to expand local exchanges and weave a denser network of interconnectedness (互联互通, hu lian hu tong - "mutually connect, interconnect"); deepen blue cooperation and make the pie of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes even bigger; and strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges and sink the roots of generational friendship even deeper.
During the meeting, participating guests also conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges around four sub-topics: "The Global Governance Initiative and International Local Government Cooperation," "International Friendship Cities and Marine Economy Cooperation," "Industrial Coordination and Park-Linked Development," and "Integrated Cultural and Tourism Development and Joint City Brand Building," and held signing ceremonies for relevant friendship city cooperation and economic and trade projects.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Moscow, October 18) (Reporter Xiao Xinxin) Yerevan news: The Biodiversity Leaders' Summit was held on the 16th in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The meeting issued the "Yerevan Declaration: Acting for Nature," calling for strengthened international cooperation and accelerated action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
The leaders' summit was convened by Armenia, host of the Seventeenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), ahead of the formal meeting, with the aim of providing political leadership for the conference, raising ambition, and mobilizing coordinated global action.
The declaration reaffirms the commitment to effectively implement the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework," to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and to achieve living in harmony with nature (和谐共生, he xie gong sheng - "harmonious, coexist") between humanity and nature by 2050.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 贾丰丰
Inside the exhibition hall of the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Shaanxi, an old-fashioned fountain pen lies quietly at the center of a display case, its body bearing the marks of many vicissitudes, its lacquer surface mottled and worn.
This fountain pen is a treasured possession that Liu Jinshan, one of the Twenty-Two Warriors who seized the Luding Bridge in a flying assault, kept close to his person for the greater part of his life.
Liu Jinshan was a native of Gan County, Jiangxi. Orphaned at an early age by the death of both parents (父母双亡, fù mǔ shuāng wáng - "parent, both, perish"), he was sent to work as a child laborer at a landlord's home at the age of eight. His daughter Liu Sufang recounted: "In 1929, my father was sent by the landlord on an errand outside, and on the way he was press-ganged by the Kuomintang as a conscript. After narrowly escaping, he encountered Red Army soldiers from Jinggangshan. The Red Army soldiers gave him a pair of trousers and let him eat a full meal."
A pair of trousers and a full meal warmed the heart of a youth who had suffered endless bullying. Liu Jinshan thereupon joined the Southern Jiangxi Guerrilla Force, and in 1930, when the guerrillas were incorporated into the Red Army, he served as squad leader in the 308th Regiment of the 35th Red Army. At that time, he did not yet have a formal name; the villagers called him by his childhood nickname, "Liu Yazi." "In the battle to attack Ganzhou, my father charged forward alongside his regimental commander, Yang Jinshan. Yang Jinshan was gravely wounded and, knowing he could not survive, tightly gripped my father's hand and entrusted him: 'From now on, you shall use my name...'" Liu Sufang said.
After Yang Jinshan died a heroic death, "Liu Yazi" changed his name to Liu Jinshan, and through his daring in battle and tenacity, he gradually rose to the rank of platoon leader.
In January 1935, the Battle of Tucheng began. Liu Jinshan's company served as the spearhead company, charging at the very front. In the fierce fighting, Liu Jinshan was gravely wounded, and the troops urged him to stay behind and recuperate. But he adamantly refused to fall behind. Relying on his firm conviction and iron will, with the help of his comrades-in-arms, he followed the main force across the Chishui River four times, breaking through the heavy encirclement of the Kuomintang forces.
In May 1935, Liu Jinshan once again rushed to the battle to seize the Luding Bridge in a flying assault.
The 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the 1st Red Army Corps, to which Liu Jinshan belonged, was accepting a mission in a time of crisis (临危受命, lín wēi shòu mìng - "approach, danger, receive, command") to capture the Luding Bridge. The troops selected 21 soldiers from the 2nd Company to form the bridge-seizing assault team. Liu Sufang explained: "My father, then the Party branch secretary of the 3rd Company, was not originally on the roster, but he felt that, being a single man with no worries or responsibilities (无牵无挂, wú qiān wú guà - "no, tether, no, attachment") at home, he absolutely had to join the battle. He even bit his finger and wrote a petition in blood to request to fight. The organization approved his request and added him to the assault team as its political instructor."
When the battle began, the assault team soldiers gripped the iron chains with their hands, advancing inch by inch.
On the Luding Bridge, most of the bridge planks had already been removed by the enemy; the bare iron chains were scorched hot by the artillery fire. On the opposite bank, machine guns sprayed wildly, and bullets whistled past the iron links. Liu Jinshan and his comrades, carrying sabers and gripping the iron chains with their hands, crawled forward through flames and a hail of bullets. When the smoke of gunpowder cleared, the battle had ended in a great victory: 4 assault team soldiers had died, and 18 survived. Liu Jinshan was among the survivors.
Subsequently, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Chinese Soviet Republic commended the surviving warriors, with each receiving as a prize: one Lenin suit, one fountain pen, one notebook, one enamel bowl, and one pair of chopsticks. During the Long March, when material supplies were extremely scarce, this was a precious honor for the Red Army soldiers. Liu Jinshan always kept this fountain pen close to his person and treasured it with particular care.
Afterward, this fountain pen accompanied Liu Jinshan as he crossed snow mountains and trudged through grasslands, ultimately completing the Long March in victory and arriving in northern Shaanxi. After entering Yan'an, Liu Jinshan studied at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. In an old photograph, the fountain pen is faintly visible protruding from the breast pocket of his jacket. "On the march, my father used this pen to record battle situations and copy documents; under the oil lamp in the cave dwelling, he wrote ideological reports and lecture outlines; during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, at the great victory at Pingxingguan, the Battle of Huangtuling, and the Hundred Regiments Offensive, he charged at the front, and this fountain pen was always kept by his side." Liu Jinshan's son Liu Dongsheng said.
In 1999, Liu Jinshan passed away, and the fountain pen was treasured by his family. In May 2026, Liu Sufang and Liu Dongsheng donated this fountain pen of their father's, together with 32 other relics including a military woolen overcoat and commemorative medals, to the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall. "Spanning nearly 90 years, this fountain pen has returned to Yan'an and is now on public display, carrying forward the unfading spirit of the Long March." Liu Ni, director of the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall, said.
Return to TopBy: 渠 清
Not long ago, my child, who is in the first grade of elementary school, came home from school and, acting in a serious and solemn manner (郑重其事, zheng zhong qi shi - "serious, earnest, matter, affair"), told me: "Dad, today we are going to 'fly to seize the Luding Bridge.'" It turned out that the teacher had turned each unit of the textbook into a node on the Long March route, printed on the first page of the book, and each time the requirements for preview and review were completed, a "medal" could be earned.
"Learning is also like the Long March; we also have to move forward step by step." Upon hearing my child's account, I felt quite moved. For a child who has just stepped through the school gates, learning about the Long March and appreciating it in bits and pieces provides not only historical knowledge, but also a nourishment of the spirit.
This inevitably brings to mind: why has that great expedition that shook the world more than 90 years ago been engraved in the hearts of generations of Chinese people? Why does it possess a power that transcends time and space, becoming more vibrant with the passage of time (历久弥新, li jiu mi xin - "pass, long time, increasingly, new")?
In the final analysis, it is because what the Long March carries is not only a collective heroic epic, but also the conviction, resilience, and courage deep in the heart of every Chinese person.
In recent days, browsing commemorative articles about the Long March, two stories have left a deep impression.
One is that in the 1960s, when China was developing its first carrier rocket, Qian Xuesen and others jointly proposed naming it "Long March," implying that it would, just like the Red Army's Long March, overcome any difficulties and obstacles and ultimately reach the shore of victory.
Over more than half a century of turbulent and dramatic changes (风云激荡, feng yun ji dang - "wind, cloud, surge, shake"), generation after generation of aerospace workers have continued to tackle challenges, not only successfully breaking through technological blockades and blazing a new path, but also making China's aerospace industry a shining calling card of Chinese modernization. Not long ago, China's rocket recovery achieved simultaneous victories on land and at sea (海陆双捷, hai lu shuang jie - "sea, land, double, victory"), making it a country that has mastered both types of recovery technology.
The other story concerns Huang Wenxiu, recipient of the "July 1 Medal."
On the day Huang Wenxiu completed one full year of stationing in the village, the odometer on her car had increased by 25,000 kilometers. She wrote in her social media feed: "My Long March in my heart, happy first anniversary of village stationing." On June 17, 2019, Huang Wenxiu's 30-year-old life was forever fixed on the road of poverty alleviation.
Today, the victory of the battle against poverty has been written on the land of China and engraved in the annals of history. "Shaking off poverty and removing the label of poverty is not the finish line, but the starting point of a new life and new struggle." Continuing to strive for the well-being of the people, Chinese Communists are forever on the road.
From the journey toward the sea of stars, to composing with life the song of youth in the new era, the qualities displayed—firm ideals and convictions, fearlessness in the face of difficulties and dangers, and sharing life and death with the people—are both a powerful promotion of the great Long March spirit and a vivid reflection of the ambition, backbone, and confidence of the Chinese people.
Perhaps some might ask: what does the Long March have to do with ordinary people today? Living conditions today are no longer comparable to those of the past; we no longer face hail of bullets and rain of shells. Is it still meaningful for young people to learn the Long March spirit?
Some say that what is most moving about the Long March is not the story of born heroes, but the extraordinary choices ordinary people made in desperate situations. Indeed, those who participated in the Long March back then—were they not also parents and children, ordinary people like us with fears and concerns? But the choices they made and the sacrifices they paid for their ideals are enough to stir the hearts of generation after generation.
Achieve one goal, then march toward the next. Around us, there are far too many such ordinary people, constantly striving in their own posts, creating value in serving society, and never admitting defeat or stopping in the struggle for a better life.
From this perspective, the Long March is everyone's "life in progress." Drawing spiritual inheritance from the Long March, finding a sense of certainty, taking good care of the ideals in our hearts, and doing well the things we are doing now—perhaps this is precisely the significance of our understanding of the Long March and our promotion of the Long March spirit.
Day follows day, moving forward step by step. When everyone's steps are added together, it becomes the mighty advance of national rejuvenation.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者
Expanding domestic demand is a strategic move, and boosting consumption is the top priority.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Adapt to changes in the consumption structure and expand the supply of quality goods and services. Optimize the implementation of the 'two new' policies and give local governments more room for independent action. Remove unreasonable restrictive measures in the consumption field and unleash the potential of service consumption in culture and tourism, sports events, catering, health and wellness, and other areas."
From the southeast coast to the land of Qilu, and then to the shores of Dongting Lake, new policies guide new consumption, and new consumption activates new drivers of growth—
The consumption chain continues to lengthen. In Changsha, Hunan, nighttime consumption accounts for 64 percent of the share of all-day service consumption; in Shandong's counties, nighttime consumption growth has outpaced urban areas by 5 percentage points for five consecutive quarters.
Consumption hotspots continue to emerge. In the first half of this year, "county-hopping tourism" across Fujian Province exceeded 70 million person-trips, and spending on "rural tourism" surpassed 30 billion yuan.
Consumption categories are becoming increasingly diverse. Shandong has included 8 categories of products, such as robot vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, in the scope of local self-selected category subsidies. As of August 15 this year, the province had received 14.305 million applications for trade-in consumer goods.
Traveling through the three provinces of Fujian, Shandong, and Hunan, what one sees is new policies and new scenarios unleashing new vitality. "Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division"—behind each "consumption ledger" is the surging and rolling tide of new consumption drivers.
"Addition": Expanding and upgrading the supply of consumption
The debut economy is "blossoming in many places," cultural performances are "a succession of fine shows," and "sports event traffic" is accelerating its transformation into "consumption growth"... In terms of quality consumption supply, localities are constantly doing "addition"—
"Addition" means the transformation and renewal of new consumption scenarios.
At nightfall, the warm glow of earthen buildings is embedded into the green mountains. At the Nanjing Tulou Scenic Area in Fujian, in front of the Deyun Tower Square in Yunshuiyao, long lines form in front of food trucks shaped like earthen buildings and water wheels, where specialty snacks such as taro dumplings and glutinous rice cakes attract many tourists.
"During the day, I browse cultural and creative products and listen to mountain songs; at night, I take photos with the 'Big Fish & Begonia' light show and watch singing and dancing on painted boats..." said Li Xueping, a tourist from Shanxi.
"It's exciting both day and night, and there are more experiences to be had. Over the past three years, the average time visitors spend in the scenic area has increased by about 4 hours," said a relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Tulou Scenic Area.
This year, Fujian launched the first batch of 100 new "Min-style Living" cultural and tourism scenarios and put an electronic map online, with Deyun Tower Square being one of them. During the National Day holiday, Fujian's average daily number of domestic and international tourist visits and total tourist spending increased by 7.0 percent and 6.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.
"Addition" means the integrated upgrading of new consumption business formats.
Passing through a colorful dreamlike corridor, giant snack sculptures are scattered throughout... During the National Day holiday, the "Snack Kingdom" in Changsha attracted a large number of tourists, bringing together more than 35,000 snack products from around the world, with leading food companies taking turns holding new product launches and tasting events. Pushing strollers and pulling suitcases, people explore and experience as they "browse, photograph, play, and buy."
With the deep integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, first stores and first exhibitions are landing in Hunan in clusters, and queuing up to "check in" has become a daily occurrence at many commercial complexes. From 2021 to August 2026, Changsha has cumulatively introduced 1,041 quality first stores, including 58 national first stores and 171 first stores in Central China.
"Addition" means new consumption models competing to emerge.
"The livestream room is really lively!" Early in the morning, at Fuxin Fishing Port in Donggang District, Rizhao, Shandong, as fishing boats dock and catches come ashore, livestream host Pan Xin "broadcasts while walking," "taking" consumers aboard the boats to select products and negotiate prices on the spot, selling an average of 300 to 500 orders of seafood per day.
New tricks in livestream e-commerce are emerging endlessly (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong - "layer, out; not, out"). New models such as village livestreams and market fair livestreams are flourishing everywhere; light stands, phones, and microphones have become villagers' "new farming tools" and "new fishing gear"...
Shandong is vigorously advancing the "livestream+" initiative. The province has gathered more than 300,000 practitioners of livestream e-commerce, and in the first seven months of this year, the province's online retail sales increased by 8.9 percent year-on-year.
"More and more consumers have new consumption choices. Cultivating new consumption business formats, models, and scenarios has become a key lever for localities to boost consumption," said Xing Wei, director of the Social Undertakings Research Office at the Institute of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission.
"Subtraction": Easing residents' worries about the future
Last year, Chen Xinru, a resident of Jinan, Shandong, was very tempted when she saw a bakery launch a stored-value discount, but she hesitated to top up her card for a long time for fear that the shop owner might "skip town."
"Daring not to consume"—how can this be resolved?
Recently, a sign appeared next to the cash register of this shop—"This store has joined Jinan's 'Prepaid Treasure.'" Half-believing and half-doubting, Chen Xinru topped up 500 yuan. Since then, every time she consumes, her phone pops up a redemption reminder, and her balance is perfectly clear.
"Prepaid Treasure" was selected as a national standardization pilot project for 2025, with the property segregation function of the trust system at its core—even if a merchant fails in business, prepaid funds remain independently deposited and are used exclusively for refunds. At present, the number of merchants on the platform has exceeded 25,000, covering key sectors such as education and training, fitness, and catering.
To further unleash the willingness to consume, it is necessary both to safeguard the people's "money bags" and to weave a tight "safety net" for people's livelihoods.
"The affordable prices and subsidy vouchers have significantly eased the financial pressure of childcare," said Wang Ling, a nearby resident, at the Bobo Baobao Childcare Center in Fengze District, Quanzhou, Fujian. "Our child was sent here at five and a half months old, and by the time he turned one, he could recognize patterns in picture books. Our whole family is very reassured."
Launching the "Quanxiangtuo" inclusive childcare consumption subsidy vouchers, with each voucher providing a maximum deduction of 1,000 yuan for families with infants aged 0 to 2; building a "15-minute childcare service circle"... Over the past two years, the number of childcare institutions in Quanzhou has increased from 626 to 731.
"The original price is about 2,800 yuan per month; after subsidies, children of different ages are charged 1,800 to 2,300 yuan," said Lin Wenqin, head of the center. The center is publicly run and publicly operated, combining medical care with childcare, and offers full-day care, half-day care, and hourly care.
Good care for the young, and dignified care for the elderly. At the Xiangyu Ci'ai Elderly Care Center in Xiamen, Fujian, 94-year-old Guo Lili and her husband have lived here for nearly three years. "There is singing, exercise, handicrafts, and games of every kind, and our children can work with peace of mind." Xue Guoyong, president of the care center, introduced: the facility is equipped with general practice, traditional Chinese medicine, and rehabilitation departments, and has opened green channels in coordination with several top-tier hospitals; nutritionists customize meals according to southern Fujian dietary customs; and a college has been jointly established with Xiamen Open University for Senior Citizens, offering nearly 20 courses.
Fujian takes a "one chessboard" approach to ensuring services for "the elderly and the young." As of August 5 this year, Fujian had distributed 2.114 billion yuan in childcare subsidies, benefiting 688,700 people; since January this year, elderly people aged 60 and above with moderate, severe, or complete disability levels have been issued electronic consumption vouchers for elderly care services worth 800 yuan per person per month.
"Multiplication": Amplifying the policy multiplier effect
A single consumption voucher can leverage a huge market.
Last year, Hunan's "Enjoy Hunan·Xiang Dang You Hui" consumption vouchers achieved a leverage ratio of 1:4.5. At the end of September this year, seizing the peak consumption season of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the provincial and municipal levels began coordinating the investment of nearly 500 million yuan to carry out more than 100 key consumption-promotion activities across the province.
"How do I get a voucher?" In the evening, a long line formed outside a restaurant in Yuetang District, Xiangtan, Hunan, with a prominent notice on the shop window—consumption vouchers can be redeemed here, 10 yuan off for purchases over 100 yuan.
"Open the 'Piao Hai Xiangtan' mini-program and claim consumption vouchers covering four major categories of activities: dining, accommodation, entertainment, and shopping..." said brand manager Wen Sijia. "The merchant gives a 5-yuan discount, the government subsidizes 5 yuan, and consumers will come back only if they feel they are getting a good deal."
A single performance ticket can make a city famous.
At the end of September, the original opera on a revolutionary theme, Cold Moon Silent, was staged at the Fujian Grand Theatre. "When it reached the climax, I was instantly moved to tears," said Li Jing, a resident of Fuzhou, Fujian, after watching the performance, tucking the ticket stub into her bag. "Soaking in a hot spring and taking a boat ride on the inner river—there are discounts with the ticket stub."
In mid-to-late September, the Sixth China Opera Festival was held in Fujian, with 16 outstanding operas participating in the performances, Cold Moon Silent being one of them. With a single ticket stub from the opera festival, one can enjoy discounts at more than 300 partner merchants in Xiamen, the main venue, and in Fuzhou, the sub-venue, one can also enjoy half-price admission to multiple scenic areas and inner-river boat rides. The "magnetic attraction" of "a single performance" is strengthening: in the first half of this year, total revenue from commercial performances in Fujian Province increased by 62 percent year-on-year.
The trade-in policy has been strengthened and expanded, bringing green and intelligent products into thousands of households.
On October 7, next to the Jinan Olympic Sports Center, resident Zhang Minyu and her husband were trying out new photography equipment. "We both love photography, and we've had our eye on this device for a long time. Now that there's a preferential policy, we're seizing the opportunity to buy it."
It turns out that in June this year, Jinan included intelligent photography equipment and other items in the subsidy scope for the first time. "After the store discount, it was a bit over 4,000 yuan; the policy subsidy was a bit over 400 yuan; and the old camera we had put aside at home was worth another 300-plus yuan in trade-in value, so we got it for a bit over 3,000 yuan," Zhang Minyu said.
In mid-June, Shandong issued an implementation plan for self-selected category subsidies, expanding the scope of product subsidies. The multiplier effect quickly became apparent. As of August 15 this year, trade-in consumer goods in Shandong had driven sales of 115.7 billion yuan.
"Division": Removing hidden barriers to consumption
Changsha's Gaogiao Market in Hunan is the province's first wholesale-market-type point for instant tax refunds on departure. Here, the tax refund cycle has been compressed from "the month level" to "the minute level." "It's much more convenient now. In the past, I had to wait until departure to declare it," said Anna, a businesswoman from Tanzania, who bought a laptop and completed the instant refund on the spot at the market's centralized tax refund point, receiving 1,224 yuan in tax refund. "I plan to buy some more small appliances and general merchandise and ship them back to Africa."
By clearing the bottlenecks and obstacles throughout the entire process of inbound consumption, "shopping" in China is heating up. Changsha has completed the renovation of foreign card payment capabilities for more than 4,000 key merchants; improved multilingual signage in business districts and scenic areas and channels for foreign-related reservations; and expanded the number of departure tax refund stores to 255.
From "selling to the world" to "strolling the streets," new supply is continuously opening up new blue oceans.
The standardized and refined management of outdoor stall operations is becoming a new sight of urban vitality in Xiamen. Chicken cutlets go into the frying oil, aroma wafting everywhere; piles of assorted fresh fruits, juicers running nonstop... "This year, the new temporary operating points added to the outer plaza have supplemented the business mix and also drawn in foot traffic, driving an increase of 130,000 customer visits in the first half of the year," said Ni Ping, a relevant person in charge of Xiamen Yueduhui Shopping Plaza. "During the National Day holiday, foot traffic also far exceeded expectations."
In June last year, Xiamen explicitly allowed the standardized conduct of outdoor stall commercial activities, the appropriate conduct of cross-store operations, and the standardized establishment of "stall regulation points." As of July this year, the city had provided more than 6,000 stalls, and more than 21,000 stores had benefited from the cross-store operation policy.
By continuously removing the bottlenecks and obstacles hindering the construction of the unified national market, the consumption experience is becoming stronger.
In June 2026, the Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments announced the list of pilot cities for automobile circulation and consumption reform, with both Qingdao and Zibo in Shandong being selected.
How can an RV, this "mobile home," be parked with ease and lived in comfortably? During the National Day holiday, at the Langyatai Starry Sky Campsite in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, an open-air movie was being screened, independent small courtyards were set up in front of RVs, and supporting business formats such as sea excursions and fisherman's home stays were arranged nearby.
"In terms of traffic management, Qingdao is piloting classified control and clearing unreasonable driving restrictions; in terms of campsite land use, it is simplifying the approval procedures for point-based land supply and temporary land use; at the same time, it is optimizing the RV rental service network," said Yuan Xiaofan, deputy director of the Circulation Division of the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce.
"Our sales of new energy intelligent RVs have already exceeded the same period last year," said Cheng Yumu, general manager of Qingdao New Ideas Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. "The policy support is very encouraging, and orders from our peers are also growing."
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—what is being calculated is not only an economic ledger, but also a ledger of people's livelihoods and happiness. With new demand leading new supply and new supply creating new demand, consumption, the "main engine" of economic growth, roars on without pause, continuously injecting strong momentum into high-quality development and adding luster to the people's pursuit of a better life.
(People's Daily reporters Zhang Yikai, Liu Xiaoyu, Shi Yu, Li Rui, Wang Zhe, Shen Zhilin, Yang Xun)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李昌禹 刘博通 人民网记者 李 娜 邓志慧
Only those who have experienced a harsh winter can truly appreciate the warmth of spring.
Seventy-five years ago, Tibet achieved peaceful liberation, opening a new chapter in the history of the plateau; thereafter, the spring thunder of democratic reform resounded across the land, and the thousand-year-old serf system collapsed in an instant. The million serfs who "owned nothing but their own shadows" were reborn, standing upright for the first time and embracing the spring that belonged to them.
History rolls ever forward.
Under the leadership of the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era, the snow-covered plateau has achieved a great leap forward, and the emancipated serfs have long since come to enjoy the happy life their forebears could only dream of.
Livelihood is paramount; every detail matters. Education, culture, employment, healthcare, elderly care... General Secretary Xi Jinping's concerns for the people's well-being have taken root here, warming countless households like spring.
Recently, reporters ventured deep into the vast plateau to visit the Pola Mola (Tibetan, an honorific for grandfather and grandmother) who personally experienced the feudal serf system of old Tibet, listening to them tell how it was the Communist Party of China that brought true spring to the snow-covered plateau.
The story of Puciren —
A single character "person," undergoing a complete transformation
Puciren, now 82 years old, has always remembered the first Chinese character he ever learned — "person" (人).
In 1944, Puciren was born in Xigaze, Tibet. His family rented a mud-brick room from a serf owner — leaking rain and letting in wind in summer, bitterly cold in winter. Many serfs in the village could only shelter in tattered tents that let the wind through on all sides; some infants were born in cattle pens and tragically died the very same night.
Looking back on his bitter childhood, Puciren was filled with emotion: "Under the feudal serf system of old Tibet, we were not considered complete human beings. We were merely objects attached to the lords, to be disposed of at will, born without any dignity and unable to see a single ray of hope."
In old Tibet at that time, the serfs and slaves who made up over 95% of the population were stripped of all means of production, and personal freedom was out of the question. Education was monopolized by monasteries and the upper aristocracy, and the overall illiteracy rate of society was as high as 95%. The vast majority of serfs were being completely illiterate (目不识丁, mu bu shi ding - "eye, not, know, illiterate") for generations, unable to read characters, ignorant of the law, and with no way of knowing the rights they possessed.
After Tibet's peaceful liberation, the spring breeze of democratic reform swept across the plateau. Puciren, breaking free from the shackles of fate, finally stepped into the schoolhouse he had longed for.
"The teacher told us that one stroke and one stroke supporting each other is what makes a 'person' stand. After Tibet's democratic reform, we held our heads high, acting in an open and above-board manner (堂堂正正, tang tang zheng zheng - "hall, hall, upright, upright") and stood up as a person of great character and integrity (顶天立地, ding tian li di - "top, sky, stand, earth")."
This character "person" took deep root in Puciren's heart like a seed.
"Knowledge is more precious than pearls and agate." Once he learned to read, he continued studying continuously without interruption (勤学不辍, qin xue bu che - "diligent, study, not, stop"). Later, he worked as a translator in Xigaze; at 49, he went to Peking University to study English; in 2007, already in his sixties, he enrolled in a computer training class and mastered basic computer operations.
"I am no longer a 'blind man with open eyes' who cannot read a single character. I can understand policies and see the vast world outside." Puciren said he had become a bridge — giving voice to the feelings of his fellow villagers on the plateau while also conveying the Party's and the state's tangible care to people of all ethnic groups.
In 2021, Puciren became a volunteer docent at the Museum of the Liberation of One Million Serfs in Tibet. Every March 28, a special day engraved in the hearts of the Tibetan people, he always changes into neat Tibetan robes and arrives early at the museum. "This history is heartbreaking, but it must never be forgotten. I personally lived through those bitter days, so I have a responsibility to tell the true story to more people and warn the younger generation to cherish the stable and happy life of today."
Puciren has another identity — off-campus moral education counselor at the Primary School Attached to Lhasa Normal School. Over the years, he has insisted on going into schools to tell of the changes of the times and guide children to remember the path they came from: "What I most hope children understand is two characters: family and country. Without a stable country, there is no stable home. The country is not just a concept in textbooks; it is the most solid backing we have for a lifetime."
From learning his first character "person" to standing that character firmly for a lifetime, Puciren's long life is a vivid microcosm of the earth-shaking changes on the snow-covered plateau, and a living testimony to the journey of one million serfs from personal liberation to spiritual awakening.
From having no access to schooling to revering culture and learning, from an illiteracy rate of over 95% to the full implementation of 15 years of free education. Over seventy-five years of forging ahead, Tibet has built a complete modern education system, benefiting generation after generation of students on the plateau.
"Today's Tibet has created an extraordinary miracle on earth." Puciren sighed with heartfelt admiration.
The story of Nima Wangchuk —
A single drum dance, inherited and transformed
"Grandpa Nima, dance a section of zhuo dance for us again!"
In Qonggyai County, Shannan, Tibet, beside a large yak-hide drum in a small mountain courtyard, a group of children clustered around the octogenarian Nima Wangchuk, their young faces full of expectation.
The drumsticks rose and fell with a resounding beat, and the deep, sonorous drumbeats echoed across the mountains. As a representative inheritor of Tibet's Jiuhe zhuo dance, a national intangible cultural heritage, Nima Wangchuk, despite his advanced age, still stood tall and straight, the hem of his loose Tibetan robe lifting gently with his steady, flowing dance steps.
The Jiuhe zhuo dance, with a history of over a thousand years, was originally a living fossil of the plateau's indigenous folk culture. But in the sunless old Tibet, art never belonged to the dancers; it was merely an accessory for the amusement of the powerful, and the serf dancers were nothing more than tools to be driven at will and used to pay off taxes.
At that time, the young Nima Wangchuk was still a serf wantonly exploited by his lord, and performing the zhuo dance was unpaid corvée labor to offset taxes. "In the old days, we went to the monastery to dance only to earn a mouthful of tsampa to stave off hunger. The lords on the high platform looked on coldly; if there was the slightest flaw in the singing or the dance steps, not only was there no food, but we would be beaten and punished." Looking back on the past, the old man was filled with bitterness.
During the years he was forced to perform, he lived in constant anxiety. The drumbeats that should have been spirited and passionate became a heavy weight pressing on his heart. The nimble, flowing dance steps became shackles binding his personal freedom.
The earth-shaking change began with democratic reform. Back then, the Communist Party distributed grain, land, and housing to Nima Wangchuk's family, and the generations of suffering under the lords finally came to an end. The thousand-year-old zhuo dance, along with the rebirth of the million serfs, also welcomed its own renewal.
Thereafter, Nima Wangchuk joined a cultural troupe and for the first time made an honest living by dancing: "In the past, dancing the zhuo dance was hard labor for the lord; now it is performing for the villagers. It was at that moment that I truly felt that dancing is a dignified thing."
In 2014, the Jiuhe zhuo dance was successfully inscribed on the national list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage, becoming a treasure of ethnic culture under systematic protection and shared by all the people. Over the years, the old man has carefully trained more than 80 young inheritors of the zhuo dance, regularly carried out intangible cultural heritage activities in schools and grassroots public performances, allowing the ancient zhuo dance hidden deep in the plateau to step out of the mountains and onto the national stage.
"Dancing today is a sign of a happy life, of joy in the heart, of genuine love from within." Looking at the children and apprentices around him who were devoting themselves to learning the craft, Nima Wangchuk's eyes were full of expectation: "You were born in the best of times. Cherish these good conditions, cherish the happiness and opportunities of today!"
By the end of 2025, Tibet had 106 national-level representative items of intangible cultural heritage. The transformation of the thousand-year-old zhuo dance is a true microcosm of Tibet's cultural development: culture is no longer the exclusive preserve of the powerful but a spiritual treasure built and shared by the people, and the ancient cultural lineage in the new era has truly achieved continuing endlessly without interruption (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "life, life, not, cease") and passing on the torch from one generation to the next (薪火相传, xin huo xiang chuan - "firewood, fire, mutually, pass").
The story of Pema —
A single thread, weaving hope
In the Tibetan-style courtyard of Sangba Village, Wangdan Township, Bainang County, Xigaze, the sound of the loom hums steadily. For Pema's family — three generations of weavers — the thread passed down from generation to generation in their hands bears witness to both suffering and rebirth, and reflects the great changes in people's livelihoods across the snow-covered plateau.
"Grandma, rest a while if you're tired." Watching her grandmother bent over the loom, her granddaughter Paiyang gently urged. Pema, now past seventy, waved her hand repeatedly: "Not tired! Working for myself, not tired at all!" This simple remark says everything about the vastly different circumstances of the two generations.
"In the old society, weaving pulu was hard labor weighing down the serfs." As a village elder of old Tibet serf origin, Pema personally experienced those bitter years when the thread bound her body and the labor never ceased.
As a child, she followed her mother at the loom day and night. All the pulu they wove had to be handed over to the manor lord in full. Mother and daughter worked with all their might for an entire day, only to receive a single bowl of thin tsampa at the end — not nearly enough to fill their stomachs. "In those days, the thread in our hands did not weave cloth; it wove the serf's exhaustion and the serf's suffering."
The arrival of democratic reform opened a brand-new chapter in the lives of Pema's family.
Though still young at the time, she remembered this great change of fate clearly. With the complete abolition of the serf system that had oppressed the people, her family received housing and land. Her mother moved the old loom that had labored for the lord for so many years from the manor back to their own small courtyard: "From now on, every inch of cloth we weave belongs to us."
"For my mother's generation, the thread in their hands was handed down by the manor lord — it was for paying debts, for corvée labor; for our generation, the thread in our hands is picked up by ourselves — it is a livelihood, a hope for prosperity." Drolkar, who learned the weaving craft from her mother Pema since childhood, said that pulu weaving today has long shed the bitter undertone of the old days and has become a distinctive plateau industry thriving under the policy of comprehensive rural revitalization.
Today, this thread has been passed to Paiyang. As a member of the Communist Party of China, secretary of the village Party branch, and a leader of the village industry, the young Paiyang has new plans: "I not only want to carry on this craft, but also send this thread even farther."
Standing on the wave of the new era, having seen the vastness of mountains and rivers and the prosperity of cities, her experience of studying outside has made Paiyang even more resolute in her determination to inherit and innovate: "I want to carry reverence for my ancestors and gratitude for the times, inject new vitality into this old craft, and let pulu walk out of Xigaze, out of the plateau, and onto the world stage!"
The story of Cidekyi —
A single ID card, witnessing happiness
Warm sunshine spread across the courtyard of the Sangri County Nursing Home in Shannan. In the sunlight, 82-year-old Cidekyi stroked the resident identity card in her hand and hummed a familiar melody: "Grateful to the Communist Party for bringing a happy life, forever remembering the Party's kindness, forever following the Party."
In the courtyard, other elderly residents chatted and strolled, or danced to songs. Three meals a day were warm and complete, and their later years were calm and peaceful.
"This ID card is my happiness certificate." Cidekyi said that a secure old age with proper care was something the people of old Tibet, trapped in the shackles of the serf system, could not even have dreamed of.
Cidekyi lost both parents at a young age and, with no one to rely on, spent her childhood begging and wandering. "What I could never forget my whole life was winter. I had no place of my own, nowhere to shelter from the wind and snow. I could only hide in a cattle pen and warm myself against the bodies of the cattle."
Under the feudal serf system, serfs were the private property of lords, who could buy, sell, transfer, or give them away at will. Without relatives to rely on, once they grew old and lost the ability to work, they could only wander into the wilderness and die of cold and hunger.
"This thin ID card means more to me than just a card of identity — it is proof that I can hold my head high as a person." From being private property that lords could dispose of at will, to becoming a citizen of the state with legal rights and full personhood, what lies behind a single card is respect for the value of every ordinary individual.
Today, Cidekyi in the nursing home enjoys her own old age in peace. "Here I eat my fill and eat well — every meal has butter tea and tsampa. When I have nothing to do, I bask in the sun, chat with the other residents, and dance the guozhuang. Life is lively and warm."
Having lived through suffering, Cidekyi understands the weight of today's happiness all the better: "There is no such thing as born security in this world. My happiness was given to me by the Party and the state. I have no children, but the Party and the government have placed me here. Food, housing, and medical care are all guaranteed, and even my funeral arrangements will be properly taken care of."
A series of effective old-age support, medical security, and inclusive livelihood policies have woven a dense social safety net across the snow-covered plateau, ensuring that countless elderly people like Cidekyi are cared for in old age and treated in illness.
From suffering in a cattle pen to the warm tranquility of a nursing home courtyard. A single small card reflects not only the reversal of one lonely old woman's fate, but also the re-establishment of the personhood and rights of one million serfs — bearing witness to the reshaping of identity, the progress of human rights, and the warmth of livelihood.
Four stories, four lives. From illiteracy to literacy, from bondage to liberation, from "weaving suffering" to "weaving prosperity," from sleeping in the open to living in peace — the life trajectories of these four Pola Mola reflect the earth-shaking changes on the roof of the world.
On the autumn plateau, highland barley is gathered into granaries, and the earth flows with gold. This ancient land, now brimming with vitality, is performing the splendor of life with its abundant autumn colors and rising smoke from hearths. Look —
In the warm sun, Puciren is bending down to teach children to write the character "person" stroke by stroke; Nima Wangchuk spreads his Tibetan robe and dances with the younger generation; Pema rocks the loom, softly chatting with her granddaughter; Cidekyi squints and hums that familiar melody again: "Grateful to the Communist Party, bringing a happy life..."
After seventy-five years of enduring hardships and toil through wind and rain (栉风沐雨, zhi feng mu yu - "comb, wind, bathe, rain"), the snow-covered plateau has been utterly transformed. From personal liberation to spiritual abundance, from lacking food and clothing to living in peace and working happily (安居乐业, an ju le ye - "peaceful, live, happy, work"), the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era has taken root, allowing the snow-covered land to continue endlessly and change with each passing day (日新月异, ri xin yue yi - "day, new, month, change"), writing a new chapter of happiness for everyone.
"As long as we follow the Party, our good days, like highland barley wine, only get better with every sip!" Puciren's words voiced the common aspiration of the people of the plateau.
(Reported by People's Daily reporter Xu Yuyao; People's Daily Online reporters Liu Yun, Li Gen, Nuerheisha, and Tang Song participated in the reporting; Shi Quciwang also contributed to this article.)
Return to TopBy: 邹 翔
Culture is ancient yet ever new. The fine traditional Chinese culture integrates into contemporary life in a vibrant form, displaying distinctive vitality and dynamism. The key lies in the Two Integrations (两个结合).
"Integration" is not a "mixing board," not a simple "physical reaction," but a profound "chemical reaction."
Not long ago, the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Inheritance of Cultural Heritage" was issued, which brings to mind two cultural scenes.
In the "Origins of Civilization" exhibition hall of the China Archaeological Museum, audiences often crowd around the Jiahu bone flute, a wind instrument. Through multimedia interactive installations, visitors listen to renditions of pieces such as "Butterfly Lovers" played on a replica of the bone flute, experiencing a sense of "transcending time and space."
In the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, an Eastern Han dynasty brocade bears the auspicious phrase "May the four seas behold prosperity and honor, and may the nation celebrate." The "national celebration" here conveys people's good wishes for the flourishing of the nation's fortunes.
Why can a bone flute from about 8,000 years ago still play today's melodies? How can a Han dynasty brocade, spanning time and space, still resonate nearly 2,000 years later?
The cultural lineage continues unbroken, and culture is ancient yet ever new. The fine traditional Chinese culture integrates into contemporary life in a vibrant form, displaying distinctive vitality and dynamism. The key lies in the Two Integrations.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The 'second integration' is another ideological emancipation, enabling us to fully utilize the precious resources of fine traditional Chinese culture in a broader cultural space, and to explore theoretical and institutional innovation oriented toward the future."
Studying in depth volumes one and two of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture, and more consciously grasping the connotation of the Two Integrations, one feels all the more the responsibility and mission of promoting cultural prosperity and building a strong cultural nation.
This is a two-way convergence of tradition and modernity: the Pinglu Canal carries forward a thousand years of water management experience, and through an integrated intelligent dispatch system for rivers, seas, and oceans, as well as full-process digital construction and operation practices, it writes a new chapter of connecting rivers to the sea and benefiting the people's livelihoods.
This is a deep integration of technology and culture: Digital Dunhuang, Digital Palace Museum, Digital Central Axis — digital technology makes cultural relics and ancient architecture no longer static historical symbols, but vivid scenes that can be perceived and explored.
This is the resonance of "halls" and daily life: domestic video games captivate the world with Chinese mythological narratives, Tang-style nighttime tours and Song-style markets light up city streets and alleys, the wave of new popular literature and art surges forward, and high art blends into the hustle and bustle of urban life.
Drawing from the ancient to nourish the present, making thorough reforms and bringing about new developments (革故鼎新, ge gu ding xin - "change, old, establish, new"), letting traditional culture "come alive," the Two Integrations activate a source of vitality or creative energy (一池春水, yi chi chun shui - "one, pool, spring, water") for the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.
"Integration" is not a "mixing board," not a simple "physical reaction," but a profound "chemical reaction."
Look at the naming of China's space program. "Chang'e" embraces the moon, "Tianwen" explores Mars, "Xihe" pursues the sun, "Beidou" navigates, "Zhuque" soars aloft... These names reflect the mutual illumination of Marxist scientific spirit and the exploratory genes of Chinese civilization.
Then look at the development of a city. Baowu Xingang Steel Group independently developed 0.08-millimeter "hand-tearable steel," and Ganfeng Lithium has grown into the world's largest producer of metallic lithium... The practical learning spirit of "exhaustively investigating the principles of things, applying practical knowledge to social or political affairs" (经世致用, jing shi zhi yong - "manage, world, reach, use") from Tiangong Kaiwu has become the cultural code for Xinyu, Jiangxi, to break through through innovation.
Culture empowers high-quality development, in "form" but even more in "soul."
The integration consolidates cultural subjectivity, lets Chinese culture "stand up," creates a new organic and unified cultural life form, and achieves the myriad manifestations of Chinese modernization.
The Chinese people's cultural innovation and creation is also a precious treasure offered to the world. The rich nourishment of a thousand-year cultural lineage brings developmental inspiration to the world.
In 2025, China's overseas online literature market had nearly 200 million active users, covering more than 200 countries and regions. The cultural charm originating from the East is being transformed into broad influence spreading across the world.
Since Beijing's "immediate response to complaints" reform was carried out seven years ago, the 12345 hotline has cumulatively handled approximately 200 million requests from citizens and enterprises, with resolution and satisfaction rates both exceeding 97%. China's governance philosophy of "the people are the foundation of the state" provides new ideas for the global resolution of the "big city disease."
Chinese modernization expands the path for developing countries to achieve modernization, and the Global Civilization Initiative contributes civilizational strength to building a community with a shared future for mankind...
The Two Integrations promote Chinese culture "going global," improving oneself to benefit others (立己达人, li ji da ren - "establish, self, reach, others") and empowering the world.
"The best inheritance of history is to create new history, and the greatest respect for human civilization is to create a new form of human civilization."
Studying and comprehending Xi Jinping's thought on culture in depth, letting the Chinese cultural lineage, through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, achieve endless growth and continuous development (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "birth, birth, not, cease") and bloom with new brilliance amid the tides of the times, an even more splendid cultural chapter awaits our writing.
Return to TopBy: 刘晓宇
Reflecting on the past while looking at the present, witnessing tremendous changes, one feels deeply that the people's hearts are the greatest source of confidence, and that struggle is the best inheritance.
Entering Zhongfu Village in Changting County, Fujian, a notch about 1.5 meters above the ground on a pillar of the Red Army Bridge immediately draws one's thoughts back to the years of war and flames.
With a great battle at hand, uniting in a common hatred of the enemy (同仇敌忾, tong chou di kui - "same hatred, same resentment"). The farm boys of that time, following such a "life contour line," signed up one after another to join the Red Army.
Because intelligence showed that the enemy would launch a surprise attack on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the villagers celebrated the festival with the Red Army soldiers one day early. The custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival early has continued to this day.
Walking through western Fujian, this red hot land carries the deep bond between the soldiers and people of the Soviet area, and surges with the vibrant vitality of high-quality development. Reflecting on the past while looking at the present, witnessing tremendous changes, one feels deeply that the people's hearts are the greatest source of confidence, and that struggle is the best inheritance.
Rallying the people, strength in unity (众志成城, zhong zhi cheng cheng - "mass will, form city"), fearless in overcoming great difficulties (攻坚克难, gong jian ke nan - "attack key, overcome difficulty") and breaking through barriers.
At that time in western Fujian, the Red Army was wholly devoted to the people and protected their homes, while the masses gave everything they had (倾其所有, qing qi suo you - "empty all, possess") in full support. Every household eagerly enlisted in the army and supported the front, defending the eastern gate of the Central Soviet Area with their flesh and blood, and contributing to the Long March.
Today, cadres and the masses in the old revolutionary base areas are sharing the same goals and values (同心同德, tong xin tong de - "same heart, same virtue"), united in struggle, invigorated by the spirit of forging ahead toward the new, and accelerating on the track of emerging industries.
Changting's "making something out of nothing (无中生有, wu zhong sheng you - "not, middle, produce, have"), and turning what exists into something better" is a vivid microcosm. In Jinlong Rare Earth's digital intelligent manufacturing workshop, the third-generation high-performance magnetic material production line has entered trial production; in Tianshou Textile's old factory building, intelligent manufacturing with full-process data connectivity "has increased production efficiency by more than 40%"; at Anta's Changting intelligent factory, the fully automatic cutting machine brings down its blade...
Striving toward clustering, high-end development, and intelligence, Changting is targeting rare earth new materials, textile intelligent transformation, medical devices, and other fields, daring to innovate and break through, and courageously forging new paths.
Keeping the people in one's heart and being resolutely committed to serving them, the original aspiration and true character are rooted in the bloodline and never change.
Whether it is the daily warmth of helping the masses or the tacit mutual protection of soldiers and people united before battle, the western Fujian Soviet area has always practiced "everything for the masses, and relying on the masses in everything."
As the times change, the old revolutionary base area of western Fujian bears in mind that "letting the common people live good lives is the starting point and ultimate goal of all our work," and has never stopped seeking the well-being of the people.
Gutian, Caixi, and Songmaoling are linked into a study tour route, and villagers in Zhongfu Village now earn a living from "cultural tourism"; in Wuping County, a single forest rights certificate has revitalized barren mountains, with contiguous patches of golden fortune plants and understory flowers generating an annual output value of over 600 million yuan...
Taking the people's hearts as one's own heart and proceeding from the interests of the masses, one can find the right target in undertaking work and entrepreneurship, and practical matters concerning people's livelihoods can be accomplished to the satisfaction of the masses.
The joy of increasing income and becoming prosperous is written on the smiles of the villagers: "The ecology is beautiful, life is prosperous, and the days are increasingly full of promise!"
Arousing the tenacity of remaining steadfast in one's purpose (咬定青山不放松, yao ding qing shan bu song fang - "bite, fixed, green mountain, not, loosen"), and inheriting the gene of struggle through persevering with constancy (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold, that, with, constant").
More than 90 years ago, faced with encirclement by a powerful enemy and material scarcity, the soldiers and people of the Soviet area never flinched or slackened, "finding ways even without conditions," and tenaciously established arsenals and clothing factories. Seeking breakthroughs in adversity and opening new prospects amid changing circumstances, accumulating and changing bit by bit—such a character of struggle has long been integrated into the bloodline.
On the new journey of the new era, the old revolutionary base area of western Fujian carries forward the red tradition, adheres to a long-term perspective, and moves forward steadily and solidly step by step, unleashing development potential.
For example, deepening and enlivening the mining sector. Starting from a single mine on Zijin Mountain, Shanghang County has gradually achieved an annual output value of over 100 billion yuan in gold and copper, and is again taking the lead in new materials and new energy:
New energy unmanned mining trucks shuttle through the tunnels, with Yikong Zhijia accounting for more than half of the domestic market for unmanned mine driving; Jingxu Semiconductor has been deeply engaged in gallium oxide acoustic wave filters for more than a decade, effectively solving the "bottleneck" problem...
From breaking out to survive amid the flames of war in the past, to breaking out to seek change amid reform and development today, the people of the old revolutionary base area of western Fujian have consistently maintained the courage to be the first and the tenacity of sustained, long-term effort, marching with firm steps on the new Long March.
The "flesh-and-blood bond" is both historical and concrete: "If we treat the masses as our kin, the masses will treat us as their kin." Looking back on the road traveled, the unity of soldiers and people is the source of strength for western Fujian's adherence to revolution; looking ahead on the road to come, keeping the people in one's heart remains the foundation of confidence for the old revolutionary base area as it pursues its dreams and moves forward.
(The author is a reporter of this newspaper's Fujian Branch)
Return to TopBy: 曾亦辰
[Profile] Rui Shoucui
[Story] Not long ago, at the Yellow River Stone Forest scenic area in Jingtai County, Gansu Province, a 23-second short video shot by a tourist made Rui Shoucui, a villager from Longwan Village in Jingtai County, go viral. Amid the vast and rugged canyon, she explained the sights to visitors while singing folk songs from northwest China at the top of her lungs, and casually picked up litter along the roadside. Her sonorous singing and natural demeanor moved many netizens, and also led more people to follow the local accent and draw closer to this land.
[Commentary]
Without a splendid stage, without exquisite makeup and costumes, why does an ordinary villager's song linger long in the memory?
What moves people is the love within the song. Explaining the sights for a long time can inevitably become tedious, yet Rui Shoucui picks up litter while explaining, and when the mood strikes, she sings freely. These spontaneous acts that go beyond the scope of her job stem from her warmth toward visitors and her love of life. At a rough glance, the scene is not exactly "beautiful": the pale yellow stone forest stands silently, the rugged dirt road is strewn with gravel, and a slight figure walks through it all. On closer reflection, however, the scene is full of strength: the environment is rough, but the person's steps are firm, and the singing is resounding. Even where ravines crisscross the land, the mountain villagers love this soil deeply and protect it attentively. How could such sincere feeling fail to move people?
What also moves people is the vitality within the local accent. The Jingtai ditties and northwest Hua'er songs Rui Shoucui sings are not performance skills deliberately acquired, but rather the everyday expressions passed down from generation to generation (代代相传, dai dai xiang chuan - "generation, generation, pass, pass") by local villagers. Jingtai ditties have varied melodies and plain lyrics, recording local customs and the joys and sorrows of human life; northwest Hua'er songs are high-pitched and long-drawn, improvised on the spot, singing of mountains and rivers, of life, of hopes. These tunes grow out of the soil and echo through open fields and mountain valleys. What unfolds along with the melodies is precisely the steadfastness in the hearts of the farmers — the land may be barren, but people are never sloppy. Because they firmly believe that where there is sowing there is hope, they sing their days out loudly. As one tourist put it: "People who are positive and upward-striving always deserve respect."
In just 23 seconds, singing in a mountain valley became the object of admiration for countless people — this is the power of popular art. These art forms rooted in the countryside harbor vigorous vitality and also respond to the emotional needs of contemporary people. In Black Myth: Wukong, when the sanxian sounds, northern Shaanxi storytelling, with its desolate and stirring singing style, injects into the game a weightiness unique to the Loess Plateau; in the streets and alleys of Chaoshan, the Yingge dance's drums beat sonorously and its postures are vigorous and powerful, fully displaying the boldness and spirit of the local people... The countryside has its own profound charm, and tradition can also make young people feel extremely excited or moved (心潮澎湃, xin chao peng pai - "heart, tide, surge, surge"). The tunes and postures once regarded by some as "rustic" are once again revealing their moving splendor, allowing cultural resonance across time and space to be passed on continuously from one generation to the next, and turning the weighty historical heritage into an inexhaustible spiritual force.
Now, invited by the Yellow River Stone Forest scenic area, Rui Shoucui has gained a bigger stage. The Jingtai ditty inheritors, who are also local villagers, have joined forces with her, allowing visitors to hear more local tunes. From one person's singing to the participation of more fellow villagers, the tunes circulating in the countryside now have more listeners, and ordinary people's talents can be better displayed.
This also offers inspiration for the scenic area's operations: what tugs at people's hearts is not only the scenery within the story, but also the story within the scenery. At the end of the Pangu Ancient Road, the slogan "Having walked all the detours today, may the rest of life be a smooth path" is moving precisely because visitors have just traversed one bend after another, and the road before their eyes resonates with the feelings in their hearts. The Yellow River Stone Forest is unforgettable both because of its magnificent scenery and because of the lingering local accents. Rather than rushing to copy internet-famous road signs or replicate popular projects wholesale, it is better to let more villagers who "can sing folk songs" show off their voices. When the people who grew up here have the opportunity to tell the story of their homeland, the mountains and rivers gain stories, and the journey gains human warmth. Only when unique scenery meets vibrant life can visitors be left with memories that are hard to replicate. This is both a continuation of culture and an exploration of development.
A small video carried the singing in the valley to distant places; countless responses let an ordinary person's love win an echo. May more people like Rui Shoucui, carrying their own lives and loves, calmly sing their own songs.
Return to TopFully implement the rigid constraint system for water resources; strive to keep the compliance rate of basic ecological flow in key rivers and lakes above 90%, and the penetration rate of rural tap water at 98%... Looking ahead, the construction of a modern water network will be accelerated, striving to cover 82% of the national land area by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, better safeguarding water security and supporting high-quality development.
This is precisely:
Beautiful scenery with waves reflecting on buildings (碧波映层楼, bi bo ying ceng lou - "green waves, reflect, layered, buildings"),
Clear streams nourish the fields.
Consolidating the foundation for a millennium of enterprise,
Blessings spreading throughout the entire country (福泽遍神州, fu ze bian shen zhou - "blessing, spread, all, divine, land").
Liao Yuanwen
Return to TopBy: 王 坤
In grassroots work, the small matters that the masses "dare not even imagine" are things cadres "must not forget."
Not long ago, a piece of news from Changde, Hunan, warmed people's hearts. Mr. Ru, 71, worked at an enterprise in Zhuzhou in his early years and later had his length of service bought out. At the time, Mr. Ru assumed that pension payments required continuous contributions, and since he had gaps in his contributions, he never thought of claiming a pension, and for many years he had mainly made a living by scavenging. When local civil affairs cadres were conducting a relief verification and processing subsistence allowances for him, they unexpectedly discovered that he had more than 30 years of work history and had met the retirement conditions more than 10 years earlier, so they set about handling his pension for him.
The elderly man did not understand the procedures, so local cadres made multiple round trips between Changde and Zhuzhou, checking archives across cities, running through formalities, and supplementing materials. It took more than a year, and in the end they delivered to his hands a social security card holding 420,000 yuan in pension funds, and also assured him that medical insurance was being arranged, and that from now on he would receive 3,700 yuan per month in pension. The elderly man said directly: "I never even dared to imagine it."
What is also moving is the sense of responsibility of grassroots cadres who say, "Even if the masses do not come to us, we must still take the initiative to get things done well." The buyout of length of service dates back many years, compounded by multiple difficulties such as enterprise restructuring, scattered archive custody, and pension participation records spanning different cities, making the supplementary procedures complicated and intricate. Had the party concerned not filed a claim and the system not issued an alert, this "dormant pension entitlement" might well have remained buried forever. The local civil affairs cadres took the initiative and followed through to the end, giving the elderly man a sense of happiness in being remembered and helped.
This warmth is even more evident in remaining constant and unchanged (始终如一, shi zhong ru yi - "always, as, one") persistence. From the time local cadres discovered the elderly man living in an abandoned corridor, to repeatedly persuading him to go to the relief station, they did not give up even after he refused out of concern for face, and they visited him many times and delivered supplies. It was precisely because they insisted on applying for subsistence allowances for him that they discovered the clue of his work history while verifying information, and then traveled across cities to complete the procedures. It was the conscientious and responsible handling of every step that made this "never even dared to imagine" surprise possible.
Now, more and more grassroots cadres are going deep into neighborhoods and villages, proactively screening for people in difficulty. Previously, in Pingshan District, Benxi, Liaoning, a 62-year-old elderly man with hemiplegia, a registered residence that was left hanging with no actual address, and no family members was discovered by civil affairs cadres, who on the same day arranged for his placement in an elderly care institution, while simultaneously handling the reissuance of his identity documents and applying for subsistence allowances and temporary relief. The elderly man said with emotion: "I thought there was no hope, but I never expected the government to come and help me on its own initiative." The Changde cadres asked one more question, the Benxi cadres took one more look — both share the same underlying character: sinking their steps down to take root at the grassroots level, treating the small matters of the masses as major matters.
Among groups such as elderly people living alone and subsistence allowance recipients, some do not clearly know which benefit policies benefiting the people they can enjoy. The masses dare not imagine it, but we must not forget! When grassroots cadres make one more visit, ask one more question, and take one more step forward, they may find the key to unlocking difficult situations, turning those expectations that "they never even dared to imagine" into a reality within reach.
(Excerpted and adapted from Liaoning Daily, original title: "He Dared Not Imagine It, We Must Not Forget")
Return to TopBy: 余 璇
Recently, two pieces of news about weight loss have drawn attention.
One comes from within China: some weight-loss training camps recruit trainees with exaggerated promotions such as "rapid extreme slimming" and "refund if you don't slim down," relying on excessive dieting, overloading training, and other methods to achieve rapid weight loss, with multiple incidents of trainee injuries and health problems exposed.
The other comes from abroad: dozens of American patients have jointly sued a pharmaceutical company, alleging that its "miracle weight-loss drug" caused severe vision damage.
Managing body weight is originally a positive manifestation of heightened health awareness, but in reality many people harbor health misconceptions—for example, believing that "eating less will make you slim," and adopting extreme dieting methods that instead overdraw the body; pursuing "slimming down to a bolt of lightning," engaging in short-term high-intensity crash dieting that causes the body to "flash red lights"; following others blindly without independent judgment (盲信盲从, mang xin mang cong - "blindly believe, blindly follow") and failing to combine with actual conditions, rotating through "weight-loss injections" and "weight-loss pills" in turn, resulting in hidden dangers aplenty.
Only by maintaining clear judgment can one see through marketing traps; only by possessing scientific literacy can one avoid cognitive misconceptions. The cornerstone of a healthy life lies in maintaining rationality and using scientific methods to take the initiative over one's own health.
At present, short-video traffic hype and online aesthetic pressure have given rise to marketing rhetoric such as "lose 10 pounds in 7 days" and "zero-cost, painless, lie-down slimming," which easily amplifies weight anxiety and body-image inferiority. From June to August this year, a certain platform cleaned up and disposed of nearly 120,000 pieces of false content produced and released by AI, with medical and medical-aesthetics fields becoming "hardest-hit areas." Facts repeatedly remind consumers that the more complex the information, the more one needs to strengthen one's resolve and use discerning eyes to safeguard one's own health and rights.
The human body is inherently a dynamic system; observing any feedback from the body requires applying systems thinking, grasping balance on the whole and strengthening coordination. Weight management is by no means a "weight-loss project" won by short-term sprinting. Relying solely on the numerical changes on the scale cannot accurately define health status. True health lies in long-term practice of a healthy lifestyle, thereby achieving sustained optimization of physical and mental states and various indicators.
Pursuing health is not merely a personal matter. Publishing the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents and the Physical Activity Guidelines for the Chinese Population, providing authoritative calorie, dietary structure, and exercise recommendations; advancing the Rational Diet Action and the National Fitness Action, publicizing obesity hazards and weight-management knowledge to communities, schools, enterprises, and public institutions; investigating and punishing false advertising and "three-no" products (no production license, no product license, no inspection certificate) in the fields of weight-loss drugs, slimming products, and medical-aesthetics weight reduction... Relevant departments are creating social conditions that make scientific weight management easier through policy guidance, knowledge popularization, medical security, and other means. Both "treating existing illness" and "preventing future illness," under the coordination of the Healthy China strategy, the health-centered concept is helping more and more people stay away from disease and enjoy happiness.
The process of health care is also a process of understanding oneself, embodying the scientific spirit of respecting laws and seeking truth through rational inquiry (理性求真, li xing qiu zhen - "rational, seek, truth"). The emergence of weight anxiety often stems from people using a single, rigid aesthetic standard to compare with others and criticize themselves, while neglecting the natural differences in physique and body type among people. Health cognition emphasizes varying from person to person (因人而异, yin ren er yi - "according to, person, and, different") and specific analysis, treating diverse lifestyles and body differences as normal, rather than regarding "everyone is like this" or "it has always been so" as absolutely correct. This calm, tolerant, and rationally accepting mentality is the essence of maintaining psychological health and an indispensable component of overall health.
Everyone is the "manager" of their own health. When everyone possesses scientific health literacy and everyone practices a scientific lifestyle, the micro-foundation of nationwide health can be consolidated, fostering a positive, upward, sunny, and confident social atmosphere.
Return to TopA Masterwork of the Sinicization and Modernization of Marxist Cultural Theory
Huang Yibing, Vice President of the Central Institute of Party History and Literature
With the approval of the Party Central Committee, in August this year, Volume I and Volume II of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture (hereinafter referred to as the Selected Works) were officially published and distributed. This is a major event in the propaganda, ideological, and cultural work of the new era and the new journey. This topically organized collection of selected works is a masterwork that upholds the Two Integrations (两个结合) and promotes innovation in Marxist cultural theory, providing authoritative teaching materials for thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
The Central Institute of Party History and Literature, having been able to undertake the editorial task for the Selected Works, deeply feels the great responsibility and glorious mission involved. In our work, we have firmly adhered to the highest standards and fundamental principles for editing the works of the leader of the new era, insisted on facing the new achievements in cultural theory, the new practices in cultural development, and the new tasks of building a culturally strong country, and striven to forge a scientific work that integrates political leading power, ideological appeal, practical guidance, and cultural cohesion.
First, we connected the chronological thread to present the complete course of ideological evolution. The Selected Works are arranged in chronological order, concentrating on the selection and compilation of 78 of the most important and fundamental works by General Secretary Xi Jinping on cultural development from November 2012 to February 2026, presenting a panoramic view of the theoretical development process of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture from practical exploration to experience summarization, from key breakthroughs to systematic integration. The 27 documents included in Volume I reflect General Secretary Xi Jinping's theoretical contributions on a series of major issues during the period from the 18th National Congress of the Party to the 19th National Congress of the Party, including ideology, cultural confidence, core socialist values, literary and artistic work, cultural inheritance and protection, and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, profoundly revealing the clear theoretical thread of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture during this period in clarifying principles and positions, clearing up theoretical right and wrong, and laying foundations and setting up frameworks in promoting cultural development. The 51 documents included in Volume II vividly reflect the major achievements in theoretical innovation since the 19th National Congress of the Party, especially since the 20th National Congress of the Party, including General Secretary Xi Jinping's elaboration of the "Two Integrations," revealing the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, consolidating cultural subjectivity, promoting the coordinated development of material civilization and spiritual civilization in Chinese modernization, and putting forward the Global Civilization Initiative. On this basis, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has gradually constructed a scientific theoretical system with clear levels, internal unity, and organic connection, demonstrating the development process of this thought becoming increasingly complete in system and more rigorous in logic as practice deepens. The two volumes of the Selected Works, as a whole, are connected from beginning to end, progressing layer by layer, and systematically and systematically reflect General Secretary Xi Jinping's scientific answers to a series of directional, fundamental, and overall questions concerning cultural development in the new era, marking that our Party's understanding of the laws of socialist cultural development has reached a new height, and indicating that our Party's historical confidence and cultural confidence have reached a new height.
Second, we grasped the main logical thread to embody the fundamental path of the "Two Integrations." The "Two Integrations" are the fundamental path for advancing the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism and are also the main logical thread running through the Selected Works. The Selected Works clearly present the evolutionary process of the "Two Integrations" from practical consciousness to theoretical consciousness, from experiential exploration to systematic construction. The documents included in Volume I fully demonstrate the profound ideological accumulation before the "Two Integrations" were put forward. From emphasizing that fine traditional Chinese culture is the "root" and "soul" of our nation, to putting forward the scientific method of "creative transformation and innovative development," to clarifying the internal relationship of high compatibility between Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture, theoretical preparation was gradually accumulated. The documents included in Volume II centrally embody the systematic sublimation of the theoretical interpretation of the "Two Integrations." From the first clear proposal of the major proposition of the "Two Integrations" at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, to the further clarification of its profound connotation in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Party, to the comprehensive and systematic elaboration at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, the construction logic of this major theoretical achievement from gestation, proposal, deepening, to maturity is outlined. The editing of the Selected Works pays attention to highlighting the important theoretical position of the "Two Integrations," especially the "second integration," in Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, making it the main thread running through the chapter structure of the entire book, and also making it the logical clue presenting the thread of theoretical development, reflecting the overall consideration of the editorial work in grasping the ideological system and highlighting theoretical logic. On the one hand, the "Two Integrations" are the "golden key" to understanding a series of major achievements in theoretical innovation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Only by firmly grasping this main thread can we accurately grasp the internal connections between the various documents and comprehensively master the scientific system and ideological essence of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. On the other hand, this main thread enables the theoretical generation logic of the "Two Integrations" to be clearly unfolded in the document structure, profoundly reflecting our Party's continuous deepening of understanding of the basic laws of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. Such theoretical presentation reflects the close internal connection between the Marxist soul vein and the root vein of fine traditional Chinese culture, highlighting the great significance of the "Two Integrations" for Marxist theoretical innovation and socialist cultural development.
Third, we emphasized the unity of knowledge and action to highlight the theoretical character of the integration of substance and function. The Selected Works embody the organic unity of "substance" and "function," both comprehensively reflecting the innovative breakthroughs of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in theoretical viewpoints and systematically presenting the layout and deployment of this thought in cultural work, highlighting its theoretical character of "understanding substance and applying it, integrating substance and function." At the level of "substance," the editing of the Selected Works has always adhered to systematicness and comprehensiveness, paying attention to selecting documents on the foundational and principled content of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, presenting the "four beams and eight pillars" of this ideological system in theoretical structure; highlighting ideological nature and originality, centrally reflecting the series of original viewpoints and principled achievements put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping through the creative application of Marxist cultural theory and the innovative transformation of fine traditional Chinese culture, including forging a sense of community for the Chinese nation, creating a new form of human civilization, and so on, fully embodying the thought's keeping pace with the times and upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground. At the level of "function," the editing of the Selected Works has always focused on strengthening problem orientation and clarifying practical paths, highlighting General Secretary Xi Jinping's overall planning and strategic deployment for cultural development. From adhering to the fundamental task of "two consolidations" in ideological work, putting forward the practical proposition of "cultural mission of the new era," to the systematic deployment of "seven efforts," and then to the strategic arrangement for accelerating the building of a culturally strong country, the basic framework and overall layout of propaganda, ideological, and cultural work are fully laid out, and the roadmap and task book for cultural development in the new era are completely presented. The "substance" of cultural theoretical viewpoints determines the "function" of cultural development practice, and the "function" of practice in turn tests, enriches, and develops the "substance" of theory. The two are mutually integrated and internally unified. The editing of the Selected Works has always grasped this notable feature, paying attention to the organic connection between the theoretical framework and the practical thread, fully reflecting the high integration of epistemology and methodology. It both centrally selects core chapters clarifying the status and role, goals and tasks, principles and policies of cultural development in the new era, embodying the scientific epistemology of deepening understanding of the laws of socialist cultural development and civilization development; and includes important documents clarifying strategic paths and practical requirements for cultural development, demonstrating effective methodology for promoting cultural prosperity and building a culturally strong country. Thus, in the unity of theoretical logic and practical logic, it provides a powerful ideological weapon and scientific action guide for promoting cultural confidence and self-strengthening and forging new brilliance in socialist culture.
Fourth, we integrated Chinese and foreign civilizations to demonstrate the broad-minded sentiment of embracing the world. Combining national stance with global vision, focusing on China's reality while also observing human progress, is a distinctive theoretical trait of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. This trait runs through the theoretical elaboration and practical exploration of promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. The Selected Works systematically reflect General Secretary Xi Jinping's innovative achievements in this field, from the profound elaboration on "civilizations become colorful through exchange, civilizations become rich through mutual learning" in his speech at the headquarters of UNESCO, to the systematic proposal of the four "joint advocacies" of the Global Civilization Initiative, completely presenting the development thread of the ideas and propositions of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations from the germination of thought to the gradual concretization into a systematic plan for global governance. In grasping and embodying this important content, the editing of the Selected Works strives to highlight the clear position that civilizations have no distinction of superiority or inferiority, to demonstrate Chinese wisdom in transcending civilizational estrangement through civilizational exchange, transcending civilizational conflict through civilizational mutual learning, and transcending civilizational superiority through civilizational coexistence, fully embodying the theoretical style of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in being rooted in the open and inclusive cultural genes of Chinese civilization, in the dialectical unity of adhering to the Chinese cultural stance and actively absorbing all outstanding achievements of human civilization, and in promoting Chinese culture to better go global. At the same time, it pays attention to presenting how this thought integrates the concept of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations into the institutional design and practical process of global governance, promoting the common values of all mankind, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and demonstrating the mission and responsibility of a major party and major country to benefit the world. The editorial thinking running through the whole process is to strive to grasp the internal logic connecting domestic cultural development and international civilizational dialogue, to observe the development of Chinese culture within the grand coordinates of the evolution of human civilization. In the overall arrangement, it both highlights the subjectivity of firm cultural confidence, consolidating the foundation of the national spirit through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and highlights the civilizational view of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness, promoting the progress of human civilization through exchanges and mutual learning, profoundly revealing the internal relationship of mutual complementarity and dialectical unity between cultural confidence and civilizational mutual learning, and fully demonstrating the grand pattern of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in integrating ancient and modern, connecting China and abroad.
Authoritative Teaching Materials for Studying and Applying Xi Jinping Thought on Culture Well
Sun Yeli, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Culture and Tourism
The publication of Volume I and Volume II of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture is a major publishing project and a major event in the political life of the Party and the state. The Selected Works systematically compile 78 of the most important and fundamental works by General Secretary Xi Jinping on cultural development since the 18th National Congress of the Party, completely presenting the formation and development logic, rich theoretical genealogy, and profound practical foundation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, providing authoritative teaching materials for learning the thought, comprehending the thought, and applying the thought, and providing fundamental guidance for doing propaganda, ideological, and cultural work well and building a culturally strong country.
The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture vividly record the glorious course of General Secretary Xi Jinping leading the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country in planning and promoting cultural development in the new era. A collection of selected works displays the splendor of the chapters. The Selected Works are not a general compilation of articles, but an authoritative record, with time as the axis, of the practical exploration and theoretical leap of the Party's leadership in cultural development in the new era. From the perspective of the ideological thread, the Selected Works are like a "chronicle" of cultural development in the new era, opening with General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech when visiting the "Road to Rejuvenation" exhibition, profoundly elaborating the strategic conception of realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and setting the direction and tone for cultural development. The speeches and expositions of General Secretary Xi Jinping at important time points such as the symposium on literary and artistic work, the symposium on philosophy and social sciences work, the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, and the 17th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th Central Committee are all included, reproducing the formation and development thread of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. From the perspective of practical exploration, the Selected Works comprehensively record the glorious course and tremendous achievements of cultural development in the new era, for example, ideological work is grasped more firmly and its foundation is more solid, fine traditional Chinese culture has achieved creative transformation and innovative development, the cultural confidence of the entire nation has significantly increased and the subjectivity of Chinese culture has become more prominent, cultural undertakings and cultural industries have developed rapidly, and the influence of Chinese culture has continued to rise, and so on. It can be said that from the opening of the "Chinese Dream," to the establishment of the soul of cultural confidence, and then to the guidance of the "Two Integrations," the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics has become broader and more stable.
The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture comprehensively and systematically reflect the profound connotation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. This two-volume collection of selected works is carefully arranged, containing both content that is well-known and familiar from daily key study and some works published for the first time, facilitating our comprehensive and integrated study, timely follow-up study, giving us a fresh perspective and much enlightenment, realizing the deepening of the connotation of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, expanding it from multiple dimensions of point, line, and plane, and embodying the open, practical, and systematic characteristics of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. For example, the systematic compilation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on the "Two Integrations" provides a key for us to understand Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, allowing us to connect the Marxist soul vein and the root vein of fine traditional Chinese culture and find a new source for theoretical and practical innovation. The Selected Works profoundly elaborate the development goal of building a culturally strong country, placing it in an important position concerning the overall situation of Chinese modernization, concerning the great cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and concerning the enhancement of international competitiveness. This is not a soft requirement, but a hard goal. The Selected Works precisely explain the path of propaganda, ideological, and cultural work, coordinating and comprehensively deploying ideology, literature and art, public culture, cultural industries, cultural heritage, people-to-people exchanges, international communication, cyberspace, news and public opinion, and so on as a whole. These major theoretical innovative viewpoints and strategic deployments embody the high unity of direction, principle, and practicality, jointly constituting the core content of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture highlight General Secretary Xi Jinping's broad and extraordinary view of culture. Studying the Selected Works, one deeply feels that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture stands high and plans far, is concise and to the point, helping us raise our stance, expand our vision, learn methods, obtain clear answers to major theoretical and practical questions, and make the direction and path of promoting cultural development clearer. General Secretary Xi Jinping regards culture as the key to the foundation and destiny of the country, to the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, and as an important focal point for inheriting the Chinese cultural lineage, serving governance, supporting Chinese modernization, and contributing to the progress of human civilization. He both preserves the five-thousand-year cultural lineage and opens a new situation of modernization, and further observes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, presenting a grand spectacle. For example, when discussing culture, he does not limit it to culture alone, but connects it with the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, speaking of enriching the people and benefiting livelihoods, balancing righteousness and benefit, serving economic development; speaking of the tradition of rule of law, ritual order and cosmic harmony, serving political development; speaking of civilizational cultivation, ethnic unity and progress, serving social development; speaking of the unity of heaven and man, following the laws of nature, serving ecological civilization development, and so on. For example, when discussing culture, he does not only look at the present, but uses a grand historical view to connect the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, the more than one hundred years of the Communist Party of China, and the great journey of socialism with Chinese characteristics, distilling the five outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, summarizing the spiritual genealogy of Chinese Communists, and emphasizing the development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the new era that has strong ideological leading power, spiritual cohesion, value appeal, and international influence. All these highlight General Secretary Xi Jinping's high cultural consciousness, firm cultural confidence, and profound historical initiative.
Upholding the Cultural Root Vein, Spreading a Strong Voice in Public Opinion
Mo Gaoyi, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the State Council Information Office
Volume I and Volume II of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture systematically present the development thread, core essence, and practical requirements of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, providing us with authoritative teaching materials and action guides for upholding the cultural root vein and undertaking cultural missions. General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on news and public opinion work, as an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, have raised our Party's understanding of the laws of news and public opinion work to a new height through a series of major judgments and systematic elaborations of a pioneering and landmark nature. Through studying the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture, we can more deeply feel the cultural heritage and cultural power contained therein, and more deeply appreciate the cultural mission and cultural function that news and public opinion work bears.
First, news and public opinion work uses culture to carry the Way and culture to educate people, and must undertake the important function of cultural cultivation. News and public opinion work is not simply the production and dissemination of information; it also bears the cultural mission of uniting people's hearts and nourishing society. First, consolidating ideological consensus. The people's hearts are the greatest politics. The central task of news and public opinion work is to disseminate the Party's voice well, publicize the Party's propositions well, closely connect the Party's heart with the people's heart, and guide the people of all ethnic groups across the country to unite closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, unswervingly listening to the Party and following the Party. Second, strengthening value guidance. What news reports report and how they report it both reflect value orientation. Whether it is positive publicity, hot topic guidance, or public opinion supervision, we should adhere to socialist core values, praise social virtues, promote righteous spirit, and promote the formation of good Party conduct, government conduct, social conduct, and folk customs. Third, enhancing action consciousness. News and public opinion work should not only inspire people, but also spur them on. On the new journey of the new era, facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges, there is an urgent need for news and public opinion work to mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of all parties, to gather a powerful force for unity, struggle, and overcoming difficulties, and to inspire all the people to actively devote themselves to the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
Second, news and public opinion work adheres to the correct orientation of public opinion and must always adhere to the correct cultural orientation. News and public opinion work is essentially cultural work. Only by running the correct cultural orientation through the entire chain of news production and dissemination can we ensure that the stance of news and public opinion work is stable and its orientation does not deviate. First, conveying the correct view of right and wrong. News and public opinion work profoundly affects the public's judgment of right and wrong and value orientation. We must insist on analyzing matters and clarifying principles, removing the turbid and promoting the clear, establishing correct value standards in the whole society, clarifying right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood, guiding people to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and enhancing people's value judgment and moral responsibility. Second, defending the correct view of history. Guarding historical memory and inheriting the national spirit is the bounden duty of news and public opinion work. In the face of various chaotic phenomena of historical nihilism, we must dare to draw our swords, return to the original source to clear up errors, unequivocally safeguard the Party's leadership and the socialist system, safeguard the pluralistic and integrated community of the Chinese nation, safeguard the continuity and unity of Chinese civilization, and make correct historical cognition a spiritual support for firm progress. Third, shaping the correct aesthetic view. Deeply explore the beauty of the times, the beauty of humanity, and the beauty of struggle, and use vivid reports and high-quality commentary to guide the public to establish a healthy, elegant, vigorous, and simple aesthetic pursuit, consciously resist and abandon deformed aesthetics and vulgar sensationalism, and cultivate an uplifting cultural atmosphere in the whole society.
Third, news and public opinion work improves the effectiveness of international communication and must tell the story of Chinese culture well. In telling China's story well to the outside world, news and public opinion work should focus on publicizing Chinese culture, explaining the essence and essence of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, revealing the spiritual code of the long-standing and well-established Chinese civilization, and demonstrating the spiritual power of the Chinese nation's constant self-improvement. First, upholding harmony in diversity. Deeply elaborate the common values of all mankind contained in Chinese culture, explore ideological commonalities and amplify discursive commonalities in exchanges and mutual learning with other cultures and civilizations, effectively break down civilizational estrangement and eliminate cognitive bias, and promote people of all countries to enhance their recognition of China's path and China's system through a deep understanding of Chinese culture. Second, emphasizing emotional resonance. Culture is full of emotional warmth, and cultural publicity requires the integration of reason and emotion, moving people with emotion. The reason why the stories of "Saikesi" and Yin Yuzhen moved the world is that the Chinese culture of constant self-improvement, keeping faith, and valuing righteousness transcends time and space and crosses national borders, triggering strong emotional resonance. This enlightens us that we should transform grand cultural themes into perceptible and feelable individual narratives, and enhance the dissemination power and influence of Chinese culture with cultural appeal that directly touches people's hearts. Third, achieving the connection between ancient and modern. Both present historical China well, highlighting the endless and continuous regeneration of the Chinese cultural lineage, and present contemporary China well, reflecting the development achievements of the new era and the beautiful life of the people, so that the world can see a charming China with both profound historical heritage and splendid contemporary brilliance.
Deeply Studying and Carefully Comprehending Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, Upholding Fundamental Principles and Breaking New Ground in Doing the Party Newspaper Work of the New Era Well
Yu Shaoliang, President of People's Daily
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the Party's news and public opinion work. The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture profoundly elaborate a series of directional, fundamental, and strategic issues in the Party's news and public opinion work, both pointing out the foundation of upholding fundamental principles, guiding us to put the political direction first and to run the newspaper with the political stance of politicians throughout the work; and pointing out the key to innovation, guiding us to adapt to the development of the situation and innovate concepts, content, methods, means, and so on, continuously improving the communication power, guidance power, influence, and credibility of the Party's news and public opinion work. As the organ newspaper of the Party Central Committee, People's Daily always bears in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest instructions, adheres to "connecting the Party's heart above and the people's heart below," strengthens the stance, consciousness, and discipline of the Party newspaper, actively explores how to run People's Daily better under new circumstances and conditions, continuously expands the "three coverage areas," and fully exerts the "three roles."
Chapters in the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture such as "Strengthening the Party's Overall Leadership over Propaganda and Ideological Work" and "Speech at the Symposium on the Party's News and Public Opinion Work" emphasize that the Party's flag should fly high on the propaganda and ideological front, and that we should fulfill the duties and missions of holding high the banner and guiding the direction. To study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions, we must strive to understand, comprehend, and implement the General Secretary's thought, run the newspaper well and consolidate advantages through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and continuously provide spiritual strength and a "guiding star" for the entire Party and the people of the whole country. We will further operate the special team for major political reporting with high quality and efficiency, handle the primary task as the primary task, increase resource support and guarantee, and rely on the integrated media brand matrix such as "Micro Lens" and "Micro Observation" to fully display the image of the leader and highlight the power of thought. Since March last year, the special team has produced more than 800 products, and its systematic and refined production capacity has continued to emerge. We promote the inclusion of reports on General Secretary Xi Jinping in teaching materials, further expanding the "three coverage areas." "I Will Be Selfless and Live Up to the People" has been included in the new fourth-grade first-semester Chinese language textbook this year, allowing young people to deeply feel the General Secretary's original aspiration of serving the people and to take the leader as an example to cultivate deep feelings for the family and the country. We will continue to do a good job in the theoretical interpretation, popular dissemination, and international publicity of the Party's innovative theories, strengthen the concept of running the theory page of "political nature + academic nature" and "news + theory," run key columns such as "Discussion on Original Concepts and Landmark Concepts" and "Investigation and Reflection" well, make good use of key commentary brands such as "Ren Zhongping" and "Ren Ping," hold high the banner of thought, and widely disseminate the Party's voice. At the same time, we will pay more attention to finding direction, determining topics, and making plans from Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, take the "headline project" as the guide, closely connect with the great practice of Chinese modernization since the new era, launch a series of key reports, and tell the stories in the thought and the thought in the stories well.
Chapters in the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture such as "Accelerating the Promotion of Media Integration and Development" emphasize the need to promote the main force to fully advance into the main battlefield. To study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions, we must continuously enrich the supply of high-quality online content through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, achieve the dissemination of positive energy, high quality, and large traffic, continuously strengthen and expand mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture, and turn the Internet, this biggest variable, into the biggest increment for the development of the cause. We will adhere to integrating theory with practice in publicizing the Party's innovative theories, adhere to practicing the "four capabilities" in doing in-depth reporting and typical reporting, adhere to speaking for the Party in doing hot topic commentary and guidance, advance into the main online position in systematic reform, and make the mainstream voice in cyberspace louder. Recently, People's Daily opened and operated a Xiaohongshu account, and within two weeks its follower count exceeded 1 million, with 75.999 million views. This shows that wherever young people are, the content supply of the Party newspaper should extend there. We will continue to strengthen the construction of the all-media production and dissemination system, build a new media matrix of one client, two microblogs, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and so on, innovate the expression of mainstream values, and effectively reach young user groups. The Good Articles of People's Daily (1948-1978) that we edited and published allows reporters and editors to inherit the fine cultural lineage of the Party newspaper. Recently, People's Daily published Wang Meng's article "Running a Vivid and Spirited Supplement." We will take vividness and spirit as the focal point to make the supplement text more scholarly, more life-like, and more human. Through the above measures, we will promote the continuous consolidation and expansion of the advantages of the Party Central Committee's organ newspaper in writing good articles and producing good works.
Chapters in the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture such as "Speech at the Symposium on Cybersecurity and Informatization Work" emphasize that in today's world, informatization is developing very rapidly; if one does not advance, one retreats, and if one advances slowly, one also retreats. To study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions, we must adapt to the disruptive changes brought by the rapid iteration and wide application of information technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, recognize changes, respond to changes, and seek changes through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, coordinate development and security, strengthen learning and application, actively collaborate, and better use mainstream values to control intelligent content production. Corpora are the "granary" for intelligent agent content dissemination in the AI era and also the "swords and guns" for safeguarding the security of the ideological position. We focus on the construction of a mainstream value corpus as the starting point for relevant work. This is the foundational project of systematic reform, realizing the full-chain pattern of content production of the Party Central Committee's organ newspaper in the new era from newspaper to network to cognitive laboratory to corpus. The project focuses on producing question-and-answer corpora around Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and simultaneously promotes the construction of characteristic corpora such as the clean culture corpus and the Xiong'an corpus. During corpus construction, it is simultaneously opened for use to relevant national AI training grounds, establishing the correct value orientation for domestic large models from the source, and at the same time providing an authoritative, precise, and positive content foundation for international communication.
Seriously Studying and Implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, Prospering and Developing Philosophy and Social Sciences with Chinese Characteristics
Gao Xiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Recently, Volume I and Volume II of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture were publicly published and distributed, systematically presenting the spirit of the times, main content, and practical requirements of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, and serving as authoritative teaching materials for in-depth study and understanding of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. The Selected Works include General Secretary Xi Jinping's important works such as "Speech at the Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences Work," "Leading the Study of the History of Chinese Civilization to Greater Depth, Enhancing Historical Consciousness and Strengthening Cultural Confidence," "Profoundly Grasping the Outstanding Characteristics of Chinese Civilization," and "Profoundly Understanding the Great Significance of the 'Two Integrations,'" which shine with the light of Marxist truth throughout, profoundly answer the fundamental, directional, and strategic questions concerning the long-term development of China's philosophy and social sciences cause, systematically outline the grand blueprint for accelerating the construction of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, constitute the academic chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, and lead contemporary Chinese philosophy and social sciences toward prosperity.
First, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture provides fundamental guidance and action guides for prospering and developing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. It upholds and consolidates the guiding position of Marxism, emphasizes that "toward Marxism, one cannot adopt an attitude of dogmatism, nor can one adopt an attitude of pragmatism," clarifies that "adhering to problem orientation is a distinctive feature of Marxism," establishes the heart and soul for Chinese philosophy and social sciences, and points out the direction of progress for Chinese academia in the new era. It inherits and promotes fine traditional Chinese culture, presenting the historical mission and cultural responsibility of contemporary Chinese philosophy and social sciences more clearly, ensuring that Chinese philosophy and social sciences are deeply rooted and luxuriant. It advocates exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, promotes the significant enhancement of the international communication capacity of Chinese academia, continuously deepens dialogue between Chinese and foreign civilizations, leads Chinese academia to the world, and provides more ideological theoretical support and more innovative intellectual support for building a community with a shared future for mankind. It strengthens and improves the Party's leadership over philosophy and social sciences work, encourages philosophy and social sciences workers to effectively strengthen the construction of academic style and morality, promotes the formation of a fine academic atmosphere of advocating excellence, rigorous scholarship, emphasizing integrity, and stressing responsibility, and creates a clean, upright, mutually learning, and positive academic ecology.
Second, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture leads Chinese philosophy and social sciences to achieve brilliant achievements. Since the new era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, especially General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on philosophy and social sciences, China's philosophy and social sciences cause has ushered in the best period of development in history, achieved a series of remarkable achievements, and presented a vigorous vitality of comprehensive leaps in ideological leading power, academic creativity, practical explanatory power, and international influence. The research and interpretation of the Party's innovative theories have continued to deepen, and the guiding position of Marxism has become more consolidated; the construction of the disciplinary system, academic system, and discourse system has been advanced in depth, and the academic foundation for building an independent knowledge system has become more solid; the unique role of serving Chinese modernization and national rejuvenation has become more prominent, and the practical significance of serving the country through scholarship and applying knowledge to governance has become more prominent; the subjectivity of Chinese academia has been unprecedentedly enhanced, and Sino-foreign academic exchanges have entered a new period of equality and mutual learning; the talent team of philosophy and social sciences has continued to grow and its structure has gradually improved, contributing academic wisdom to the successful advancement and expansion of Chinese modernization.
Third, along the direction guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, promote the high-quality development of China's philosophy and social sciences cause. While fully affirming the achievements made, we are also clearly aware that compared with the expectations and requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Party Central Committee, and compared with the practical needs of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, philosophy and social sciences still have many gaps in both the quality of achievements and the state of the talent team. The constantly changing and increasingly complex objective reality has brought both new opportunities and many new challenges to academic prosperity. In particular, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation represented by artificial intelligence is affecting all areas of production and life at an unprecedented speed, which deserves our full attention. We must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, conscientiously implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on philosophy and social sciences, consciously stand at the commanding heights of history and the times to do scholarship, and create new brilliance in Chinese academia. We must uphold and strengthen the Party's leadership over philosophy and social sciences work, support and protect the formation and development of schools of thought, and support and serve the construction of an independent knowledge system with Chinese schools of thought. We must actively participate in and lead the new trend of the scientific and technological revolution, innovate the way scientific research is organized, promote academic research to keep pace with the times, boldly open up new academic frontiers, and provide ideological and intellectual support for the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
Return to TopDeeply Study and Implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture Advance the Construction of the National Cultural Center with First-Rate Standards
Sun Junmin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC and Head of the Publicity Department
In light of the realities of building the national cultural center, I have studied in depth the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture, and have come to deeply appreciate the theoretical character of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, which illuminates principles and applies them in practice, integrating theory and application. This has further strengthened my confidence and resolve in advancing the building of a culturally strong nation.
First, consolidating the ideological foundation is the fundamental requirement of cultural development, and we must adhere to forging the soul through culture and ensure that the Party's innovative theory takes root and bears fruit across the land of Beijing. The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture thoroughly elaborates on the important significance and methodological pathways of strengthening theoretical armed forces, emphasizing the improvement of the work system of arming the entire Party, educating the people, and guiding practice with the Party's innovative theory. We focus on the Beijing practice of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, advancing systematic and scholarly research and interpretation, as well as segmented and targeted publicity and lecturing, guiding cadres and the masses to enhance their political, ideological, theoretical, and emotional identification with the Party's innovative theory. For Party members and cadres, we have established the Beijing Practice Teaching and Research Center, connecting theory with practice, and have trained 58,000 trainees. For young people, we have carried out immersive ideological and political courses under the theme "'Beijing' Splendid Culture, Youth in Bloom," organizing frontline scientific and technological talents and master craftsmen of the nation to give lectures at universities, covering more than 500,000 college students. For new employment groups, we have innovated ideological and political education carriers, with 600 influential online personalities entering the Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC for the first time, and delivery workers engaging in study tours along the "new learning path," actively participating in the construction of the capital. Our experience tells us that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is a scientific theory that is grounded in reality, gathers the wisdom of the people, conforms to the will of the people, and wins the hearts of the people, containing powerful truth and practical force. We must continue to promote the Party's innovative theory to enter the mind and heart and to be translated into action and results.
Second, cultivating new generations for the era is the value orientation of cultural development, and we must adhere to educating people through culture, nurturing the cultural character of capital city residents. The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture includes multiple works by General Secretary Xi Jinping on the construction of spiritual civilization, clearly pointing out the scientific connotation and basic pathways for promoting the comprehensive development of the individual. We adhere to leading cultural development with the core socialist values, continuously elevating the ideological realm, spiritual state, and cultural cultivation of the people. We promote the transformation from building civilized cities to constructing urban civilization, improving the mechanisms for discovering, publicizing, and encouraging good deeds and good people. The 500,000 "Beijing Role Models" cover all walks of life and are integrated into urban governance, and the capital's positive social atmosphere warms people's hearts. We cultivate a positive, healthy, upward, and good online culture, innovatively holding the "Beijing Style" short video competition, mobilizing the enthusiasm of platforms and netizens, producing 600,000 works of positive energy with a cumulative readership of 18.5 billion, shaping and purifying cyberspace with the new trends of the times, and jointly building a beautiful spiritual home online. Our experience tells us that the coordination of material civilization and spiritual civilization is an inherent requirement of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, and we must continuously enhance the civilized quality of the people and the level of urban civilization, gathering spiritual strength for the capital's modernization.
Third, enhancing cultural soft power is an important goal of cultural development, and we must adhere to nourishing the city through culture, enriching the cultural heritage of the capital of a major country. The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture systematically discusses the major theoretical and practical issues of the Two Integrations, especially the "Second Integration," and profoundly elaborates on the practical pathways for enhancing national cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture. As a powerful witness to the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, Beijing inherits and develops the culture of the ancient capital, red culture, Beijing-flavored culture, and innovative culture, continuously strengthening the urban characteristics of the capital's bearing, the ancient capital's charm, and the era's style. We adhere to the principle that "the old city must not be demolished again," consolidate the achievements of the Central Axis's World Heritage application, and build the Grand Canal, the Great Wall, and the Xishan-Yongding River cultural belts with high quality, allowing the world to better understand the enduring and ever-new Chinese civilization. We make good use of the capital's red resources, deepen the coordinated development of the three major red culture theme areas of the Party's founding, the War of Resistance, and the founding of New China, receiving 9.14 million visitors this year; we carry out the "Broadening Knowledge and Forging the Soul" activity, with 200,000 primary and secondary school students receiving education on the "Four Histories" at museums and patriotic education bases each year. Our experience tells us that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture contains firm cultural confidence, and we must unleash the unique charm of the blending of ancient and modern elements (古今交融, gu jin jiao rong - "ancient, modern; intermingle, blend") in Beijing, making the capital's contribution to enhancing the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization.
Fourth, enhancing the people's sense of gain is the starting point and ultimate goal of cultural development, and we must adhere to benefiting the people through culture, forming a cultural landscape in the capital that is as brilliant and colorful as brocade (繁花似锦, fan hua si jin - "many, flowers; like, brocade"). The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture runs through the concept of cultural benefits for the people, embodying the profound sentiment that cultural development is rooted in the people, serves the people, and benefits the people. During his inspection of Beijing on the eve of the Spring Festival, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Make good use of the rich cultural resources to promote the integrated development of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions," further pointing the direction for the capital's cultural development. We enrich the supply of high-quality culture, advance the construction of the capital of performing arts, the city of museums, and the bookish capital. The Beijing International Film Festival and the Hundred Flowers Awards complement each other, the series of exhibitions on the origins of civilization and mutual learning among civilizations gather the treasures of civilization, and the spring and autumn book fairs fill the capital with the fragrance of books. We stimulate the vitality of cultural innovation and creation, host the Beijing Culture Forum, the China New Cultural and Creative Market, and the Beijing International Drama Performance Season, expand the depth and breadth of the integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, cultivate new cultural business forms such as "Super Live," and the added value of the cultural industry accounts for 11.6% of GDP. Our experience tells us that Xi Jinping Thought on Culture runs through the people-centered main line, and we must adhere to cultural development that focuses on people and lands on people, continuously enriching the people's spiritual world and strengthening the people's spiritual strength.
The Establishment of the Theory of Cultural Subjectivity
Li Wentang, Vice President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance)
Reading the two volumes of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture, I deeply feel that the theory of cultural subjectivity runs through them, and it can be said that it is the theoretical core of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. This theory has a process of formation, starting from ideological consciousness, to the breakthrough and construction of the theory of cultural confidence, and then to the speech at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development, which proposed the concept of cultural subjectivity and clarified its scientific connotation, gradually deepening. The theoretical concept emerged late, but the ideological consciousness developed early.
As can be seen from the first few articles of the first volume, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that realizing the "Chinese Dream" requires taking the Chinese path, carrying forward the Chinese spirit, and gathering the strength of China, and spreading the values of contemporary China. He emphasized that the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has come from the more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, that socialism with Chinese characteristics is rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, that the excellent traditional Chinese culture is the "root" and "soul" of our nation, and that explaining "Chinese characteristics" requires "making four things clear" from a cultural perspective, and so on. These important viewpoints and major assertions had a distinct consciousness of cultural subjectivity from the moment they were put forward.
The elevation of cultural subjectivity consciousness into a conscious theory involved a process of breakthrough and construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping subsequently delivered a series of important speeches focusing on the construction of cultural confidence and core values, oriented by problems such as the agitation of world cultures, cultural soft power, cultural security, the independence of the national spirit, cultural genes, cultural bloodlines, cultural positions, and cultural creativity, deeply pondering the core connotations of cultural subjectivity, namely cultural self-awareness, cultural confidence, and cultural self-strengthening. Among these, cultural confidence is the key, with the most distinct problem consciousness and the strongest practical relevance. Only by establishing cultural confidence can we further promote the self-awareness of Chinese culture that society had already begun, and only then can we further stimulate the vitality of cultural innovation and creation of the entire nation and enhance cultural soft power. Conversely, cultural self-awareness and cultural self-strengthening can also enhance cultural confidence.
So, how exactly is the cultural confidence of socialism with Chinese characteristics to be established? How is it to be strengthened? What is its fundamental reliance? First, we must trace our roots and origins, promoting the self-awareness of the cultural lineage; second, we must base ourselves on practice, promoting cultural self-strengthening; third, we must maintain cultural ideals and adhere to cultural positions. These three aspects are precisely important manifestations of cultural subjectivity. Cultural subjectivity is a self-awareness that possesses awareness of the cultural lineage, engages in autonomous creation, and forms certain cultural positions. To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made extensive theoretical expositions, concentrated in the first volume and summarized in the report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC at the beginning of the second volume. Here, the connotation of the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics receives an interpretation that connects history and practice: it originates from the excellent traditional Chinese culture, is forged in revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, is rooted in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it is again emphasized that we must adhere to the position of Chinese culture.
It was precisely in the process of constructing cultural confidence, emphasizing the two dimensions of tracing roots and origins and practical innovation, that the thinking of promoting the Two Integrations gradually emerged. But it was only after the important thought of the Two Integrations was put forward on the centenary of the founding of the Party that the further construction of the theory of cultural subjectivity was powerfully promoted. This is because, to advance theoretical innovation, it is necessary to clarify how the "integration," especially the "Second Integration," is possible and what results it produces. General Secretary Xi Jinping had previously proposed concepts such as "endogenous evolution," "internal logic," "activation," and "high compatibility" to express the relevant connotations of the "Second Integration." On this basis, the speech at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development profoundly clarified the great significance of the Two Integrations and put forward the theory of cultural subjectivity.
"Integration" is not a "mixing board"; it has created an organic and unified new cultural life form, whose genes are those of Chinese civilization, activated in the light of the truth of Marxism, and which also makes Marxism a "cultural life" with roots. This cultural life form is the firm self in the cultural sense, possessing the consciousness of cultural self-awareness, cultural confidence, and cultural self-strengthening. In a word, it possesses cultural subjectivity. It always bases itself on the life practice of the present, understands itself in historical memory, sublates itself, realizes its own renewal, and maintains its own cultural beliefs. Any culture that is to stand firm and go far must have its own subjectivity. The Two Integrations, while basing themselves on practice and rooted in history, consolidate our cultural subjectivity, open up space for innovation, and enable us to grasp the initiative in ideology and culture.
The theory of cultural subjectivity is a profound revelation of the laws of the development of human civilization and culture, and it is an original contribution and principled achievement of historical materialism. With its establishment, the entire system of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has its theoretical core. Thoughts on cultural confidence, core values, "creative transformation and innovative development," the protection of cultural heritage, an independent knowledge system, and mutual learning among civilizations can all be explained from it, just as when one piece falls on the chessboard, the whole game comes alive. To study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, we must hold high the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation amid the agitation of world cultures, while promoting equal exchange and mutual learning among different cultural subjects.
How Literature and Art Should Be "People-Centered" in the Era of Traffic
Gao Shiming, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
The publication of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture is of milestone significance for ideological and cultural construction in the new era. The important expositions on literary and artistic work in the Selected Works constitute an extremely vibrant component of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Socialist literature and art are, in essence, the literature and art of the people." Today, the creation and production of literature and art are being recoded by the traffic economy. If we lack a clear judgment about this coding process, "people-centered" may be imperceptibly replaced by "user-centered."
Now, although the vast majority of the people are netizens, "the people" still does not equal "users." "User" is a label that platforms attach to people; "the people" is a subject position endowed by history and politics. "What this user wants to watch" refers to consumption preferences; "what kind of literature and art the people need" explores the spiritual condition of the era. The former only requires feedback data; the latter must be answered with position, observation, understanding, and empathy.
In the era of the traffic economy, how do we perceive public opinion? The simplest way is to look at data—which work has high playback volume, which topic has made it to the hot search, which video has received over ten million likes? These data reflect public opinion to a certain extent, but behind them are also algorithmic recommendation, traffic distribution, and platform operations. More importantly, in the statistics of massive information, netizens often only serve as information feedback providers and data streams. What the platform system perceives and predicts is the user's behavioral trajectory, not people's lives, let alone each person's inner world. Such data feedback contains the echo of algorithms and the emotional resonance amplified by data-driven traffic. But it does not contain reasoning, does not contain dialectics, does not even necessarily contain understanding, and it cares nothing about a person's feeling and then realizing, or being moved by feeling into action.
The people are not a set of feedback data, but people with body temperature and with origins. Data can show that a song was played 100,000 times in a certain county town, but it cannot tell us that in a factory dormitory in that county town, a migrant worker, upon hearing that song, remembers which year, which event, which person. These things can only be known by sitting beside him and listening to him speak slowly. Among netizens, too, there is a blogger who lives off traffic, an elderly rural person who has just learned to video-call distant children with a mobile phone, a child who repeatedly swipes through similar content in algorithmic recommendations and gradually loses judgment... Their relationship with technology and the way they are shaped by platforms are completely different.
"What the masses of the people delight in and are happy to see" is an important criterion for literary and artistic creation, but today's situation is that "algorithms are pushing, traffic is chasing," and we must understand the connotation of this criterion more prudently. "Delighting in and being happy to see" means that the genuine spiritual needs and aesthetic tastes of the masses of the people are satisfied; traffic heat, on the other hand, refers to how many clicks and how much dwell time a product captures per unit of time in the attention economy. When thousands upon thousands of likes and shares are dressed up as "delighting in and being happy to see," we can easily mistake temporary heat for the will and needs of the people. This even in turn affects creation itself—writers write to make the hot search, directors shoot for algorithmic preferences, and the entire industry begins to "prove itself with data," gradually surrendering to traffic.
Digital technology has opened up expressive tools and channels to hundreds of millions of ordinary people, giving rise to new mass literature and art under internet conditions. This is a major contribution of platforms and a great historical progress. The value of new mass literature and art lies in countless ordinary people relying on internet platforms to begin their own artistic lives, with the core being that the people transform from cultural consumers into creators. But in the traffic era of a highly developed entertainment industry, we cannot simply treat click counts as the people's vote, nor equate temporary heat with the masses' "delighting in and being happy to see." The people, as the true "connoisseurs and judges" of literary and artistic creation, are not a real-time refreshing data dashboard; the people becoming creators is even more a social process that requires time, dialectics, and repeated dialogue. We must build richer and fresher channels for mass expression and communication, launch quality literary and artistic creations for the masses, and also be able to see those works that are not dazzling in data but truly have artistic content and spiritual depth, so that values that truly belong to the people stand out from the traffic.
Literature and art in the new era must be people-centered. The people's literature and art cannot spin its wheels within the literary and artistic circles, nor can it talk emptily about beauty and creation divorced from people's real life circumstances. It must make literature and art a force for people to construct themselves, transform reality, and shape consensus, not just provide entertainment. So where are the people? The people are online, on construction sites, in the fields, in office buildings, on the move, and on the road delivering food. Literary and artistic workers must rebuild their real connection with the people between the online and the offline, between data and the field, between the folk and the professional. Our task is to turn feedback providers back into practitioners, consumers back into producers, and the datafied "users" back into a creating people—the political ethics of "the people are the foundation of the state" from the Book of Documents, and what Liang Qichao called the organizational consciousness of "governing the group with the group's methods," are our indigenous intellectual resources; Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is our guide to action; developing new mass literature and art under internet conditions is our practical path. In today's digital-intelligent era, literature and art being people-centered means using systematic practice that confronts problems and goes deep into reality, so that the "coded masses" of the platform economy can once again become "the people capable of forming community," once again become that people's subject that creates itself and creates history.
Based on the History of Marxism's Development Grasping the Inevitability of the "Second Integration"
Zhang Wu, Tenured Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Peking University
The "Second Integration" is a major original concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. The Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture presents the intellectual history of the development of the "Second Integration." The deeper one studies it, the more one recognizes the inherent inevitability of the "Second Integration."
The "Second Integration" has theoretical inevitability.
Marx believed that the atomized individual, as a necessary precondition of capitalism, is a unique product of Western civilization, formed through a thousand years of Christian indoctrination, especially the Protestant Reformation. Chinese culture, on the other hand, "opposes viewing people as isolated individuals." Traditional Chinese culture has a dual nature: first, its "non-capitalist nature," which contains simple socialist concepts and has theoretical compatibility with Marxism; second, its "pre-capitalist nature," which, having emerged from different social and historical conditions than Marxism, has theoretical complementarity with Marxism.
The "Second Integration" has even greater historical inevitability.
After the Industrial Revolution, mechanized mass production comprehensively replaced small-scale production, laborers were universally separated from the means of labor, and the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie became unprecedentedly antagonistic. Thus, Marx proposed the "two breaks" in the Communist Manifesto, one of which is "the most radical break with traditional ideas." The "traditional ideas" here specifically refers to bourgeois ideas, not to the outstanding cultural achievements of humanity in general. After the 1870s, a series of new changes emerged in Western European capitalism, and the proletarian movement became extraordinarily complex. During his lifetime, Marx published only the first volume of Capital, leaving behind manuscripts of the second and third volumes. For the final chapter, "Classes," of the third volume of Capital, Marx left only an intriguing half-page fragment. In his later years, his energy turned to humanity's classical age and the distant Eastern societies, hoping that an Eastern revolution would in turn detonate Western European society.
Lenin filled the gap left by Marx. To solve the problem of overproduction, capitalism inevitably seeks overseas markets and sources of raw materials, which will inevitably trigger contradictions between developed countries and colonies. Lenin creatively developed the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat within developed countries in the Communist Manifesto into the national struggle between imperialism and oppressed nations. In the East, national struggle became the contemporary form of class struggle, and the deep integration of Marxism with oppressed nations became a historical necessity.
If Lenin demonstrated why the center of revolution shifted from Western Europe to the East, then the Chinese Communists solved the "riddle of history": why did ancient China, with its extremely weak capitalism, take the socialist road? The answer is precisely the Two Integrations. Externally, imperialist oppression did not allow China to take the capitalist road, did not allow China to sit as an equal with the great powers, which stimulated the family-nation sentiment of the Chinese people, forced out the anti-imperialist banner of the May Fourth Movement, and tempered the century-old dream of great rejuvenation; internally, supported by Chinese civilization, the backward social productive forces were indeed insufficient to support China taking the socialist road, yet the profound civilizational tradition provided the cultural soil and popular foundation for socialism. External causes are conditions; internal causes are the basis.
The objective historical process determined that the "Second Integration" is a historical necessity, so Mao Zedong Thought and the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics inevitably contain elements of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and inevitably contain sparks of thought about integrating with the excellent traditional Chinese culture. On this basis, General Secretary Xi Jinping for the first time explicitly summarized and deeply elaborated the "Second Integration," achieving a theoretical leap from the spontaneous to the conscious.
Throughout the history of Marxism's development, the "Second Integration" is the inevitable development of Marxism. The vitality of Marxism lies in its integration with the concrete realities of each country and the excellent traditional culture of each nation. Only by rooting itself in the fertile soil of one's own country's and nation's history and culture can the tree of Marxist truth grow deep roots and lush leaves. The Sinicized and modernized Marxism should not only have a national form, but also national content. This objectively requires Marxism to achieve the unity of universality and particularity, the unity of truth and nationality, and this inevitably requires using the Two Integrations to open up a new realm of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. As Engels said, "The German workers' movement is the heir of German classical philosophy." By the same logic, in contemporary China, only by adhering to the "Second Integration" can one be a true Marxist.
Return to Top(Xinhua News Agency, Hangzhou, October 18) The fourth "Liangzhu Forum" opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on the 18th. Jiang Xinzhi, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
Jiang Xinzhi noted that the "Liangzhu Forum" is an important platform for practicing the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. China has always maintained an open attitude, promoting international collaboration in the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage, seeking true knowledge through joint exploration of origins, benefiting the people through the sharing of achievements, and joining hands to safeguard humanity's common cultural heritage.
Jiang Xinzhi stated that we must actively implement the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. China is willing to share with all countries the responsibility of guardianship, to consolidate the roots of human civilization; to jointly explore the origins of civilization, to deepen international academic cooperation; to jointly build bridges of understanding, to expand dialogue and exchange among civilizations; and to jointly share the fruits of development, to empower a happy and beautiful life.
During the forum, ministers of culture and cultural heritage, heads of international organizations, and cultural heritage experts from nearly 60 countries and regions will conduct in-depth discussions around the theme "Continuity and Renewal of Civilization: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage, Illuminating the Light of the Times."
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 禹伟良 强郁文
In Yichang, Hubei, on the Zhijiang section of the Yangtze River. The river breeze brings a hint of coolness, yet the shore is bustling with activity (热气腾腾, re qi teng teng - "heat, steam, steam"): crane arms rise and fall, welding sparks scatter, and the sounds of cutting and welding interweave into a melody...
At the Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park, this stretch of Yangtze riverfront less than 3 kilometers long gathers nine shipbuilding enterprises. A few years ago, the shipyards were still worrying about declining orders for traditional vessels; now, new-energy vessel orders account for more than 90 percent of the park's total, with the construction schedule already booked through 2028.
In recent years, Yichang has vigorously developed the green intelligent inland-river vessel industry, continuously advancing the construction of the "electrified Yangtze," "gasified Yangtze," and "hydrogenated Yangtze," delivering a "Yichang answer sheet" for the green and low-carbon transformation of Yangtze River shipping.
Abundant green electricity resources are one of Yichang's greatest advantages.
As night falls, the "Yangtze River Three Gorges 1," the pure-electric cruise ship with the world's largest battery capacity, completes its voyage of more than two hours. Captain Chen Guohai berths the cruise ship at the dock and connects a thick cable. Before long, clean shore power is delivered in a continuous and unending stream (源源不断, yuan yuan bu duan - "source, source, not, continuous") to this "floating hotel."
Li Xingheng, head of shore-power operation and maintenance at State Grid Yichang Power Supply Company, said that at present, 71 docks across Yichang have deployed 179 sets of shore-power facilities, and cumulative shore-power usage along the Yichang section of the Yangtze has exceeded 75 million kilowatt-hours, equivalent to replacing 17,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
In addition to charging, battery swapping is also available. In Zigui, a green intelligent vessel charging-and-swapping integrated station project is under way. "In the future, the containerized batteries on electric vessels will be lifted by crane from the ship to the swapping station, exchanged for fully charged batteries, and then lifted back onto the ship, completing the swap in about ten minutes," said Zhou Shaobo, the deputy official in charge of the Zigui County Logistics Park Management Committee.
On both banks of the gorge, the "hydrogen boat" has already passed the myriad mountains.
Accompanied by the sound of whistles, staff members took the "Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1," the country's first 500-kilowatt-class hydrogen fuel cell-powered vessel, to complete the day's waterway inspection mission. Guan Sumin, a principal researcher at the Yangtze Electric Power Science and Technology Research Center, said that at present, the integrated hydrogen production and refueling station achieves rapid hydrogen refueling through multiple methods such as dual-nozzle dispensing and three-stage dispensing, delivering 240 kilograms of hydrogen per hour, which can provide the "hydrogen boat" with 200 kilometers of range.
In the Three Gorges reservoir area, LNG (liquefied natural gas) refueling volumes are surging.
In the early afternoon, upon receiving word that a cargo vessel was about to enter port, staff at the Hubei Zhongyi LNG refueling station donned anti-freeze gloves and protective face shields and began pipeline pre-cooling operations. "Under standard conditions, LNG fuel can only remain in liquid state at minus 162 degrees Celsius; before refueling, the pipeline temperature must be lowered in accordance with procedures," explained Cao Guoliang, head of the station's operator, Hubei Three Gorges Zhongyi New Energy Co., Ltd.
"At present, shipbuilding enterprises across the city hold orders for more than 230 vessels, of which new-energy vessels account for over 75 percent," said Yang Yong, section chief of the Defense Industry and Military Section of the Yichang Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.
The "full cargo hold" of orders is inseparable from the increasingly complete industrial layout and ecosystem for new-energy vessels. In 2022, Yichang formulated an action plan for developing the green intelligent vessel industry, laying out four major shipbuilding industrial parks to high standards in Yidu, Zhijiang, Zigui, and Changyang, with technology R&D, scenario application, vessel construction, and dismantling each having distinct focuses.
At the Yidu Green Intelligent Vessel Industrial Park, Yichang Damen Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. relocated in its entirety from its original site last year. In the spacious, bright modern workshop, plasma cutting machines, welding robots, profile cutting production lines, and other intelligent equipment operate at high efficiency. Zhai Guohong, technical supervisor at Damen Shipbuilding, said that since the start of this year, the company's production capacity has more than tripled, and output value is expected to reach 1 billion yuan.
The modern production line makes the hull greener and also makes the "ship's heart" better suited.
In the workshop, robotic arms extend and retract as battery cells are steadily placed onto the production line; AGVs (automated guided vehicles) shuttle back and forth transporting materials. At the Three Gorges Branch of Wuhan Weimai New Energy Power Co., Ltd. in Zigui, the marine new-energy battery production workshop is a scene of bustling activity. Dong Yangyang, the production line manager, said that the marine power battery packs produced here currently provide the "power heart" for nearly 60 percent of the country's new-energy vessels.
New-energy vessel construction requires large investment and high technological content, making capital chains and talent chains indispensable.
In August 2025, the large battery enterprise Chaowei Group, Wuhan Shouyi Fund, and a state-owned enterprise in Zhijiang signed a green vessel industry fund agreement, with investment focused on the green intelligent vessel and port-shipping industry chain. At the same time, the Yichang Green Shipping Industry Talent Alliance is operating, accelerating the precise matching of talent supply and demand around directions such as green intelligent vessels and clean energy application.
On the river, a blue "giant" about to enter service lies quietly at the shore — the "Gezhouba," the world's first 10,000-tonne-class pure-electric bulk carrier on an inland river, is set to become a new "calling card" for Yichang's new-energy vessels. "The ship carries 12 containerized batteries, with a total capacity roughly equal to the combined battery capacity of 400 cars," said Chen Yaozhou, deputy general manager of Huaxing Ship Services.
The containerized batteries used by the "Gezhouba" are produced by Weimai Company. Wang Yongxing, the project manager, said that a new-material insulation layer has been added to the surface of the containers, followed by the infusion of a special protective liquid, ensuring balanced heat dissipation among the internal cells.
It can swap batteries like an electric car, and it can also drive intelligently like an electric car. In June of this year, the "Gezhouba" completed testing of multiple intelligent real-vessel functions, including remote control, automatic berthing and unberthing, and autonomous navigation.
"Small-sized" vessels can also enjoy intelligent driving with ease. At Zhijiang Jiangbo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., reporters saw a small pleasure boat named "Water Reception Hall," whose hull resembles a white "flying saucer," with a spacious viewing balcony at the stern. Huang Jun, vice president of Jiangbo Shipbuilding, said that with the push of a single button, the boat can autonomously enter and leave berth, cruise, avoid obstacles, and return to port.
According to estimates, by the end of 2026, the total output value of Yichang's green intelligent vessel manufacturing industry chain will reach 5 billion yuan, with annual construction of green intelligent vessels exceeding 100.
On the vast river, Yichang-built "green boats," one after another, are breaking through the waves, laden with "green" intent and "intelligent" spirit, sailing toward a broader horizon.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 18) (Reporters Chen Yuanyuan, Shi Fang) From the 15th to the 16th, the 9th China "Online Literature+" Conference was held in Beijing. At the opening ceremony, the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association released the "2025 Annual Report on the Development of China's Online Literature." The report shows that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, revenue in China's online literature market grew from 26.720 billion yuan in 2021 to 57.472 billion yuan in 2025, doubling in size (实现翻番, shi xian fan fan - "realize, double"); the total scale of overseas markets grew from 2.905 billion yuan to 6.983 billion yuan; and the user base grew from 460 million people to 646 million people. This conference was hosted by the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC (Beijing Municipal Press and Publication Bureau), the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, the Online Literature Center of the China Writers Association, the Office of the Cyberspace Affairs Commission of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and the Administrative Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Beijing, October 18) (Reporter He Siqi) The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is China's traditional festival, the Double Ninth Festival. To inherit and carry forward China's excellent traditional culture and deeply advance the revitalization of traditional festivals, six departments — including the Civilization Practice Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Aging Work Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Publicity Department of the All-China Women's Federation, and the Literary and Art Volunteer Service Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles — jointly held the "Our Festival · Double Ninth" themed cultural activity, aiming to fully tap the cultural connotation of the Double Ninth Festival, carry forward the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation of respecting the elderly and honoring the virtuous (尊老敬贤, zun lao jing xian - "respect old, honor worthy") and being filial to parents and loving one's kin (孝老爱亲, xiao lao ai qin - "filial piety to elders, love relatives"), deeply cultivate local sentiment and family affection, enhance cultural confidence, and enrich the people's spiritual and cultural life.
Across the country, various regions organized and carried out Double Ninth-themed cultural demonstration activities with diverse forms and rich connotations. At the "Virtue Nourishes Gan and Po, Filial Piety Spreads to Ten Thousand Families" event in Guangxin District, Shangrao, Jiangxi, the elderly shared a Double Ninth family feast together, and calligraphy enthusiasts wrote Double Ninth auspicious words and filial-piety couplets for the masses; in Qi County, Jinzhong, Shanxi, the Jin opera song "Filial Piety Reaches the World," rooted in the cultural heritage of Shanxi merchants, vividly interpreted the contemporary connotation of being filial to parents and loving one's kin and being industrious and thrifty (勤俭节约, qin jian jie yue - "diligent, frugal, save, economize"); in Shanghang County, Longyan, Fujian, cadres and the masses collectively recited and chanted "Picking Mulberries · Double Ninth," looking back on the revolutionary extraordinary or momentous years (峥嵘岁月, zheng rong sui yue - "lofty, rugged, years, time"), highlighting the red heritage and feelings for family and country; in Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu, diverse forms such as fine art performances and cultural salons were integrated, with silver-haired dancers and silver-haired models taking the stage in turn, vividly interpreting the new contemporary picture of the elderly being able to contribute to society (老有所为, lao you suo wei - "old, have, what, do"), the elderly finding enjoyment in life (老有所乐, lao you suo le - "old, have, what, joy"), and the elderly having opportunities to learn (老有所学, lao you suo xue - "old, have, what, learn"); the five-act micro drama "Letters Like Years" and various other programs were staged in Qingshan District, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, paying tribute to the elderly city builders, model figures of filial piety and respect for the elderly, and silver-haired "five elders" volunteers.
In addition, various regions, relying on the New Era Civilization Practice Centers (stations, sites), carried out policy and theory lectures, advocacy for changing outdated customs, and legal education with the theme of loving and respecting the elderly, organized civilized practice activities such as free health consultations, loving haircuts, and free calligraphy and painting, and held "Most Beautiful Family Portrait" photo shoots, advocating and establishing a good social trend of respecting the elderly and honoring the virtuous and upholding virtue and striving for goodness (崇德向善, chong de xiang shan - "worship virtue, toward, goodness").
Return to TopBy: 刘子赫
Older people are a precious asset of the Party and the state. On the eve of the Double Ninth Festival in 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping replied to representatives of the elderly volunteers of the "Silver Age Action," encouraging the broad community of elderly friends to "not only enjoy security and happiness in old age, but also find purpose and fulfillment in old age." On the eve of the Spring Festival this year, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited and offered condolences to grassroots officials and the public in Beijing, he pointed out that respecting and honoring the elderly is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and that loving and assisting the elderly is the shared responsibility of the whole society.
China's network of elderly care service facilities has been further improved. As of the end of 2025, the country had a total of 395,000 elderly care institutions and facilities of various types (including institutions combining medical and elderly care services), with a total of 7.679 million elderly care beds. In 2024 and 2025, central fiscal funds invested a cumulative total of 600 million yuan to support the development of meal assistance services for the elderly in various localities. As of now, the number of elderly meal assistance sites nationwide has reached 82,000, providing meal assistance services to more than 4 million elderly people per day, forming a meal assistance service network that covers urban and rural areas with a rational layout.
Finding happiness in old age, finding purpose in old age. Elderly care is not just about "being cared for," but also about "being needed." China has always encouraged older people to put their wisdom to use, taking the "Silver Age Action" as the starting point to promote the regular and long-term development of volunteer services by the elderly. As of the end of September 2025, the number of elderly volunteers registered in the national volunteer service information system had reached 53.58 million. The Guiding Opinions on Supporting the Social Participation of Older People and Promoting the Realization of Purpose in Old Age, jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and other departments, clearly proposes promoting the regular and long-term development of volunteer services by the elderly, and actively organizing volunteer services such as assisting the weak and disabled, supporting the elderly and caring for the young, health and hygiene, teaching and supporting education, and culture for the benefit of the people.
The smiling faces of the elderly are vivid footnotes to the people's livelihood report card. May every older person live with peace of mind and comfort, and in the later years of life (桑榆岁月, sang yu sui yue - "mulberry, dusk, years") enjoy ease and radiate the glow of sunset.
Return to TopBy: 谢春涛
Ninety years ago, the Communist Party of China led the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in successfully completing the Long March, an event that shook the world and shines forever in the annals of history, composing an earth-shaking and awe-inspiring (惊天动地, jing tian dong di - "shock, heaven, move, earth") magnificent epic in the history of the Chinese revolution. This great expedition left the Party a precious spiritual treasure, inspiring Chinese Communists to continue forging ahead with determination. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that "the Long March holds extremely great significance in the development history of our Party, our country, and our military," emphasizing that "to carry forward the great Long March spirit and walk well the Long March road of today, we must strengthen the Party's leadership, uphold full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and strive with unswerving determination to advance the great new project of Party building." In commemorating the Long March, what is most important is to trace the glorious course by which the Communist Party of China overcame countless difficulties and dangers and continuously matured, to deeply understand our Party's outstanding leadership role in the Long March, to draw from history the way of victory for strengthening and building the Party, and on the Long March road of the new era to continuously enhance the Party's creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness.
During the Long March, our Party, with incomparably firm ideals and convictions, ensured that it always maintained the correct political direction at critical moments
Lofty ideals and convictions are the political soul of our Party and the spiritual pillar by which our Party, after a trek of 25,000 li, accomplished its great strategic shift. Facing the enemy's encirclement, pursuit, blockade, and interception and the harsh natural environment, the people's army under the Party's leadership adhered to Marxist faith, cherished the lofty ideal of communism, and bore in mind the future and destiny of the Chinese nation, forging an immortal monument of heroes with the dauntless spirit of facing death to find life. Unbreakable ideals and convictions supported countless valiant Red Army officers and soldiers in charging into battle and braving fire and water. Severe frost reveals the integrity of trees; in times of crisis one sees the true heart. At the important moment of deciding whether to head for western Hunan or turn to fight along the Sichuan-Guizhou border, Comrade Mao Zedong, with an attitude of seeking truth from facts, made the correct judgment based on the reality that the enemy was strong and we were weak and that the local warlords were outwardly united but inwardly divided. This made everyone understand what it truly means to be a Marxist. Only a Party that pursues truth and looks far ahead can determine the Red Army's direction and path from a strategic and overall perspective. At the critical juncture of deciding whether to follow the Party Central Committee northward or to go south with Zhang Guotao, the choice between striving to "open up communication with the Soviet Union," raising the banner of resistance against Japan, and forming a new anti-Japanese front in the north, on the one hand, and "marching to the Chengdu basin to eat rice," on the other, was in essence a divergence between two lines: Bolshevism and warlordism. At that time, when the cooks got up, they did not ask whether there was rice to cook but first asked about the direction of the march, because most comrades recognized that following the ideal of resisting Japan and saving the nation would lead to a bright future. It was precisely by relying on their steadfast adherence to faith that the Party and the Red Army were able to uphold the correct direction at critical moments, achieving the ability not to be distracted by superficialities (不畏浮云遮望眼, bu wei fu yun zhe wang yan - "not, fear, floating, clouds, cover, eye, look") and to ride the wind and waves without losing their course.
The ideals and convictions of Communists are not a castle in the air (空中楼阁, kong zhong lou ge - "empty, middle, building, pavilion") but have a profound ideological and theoretical foundation. Firm ideals and convictions are built upon a deep understanding of Marxism. The Long March enabled our Party to truly treat science with a scientific attitude, to find the correct ideological line of combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete reality, and enabled our Party, while crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, also to surmount the erroneous ideological obstacle of dogmatism, composing a glorious chapter in the history of the Chinese revolution. Firm ideals and convictions are based on an accurate grasp of the laws of history. In the Long March, a struggle between the two forces of revolution and counter-revolution, between the two destinies of light and darkness, our Party, focusing on the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation and following the popular will and general trend, linked the resolution of the crisis of survival with the salvation of the nation from subjugation, linked the general direction of the Long March with the establishment of an anti-Japanese forward position, and transformed a difficult trek surrounded by dangers on all sides (危机四伏, wei ji si fu - "crisis, four, surround") into a victorious advance in high spirits (精神抖擞, jing shen dou sou - "spirit, shake, vigorous, soar"). Over the past 90 years, the Communist Party of China has always walked in the direction pointed out by this great expedition.
Entering the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has come to understand even more deeply that firm ideals and convictions are a fundamental issue bearing on the spiritual strength and future and destiny of a Marxist political party and a socialist country, and has promoted a comprehensive and fundamental transformation in the situation in the ideological sphere. Our Party has made "firming up ideals and convictions" the primary task of ideological development and placed it as the primary aspect of the "Several Guidelines on Political Life Within the Party Under the New Situation," clearly stipulating that the first criterion for good cadres in the new era is "firm in conviction," leading Party members and cadres to consolidate the foundation of faith, replenish the calcium of spirit, and steady the rudder of thought, and always to advance the cause of the Party and the people with high morale.
Ideals are ideals because of their loftiness; convictions are convictions because of their steadfastness. To build a strong Marxist ruling party, one must first consolidate the foundation of ideals and convictions, which is the foundation for building and revitalizing the Party. On the Long March road of the new era, we must adhere to using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to unite hearts and forge souls, deeply grasp its requirements concerning political character, value pursuits, spiritual realm, work style and integrity, and not waver or deviate in political stance, political direction, political principles, or political path, consciously becoming firm believers in and faithful practitioners of the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must persist in tempering strong Party character, organically unifying firm ideals and convictions with forging firm loyalty to the Party, cultivating deep feelings for the people, adhering to seeking truth from facts, purifying moral character, and maintaining integrity and honesty, continuously consolidating the foundation for establishing ourselves, undertaking our work, and establishing our moral standing. We must continue to carry forward the great Long March spirit, continuously consolidate the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country, illuminate the road of struggle with the light of ideals, and create a bright future with the power of faith.
During the Long March, our Party formed a strong leadership core, providing the most important guarantee for the Chinese revolution to move toward victory
History preserves true meaning; examining the past enables us to know the future. The Zunyi Meeting in fact established Comrade Mao Zedong's leadership position in the Party and the Red Army, began to establish the leadership position in the Party Central Committee of the correct Marxist line mainly represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, and began to form the Party's first generation of central leadership collective with Comrade Mao Zedong at its core. This was a historic choice made by our Party after long-term comparison. After the Zunyi Meeting, Comrade Mao Zedong, with the lofty prestige accumulated through long-term direction of Red Army operations, led our Party to achieve a series of major victories, including crossing the Chishui River four times and skillfully crossing the Jinsha River, breaking out of the enemy's encirclement. It should be noted that Comrade Mao Zedong's core position was established gradually. The Tongdao Meeting, the Liping Meeting, and the Houchang Meeting laid the groundwork for the Zunyi Meeting's reorganization of the central leading organs, while the Gouba Meeting, the Huili Meeting, and others further unified thinking and consolidated the achievements of the Zunyi Meeting. It must be pointed out that the establishment of Comrade Mao Zedong's leadership position was both an inevitability of historical choice and closely related to his own consistent adherence to truth and loyalty to the Party. Comrade Mao Zedong was unswerving and wholly devoted to the Party, integrating his personal destiny into the cause of the Party and the people, turning the tide and promoting the Chinese revolution to usher in a brand-new situation.
Among myriad towering mountains, there must be a main peak; when a boat is heavy with a thousand jun, one person steers it. A mature Marxist ruling party must have a strong leadership core. History teaches us that only when the Party has a core can all be of one heart, and only when the Party has authority can its orders and decrees carry weight; the most important thing in upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership is to resolutely safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership; the most crucial thing in resolutely safeguarding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership is to form and resolutely safeguard the Party's core. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, in accordance with the common aspiration of the whole Party, the whole military, and the people of all ethnic groups across the country, our Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping's core position in the Party Central Committee and the whole Party, and established the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The Two Establishments (两个确立) are a major political achievement of our Party in the new era, a decisive factor in realizing the great transformation of the new era, and the greatest certainty, greatest confidence, and greatest guarantee for the Party and the people in responding to all uncertainties.
At present, the once-in-a-century transformation of the world is accelerating, and the great ship of China has sailed to a critical period of consolidating the foundation and making comprehensive efforts to basically realize socialist modernization. We are at a time when the current is swifter and the waves are more turbulent mid-river, when the mountain path is steeper halfway up, a time when progress becomes increasingly difficult and increasingly perilous, yet when not to advance is to retreat and advance is imperative. At such a major juncture, the Party Central Committee's judgment, decision-making, and action capabilities play a decisive role. It must be deeply understood that safeguarding General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position is safeguarding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership; safeguarding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership first of all requires safeguarding General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position, and truly making the Two Upholds (两个维护) the highest political principle and fundamental political rule. On the Long March road of the new era, we must continuously improve political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, always maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in thought, politics, and action, take the implementation of the Party Central Committee's major decisions and arrangements as the fundamental requirement for safeguarding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and unswervingly be loyal to the core, support the core, uphold the core, and defend the core.
During the Long March, the Party's organizations and cadre ranks were tempered through fire and blood, enabling our Party to continuously win historical initiative in a series of great struggles
The Long March not only preserved the revolutionary forces but also tempered them. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that after the Long March, "what remained was the essence of the Chinese revolution, all of which had undergone severe training and testing." Through the Long March, our Party overcame the "Left" dogmatism represented by Wang Ming and the splittism of Zhang Guotao, achieving unprecedented unity. During the Long March, the Party Central Committee held important meetings, of which more than 30 have records, and many of them had expanded participation. Our Party fully brought into play the important advantage of democratic centralism, fully listening to opinions from all sides at critical moments while ensuring efficient decision-making amid rapidly changing battle conditions. During the Long March, the Party always maintained strict discipline, attached importance to the education of new recruits and the transformation of captured soldiers, repeatedly proclaimed the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention" in the Red Army, and continuously purified the Party's work style. During the Long March, our Party firmly grasped propaganda work as a powerful weapon to boost morale and unite hearts, adhering to the principle of "holding propaganda leaflets in the left hand and bullets in the right hand," writing red slogans along the way and into the hearts of the people. Newspapers such as Red Star and Soldier became "powerful loudspeakers" along the Long March, deeply publicizing the Party's line, principles, and policies. Through the Long March, the Party tempered cadres and urgently needed to cultivate more backbone forces. After the Central Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi in October 1935, the Party Central Committee resumed Party school operations, and the Party School of the CPC Central Committee and the Party schools of the various base areas established one after another became great cradles for cultivating revolutionary backbones. Our Party, guided by scientific theory and emphasizing theoretical arming, continuously defeated the enemy and grasped historical initiative. The Long March also showed the world a Party that dared to criticize itself and was courageous in correcting errors. Through deeply summing up the lessons of the failure of the Fifth Counter-Encirclement Campaign and the setback at the Tucheng battle, the Party and the Red Army became increasingly proactive in the application of strategy and tactics. The Party Central Committee promptly corrected the problem of over-expansion in the "suppression of counter-revolutionaries" in northern Shaanxi, laying the political foundation for consolidating and expanding the northern Shaanxi Soviet area. The Communist Party of China, reborn from fire, displayed vigorous vitality and opened up a bright prospect for the Chinese revolution.
Marxist political parties have always attached importance to tempering themselves through struggle and testing, continuously maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity. The Communist Party of China is courageous in promoting self-revolution; this was not only fully reflected in the Long March but has also become a distinctive character running through our Party's more than one hundred years of struggle. History is the best textbook. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the Party's experience is "accumulated by our Party through long-term exploration amid hardships and storms," emphasizing that "we must not forget or lose memory of the profound lessons in Chinese and foreign political history of those who were content with the status quo and perished in comfort." Since the new era, our Party, with a high degree of historical self-awareness, has found self-revolution as the second answer to escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall, and through advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in depth, Party building has achieved historic and pioneering achievements, produced all-round and deep-reaching effects, and won the historical initiative for strengthening the Party and the country.
The sail has already weathered stormy waves; now we head deeper into the vast ocean. The Long March is an epic of history and also a magnificent feat of reality. To deeply advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, Chinese Communists need to continue to maintain the sharpness to break through barriers and the courage of self-revolution. On the road ahead, the "four tests" and "four dangers" facing our Party will exist for a long time. How to forever maintain advanced nature and purity, forever maintain youthful vitality, how to forever win the support of the people, and how to achieve long-term governance are fundamental questions we must answer and resolve well. We must consistently carry forward our Party's fine qualities of unswervingly pursuing truth, deeply rooting itself in the people, bravely undertaking historical missions, following the trend of development, daring to be good at struggle, and attaching importance to strengthening itself, take political development as the guide to comprehensively strengthen all aspects of Party building, adhere to grasping Party character, Party conduct, and Party discipline together, advance in an integrated manner the efforts to make officials not dare to be corrupt, not able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt, persistently improve the system for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and strive to build our Party into a vigorous Marxist ruling party that always walks at the forefront of the times, is sincerely supported by the people, and can withstand all kinds of storms and tests.
During the Long March, our Party closely relied on the people and continuously awakened the masses, gathering an indestructible and mighty force
A great history of the Long March is a history of Chinese Communists practicing their original aspiration and founding mission and maintaining close ties with the masses. Our Party has always regarded the people as the root of life and the source of strength, leaving behind immortal tales such as "half a quilt," "the alliance at the Yi Sea," and "the night talk at Danjiaji" during the Long March. Comrade Mao Zedong once profoundly pointed out: "The Long March is a declaration, the Long March is a propaganda team, the Long March is a seeder." By contacting the masses, publicizing to the masses, arming the masses, uniting the masses, and relying on the masses, our Party enabled the people to truly recognize that the road pointed out by the Communist Party of China was the correct road to liberation. At that time, a folk doggerel from Hunan wrote: "When the Red Army comes, everything is good; when the White Army comes, everything is taken." The Party seeks happiness for the people, and the people follow the Party with iron determination. During the Long March, the Party also helped the masses of all ethnic groups establish revolutionary political power, led the formation of revolutionary armed forces such as the Southern Sichuan Guerrilla Column and the Qianbei Guerrilla Detachment, and lit lamps in the dark night. During the hard years of the Long March, our Party always kept the overall interests of the Chinese people in mind and promoted the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front. During this period, the "August First Declaration" issued by the Communist Party of China and the "December 9th Movement" it led received positive responses from all sectors, including the working class, young students, the cultural circles, the industrial and commercial circles, democratic parties, the left wing of the Kuomintang, and overseas Chinese. A group of foreign journalists represented by Edgar Snow came to northern Shaanxi one after another, enabling the Long March and "Red China" to become better known to the world. Through the great expedition of going north to resist Japan, our Party sounded the clarion call for the awakening and striving of the entire nation and also won the friendship and support of peace-loving people around the world.
The question of for whom and relying on whom is the touchstone for testing the nature of a political party and a key factor determining how far a contingent can go. When speaking of the Long March, one cannot help but think of Shi Dakai, who met his downfall at Zida (today's Anchangchang) that year; Chiang Kai-shek attempted to make the Red Army a "second Shi Dakai." An important reason for Shi Dakai's defeat was his conflict with the Yi people and loss of mass support. The reason the Red Army's Long March led by the Communist Party of China was able to achieve victory was that it won the people's trust through its exemplary actions and truly shared life and death and weathered storms together with the people. This laid an important foundation for the formal establishment of the Party's mass line during the Yan'an period and also made putting the people first part of the Party's blood and soul.
The hardest thing for a political party is to remain unchanged in its original aspiration through the vicissitudes of time and to retain its true character through wind and frost. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The Communist Party of China is rooted in the people, its blood flows from the people, and its strength comes from the people." Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the first intra-Party centralized education organized by our Party was the educational practice activity on the Party's mass line, and every subsequent one has taken doing practical things for the people as an important component. Our Party has led the people to win the largest battle against poverty in human history, accomplished a series of good deeds and practical things that benefit people's livelihoods, warm people's hearts, and conform to people's wishes, and demonstrated the fundamental political stance of a Marxist ruling party through concrete actions.
The Party's original aspiration is also the Party's enduring determination. On the Long March road of the new era, we must clearly recognize that the current international situation is intertwined with change and disorder, the depth of change is rarely seen in history, the intensity of disorder is more prominent, the external environment profoundly affects domestic development, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development in our country remains prominent, the people have more expectations for a better life, and there are also many urgent and difficult problems. Popular support is the greatest politics. We must put the people in the highest position in our hearts, always adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, and firmly follow the Party's mass line in the new era. We must consolidate and expand the achievements of the learning and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, strive to make political achievements for the people and through practical work. We must closely rely on the people to create great historical achievements, develop whole-process people's democracy, continuously consolidate and develop the great unity of all ethnic groups, the great unity of the people of the whole country, and the great unity of all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, gather the mighty force of hundreds of millions of people to advance Chinese modernization, and always stand with the people, think with the people, and work with the people.
Through the smoke of history, the great Long March spirit has become the eternal gene passed down by Chinese Communists. On the new journey, we must unite even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, firm in ideals, brave in undertaking missions, striving vigorously, and forging ahead, so that our Party, through revolutionary tempering, continuously enhances its political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, and creates new historical glory on the new Long March road of realizing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
(The author is the Executive Vice President (Vice President) in charge of daily work of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance))
Return to TopBy: 吕卜莲
The question of "for whom" is a fundamental question. Mass work is, in essence, work with people, and its value lies in engaging with heart and feeling, reaching the hearts of the masses. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "When cadres act with feeling, the masses perceive the difference." When there is genuine feeling in the heart, work carries warmth, and the masses feel it keenly.
Whether one has feeling for the masses is, on the surface, a question of attitude, but in essence it is a question of stance. For Party members and cadres to narrow the distance with the masses, the foremost task is to set right their relationship with the masses—truly regarding themselves as one of the masses, treating the affairs of the masses as their own, and keeping the masses' joys and sorrows, warmth and cold, in their hearts at all times. The narrowing of physical distance is a recalibration of one's own positioning. Party members and cadres are not "lordly officials" acting in a condescending manner (居高临下, ju gao lin xia - "reside, high, descend, below"), but "one of their own" sitting on the same bench as the masses, bound by a relationship of mutual trust. Only when psychological distance is narrowed does the ideological and action-oriented consciousness of putting the people first take shape. This consciousness stems from the true character of public servants—firmly establishing the conviction of doing practical things for the people in the performance of duties, with work results measured by whether the masses are satisfied; it stems from flesh-and-blood ties—understanding the difficulties behind daily necessities, discarding perfunctoriness, adding patience, and exchanging heart for heart and feeling for feeling; it stems from a sense of responsibility—translating original aspirations into concrete actions of handling practical matters and resolving difficulties, so that the masses see change and reap tangible benefits.
Where does feeling for the masses come from? Many grassroots cadres share this plain and sincere experience: learned from books, grown at the grassroots, warmed in the heart. Deep feeling for the masses does not arise out of thin air; it is the joint product of theoretical study and practical nurturing. Theoretical study does not provide ready-made answers; it provides the coordinates for value judgment, helping Party members and cadres understand the profound connotation of putting the people first, resolve the question of "who I am, for whom I act, and on whom I rely," and elevate simple feeling into a firm stance. Practical tempering further transforms this feeling and stance into concrete action carried out in real scenarios: both continuously focusing on the masses' urgent, difficult, worried, and expectant problems, ensuring that livelihood matters are grasped and handled promptly and that livelihood practicalities are implemented with visible results, and also looking to the long term, respecting objective laws, coordinating phased arrangements with long-term goals, advancing all work with sustained, long-term effort, and guarding against the risk of "solving one problem while leaving behind a string of aftereffects."
From the inside out, from feeling to action, different degrees of feeling inevitably produce different states of performance in office. When feeling for the masses is deep, one treats the masses' small matters as major matters and their difficult matters as one's own family affairs, seeks no empty reputation and performs no hollow work, and does more practical things that lay foundations, benefit the long term, and improve people's livelihoods. When feeling for the masses floats on the surface, work readily stops at the desk and remains on paper. In reality, some Party members and cadres have physically arrived at the front line of serving the masses, but their feeling has not drawn close to the masses; they appear being extremely conscientious and hardworking (兢兢业业, jing jing ye ye - "fearfully, reverently, work, work") and busy, with tasks spread across a table, yet with little gain for the concerns of the masses. Some follow proper procedures and keep clear records in their work, but once the process is completed and the materials are submitted, the problems remain exactly as they were. Still others excel at "show-style" mass work, pursuing inflated targets divorced from reality and empty slogans seeking attention through sensationalism or flattery (哗众取宠, hua zhong qu chong - "clamor, crowd, take, pet"), turning a blind eye to the actual needs of the masses. These phenomena, in the final analysis, stem from insufficient feeling and a skewed stance—they not only consume administrative resources but also erode the masses' trust and damage the image of the Party and the government.
Whether feeling is genuine, the masses see most clearly; whether feeling is deep, work results are the best judge. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "Feeling is a very essential thing. Going through the motions of connecting with the grassroots without feeling is 'showmanship.' Comrades with feeling who go to the grassroots to do work are seen, felt, and experienced—that is a kind of warmth." Whether the masses are satisfied or happy, in the final analysis, depends not on what Party members and cadres have said or what materials have been written, but on whether life has improved and whether difficulties have been resolved. Acting with feeling is a matter of responsibility and perseverance. Only by keeping a close eye on the masses' real interest demands, doing everything possible to accomplish things that benefit the people, and letting the masses feel tangible warmth, can one win the masses' recognition through solid results and create achievements that withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.
Return to TopBy: 李思齐
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must make coordinated use of greening space, determine greening by land, determine greening by water, and do a good job of the article of increasing greenery in light of local conditions, planting trees where trees are suitable and grass where grass is suitable." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important exposition profoundly reveals that advancing land greening must adhere to the scientific method of acting in light of local conditions. Since the new era, China's ecological civilization construction has undergone historic, transformative, and holistic changes, creating drawing worldwide attention (举世瞩目, ju shi zhu mu - "raise, world, gaze, eye") ecological miracles and green development miracles, with notable achievements in land greening. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes: "Coordinated advancement of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, improving the quality of the ecological environment." The "Beautiful China Construction 15th Five-Year Plan" proposes: "Scientifically carry out large-scale land greening actions." During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, to coordinate the advancement of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, it is necessary to coordinate greening space and respect the laws of nature. Doing a good job of the article of increasing greenery in light of local conditions is not only an inherent requirement for improving the quality and efficiency of land greening, but also an important measure for consolidating the green foundation of high-quality development and advancing the construction of a Beautiful China.
Based on spatial differences, coordinate the layout of greenery increase. Land is the spatial carrier of ecological civilization construction. China's natural geographical conditions are complex and diverse, and the resource endowments and functional positioning of different spatial units differ. Advancing land greening cannot be separated from specific spatial conditions, but must be scientifically planned within the overall pattern. According to local natural conditions and economic and social development status, incorporate greenery increase into the overall land spatial planning and the overall deployment of ecological protection and restoration, unify local greenery increase with the optimization of the overall ecological pattern, and implement afforestation and greening tasks on the "one map" of land spatial planning. For example, Ningxia has constructed a "One River, Three Mountains" land spatial ecological restoration pattern, integrating the "One River, Three Mountains" ecological functional positioning into the three-level land spatial planning of regions, cities, and counties, and continuously promoting forest and grassland ecological restoration. Different spaces bear different main functions, and greening priorities should also differ. Ecological space should focus on the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems; agricultural space should be combined with the construction of high-standard farmland, scientifically standardized and designed for disaster prevention, building farmland shelterbelts; urban space should focus on improving the scale and quality of public green space, achieving different spaces with different emphases and mutual coordination. According to the suitability of different spatial units, combine the improvement of ecological functions with the improvement of urban and rural living environments, from "making way for trees" to "creating gardens with trees," revitalizing existing greening space in light of local conditions. For example, Chengdu, Sichuan, promotes the renovation of old residential communities and creates "pocket parks"; Shanghai sets up seats in the space beneath street trees, creating "all-age friendly" understory spaces, meeting citizens' practical needs for improved green space.
Focusing on resource constraints, scientifically implement classified measures. To advance ecological civilization construction, the carrying capacity of resources and the environment must be taken as a prerequisite. The endowment of natural resources determines the scientific method and reasonable scale of land greening, and resource endowment and governance methods must be unified. First, determine greening by land and scientifically grasp the scale of greening. Strengthen comprehensive assessment of land nature, soil conditions, and ecosystem carrying capacity, planting trees where trees are suitable and grass where grass is suitable. Scientifically calculate suitable greening space, reasonably determine the scale of greening, make greening tasks compatible with land conditions, and prevent blind green expansion divorced from actual land conditions. Second, determine greening by water and reasonably choose greening methods. Water resources are a rigid constraint on scientific greenery increase. Full consideration must be given to the temporal and spatial distribution and carrying capacity of precipitation, surface water, groundwater, and other water resources, adhere to determining by water and acting according to water volume, and reasonably choose vegetation types and management methods according to water resource conditions. For example, Shihezi City, Xinjiang, in response to perennial drought and low rainfall, has planted large quantities of drought-tolerant ground cover plants in public green spaces and widely adopted modern water-saving irrigation models. Third, coordinate natural ecological elements and advance systematic governance. Adhere to the concept that "mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts are a community of life," coordinate consideration of the integrity of natural geographical units, the interconnectedness of ecosystems, and the comprehensiveness of natural ecological elements, achieving overall protection, systematic restoration, and comprehensive governance.
Follow ecological laws and carry out restoration and management in accordance with the law. The Ecological Environment Code stipulates: "In accordance with the principle of respecting natural laws, planting forests where forests are suitable, grass where grass is suitable, sand where sand is suitable, and wasteland where wasteland is suitable, scientifically carry out ecological restoration." To consolidate the achievements of greenery increase and enhance ecosystem stability, human subjective initiative must be built on the basis of correctly grasping natural laws. Follow the laws of ecosystem succession, and according to the degree of ecosystem degradation and recovery capacity, leave necessary time and space for natural recovery. Establish and improve the protection system for primary desert, implement closure protection for primary deserts of important ecological location, promote the natural restoration of desert vegetation, and adopt comprehensive measures to improve the stability of desert ecosystems. Delineate areas for grazing prohibition, rest grazing, and rotational grazing on grasslands, implement the system of determining livestock by grass and balancing grass and livestock, and the development and utilization of grasslands must not destroy the living environment of wild animals and plants on grasslands, nor damage the functions of grassland ecosystems. For areas where ecosystems are severely damaged and cannot recover on their own, proactively adopt scientific artificial restoration measures to accelerate the ecosystem recovery process. Establish and improve the system for later-stage greening maintenance and management, and reasonably determine later-stage management and protection measures according to the characteristics of different ecosystems and protection and restoration goals. Improve mechanisms for ecological monitoring and evaluation, disaster prevention and control, and assessment of the effectiveness of ecological protection and restoration, strengthen tracking and management of ecosystem succession processes, and promptly prevent risks of ecological degradation.
(The author is a researcher at the School of Marxism, Peking University)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 金 歆 沈童睿 人民网记者 游天燚
Dear Comrade Editor:
We are residents of Mabian Yi Autonomous County in Leshan, Sichuan, and of Gulin County and Xuyong County in Luzhou. It is again the season for harvesting bamboo shoots. Some people, in order to keep them fresh and make them look good for sale, use sulfur to fumigate fresh bamboo shoots. Sulfur-fumigated fresh bamboo shoots may not only cause harm to consumers' health, but also seriously pollute the air. We have reported this to the relevant departments many times, but have not received effective handling.
Ms. Wu of Leshan City, Sichuan, and Mr. Wang of Luzhou City
Is it permissible to fumigate fresh bamboo shoots with sulfur? According to the National Food Safety Standard — Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB—2760—2024), sulfur may not be used to fumigate fresh bamboo shoots. The Food Safety Law clearly stipulates that "the production and operation of the following foods is prohibited... foods produced with non-food raw materials, or foods to which chemical substances other than food additives and other substances that may harm human health have been added."
The law and the national standard strictly prohibit this, so why do people still use sulfur to fumigate bamboo shoots? A reporter recently went to the scene to investigate.
Why fumigate bamboo shoots?
"After fumigation, they can be stored for one to two months"
On the evening of September 22, following the address provided by the reader, the reporter came to Laodong Township in Mabian County. Driving along the G348 highway that passes through the township and into the town, one could smell a pungent odor.
Tracing the source of the odor, the reporter came to a courtyard by the roadside with a sign reading "Yijia Yuan Farmhouse Restaurant" hanging at the gate. Walking about 40 meters into the courtyard, one could see a workshop area, where several workers were sorting and bagging fresh bamboo shoots.
The reporter, posing as a purchaser, asked, "Are the bamboo shoots you sell here fumigated with sulfur?"
"They are fumigated with sulfur — over a thousand jin of them, fumigated yesterday, and quite a lot has already been sold."
The workshop owner, "Boss Peng," pointing at a pile of bamboo shoots covered with black plastic sheeting, said that he sells both "pure natural bamboo shoots" and "sulfur-fumigated ones," and that what is fumigated is generally fresh shoots, not dried shoots.
"If you need it, we can also do 'customer-supplied material processing' — bring your own bamboo shoots to be fumigated, and the processing fee is 5 mao per jin," "Boss Peng" explained.
That same evening, by the roadside near Baiyanwan Village in Dazhubao Township, Mabian County, the reporter also saw a brightly lit bamboo shoot processing site. Entering the workshop, there were more than 40 blue plastic barrels filled to the brim with black bags, all containing bamboo shoots. As soon as a bag was opened, a pungent odor rushed out. "These shoots have all been fumigated with sulfur, 50 jin per barrel," the owner, "Boss Yan," explained. "They have already been reserved by someone, so we can't sell them to you."
Why must sulfur fumigation be used? "Mainly for preservation. Ordinary bamboo shoots can only be kept for a day or two; after fumigation, they can be stored for one to two months," one worker explained.
What is the usual proportion of sulfur added? Another worker replied that the amount added is "by feel."
The next morning, the reporter passed another workshop by the main road below Dazhubao Township. The workshop gate was wide open, and workers could be seen bagging bamboo shoots from the road. The reporter walked into the workshop; the floor was covered with over a hundred bulging woven bags. Opening one woven bag, the pungent odor immediately made one cough uncontrollably.
In the end, the reporter bought 100 jin of sulfur-fumigated bamboo shoots from the owner, "Boss Ji," for a price of over 800 yuan.
Is anyone in charge?
"They all fumigate up in the mountains; inspectors simply can't find them"
From September 22 to 27, the reporter visited Mabian County, Gulin County, Xuyong County, and other places, and the bamboo shoot farmers or merchants encountered made no secret at all of using sulfur to fumigate bamboo shoots. Aren't they worried about being investigated and punished by the relevant departments?
On September 25, in Guandou Village, Shuiwei Township, Xuyong County, the reporter met Old Li, a villager. He told the reporter that this year's Xuyong bamboo shoot harvest is late, and if one wants sulfur-fumigated shoots, one should come back in about ten days.
"Aren't you afraid of being investigated?" the reporter asked.
"Look over there." Old Li's wife pointed at a stretch of steep mountain peaks and said, "We all fumigate up in the mountains; inspectors simply can't find us!"
Likewise, the reader reported that the fumigation site in Gulin is also on the bamboo shoot mountain in Huangjing Township. Villagers said the fumigation spots are close to the mountaintop, some sections of the path are very steep, and in some places there is no path at all.
The reporter, in the guise of a tourist going into the mountains to dig bamboo shoots, asked a villager to serve as a guide. The guide led us, using both hands and feet together (手脚并用, shou shou bing yong - "hand, foot, and, use"), climbing for two hours, before passing through a dense thicket of shrubs and arriving at a relatively flat clearing with fewer trees.
In the clearing, three simple sheds had been set up, and more than a dozen workers were either resting or carrying bamboo shoots. On a small slope rising in the middle were piled thirty or forty green bags, and on the ground one could also see scattered yellow powder and lumps suspected to be sulfur. In the shed beside it, woven bags bearing the characters "sulfur" were piled up.
"Do you know that fumigating bamboo shoots with sulfur is illegal? Aren't you afraid of being investigated?"
An older woman at the scene burst out laughing: "Take a look at this place — there isn't even a road. How could inspectors find it?"
Compared with Xuyong and Gulin, the processing sites the reporter saw in Mabian were all right by the main road. Why haven't they been investigated either?
"We have reported this repeatedly over the past few years, and no one has handled it at all." Ms. Wu's tone was somewhat helpless. On September 30, the reporter tried calling the market regulation departments of Mabian County and Gulin County to report that people were using sulfur to fumigate fresh bamboo shoots. But on October 11, when the reporter contacted the several "bosses" met earlier, they all said the goods were selling normally. "Boss Ji" even said, "It's perfectly safe; come and look at the goods as soon as possible." But he added, "There will be an inspection tomorrow morning; come and look in the afternoon."
On the morning of October 12, the reporter met Hu Zheng, the head of the Mabian County Market Regulation Bureau. He explained that the county has 38 small and medium-sized bamboo shoot processing or temporary storage sites on its rolls, that the regulatory department carries out routine supervision, and that during the shoot-harvesting season inspection efforts are intensified.
As for why the results have not been satisfactory, one official explained that, on the one hand, the merchants are "very clever" — they fumigate sulfur shoots in uninhabited open spaces and up in the mountains, and work at night; on the other hand, in the countryside "everyone is connected by kinship and acquaintance," and "it's quite possible that they know in advance when we go to inspect." This coincided without prior agreement (不谋而合, bu mou er he - "not, plan, but, match") with what some bosses said during the interviews.
On the afternoon of the 12th, the reporter followed "Boss Ji" to look at the goods. As they were almost there, a woman wearing a red vest walked toward them.
"Is this someone coming to inspect?" the reporter asked, feigning alarm.
"I'm not afraid, so why should you be?" "Boss Ji" said in a very relaxed tone. One of "Boss Ji"'s subordinates then told the reporter that this was a village cadre; whenever the county has an inspection, the village is notified, so they can know in advance.
"Even when they are caught, sometimes the punishment is too light," Mr. Wang said.
It is worth noting that in 2025 this newspaper already received reports from readers that someone on the bamboo shoot mountain in Huangjing Township, Gulin County, was using sulfur to fumigate bamboo shoots. The reporter at the time forwarded the leads to the relevant local departments. On October 11, when the reporter asked about this matter, the head of the Gulin County market regulation department explained, "Last year, 1,900 kilograms of sulfur-fumigated bamboo shoots were seized, and the person responsible, one Yang, was fined 500 yuan."
"Only fined 500 yuan?" The reporter could hardly believe it. The official said that because this person had many external debts and family members who were ill, the punishment was imposed at the lower limit.
It is also worth mentioning that the head of the Gulin County market regulation department said that this year, the person fumigating shoots on the bamboo shoot mountain is still the same Yang from last year; 21 bags of fresh bamboo shoots suspected of being sulfur-fumigated were found in his warehouse, each bag about 48 jin, and they have been sealed on site and sent for testing.
Is there harm?
Excessive sulfur dioxide has repeatedly appeared in "leisure bamboo shoots"
The reporter sent the bamboo shoots purchased in Mabian for testing and found that the sulfur dioxide content was as high as 5.57 grams per kilogram.
What harm might eating sulfur-fumigated fresh bamboo shoots cause? Yi Huilan, a second-level professor at the School of Life Sciences of Shanxi University, said that sulfur dioxide adheres to the shoot body and, when it meets water, converts into sulfite. Even long-term low-dose intake can destroy B vitamins; continuous stimulation of the digestive tract increases the risk of mucosal damage. Heavy metals (lead, arsenic) brought in by industrial sulfur accumulate in the liver and kidneys, and long-term intake damages liver and kidney function; among these, arsenic is a Class I carcinogen.
"These goods are not sold directly for people to eat — otherwise there would be trouble. They are all sold to food factories, which will carry out 'desulfurization' treatment and then make them into snacks and semi-finished products such as pickled pepper bamboo shoot tips. That way there is no harm to the human body." That is what "Boss Xie," the owner of a processing site in Mabian County, said.
During the interviews, most of the bamboo shoot farmers and merchants interviewed insisted that "sulfur-fumigated bamboo shoots are actually not harmful" and that "there is no other way to process them." Are these views correct?
"Objectively speaking, bamboo shoots that have been fumigated with sulfur and then, after 'desulfurization' treatment, made into shoot products that meet the relevant national standards (the clear-water bamboo shoot standard, the pickled vegetable standard, etc.) can be eaten by people without adverse effects," said Yu Xuejun, chief expert of the Bamboo Food Team at the Bamboo Research Institute of Zhejiang A&F University. But in reality, incomplete "desulfurization" is difficult to avoid.
"Relatively formal large food processing enterprises will maintain strict quality control; when they encounter sulfur shoots, they will carry out thorough 'desulfurization' treatment." A staff member of a food processing factory in Zhaotong, Yunnan, told the reporter that enterprises generally use the method of flowing-water soaking for "desulfurization," "soaking 12 times, which is no small cost." "But those smaller factories that are not so formal find it hard to guarantee quality." A leader in Mabian County sighed, "It can only depend on the conscience of the enterprise."
The reporter's search found that on October 12, in the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation's notice on the situation of 52 batches of food failing random inspection, it was explicitly mentioned that clear-water bamboo shoots (pickled vegetables) produced by a certain company in Guizhou had sulfur dioxide residues that did not meet the requirements of the national food safety standard; in Sichuan, hand-peeled bamboo shoots produced by a certain company had excessive sulfur dioxide and were likewise reported: during production, incomplete "desulfurization" caused the sulfur dioxide residue in the product to exceed the standard requirement...
Yi Huilan also said that if industrial sulfur is used for fumigation, during the fumigation process the heavy metals in the industrial sulfur will adhere to the shoots along with the smoke. And heavy metals are difficult to completely remove through soaking or blanching.
"There is also an easily overlooked problem — the health of the workers who fumigate the sulfur shoots." An official in Mabian County said.
Can it be replaced?
The technology is mature; the main issue is cost
During the interviews, several bosses all said, "To keep them fresh, there is no choice but to fumigate with sulfur" and "under current technical conditions, there is no other way." Is this claim reasonable?
"Alternative technologies are mature," Yi Huilan said. For example, "rapid pre-cooling after harvest + low-temperature storage with the shell on" — after harvest, cool as quickly as possible to between 0 and minus 4 degrees Celsius, keeping the shoot shell; "boiling-water blanching + ice-water cooling + frozen storage" — boiling water inactivates polyphenol oxidase, preventing browning, then portion and freeze; in addition, there are edible coatings, modified-atmosphere packaging, and so on.
"The main bottleneck is not technology." The relevant official in Mabian County said that farmers and merchants choose sulfur fumigation because the cost is low.
Yang, the "bamboo shoot fumigation merchant" in Gulin County, told the reporter that if sulfur fumigation is used, fumigating one ton of bamboo shoots requires only about a few kilograms of sulfur, and the fumigation cost is just a few fen per jin. Other methods are hard to achieve this.
The relevant official in Mabian County said that a local merchant supplies goods to a food company in Chengdu, and in recent years he switched from sulfur fumigation to citric acid and low-salt immersion, which raises the cost by 3 yuan per jin of bamboo shoots. That company, however, said, "That's too expensive — can you switch back to the old kind?"
The head of the agricultural and rural department in Gulin County said that they had investigated liquid nitrogen instantaneous freshness-locking technology and related equipment and found the cost too high — the initial investment alone would be several hundred thousand yuan. A village-based cadre in Mabian also said, "Other bamboo shoots sell for 5 yuan a jin; liquid-nitrogen-treated bamboo shoots would have to sell for 25 yuan a jin just to break even."
Besides cost, farmers' skills and habits also have an influence. "The cost of methods such as salt immersion is actually controllable, but corresponding facilities need to be built, and rapid pre-cooling also requires building cold storage or purchasing freezing equipment, and the quantity that can be processed is limited. Many bamboo shoot farmers still feel that sulfur fumigation is simple — just set up a fire, no skill needed, and it fumigates quickly." The relevant official of the Mabian County Party Committee said.
Where is the way out?
Strengthen supervision, handle it jointly, "compete not on cost but on quality"
How can sulfur-fumigated bamboo shoots be eliminated?
The first issue is supervision. The head of the relevant department in Gulin County said that, after reflecting on the situation of "law enforcement finds it hard to detect, while the masses all know about it," they will actively innovate their strategy, bringing grassroots forces such as forest rangers and grid workers into the market regulation enforcement effort, strengthening source inspection at places of origin, and focusing on nighttime checks of simple illegal workshops in mountain areas.
With regard to the technical and cost issues, experts suggest that agricultural technical departments should still provide free training to bamboo shoot farmers in sulfur-free preservation techniques (blanching and freezing, pre-cooling preservation with the shell on), with on-site demonstrations. They should support the construction of small cold storage and pre-cooling facilities in production areas to reduce farmers' cold-chain costs; support cooperatives in unified processing, with centralized blanching, freezing, and modified-atmosphere packaging, to share equipment investment.
In response, the head of the Mabian County Forestry Bureau said that Mabian County will soon issue implementation opinions on the high-quality development of the bamboo shoot industry, clearly stating "encourage bamboo shoot food processing enterprises to build and purchase facilities and equipment for boiling shoots, sulfur-free baking, blanching, sterilization, tinplate canning, and cold storage, and give priority to seeking funds to provide subsidies at a certain proportion of the investment amount," and so on.
"Consumers pay more attention to the value of a product; as long as the value is higher than the price, even if the price is a bit higher, it does not necessarily affect product sales." Hao Xiangfeng, president of the Ningxia Wolfberry Association, said that many years ago there were isolated cases of sulfur fumigation of Ningxia wolfberries, but in recent years, with government guidance and market regulation, through technological innovation and changes in mindset, enterprises and farmers have gradually established the approach of "not competing on price but competing on quality," and now the situation of "sulfur-fumigated wolfberries" can no longer be seen. Drawing on this approach, the relevant localities should help bamboo shoot farmers and enterprises expand high-end sales channels and guide them away from the crude processing mindset that cares only about cost and not quality.
Bringing in food deep-processing enterprises is also a way to promote the green transformation of bamboo shoot processing. It is understood that both Mabian and Gulin have already established bamboo shoot deep-processing enterprises. "Production capacity is not yet able to absorb the bamboo shoots produced locally," an official in Mabian County revealed. At present, they are contacting several large enterprises in Beijing and other places to discuss cooperation on direct supply of fresh shoots. Once cooperation is reached, small cold storage and pre-cooling facilities will be built accordingly, directly changing the way bamboo shoots are processed.
"Sulfur-fumigated bamboo shoots exist not only in Mabian. To solve this problem, we hope that different localities will handle it jointly." The head of the relevant department of the Mabian County Party Committee said that although the cost of alternative measures is high, they are not entirely unacceptable. If bamboo shoot farmers in Mabian do not use sulfur fumigation while other places still use sulfur, and Mabian's bamboo shoots cannot sell because of higher costs, the common people will again "take the risk" and use the old method.
"It would be best for the relevant regions to handle this jointly." This official suggested. "'Going up the mountain to harvest bamboo shoots' is the memory of several generations in Mabian. We still hope that everyone will work together to promote the green transformation of bamboo shoot processing and wipe the dust off the golden signboard of 'Mabian bamboo shoots.'"
Return to TopIn a building in Shangtian Community, Fenglin Subdistrict, Xinhua County, Hunan, a beverage wholesaler has leased the ground floor. The merchant occasionally pours expired beverages directly into the community drainage ditch. When the amount is small, it is poured manually; when the amount is large, vehicles are used to crush the cans directly on the road surface, causing the expired beverages to flow everywhere (see photo), with some even seeping directly into the ground. In summer, this breeds mosquitoes and flies, seriously affecting the community environment.
Expired beverages are discarded food. According to the Food Safety Law and other relevant regulations, they should be handed over to qualified entities for unified destruction. The sugar, additives, and other substances in the beverages, when poured centrally into the sewer, will eventually flow into the urban sewage pipeline network and may even pollute natural water bodies. It is hoped that relevant departments will conduct on-site verification and rectify the indiscriminate dumping in accordance with the law.
Mr. Tian, netizen of the "Message Board for Leaders" on People's Daily Online
Return to TopAerial Pest Control Operations
Both Efficiency and Safety Are Needed
Recently, while taking a walk in the fields, I was hit by a pungent smell of pesticide. Looking up, I saw crop-protection drones operating at low altitude over the farmland, with fine pesticide mist drifting with the wind. Residents in nearby houses did not dare open their windows.
At present, aerial pest control operations in some places have many problems. For example, operations begin without notifying nearby residents in advance, and without checking wind direction and wind force before starting the machines; no buffer zones are set up near residential areas, and flight altitude and spraying parameters are set arbitrarily; some drone operators prioritize efficiency over safety, focusing only on pest control in the fields while ignoring the safety of nearby homes. It is recommended that aerial pest control operations be standardized: before operations, wind direction and wind speed should be checked, and no spraying should be done on windy days; isolation buffer zones should be left near villages, and anti-drift pesticide formulations should be used wherever possible; before operations, nearby residents should be notified in advance to close windows and doors and secure livestock and poultry. In addition, drone operators should be trained and certified before taking up their posts, and agricultural departments and grassroots villages and towns should strengthen supervision and guidance and establish simple complaint and feedback channels.
Yan Gaoge, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province
Balancing the Burden of Proof Between Labor and Management
Reducing Invisible Overtime Work
At present, many small and micro enterprises have situations of working six days a week and verbally arranging overtime work. Attendance records are unilaterally controlled by the enterprises, and overtime arrangements are mostly verbal notices. If the enterprises later refuse to acknowledge them, workers face difficulties in providing evidence to defend their rights when seeking recourse, and labor inspection authorities often adopt a refusing to act without a formal complaint (不告不理, bu gao bu li - "not report, not handle") approach, making it difficult for many normalized overtime labor problems to be discovered.
Legally, the burden of proof regarding the facts of overtime work rests mainly with the workers. It is recommended that in judicial practice the burden of proof between labor and management be balanced. This can be done by relying on existing government affairs apps to add a work-hours guardianship evidence-storage module, where employees' clock-ins generate tamper-proof timestamps. At the same time, chat records, work emails, duty rosters, and colleague testimony should be included within the scope of evidence. In addition, big data monitoring and early warning should be used: by integrating enterprise wage flows, social insurance payments, and attendance data, and using algorithmic models for automatic comparison, illegal clues such as abnormal work hours and excessive overtime can be accurately identified, reducing the chaos of unpaid overtime work.
Mr. Zhong, netizen on the People's Daily Online "Leader Message Board"
Managing the "Scrapped Electric Vehicles"
Used for Advertising at Intersections
Recently, I discovered a special type of "advertising electric vehicle" at several intersections. They are generally dilapidated electric vehicles, with batteries and even seats already removed, and boxes printed with various commercial advertisements installed at the rear. They are parked for long periods at intersections and busy areas. Some even occupy pedestrian walkways, serving as mobile billboards. Most of these vehicles are old and worn out, and the oversized advertising boxes affect the city's appearance. Moreover, they occupy non-motor vehicle lanes and pedestrian walkways for long periods, squeezing road space. In addition, this practice of using scrapped non-motor vehicles for advertising is low-cost and operates outside the approval and supervision of outdoor advertising.
Fine-grained urban governance requires not only cleaning up static small advertisements on walls and utility poles, but also managing this type of mobile advertising that makes use of discarded vehicles. It is recommended that relevant departments carry out investigations, close regulatory loopholes, and maintain a clean and orderly urban road environment.
Li Cheng, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 吴 君
On August 24, the "Readers' Letters" section of this newspaper published an article titled "Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge's Fortresses Closed for Years, Inconvenient for Maintenance and Visits," reporting that the stairways at the Wuchang fortress of the Yangtze River Bridge, which visitors use to ascend and descend, have remained closed, and that there are also problems such as cracked and damaged walls and window glass, missing bulbs in the dome chandeliers, and garbage hanging on the chandelier frames.
After the report was published, the Wuhan Bridge Works Section of China Railway Wuhan Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway Wuhan Group") immediately went to the site to verify the situation and, in coordination with relevant units such as the Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee, reached a rectification plan.
It is understood that the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was selected as a national key cultural relic protection unit in 2013 and was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic ended, due to water seepage in the highway level and facility damage inside the fortress's pipe shafts, the stairways became slippery, and to ensure the safety of public passage, the reopening was postponed.
Recently, a reporter visited the Wuchang fortress of the Yangtze River Bridge. At the entrance, there are notices of opening hours and related signage, as well as service personnel maintaining order and conducting security checks. Visitors only need to scan the QR code at the entrance and register the relevant information to enter the fortress for a visit.
Entering the fortress, the stairways are clean and bright, the lighting fixtures are completely new in appearance (焕然一新, huan ran yi xin - "change, change, one, new"), and fire extinguishers and trash bins are placed at the corners of the stairways. Now, China Railway Wuhan Group has transferred the management and use rights of the fortresses at both ends of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge to relevant units in Wuhan, to be used as pedestrian passages for ascending and descending the Yangtze River Bridge.
"After we took over, we carried out maintenance and upkeep on the facilities and walls inside the fortress, and opened it on a trial basis on October 2. The current opening hours are from 8:00 to 18:00 daily, and the stairways on both sides of the fortress are passable," introduced the person in charge of the Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee.
"The cracking and damage of the fortress walls fall within the scope of cultural relic restoration. The Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee has joined with China Railway Wuhan Group to carry out an investigation, and in strict accordance with the Cultural Relics Protection Law and under the guidance of the cultural relic administrative department, is currently drafting a restoration plan," introduced the relevant person in charge of the Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee.
"In the next step, we will continue to improve management and service facilities, optimize the visiting experience, and create a new cultural landmark for the city," said the relevant person in charge of the Wuhan Municipal Urban Management Committee.
(Wang Yutong participated in the reporting)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 庞革平
On October 12, this newspaper's "Readers' Letters" section reported on the problem of an unattended garbage pile on vacant land near the Xinchaolongwan residential community in Dongxing City, Guangxi. A reporter recently learned from the Publicity Department of the Dongxing Municipal Party Committee that the Dongxing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government attached great importance to the matter, promptly formed a joint working group, and organized personnel and equipment to enter the site to carry out garbage cleanup and remediation work. At present, all garbage at the site has been completely cleared (see photo, taken by You Xinghua).
Upon verification, the plot of land in question is public vacant land surrounding the residential community, and the accumulated garbage consisted mainly of construction waste from owners' renovations. Because the developer collected garbage removal fees but failed to promptly and properly haul away the waste, and because surrounding community residents casually dumped household garbage, the problem accumulated over a long period and formed an unsanitary dead end (卫生死角, wei sheng si jiao - "hygiene, death, corner").
In response to the existing problems, the Dongxing joint working group immediately summoned the relevant persons in charge of the project developer and the community property management company, and ordered them to earnestly strengthen garbage cleanup and service work in the community. During the remediation period, staff deployed specialized vehicles to sort, haul away, and properly dispose of the garbage at the site, while also carrying out disinfection and deodorization operations on the premises. After the garbage cleanup was completed, staff leveled and repaired the plot of land. In the next step, protective railings will be installed to prevent the recurrence of illegal garbage dumping.
In addition, the Dongxing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have specifically deployed a campaign to rectify disorder in property-managed communities citywide, strengthening policy publicity and guidance, smoothing channels for the public to voice their demands, improving long-term management mechanisms, and effectively safeguarding the people's good living environment.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘温馨
Since the start of this year's flood season, China's climate situation has been complex, with many areas experiencing extreme heavy rainfall that broke historical records, causing major casualties and property losses.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that all efforts must be made to organize rescue and relief operations, treatment of the injured, and resettlement of affected people, to minimize casualties to the greatest extent possible and guard against secondary disasters.
On the front line of flood prevention, rescue, and disaster relief, grassroots Party organizations and the broad ranks of Party members and cadres have responded to the "flood" alert and acted immediately upon receiving orders (闻令而行, wen ling er xing - "hear, command, then, act"), charging forward and dedicating themselves selflessly, fully playing the role of fighting fortresses and vanguard models, and building a solid line of defense protecting the safety of people's lives and property.
Shouldering Heavy Responsibilities, Building Strong Fighting Fortresses
"There are still people who haven't been evacuated — we can't leave!"
On July 17, a mountain collapse occurred in Hanjia Subdistrict, Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County, Chongqing. As crowds fled to safety, grid workers Peng Di, Gong Baodong, and others instead moved against the flow, turning back toward the dangerous mountainside, doing everything in their power to check every household and every corner, striving to leave no one behind and no blind spots. The emergency evacuation at the critical moment allowed more than 60 residents in the core collapse area to take shelter in advance.
After the disaster struck, the entire county of Pengshui coordinated efforts and maintained duty in shifts by area. Party members and cadres from the special police and the transportation, emergency response, and fire departments, together with volunteer forces from multiple quarters, immediately threw themselves into rescue operations and resettlement work. With rapid response and whole-region mobilization, various departments cumulatively safely relocated and resettled more than 1,100 people, and provided clothing, food, medicine, and other daily necessities, ensuring all-around support for the daily lives of disaster-affected residents.
During this year's flood season, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee issued a notice on fully playing the role of fighting fortresses of grassroots Party organizations and the vanguard and exemplary role of the broad ranks of Party members in flood prevention and disaster relief work, pointing out the need to improve and implement mechanisms for mobilizing Party members in emergency response, and to organize Party members in villages (communities) to lead the masses in joint rescue and disaster relief efforts by forming Party member commando teams and volunteer service teams, and setting up Party member vanguard posts and responsibility zones.
In May, the Party committee and government of Miechang Township, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, promptly detected a mudslide danger and decisively and safely relocated 21 households of 60 people; in June, when river water overflowed the embankment at Kengkou Village, Quanjiang Town, Ji'an, Jiangxi, emergency response personnel at both town and village levels and town and village cadres raced against the clock (争分夺秒, zheng fen duo miao - "compete, minute, seize, second") to persuade households door to door and patiently reassure residents, supporting the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled and others with limited mobility, completing the first batch of safe evacuations in just 20 minutes; in July, after the Party branch secretary of Xiyuan Village, Lanxi City, Zhejiang, discovered mountain flood danger, he quickly assembled cadres to act by area, knocking on doors, shouting warnings, and waking people with alerts, and the whole village achieved zero casualties... Wherever danger exists, there are Party organizations; wherever it is most perilous, there are strong fighting fortresses.
Charging Forward, One Party Member Is One Banner
After the flood season, Lifeng Village, Gaotai Town, Nanzheng District, Hanzhong, Shaanxi, which had endured torrential rain, has returned to calm, but the life of Li Yang, secretary of the village Party general branch, was forever frozen in that torrent.
In the early morning of August 1, there was a risk that the Hetongyan Reservoir, which stores water year-round in the village, would overtop. Li Yang and grid worker Li Guifu braved the torrential rain to check water levels and investigate hidden dangers. Finding that the reservoir water level had already exceeded the warning line and the spillway channel was overflowing, the two immediately headed to the hazardous road section to set up warning checkpoints. When they reached the flood discharge channel of Jiangba River, the road surface suddenly flooded over a large area, the vehicle skidded, lost control, and overturned into the river channel. Li Yang pushed with all his might to get Li Guifu onto the roof of the vehicle to take shelter, but he himself was tragically swept away by the floodwaters.
Li Yang, only 30 years old, was a retired military serviceman. "He always charged ahead; setting an example by one's own actions (以身作则, yi shen zuo ze - "use, body, act, model") was his way of doing things," said Zhang Wenpin, a member of the village work team.
At critical moments they can charge forward, and at crisis points they can step up boldly. In the face of every urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy task, the broad ranks of Party members and cadres have chosen "I'll go first, I'll be in front."
In Nanning, Guangxi, when a danger occurred at the Liulan Reservoir, He Rong, a cadre from the Fire and Special Disaster Rescue Division of the regional fire and rescue corps, rushed to the scene at the first opportunity, leading a commando team carrying boats and rescue supplies to advance in the dark against torrential rain and swift currents, transferring 54 trapped people to safety;
In Xiangyang, Hubei, at Yangyu Village, Nanhe Town, the mountainside in a key risk hazard area showed continuous displacement and accelerating soil movement. Because Lei Hongliang, secretary of the village Party branch and information reporter for disaster risk hazard reports, detected it in time and immediately organized residents to evacuate and take shelter, no casualties occurred;
In Anshan, Liaoning, Huangshatuo Town, Tai'an County, was hit by extreme heavy rainfall, with river levels across the area surging and frequent levee dangers. Wang Tianhe, former deputy town mayor, fought tirelessly on the front line of rescue operations without rest, and tragically died of a sudden heart attack at just 46 years old.
In the life-and-death test of flood prevention, rescue, and disaster relief, the broad ranks of Party members and cadres have charged to the very front line, fought at the most dangerous points, and held firm at the most basic levels, interpreting the true nature of vanguards through concrete actions and better safeguarding the safety of people's lives and property.
Coordinated Operations, Pooling the Combined Force of Unity of Purpose
"I'm familiar with the back end, and I'm also familiar with opening up emergency communication vehicles on the front line — let me go."
On August 13, a breach suddenly occurred in the embankment on the east bank of the Jialu River under the Xinbeihuan Bridge in Chuanhui District, Zhoukou, Henan, and network service at the site was cut off. Li Fei, squad leader of the mobile network operations and maintenance squad in the network department of the Zhoukou branch of China Mobile Henan Company, jumped onto an emergency communication vehicle and rushed to the front line.
Surveying points, laying optical cables, debugging backpack base stations... Li Fei set up equipment while wading through water, and two hours later, images and sound from the breach front line were successfully transmitted back to the command center. "I am a Party member; this is what I should do," Li Fei said.
Guarding the "main artery" of communications, Li Fei held his post continuously for 7 days and participated in restoring 77 base stations; building a solid "safety levee" for electricity, He Huanlin, a Party member of the Nanning Hengzhou Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid Guangxi, shouldered an emergency generator and led a team on foot for 6 kilometers to light the "first lamp" after the disaster for 5 remote villages including Pingshan and Xiabaimian; opening up the "lifeline" for rescue, professional rescue forces of China Anneng successfully reopened the damaged section of National Highway 216 toward Gyirong Port in Tibet; after Typhoon "White Dolphin" passed, Zhou Lixin, captain of the Wuxi Blue Sky Rescue Team in Jiangsu, took the lead in wading into waist-deep water, going door to door in flooded residential communities to search and rescue... In one hard-fought battle after another of flood prevention and rescue, central enterprises have bravely shouldered their missions, all sectors of society have participated extensively, and Party organizations at all levels and Party members and cadres have worked in unity and coordination, pooling a strong combined force for flood prevention and disaster relief.
On the very front line of the storm, grassroots Party organizations and the broad ranks of Party members and cadres have used concrete actions to build, along riverbanks and in the fields, one indestructible "red barrier" after another, erecting for the safety of people's lives and property one "red levee" after another that cannot be washed away.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 龚相娟 李家鼎
From October 15 to 17, the 2026 World Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, themed "World Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Jointly Embracing Change, Jointly Forging Standards, Jointly Creating the Future," was held in Tianjin. Participating guests shared development concepts and practical experiences in technical and vocational education and training from various countries, focusing on the opportunities and challenges brought by scientific and technological progress, industrial transformation, and digital-intelligent transition.
During the conference, supporting activities were held concurrently, including the China Technical and Vocational Education Special Exhibition, the Symposium on the 10th Anniversary of the Luban Workshop Initiative, and the World Vocational College Skills Competition Champions Final. The World Framework for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Standards (the Beijing Agreement) was officially released, painting a picture of global technical and vocational education and training defined by open cooperation and mutual benefit.
Technical and vocational education is a foundational project for cultivating high-quality skilled and technical personnel, playing a vital or decisive role (举足轻重, ju zu qing zhong - "lift, light, heavy, important") in economic and social development. At present, the changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs. The internal and external environment for the development of technical and vocational education has undergone profound changes, and it is now entering a critical stage of all-round transformation.
"Artificial intelligence, automation, digitalization, advanced manufacturing, and green technologies are reshaping all industries and giving rise to entirely new occupations; education must adapt to this transformation," said Milon, Minister of Education of Bangladesh. He noted that theoretical knowledge is indispensable, but for the future economic development, greater emphasis must be placed on cultivating practical abilities, digital literacy, and technical skills.
"Creating the future requires not only knowledge and skills, but also the ability to communicate, collaborate, and coexist harmoniously," said Talha, President of the General Conference of UNESCO, in a video address. He pointed out that this conference provides an important platform for countries to deepen learning from each other and drawing lessons from one another (互学互鉴, hu xue hu jian - "each other, learn, each other, examine") in technical and vocational education, and will continue to advance the implementation of relevant agendas on the basis of past cooperation achievements and discussions on mutual recognition of cross-border quality standards.
Leading open cooperation through jointly building standards. In his remarks, Milon stated that in responding to the changes of the times, national education systems should possess sufficient flexibility to adapt to new technologies and new forms of labor; building common standards requires creating a credible, transparent qualification and competency assessment system capable of international mutual recognition. At the same time, global standards should retain room for flexibility, making it convenient for countries to implement them in light of local conditions, based on their own economic structures, labor market realities, and development priorities.
Creating a bright future for technical and vocational education cannot be separated from the establishment of sincere and pragmatic partnerships among governments, institutions, industry, employers, international organizations, and young people.
"Education knows no borders, and good cooperation can enable educational opportunities to cross national boundaries," said Sangja Thewchansi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Vocational Education Commission of Thailand's Ministry of Education. He introduced that in 2016, Ayutthaya Technical College in Thailand and Tianjin Bohai Vocational Technical College jointly established the world's first Luban Workshop. Over the past 10 years, cooperation between the two sides has continued becoming deeper and more substantive (走深走实, zou shen zou shi - "walk, deep, walk, solid"), building a stable China-Thailand vocational education cooperation alliance and yielding abundant fruits in the fields of science, technology, and culture.
Deepening the integration of industry and education and cooperation between schools and enterprises is a key lever for high-quality development of technical and vocational education. "In the practice of running the Luban Workshop, we proactively invited local Portuguese enterprises in aviation maintenance, shipbuilding, and automobile manufacturing to participate in curriculum discussions, transforming enterprises' real production needs into teaching resources: the fault diagnosis processes of aviation maintenance enterprises were converted into practical training projects, and quality control standards from the automobile manufacturing industry were integrated into the curriculum system," introduced José Lucas, a professor at the Higher Technical School of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, a partner institution of the Luban Workshop in Portugal.
Since the first Luban Workshop was established in Thailand in 2016, China has built 38 Luban Workshops in 32 countries, linked with more than 100 Chinese and foreign enterprises for collaborative education, trained more than 30,000 degree-seeking students cumulatively, conducted various types of training for more than 160,000 person-times, and offered more than 100 specialties. The Luban Workshop has already become a benchmark project for international cooperation in technical and vocational education between China and other countries.
Leaving the conference venue, the China Technical and Vocational Education Special Exhibition was bustling with visitors. Rocket engine nozzle welding systems, hydrogen energy simulation training devices, wall-climbing robots, smart farm simulation remote platforms... One innovative achievement after another from the practice of industry-education integration drew participating delegates to stop and observe, exchange, and discuss. The five exhibition areas presented a panoramic view of China's reform explorations and practical achievements in technical and vocational education serving economic and social development and serving the all-round development of people.
"In the past, I thought technical and vocational education was only about cultivating a craft. Only after visiting the exhibition did I truly realize that behind it all is a complete education system providing support," said Cao Ruifeng, a student majoring in additive manufacturing technology at the School of Mechanical Engineering of Tianjin Vocational University, after viewing the exhibition.
On the evening of October 16, the Champions Final of the World Vocational College Skills Competition featured a brilliant and diverse array of performances or events (精彩纷呈, jing cai fen cheng - "splendid, colorful, present, appear"). Contestants from various countries cooperated closely, operated calmly, and adjusted with precision; skills transcended national borders, and the craftsman spirit of striving for perfection and continuous improvement (精益求精, jing yi qiu jing - "refined, gain, seek, excellence") shone brightly in coordination with one another (交相辉映, jiao xiang hui ying - "interchange, each other, shine, reflect"). This year's competition covered 78 countries across five continents, with a total of 9,391 teams and 36,000 contestants participating; on the basis of the original four overseas competition zones, an Oceania zone was added, and the competition's international influence continued to grow. The competition also added a track for traditional Chinese arts and crafts, promoting fine traditional Chinese culture to the world and continuously enhancing the appeal of Chinese culture.
This year's conference achieved fruitful or abundant results (成果丰硕, cheng guo feng shuo - "result, fruit, abundant, abundant"). At the closing ceremony on the morning of October 17, the World Framework for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Standards (the Beijing Agreement) was officially released to the public. Under this framework, China collectively signed memoranda of understanding on technical and vocational education cooperation with relevant countries and industries; at the same time, the China Technical and Vocational Education White Paper 2026, the national standard for Luban Workshops, and relevant cooperation mechanisms and cooperation agreements were also released successively.
The World Framework for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Standards (the Beijing Agreement) is the first international technical and vocational education standard developed under China's leadership. This document, refined over more than a year of effort, pooled the wisdom of education authorities, industry departments, and industry associations from more than 40 countries for consultation and improvement, contributing Chinese solutions to promoting high-quality development of global technical and vocational education.
The conference drew to a successful close. A batch of major outcomes were delivered, and a series of cooperation agreements were reached, injecting surging momentum into global exchange and cooperation in technical and vocational education, and also becoming a new starting point for countries to join hands in opening up the future of vocational education.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李凯旋 《环球人物》记者 陈佳莉
The Bashan mountains are layered in verdant green, and the autumn air is rich with vitality.
On October 16, the 2026 Global People Annual Ceremony was held in the Bazhong Economic Development Zone, Sichuan. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Every generation has its own Long March, and every generation must walk its own Long March well. With the theme "Toward the New · Resonance," this ceremony aimed to build on the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, jointly reflecting on how to transform revolutionary spirit into practical momentum, how to consolidate the foundation while upholding fundamental principles, and how to forge ahead through innovation.
At the sodium battery industry sub-forum, Wang Qingsong, a researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China, and other guests engaged in in-depth discussions on "The Sodium Battery Revolution and the Energy Answer Sheet of New Quality Productive Forces." At the low-altitude economy sub-forum, Ren Bin, chairman of Chengdu JOUAV Automation Technology Co., Ltd., Shi Zheyuan, chairman of Shanghai Qianji Innovation Culture and Tourism Technology Group Co., Ltd., and other guests conducted thorough exchanges on "Low-Altitude Economy and the Characteristic Clustering Grounds of Future Industries."
During the ceremony, Major General Luo Yuan, former deputy director of the World Military Research Department of the Academy of Military Sciences, stated that the Long March is not only a historical monument, but also a precious spiritual asset for contemporary people to not forget their origins, continue advancing, and walk well the Long March of the new era. Ren He, specially invited vice president of the China Industrial Design Association, recounted the development journey of China's large aircraft project toward industrialized design innovation, interpreted the frontier explorations of building a strong nation through science and technology, and expounded on the path of industrial endeavor on the Long March of the new era.
Joseph Gregory Mahoney, professor at the School of Politics and International Relations of East China Normal University, said that China's industrial upgrading in recent years has not been achieving success overnight or in one single step (一蹴而就, yi ce er jiu - "one, step, then, achieve"), but rather making steady, step-by-step progress (循序渐进, xun xu jian jin - "follow, sequence, gradually, advance") along the industrial chain. Wang Di, liberal arts chair professor at Sichuan University, believes that innovation values seeing people, and the warmth of history lies in the lives of ordinary people. Regarding the "AI (artificial intelligence) bubble" issue that many people are currently concerned about, Liu Hongwei, deputy director of the Local Finance Research Office of the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University of China, believes that AI itself is technological progress, not a bubble; the bubble exists in the excessively high valuations of some AI enterprises during their capitalization process. Performing artist Liu Xiao Ling Tong, who played Sun Wukong in the 1986 TV series "Journey to the West," recounted a brand-new travelogue belonging to "the Pilgrim Sun," and remarked with emotion: "Diligently practice the seventy-two transformations, laugh at the eighty-one tribulations — everyone can walk their own 'road to scriptures.'"
At the ceremony site, the Global People twentieth-anniversary collector's book series and the Z-generation youth culture digital platform were also released.
The spark of red spirit, cutting-edge innovative thinking, and profound humanistic warmth intermingled with one another, gathering strength for walking well the Long March of the new era.
(Cai Xiaohui participated in the reporting and writing)
Return to TopOn October 17, the intangible cultural heritage dance grand parade of the Fourth Annual Conference on the Protection of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage was held in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. More than 20 performance troupes took part in the event, collectively showcasing the diverse charm of intangible cultural heritage dance and drum music culture. The photo shows performers presenting the Ansai waist drum.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王 丹
Recently, the pipa sculpture at the Pipa Pavilion scenic area in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, has "gone viral" on the internet for its poetic landscape. With fine rain as the strings and river breeze playing the tune, a stringless pipa sculpture stands by the Yangtze River, attracting visitors who visit the place because of its reputation (慕名而至, mu ming er zhi - "admire the name, and arrive").
"At the head of the Xunyang River I saw off a guest by night; maple leaves and reed flowers rustled in the autumn breeze..." At the ticket gate of the scenic area, tourists queued up to recite the "Song of the Pipa" from memory; those who recited it in full were granted free admission. "Since the scenic area waives the ticket fee, we can check out specialty shops and taste local food," said several college students from Jiangsu, who, taking advantage of the discount campaign, planned a week-long study tour route through Jiangxi, with Jiujiang as the first stop.
It is not just the Pipa Pavilion — the Xiufeng Waterfall on Mount Lu, of which it is written "Flying down three thousand feet straight, as if the Milky Way had fallen from the ninth heaven," the Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang, of which it is written "The setting clouds fly together with the lone wild duck," and Huichang, of which it is written "Having trodden all the green hills, one is not yet old; the scenery here is uniquely fine" — these scenic spots immortalized in celebrated poems are attracting visitors from all over (八方来客, ba fang lai ke - "eight directions, come guests"). "Jiangxi in the Textbooks" is becoming one of the destinations of choice for tourists seeking poetic study tours.
Behind the sustained release of cultural enthusiasm lies the precise support of Jiangxi's people-benefiting cultural and tourism policies. This summer, Jiangxi upgraded and launched the "Recite Poetry, Jiangxi GO" campaign, extending the "recite-to-enter-free" model, previously piloted at the Tengwang Pavilion alone, to 100 scenic areas across the province.
Jiangxi has also delved deep into its local cultural resources, successively launching special exhibitions on notable figures such as Wang Anshi, Huang Tingjian, and Bada Shanren, and curating thematic exhibitions such as "The Return of Imperial Porcelain," "Splendid and Glowing" (瑞彩熠熠, rui cai yi yi - "auspicious colors, shining brightly"), and "Dunhuang in Glaze Colors." The "Looking Back along the Silk Road: China on Porcelain" ceramic culture exhibition has even gone abroad, telling the story of Chinese ceramic culture to overseas audiences.
At the same time, Jiangxi persists in empowering the development of cultural heritage and museum undertakings through technology. The Jiangxi Provincial Museum has built a VR (virtual reality) panoramic cloud exhibition hall and conducted three-dimensional data collection on precious cultural relics, allowing visitors to see the details of vessel patterns up close; the Haihunhou State of the Han Dynasty site has launched an immersive digital special exhibition that recreates Han Dynasty palaces and market streets, where visitors can use VR equipment to experience the social landscape of the Han Dynasty immersively... The deep integration of technology and culture further amplifies the appeal of cultural heritage venues. In 2025, cultural heritage venues across Jiangxi received a cumulative total of over 180 million visits.
Jiangxi continues to expand the practical pathways for integrating culture, sports, and tourism, routinely implementing the people-benefiting policy of "One Ticket, Many Enjoyments: Happy Tour of Jiangxi," using a small ticket stub to link diverse business formats and achieve "one ticket draws visitors, the whole region increases revenue."
When the "Gan Super League" season kicked off, tens of thousands of fans gathered at the Olympic Sports Center in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, and the market stalls around the venue were brilliantly illuminated (灯火通明, deng huo tong ming - "lamp, fire, completely, bright"). "I came over from Yichun to watch the 'Gan Super League' live. I never expected the match ticket could also be used as a cultural tourism discount coupon," said fan Mr. Chen. He added that after the match, he was in no hurry to head home, planning instead to climb Mount Wugong with friends and experience the lively night market atmosphere at the Nanzheng Street historical and cultural district.
In addition to the ticket-stub benefit measures, Jiangxi has rolled out more practical measures to boost consumption, launching the 2026 provincial cultural tourism consumption voucher distribution campaign, which covers tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, and graded homestays, spans multiple consumption scenarios, and provides visitors with benefits such as ticket discounts and instant accommodation reductions.
In 2025, Jiangxi received a total of 628 million tourist visits. With poetic study tours, digital cultural heritage, and the ticket-stub economy developing in many different areas simultaneously (多点开花, duo dian kai hua - "many points, bloom flowers"), Jiangxi is activating the potential of culture, sports, and tourism integration, painting a vibrant "Picturesque Jiangxi."
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王 珂
Not long ago, at the opening of JD.com's first nationwide JD Tiantandi store in Suyu District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, there was no shortage of customers. Within the 33,000-square-meter space, multiple business formats gathered together in one place (齐聚, qi ju - "gather, together"), including the first East China store of JD Home Furnishings, the first East China store of JD Made, and the first Suqian store of Qixian Supermarket. Consumers can stroll from the smart home experience zone to the apparel zone and the fresh food zone, and can also place orders online while browsing.
By sinking the "roots" of digital and intelligent technology into the soil of the real economy, empowering business format upgrades with technology, and activating consumption potential with scenarios, JD.com is exploring a path of retail innovation that integrates the digital and the real.
Physical stores are important carriers for the circulation of goods and the absorption of employment, and are also micro-level units that stimulate consumption vitality. This year, the Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Innovative Development of the Retail Industry," promoting the concentration of resource factors toward physical retail, the tilting of policies and measures toward physical retail, and the strengthening of work forces toward physical retail. At present, digital transformation has become an important direction for the innovative development of physical retail, and JD.com's practice of deepening its offline commercial operations is precisely a manifestation of this trend.
Digital and intelligent leadership drives the integration of business formats, making the in-store shopping experience more diverse. JD.com's offline layout is not a simple extension of its online channels, but rather, through digitalization and intelligentization, it brings consumers a more three-dimensional shopping and leisure experience.
Different business formats constitute a rich matrix of physical commercial supply. The global first store of JD 101HOME recently opened in Shanghai, integrating self-operated models for furniture, smart appliances, whole-house customization, and home decoration services; JD Qixian Supermarket relies on direct sourcing from the source to guarantee the quality of fresh food; JD Discount Supermarket compresses intermediate links through direct sourcing from production areas to improve cost-effectiveness.
Integrated development continuously breaks down the boundaries between business formats, so that offline consumption is no longer limited to "buying goods." JD Tiantandi creates a composite commercial space of "quality retail + cultural experience + social leisure"; JD 101HOME focuses on "home" and lifestyle, using scenarios to drive linked consumption across categories such as home appliances and home furnishings.
Digital and intelligent integration into offline scenarios gives the in-store shopping experience a greater sense of technology. JD.com brings technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things into offline stores, promoting continuous innovation in consumption scenarios and upgrading traditional physical stores into smart spaces.
JD.com has already applied artificial intelligence to more than 3,000 business scenarios in retail, logistics, and other fields, and its R&D investment in the first half of this year increased by more than 50 percent year on year. Offline stores are no longer mere sales terminals, but have become composite nodes integrating product display, experience and interaction, front-end warehousing, and convenience services, serving as important carriers for the implementation of digital technology.
Digital and intelligent integration of multi-tier networks meets differentiated demand. When selecting products such as home appliances, home furnishings, and fresh food, consumers hope to experience them on site. In response to this demand, JD.com has built an offline network covering first-tier cities, regional cities, and counties and townships, better meeting differentiated demand.
"As digital capabilities sink to the offline level, the micro-circulation of the real economy will become smoother." A relevant person in charge of JD Group said that JD.com will adhere to taking digital and intelligent technology as the guide, supply chain capabilities as the support, and livelihood services as the foothold, continuously deepening the integration of the digital and the real, and contributing to the innovative transformation of the retail industry, the improvement of quality and efficiency in the real economy, and the better satisfaction of the people's needs for a better life.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Nanping, October 18) (Reporter Liu Xiaoyu) The Conference on Zhuzi Studies and Dialogue among Multiple Civilizations and the Fifth Kaoting Forum, themed "Understanding Principle and Esteeming Propriety, Knowledge and Action Being Mutually Necessary — Civilizational Dialogue and the Construction of Human Social Order," was held in Nanping City, Fujian Province, from October 17 to 18. The forum was co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the International Confucian Association, and the Fujian Provincial People's Government, with more than one hundred experts and scholars from home and abroad in attendance.
The forum featured thematic panel discussions including "Zhuzi Studies and Chinese Wisdom in Global Governance," "Zhuzi Studies and Humanistic Care in the Digital-Intelligence Era," and "Zhuzi Cultural Heritage and the Integrated Development of the Two Sides of the Taiwan Strait." Participating scholars engaged in in-depth exchanges on topics such as the creative transformation of Zhuzi studies, implications for global governance, digital humanities, and the inheritance of cultural lineage across the Taiwan Strait.
During the forum, a series of activities were also held, including a performance of the Zhuzi culture-themed theatrical production Moon Mirroring Wuyi, the finals of Nanping City's "Zhuzi Cup" Chinese Poetry Competition, a themed exhibition titled "Principle Traveling the World: The Overseas Dissemination of Zhuzi Culture," a joint tree-planting of the Zhuzi Studies Forest, and an academic field trip on "Academy Culture."
The Kaoting Forum was founded in 2021 and has become an important platform for promoting Zhuzi culture and deepening civilizational dialogue.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 季 芳 王 亮
On the evening of October 18 local time, the opening ceremony of the 5th Asian Para Games was held at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya, Japan. More than 3,000 para athletes from 45 countries and regions gathered here to convey the power of inclusion, resilience, and friendship, jointly embarking on a journey of pursuing dreams.
The predecessor of the Asian Para Games can be traced back to the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, founded in 1975. In 1994, Beijing hosted the 6th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, marking the first time China hosted a comprehensive international sports event for persons with disabilities. In 2006, the relevant organizations merged to form the Asian Paralympic Committee, and the event was officially renamed the Asian Para Games. In 2010, the inaugural Asian Para Games were held in Guangzhou, pioneering the model of hosting the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games in the same city and the same year. Since then, Incheon in 2014, Jakarta in 2018, Hangzhou in 2023... As decades have passed, the significance of the Asian Para Games has long transcended competition itself. It is both a competitive stage where athletes hone their skills and surpass themselves, and an exchange platform where countries and regions across Asia come to understand each other and enhance friendship.
At the opening ceremony, accompanied by cheerful music, the Chinese sports delegation entered the venue, with weightlifter Yan Panpan and taekwondo athlete Li Yujie serving as flag bearers. At this edition of the Asian Para Games, 312 athletes from the Chinese delegation will compete in 335 events across 17 sports. The team includes both seasoned veterans with rich competition experience, such as Tan Yujiao and Jiang Yuyan, and young athletes under 20, such as Huang Zhirui and Yuan Ziqi. They come to the arena with courage and dreams, shining with their own brilliance.
"Being able to come here is itself a victory," said Yan Panpan. Competing in his second Asian Para Games, he will take part in the men's 88 kg weightlifting and mixed team events this time, hoping "to showcase the spirit of para athletes in unremitting self-improvement (自强不息, zi qiang bu xi - "self, strengthen, not, cease") and confronting difficulties head-on (迎难而上, ying nan er shang - "face, difficulty, and, go up")." Li Yujie said that serving as flag bearer is an honor and, more so, a responsibility. Tan Yujiao, already attending her fourth Asian Para Games, hopes "to fight once more for her dream."
The 5th Asian Para Games feature 502 events across 18 sports. Some events had already begun before the opening ceremony. The Chinese blind football team defeated Japan and Thailand in the preliminary matches on October 16 and 17, securing two consecutive victories. On the wheelchair basketball court, the Chinese women's team defeated Cambodia and Japan in the preliminaries respectively, while the men's team achieved one win and one loss. In addition, preliminary matches in table tennis, badminton, boccia, goalball, and several other sports have also been underway.
At the opening ceremony venue, the torch relay and the main torch lighting ceremony brought the atmosphere to a climax. The 5th Asian Para Games have officially begun, writing a new chapter in Asian para sports.
Return to TopThe Long March, a great expedition that defied hardship and danger. Tempering the body in the crucible, training troops in desperate circumstances. On the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March, our reporters traveled along the route of the Long March, revisiting the red sports stories of the past and feeling the spiritual power that transcends time and space.
— Editor
Zunyi, Guizhou
1935, the First Front Army of the Red Army —
A basketball contest on a mud court
People's Daily reporter Su Bin
The strategic pass conceals verdant hues; the remnant walls record the smoke of beacons.
In January 1935, the Central Red Army broke through the natural barrier of the Wu River, advanced into the city of Zunyi in Guizhou, and gained precious time to rest and regroup. Before the Zunyi Conference was convened, at the playground of the then Guizhou Provincial Third Middle School (Xietai Dam), the General Political Department of the Red Army held a mass meeting, at which Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Li Fuchun, and local people spoke in succession. After the meeting, the Red Army basketball team played a friendly match against the basketball team of the Provincial Third Middle School. This was the first formal basketball game held by the First Front Army of the Red Army after leaving the Central Soviet Area.
The crude mud court was uneven and overgrown with weeds, with the boundary lines drawn in quicklime powder. Wooden backboards were fixed to four wooden posts, and dust flew across the court during the game. The student team wore long gowns, while the Red Army players wore simple military uniforms.
At the sound of the silver whistle, the game officially began. In the first encounter, both sides fought with full vigor. Relying on experience and coordination, the Red Army team gradually gained the upper hand. According to the "Zunyi Diary" written by He Dizhou, an old Red Army soldier who took part in the game: the Red Army team's long-range shooting left the student team unable to cope. The student team had only the ability to defend without being able to strike back (招架之功, zhao jia zhi gong - "receive, defend; achievement, work"). In the end, the Red Army team won 30:12.
Comrade Chen Yun watched the game with great interest and recorded in "Notes on the Journey West with the Army": "When I walked to the County Third Middle School, I saw the school's student basketball team and the Red Army basketball team in the middle of a match on the playground. The Red Army's ball skills were very fine, because they ordinarily promoted physical education with great vigor."
Shen Xiang, president of the Zunyi Historical Culture Research Association, believes that the military-civilian basketball game not only united the morale of the troops and boosted their fighting spirit, but also served as a bridge for emotional exchange between the military and the people, demonstrating "the military and the people are one family."
In addition to the basketball game, the Red Army also jointly held cultural and sports activities such as singing and dancing with the local people. "The soldiers did not bully the common people, and the officers did not amass wealth. At that time, the people of Zunyi had seen all kinds of armies, but a force like the Red Army was the first of its kind they had encountered." Shen Xiang said that during the Red Army's garrison, although the local people lived in hardship, they still gave full support, providing an important guarantee for the Red Army's survival and development, and the bond between the military and the people grew ever deeper.
Luhuo, Sichuan
1936, the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army —
A competition with an ingenious twist
People's Daily reporter Li Kaixuan
In the golden autumn season, the mountains of Luhuo County in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan are covered in vibrant, colorful foliage (层林尽染, ceng lin jin ran - "layers, forest; end, dye"). This was once a resting point on the Long March route of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army.
In early spring 1936, under the leadership of Comrade Zhu De, the troops fought as they marched, crossed the great snowy mountains, and occupied Dawu, Luhuo, and other places, finally shaking off the enemy and gaining a rare opportunity to rest. Comrade Zhu De decided to use a starting something new and original (别开生面, bie kai sheng mian - "separate, open; life, face") sports meet to dispel everyone's fatigue and rally the conviction of certain victory.
"There were no standard venues and no fine equipment. The Red Army soldiers used local materials and created the conditions to hold a fine sports meet," introduced He Yong, director of the Luhuo County Tourism Service Center, who has studied the history of the Long March for many years.
A natural lawn served as the sports field, and trees and stones were used to build the rostrum. On the morning of May 1, 1936, the sports meet officially began. The self-made basketball lacked bounce, yet the soldiers scrambled for it with great fervor; the dug-out sand pit was not up to standard, yet the soldiers vied to take the high jump and long jump... Tibetan compatriots from nearby villages also came, young and old alike, bringing butter tea and tsampa.
The military skills events combined training with competition. In the bayonet drill competition, the soldiers' battle cries shook the heavens and their movements were vigorous and powerful; on the grenade-throwing field, hand grenades traced beautiful arcs through the air. The sports meet also set up special subjects such as map reading, distance measurement, and using terrain and terrain features, aimed at honing the survival skills essential for the Long March.
The most ingenious event was the dried yak dung burning competition held on the afternoon of May 3. This was an event specially added by Comrade Zhu De, who had considered the matter in great detail: the vast grasslands lacked firewood, and yak dung was the main fuel, yet those who did not know the trick could not light a fire at all. The soldiers had previously sought advice from Tibetan compatriots and come up with many clever methods. To make the yak dung catch fire faster and burn with a stronger flame, the soldiers also made their own bellows. At the signal gun's report, the soldiers quickly struck their matches. "The flame is up!" The cries of success rose and fell in quick succession (此起彼伏, ci qi bi fu - "this, rise; that, fall"), and the soldiers cheered and leaped for joy.
In those extremely difficult and arduous (艰苦卓绝, jian ku zhuo jue - "hardship, bitter; extreme, absolute") years, the "May Day" sports meet radiated a distinctive brilliance. "This sports meet held on the Long March route was by no means a mere athletic competition," He Yong said. The "May Day" sports meet was a shot in the arm: it tempered the body, carried out training and combat preparation, and also drew the distance between the military and the people closer.
Hadapu, Gansu
1936, the Second Front Army of the Red Army —
Self-made horizontal bar and high jump equipment
People's Daily reporter Song Chaojun
"More joyous still the snow of Minshan a thousand li; when the three armies pass, all faces light up." Mao Zedong's "Seven-Character Regulated Verse: The Long March" brims with heroic pride.
Ninety years ago, the First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies of the Red Army arrived at Hadapu Township, nestled in the foothills of the Minshan Mountains (now part of Tanchang County, Longnan City, Gansu Province). Under extremely difficult conditions, the Red Army soldiers adapted to poor conditions by making do with what was available (因陋就简, yin lou jiu jian - "due to, low; follow, simple") and created conditions to carry out sports activities.
Zhao Wanglin, director of the Tanchang County Red Culture Research Center, introduced that in early September 1936, the headquarters of the Second Front Army of the Red Army, along with the Second and Sixth Corps and the Thirty-Second Army, arrived at Hadapu. Comrade He Long, commander-in-chief of the Second Front Army of the Red Army, was a sports enthusiast and, whenever he had the chance, would "spar" a couple of rounds with the soldiers.
After dinner, the soldiers took the patched basketball and walked to the Yanfang Ground, dribbling, passing, and stealing... Although there were no basketball hoops and they could not shoot, the soldiers' enthusiasm was high. Long jump was also a favorite and frequently held event among the Red Army soldiers. Everyone either jumped from a standing position or with a running start, using forms such as single-leg jumps, double-leg jumps, and squat-style long jumps, and some soldiers were specially assigned to draw lines on the ground and record the results.
The soldiers gave full play to their subjective initiative and made their own sports equipment. With no horizontal bar available, they planted two stakes in the training ground at Tangfangyuan (now Hadapu Primary School), chiseled two holes, threaded a thick, hard wooden pole through them, and performed simple gymnastic movements such as the pullover, knee hang, and straddle mount, with one soldier assigned to protect on the side. The Red Army soldiers also planted two wooden stakes beside the sand pit, tied a rope to both ends and pulled it taut, and carried out high jump activities.
Training competitions combined with sports activities also unfolded with vigor. During the rest period at Hadapu, mountain climbing was a training event frequently carried out by the Red Army soldiers, and Comrade He Long also took part in mountain climbing. Long-distance running was also quite popular; the soldiers ran from Hadapu in the direction of Tanchang city, seeing which individual or which company reached the finish line first.
Through sports, the troops became more united, and the soldiers' mental outlook became more spirited. The Second Front Army of the Red Army received ample rest at Hadapu and formulated the plan for the Chengxian-Huixian-Liangdang-Kangxian campaign. From September 11 to 20, 1936, the Second Front Army of the Red Army made a long-distance surprise attack, advancing eastward in three columns, and in just ten days successively captured Chengxian, Huixian, Liangdang, Kangxian, and parts of Xihe, Lixian, Wudu, and Lueyang and Fengxian in Shaanxi, to the great elation of the military and the people.
Return to TopBy: 吕晓勋
During the Long March, the average forced march exceeded 50 kilometers per day, and on average a fierce battle was encountered every three days. They trekked through countless perils and hardships and fought amid a hail of bullets — fighting was already arduous enough, so why did they still hold sports meets during rest periods?
"It was not to compete for victory or defeat, but to forge iron-hard muscles and bones." Adapting to poor conditions (因陋就简, yin lou jiu jian - "due to, bad, then, simplify") to make equipment and setting up events in light of local conditions, the competitive contests at the sports meets dispelled the soldiers' tension, strengthened their conviction of certain victory, and gave the march greater strength.
It was also because sports possess a powerful appeal that continually ignited fighting spirit and lifted morale and energy. From competing in the accuracy of throwing grenades and the speed of burning yak dung, to the tacit coordination in basketball games and the striving to be the first among many (奋勇争先, fen yong zheng xian - "brave, exert, compete, first") on the track and field, one surpassing after another boosted morale and united the army's spirit.
Through the sports stories of the Long March, we see that despite frequent battles and scarce supplies, the people's soldiers could always face danger with a smile and find pleasure in the midst of hardship (苦中作乐, ku zhong zuo le - "bitter, middle, do, joy"), and from this we feel more deeply that the Long March was a high point of the human spirit. Viewing the enemy as a "paper tiger" and perils as "gentle ripples" and "mud pellets," the Red Army soldiers' soaring spirit and tenacious actions revealed the majestic power and boundless potential contained within our army.
Looking back at history, one can better understand why sports can "strengthen muscles and bones, increase knowledge, regulate emotions, and fortify the will." This laid a solid physical and mental foundation for winning victory in the revolutionary war — "the great benefit of sports lies precisely herein."
The mountains and rivers of the years have changed the world. Today, athletes vie for victory in competitive arenas, mass sporting events blossom everywhere, and "15-minute fitness circles" spread across cities and countryside... Bringing glory to the motherland, winning honor for the nation, and storing up strength for the "new Long March," the Chinese sports spirit has always been continuing a tradition from generation to generation (一脉相承, yi mai xiang cheng - "one, vein, mutual, inherit"), and "this spirit of tenacious struggle is precisely a manifestation of our era."
That is the courage of "fearing not the hardships of the long expedition," and moreover the tenacity of "morale may be boosted but must not be allowed to flag." On the new journey, there will be challenges of high winds and rough waves, and even tests of terrifyingly huge waves or turbulent situations (惊涛骇浪, jing tao hai lang - "startle, wave, dread, wave"). Facing the bottlenecks of high-quality development, break them with deepened reform; facing the "chokepoint" technology problems, resolve them with innovation through self-reliance and self-strengthening; facing the currents against globalization, break through waves and obstacles (劈波斩浪, pi bo zhan lang - "split, wave, chop, wave") with high-level opening up... As long as we do not shrink from difficulty, wage tenacious struggle, and dare to surpass, there is no undertaking that cannot be accomplished and no goal that cannot be achieved.
The profound meaning of sports lies in the elevation of spirit and the tempering of will. Whether facing the "Loushan Pass" of life or the "Lazikou" of development, we can still draw from the sports of the Long March the spiritual nourishment of constantly striving for self-improvement (自强不息, zi qiang bu xi - "self, strengthen, not, rest"), fearing no danger, striving without cease, and forever moving forward.
Return to TopAgricultural sentiment services bring joy to the golden years, and financial respect for the elderly warms every household. In 2026, as the Double Ninth Festival approaches on October 18, the Agricultural Bank of China, focusing on the people-oriented, functional, and inclusive nature of elderly-care finance, will uniformly launch across the country the second "Agricultural Sentiment Respect for the Elderly Festival" comprehensive elderly-care financial service themed activity, covering special themed activities under "Agricultural Sentiment Services" (subject to the actual activities of local branches), festive gifts for elderly customers on the Double Ninth Festival, and the launch of new scenarios such as the "Elderly-Care Community" on the mobile banking app, with the activity lasting until November 30.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 章凯风
United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Georgette Gagnon recently stated while briefing the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan that five years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Afghanistan's security situation has improved to a certain extent and the national economy has seen some development, but multiple risks are still accumulating beneath the relatively stable situation, and the challenges faced are not to be underestimated (不容小觑, bu rong xiao qu - "not, allow, small, look down"). At present, Afghanistan is at a critical stage of peaceful reconstruction, with the overall situation remaining stable, the economy gradually improving, and foreign exchanges becoming increasingly active. At the same time, Afghanistan still faces complex challenges in the fields of humanitarian affairs, development, human rights, counter-terrorism, and women's rights. The United Nations calls on the international community to view the situation in Afghanistan comprehensively and objectively, provide more international support, help Afghanistan emerge from the shadow of conflict, violence, and geopolitical competition, and move toward stability, peace, and development.
Security situation remains a cause for concern
During the 20 years of the U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan, at least one terrorist attack occurred in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, almost every day. According to the data statistics platform Statista, in just the first half of 2021, when U.S. troops withdrew, more than 3,500 civilians were injured and about 1,700 died in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan five years ago, it has repeatedly promised that it "will not allow any terrorist organization to use Afghan territory to threaten other countries," and has carried out high-intensity strikes within the country against terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province. Over the past five years, the number of terrorist attacks and the casualties they caused in Afghanistan have both declined. A statement recently released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said that "Afghanistan has experienced a period of security improvement."
Reporters saw on the streets of Kabul that armed military and police personnel are stationed outside local government departments, upscale hotels, large supermarkets, and key enterprises, with tall blast-proof walls erected in many places, and military and police conducting checks and inspections of passing pedestrians and vehicles on important road sections. The government also requires foreign enterprises in Afghanistan to hire armed security guards or be protected by public protection force personnel dispatched by the government. Key protective sites such as the Kabul Grand Hotel are all equipped with two layers of blast-proof courtyard gates, and security personnel conduct thorough checks on people and vehicles. Overall, local wholesale markets, transportation hubs, and other venues are relatively orderly and stable.
However, the local security situation still remains a cause for concern. In his most recent report to the General Assembly on the situation in Afghanistan, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that from May to July this year, the United Nations recorded 2,947 reports of security-related incidents, an increase of 11 percent year-on-year. According to United Nations reports, indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices by the Islamic State Khorasan Province and other terrorist organizations against schools, markets, religious sites, and other places have become the main security threat facing ordinary Afghan people. In addition to terrorist attacks, opposition armed operations and cross-border military conflicts have also become important factors affecting Afghanistan's security.
Economy and people's livelihoods need improvement
After the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the vast majority of non-humanitarian international assistance was terminated immediately, and a large number of livelihood projects were forced to halt. Afghanistan's economic output alone fell by about 20 percent in 2021. The local currency, the afghani (about 65 afghanis to 1 U.S. dollar), once experienced severe depreciation, with the exchange rate at one point reaching 130 afghanis to 1 U.S. dollar in 2021, leading to soaring prices and a shrinkage of residents' wealth.
Under the intervention of a series of measures, currency depreciation has been curbed, and the exchange rate is now basically stable at 60-70 afghanis to 1 U.S. dollar. Afghanistan is highly dependent on imports for food. At present, the wholesale price of a 50-kilogram bag of imported Kazakhstani flour in Kabul is around 165 afghanis, and the unit price of ready-made naan bread on the market has long remained at 10 afghanis. A street vendor named Omid told reporters that his family has eight members in total and earns a profit of 9,000 to 12,000 afghanis per month. "Income is very low, but we can barely make ends meet."
Omid's situation of running a small business can be considered decent. Whenever reporters drove past the main road in front of the Gulbahar Shopping Center in downtown Kabul, they could always see many children weaving through traffic and constantly tapping on car windows to beg. According to the latest World Bank estimate, Afghanistan's per capita gross national income in 2024 was only 390 U.S. dollars. Afghanistan's working-age population accounts for 49 percent of the total population, of which 26 percent are unemployed. Since the end of 2023, nearly 7 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan. Due to the termination of large amounts of international assistance and the suspension of projects, the unemployment rate continues to rise. At present, more than 3 million children in Afghanistan suffer from malnutrition, and more than 10 million people "do not know where their next meal will come from."
Affected by the Middle East war and border conflicts, the transit transport channels for goods between Afghanistan and Iran are not smooth, and most of the border with Pakistan is closed. Prices of fuel and daily commodities in Afghanistan continue to rise, and residents' living costs have surged. According to reporters' observations, the retail price of gasoline in Kabul has risen from 64 afghanis per liter last December to nearly 90 afghanis. The price of liquefied gas has risen from 53 afghanis per kilogram to about 70 afghanis. The prices of many household appliances, furniture, and other goods have risen by about 20 percent. Relevant reports also show that 2026 will be the sixth consecutive year of drought for Afghanistan's agriculture, and the national groundwater level is generally in the lowest 30 percent range of historical data. As winter approaches, Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis may worsen.
Reconstruction projects are gradually advancing
Years of war and chaos have left this barren country devastated and scarred by war (满目疮痍, man mu chuang yi - "eyes, full, house, wounded"). About 70 percent of Afghanistan's electricity supply depends on imports, and only about 22 percent of urban households have running water piped in. To this end, the government has adopted a series of reconstruction measures.
Transportation arteries such as Highway 1, which connects major cities including Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif, are being gradually repaired. Except for the Kaisar-Raman section in the northwest, where more than 100 kilometers are still under construction, most of Highway 1 has been opened to traffic. In Kabul, some main roads have been widened and renovated, and construction of overpasses has been initiated on some congested sections. A number of oil and gas transportation, mining, thermal power, and wind power projects are also being built across Afghanistan. According to data from Afghanistan's National Procurement Commission, the Afghan government approved 562 development and infrastructure projects in 2025, with a total value of about 2 billion U.S. dollars; since August 2021, Afghanistan has implemented more than 1,200 large-scale development projects nationwide.
The TAPI pipeline project, currently under construction in Afghanistan's Herat Province, has attracted attention from all parties. This is a natural gas pipeline project connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, planned to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. This project, which had been delayed for more than 30 years, was officially restarted in 2024. According to reports from Afghanistan's Bakhtar News Agency, the laying of the 153-kilometer Herat section of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
After the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the vitality of Afghanistan's private capital has been released to a certain extent, and a number of small and medium-sized construction sites have recently appeared in Kabul. At a commercial-residential building construction site in the Taimani neighborhood of Kabul, a businessman named Omar told reporters that his family previously ran a large supermarket. Since the end of last year, he and five partners have pooled funds to build on this construction site of about 800 square meters. "This building is planned to be eight stories, with the bottom two floors to be rented out as shops and floors 3-8 to be sold as apartments. The landowner will own half of the apartment property rights to offset the land purchase cost," Omar said. "I believe the new building will sell smoothly and generate profits."
According to reporters' observations, most communities here do not have mature municipal water supply and drainage systems. Most residents have to dig their own wells for daily water use, and domestic sewage must be discharged into septic tanks and open drainage ditches along roadsides. Power outages last up to 8 hours every day, and families that can afford it almost all generate electricity by purchasing their own storage batteries, solar power generation equipment, or diesel generators. The road surface of the community more than 10 kilometers long around the reporters' residence has been under renovation for nearly a year and a half and is still not fully completed. The Afghan government also frankly admits that, constrained by insufficient construction funds and obstacles such as U.S. sanctions, large projects are progressing relatively slowly, and the results of advancement are not yet obvious.
Recently, Sun Lei, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, spoke at the Security Council open meeting on the Afghanistan issue, urging the international community to strengthen engagement and dialogue with the Afghan government. China calls on all parties, especially traditional donors, to take urgent action to close the funding gap as soon as possible and avoid politicizing humanitarian issues. The countries concerned should truly assume historical responsibility, immediately resume assistance to Afghanistan, lift unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan, return Afghanistan's central bank overseas assets, and provide due resources for Afghanistan's reconstruction and development. As a friendly neighbor of Afghanistan, China is willing to continue working with the international community to make unremitting efforts to support Afghanistan's peace, stability, development, and prosperity.
(People's Daily, Kabul, October 18)
Return to TopBy: 张玉来
Recently, the Japanese Cabinet approved a draft law to lower the consumption tax on food, planning to reduce the consumption tax rate on food and beverages from 8% to 1% for a period of two years starting in April 2027. The bill will be submitted to the Japanese Diet for deliberation in the near future. This marks the first time Japan has lowered the consumption tax since it was introduced in 1989, with a cumulative revenue reduction of approximately 10 trillion yen over the two years (1 yuan is equivalent to about 23.6 yen). However, this seemingly "pro-people" policy has not won broad support; on the contrary, it has triggered strong backlash within the ruling party. Against the backdrop of a massive government debt burden, rising upward pressure on interest rates, and sustained depreciation pressure on the yen, this policy has not only failed to chart a clear growth path but has also exposed multiple contradictions among fiscal, monetary, and external coordination, deepening Japan's economic predicament.
The reason the tax cut has sparked widespread controversy lies first and foremost in its unclear funding source. The consumption tax has long been an important source of revenue for Japan's social security system, including pensions, medical care, and nursing care. Under conditions of continued population aging and rigid growth in social security expenditures, cutting this stable revenue source will inevitably intensify pressure on fiscal balance. The Takaichi Sanae government has stated it will not rely on deficit-issuing national bonds to fill the gap, but on the other hand, the total budget request for fiscal year 2027 has climbed to 143 trillion yen, an increase of as much as about 17%. The market worries that if the tax cut lacks stable fiscal support, it may weaken fiscal credibility, push up government bond yields, and further increase the cost of debt rollover. Public opinion generally holds that the tax cut carries electoral political overtones, aimed at winning over specific support groups in the short term. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has shown clear divisions within itself on this issue; at a meeting of the party's Tax System Research Commission board, LDP lawmakers expressing opposition and concern at one point outnumbered supporters.
Policy divergence is also reflected in the inconsistency between the directions of fiscal and monetary policy. To cope with inflationary pressure and a weak yen, the Bank of Japan has in recent years gradually exited its ultra-loose policy, ending negative interest rates and yield curve control, and in September this year raised its policy interest rate to 1.25%, the highest level since 1995. The central bank's rate hike is intended to stabilize inflation expectations, narrow interest rate differentials, and alleviate depreciation pressure on the currency. At the same time, however, the government is advancing expansionary fiscal arrangements, including tax cuts, subsidies, and a relatively large-scale budget expansion, which objectively will push up aggregate demand and inflation expectations, weakening the effect of monetary tightening.
This policy combination of "the fiscal side stepping on the accelerator while the monetary side steps on the brake" can easily trigger volatility in market confidence. In June this year, the draft of the "Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform" published by the Japanese government was interpreted by the market as an attempt by the government to pressure the central bank and curb its pace of rate hikes, so as to maintain low interest rates and finance large-scale fiscal expansion. The Japanese market immediately saw a wave of bond selling, with the 10-year government bond yield at one point rising to a nearly 30-year high. The Japanese government was forced to urgently revise the draft, reaffirming respect for central bank independence and emphasizing that monetary policy aims to achieve price stability. However, once policy signals become inconsistent, they amplify financial market concerns about fiscal sustainability and monetary policy coordination.
External pressure is equally not to be underestimated. The United States has repeatedly exerted public pressure on Japan to control fiscal spending and accelerate monetary policy normalization. At the end of July, the United States and Japan carried out joint foreign exchange intervention for the first time in years to curb excessive yen depreciation. U.S. concerns include both the impact of disorderly yen fluctuations on global financial markets and the stability of the U.S. Treasury market and the landscape of trade competition. This leaves Japan facing a more complex balancing challenge among maintaining growth, stabilizing the exchange rate, controlling debt, and responding to external pressure.
On the whole, the Bank of Japan is committed to repairing financial functions, the Japanese government is fixated on fiscal expansion, and the United States demands that Japan tighten policy. The goals of the three are irreconcilable, and the difficulty of policy coordination has risen markedly. The consequences of policy fragmentation are becoming apparent in Japan's real economy, with the "K-shaped divergence" characteristic intensifying. Take the rate hike as an example: households holding financial assets benefit from rising interest rates and stock prices, while households burdened with mortgages face heavier burdens; large enterprises expand profits by virtue of pricing power, while small and medium-sized enterprises accelerate their exit from the market due to rising financing costs. The same applies to the food tax cut—it eases the burden on some households in the short term, but weakens the fiscal source for social security, and may ultimately still harm the interests of middle- and low-income earners. What is more worthy of vigilance is that the effect of the tax cut can easily be offset by continuously rising prices; enterprises may not pass the tax cut through to the retail end, and consumers' sense of gain may be greatly diminished.
The International Monetary Fund recently released its World Economic Outlook report, forecasting that Japan's nominal GDP (gross domestic product) will be surpassed by India and the United Kingdom in 2027, with its global ranking slipping from the current fourth place to sixth. In fact, Japan's economic predicament is not the result of short-term policy mistakes, but rather a concentrated eruption of long-term structural problems: government debt accounts for about 230% of GDP, energy dependence on foreign sources is high, and the transition of old and new growth drivers in industry is sluggish. When multiple goals such as tax cuts, expansion, rate hikes, and exchange market intervention conflict with one another, policy space is continuously compressed. For Japan, what is truly needed is not short-term populist concessions, but rather the sobriety and courage to rebuild fiscal discipline, straighten out policy coordination, and advance structural reform. Otherwise, policy divergence amounting to competing against oneself (左右互搏, zuo you hu bo - "left, right, mutually, fight") will only mire the predicament ever deeper.
(The author is a professor at the Research Center for Modern and Contemporary History and deputy dean of the Institute of Japan Studies at Nankai University)
Return to TopChinese Embassy in Japan: Japan's Ruling Politicians' Worship at Yasukuni Shrine Desecrates Historical Justice
(Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, October 17) (Reporters Li Ziyue, Liang Chen) A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Japan, in response to questions from reporters on the 17th regarding Japanese leaders offering ritual objects to the Yasukuni Shrine and some cabinet members and members of parliament visiting the shrine, stated that during World War II, Japan launched wars of external aggression and committed heinous crimes. China strongly condemns Japan's negative moves concerning the Yasukuni Shrine.
The spokesperson stated that the so-called "Yasukuni Shrine" is the spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism, enshrining 14 Class-A war criminals who bear direct criminal responsibility for the wars of aggression. Japan's ruling politicians worshipping with great reverence (顶礼膜拜, ding li mo bai - "top, respect; film, worship") before it, no matter what excuses they fabricate, cannot conceal their true intent to overturn the verdicts on war criminals, cover up war crimes, distort historical facts, and pave the way for accelerated "remilitarization." Such erroneous actions are a desecration of historical justice, a challenge to the bottom line of civilization, and a provocation against the postwar international order, and are unanimously and resolutely opposed by the international community.
The spokesperson said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trial. Correctly understanding and treating history is an important prerequisite for Japan's return to the international community after the war, the political foundation for Japan's development of relations with neighboring countries, and even more so a yardstick for testing whether Japan can honor its commitment to peaceful development. We solemnly urge Japan to deeply reflect on its history of aggression, face up to its war crimes, act with great caution and discretion on issues such as the Yasukuni Shrine, completely break with militarism, and win the trust of Asian neighbors and the international community through concrete actions.
ROK Government Urges Japanese Government Leaders to Face History and Reflect on the Past
(People's Daily, Seoul, October 18) (Reporter Mang Jiuchen) A spokesperson for the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the 17th that, regarding senior Japanese government officials offering ritual objects to and visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines World War II Class-A war criminals, the ROK government once again expressed "deep disappointment and regret."
The statement said that the ROK government urges senior Japanese government officials to face history squarely and demonstrate humble reflection and sincere remorse over history through concrete actions. The ROK government once again stressed that this is an important cornerstone for building a future-oriented ROK-Japan relationship based on mutual trust between the two countries and their peoples.
Japanese Media Poll: Takaichi Cabinet Approval Rating Falls to New Low
(Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, October 18) (Reporters Li Ziyue, Chen Ze'an) The latest poll results released by Japan's Kyodo News on the 18th show that the approval rating of the Takaichi Sanae cabinet has fallen to 49.1 percent, setting a new low for the agency's polls since the Takaichi cabinet was formed, and marking the first time it has fallen below 50 percent. The survey was conducted by telephone from the 17th to the 18th. Compared with last month's survey, the Takaichi cabinet's approval rating fell by 4.3 percentage points.
Large-Scale Protests in Multiple Places in France, Hundreds Arrested
(Xinhua News Agency, Paris, October 17) (Reporter Sun Yi) Marches, demonstrations, and protests occurred in multiple places in France on the 17th, with violence in some areas and hundreds of people arrested.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in an interview with BFM TV that evening that the number of protesters nationwide that day reached 550,000, including 110,000 in Paris, with preliminary statistics showing about 400 arrests nationwide. According to the French General Confederation of Labour, the total number of protesters nationwide that day reached 800,000.
According to French media reports, the protests brought together farmers, climate activists, students, and other groups, with some trade unions also participating, and the demands involved fuel prices, the cost of living, education, and public services. The protests were accompanied by violent incidents. In multiple places in Paris, there were scenes of vehicles being set on fire and shops being smashed and looted. A branch of the Lyon tourism office was set on fire and robbed that day, and town halls in Marseille and Lille were stormed and vandalized by protesters.
Return to Top(People's Daily, Kunming, October 18) (Reporter Yang Wenming) A reporter learned on the 18th from the Yunnan General Station of Exit-Entry Frontier Inspection that, starting October 18, 2026, highway ports in Yunnan including Hekou, Mohan, Tianbao, and Jinshuihe will officially implement a pilot program for expedited clearance of Chinese and foreign border residents.
Yunnan is situated along mountains and rivers (依山带水, yi shan dai shui - "rely on, mountain, bring, water") with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Laos, with mountains and rivers connecting them. Bilateral exchanges are close and border trade is frequent, with Chinese and foreign border residents accounting for more than 75 percent of all exit-entry personnel at Yunnan's border ports. In recent years, the Yunnan General Station of Exit-Entry Frontier Inspection has actively facilitated the movement of personnel from neighboring countries, continuously strengthened the empowerment of port clearance through technology, and accelerated the construction of "smart border inspection." This pilot program has specifically upgraded and renovated 32 expedited clearance lanes, and built a registration system and "scan-code" clearance facilities. This is both a major measure to implement institutional opening-up in the field of immigration management and an innovative practice to promote Yunnan's high-level opening-up.
After the pilot program is implemented, Chinese and foreign border residents who have completed registration can pass through designated ports with "scan-code" expedited clearance, with average clearance time shortened from the original 1 minute of manual inspection to 10 seconds. This will effectively enhance the convenience of port clearance and the expedited clearance experience of border residents, further promote cross-border livelihood exchanges between the two sides, and drive border resident mutual trade.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 牛瑞飞
The European Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") recently proposed the EU Child Act, which aims to establish more unified rules for the protection of minors in digital services. Under the proposal, children under 13 years of age may not use social media; minors aged 13 to 15 may use "mini accounts" managed by their parents or guardians; and upon reaching the age of 15, they may open and manage accounts independently. The Commission has launched a feedback procedure on this proposal, soliciting opinions from children, parents, teachers, and online platforms.
At present, digital platforms have become widely integrated into the study and daily life of young people, and their potential risks are receiving increasing attention. According to Commission data, approximately 97% of young people in the EU use the internet every day, and 65% use social media as their primary source of information. Survey results published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe show that the proportion of adolescents engaging in "problematic social media use" rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022, with another 12% of adolescents at risk of problematic gaming behavior.
The EU and several European countries are accelerating efforts to strengthen online protection for minors, with regulatory controls tightening across areas ranging from setting minimum ages for social media use to strengthening age verification and regulating platform product design. Some European countries have already taken the lead. The Danish government plans to set 15 as the general threshold for social media use; Spain is promoting a ban on social media use by minors under 16; Greece has announced that from January 1, 2027, minors under 15 will be prohibited from using social media; and France is also pushing to raise the relevant age threshold. Outside the EU, Norway, a member of the European Economic Area, plans to raise the age threshold for social media use to 16.
At present, although many platforms stipulate a minimum age for registration, they rely mainly on users self-reporting their date of birth, and it is not difficult for minors to bypass restrictions by falsely reporting their age. This issue has already come within the EU's regulatory purview. In April this year, the Commission preliminarily determined that Instagram and Facebook, social platforms under Meta Platforms Inc. of the United States, had failed to meet the relevant requirements of the EU's Digital Services Act in preventing minors under 13 from using their services. The Commission believes that minors may bypass the age limits set by the platforms by entering false dates of birth, and that existing verification measures are insufficient to effectively prevent such situations.
To address the challenge of age identification, the EU is advancing a unified age verification technical solution. In April this year, the Commission put forward relevant recommendations, urging member states to provide privacy-protecting age verification tools by the end of 2026. The basic approach is that users can prove to platforms whether they have reached the prescribed age without disclosing their specific age and identity information, thereby improving verification reliability while minimizing the collection of personal data.
The focus of European regulation is also extending from "restricting the age at which one may use" to "what kind of digital environment platforms should provide for minors." The scope of the EU Child Act covers not only traditional social media but also video-sharing platforms, online games, app stores, as well as AI chatbots and companion-type applications. The EU proposes to restrict features such as infinite scrolling, nighttime push notifications, and unsolicited contact from strangers that may lead to excessive use or increase security risks, and to strengthen default privacy settings for minors' accounts. The current Digital Services Act already prohibits platforms from using minors' personal data to deliver targeted advertising to them.
Judging from recent policy trends, the protection of minors online in Europe is shifting from a model that relied mainly on parental supervision and platform self-regulation to one that employs multiple methods simultaneously (多管齐下, duo guan qi xia - "many pipes, together below") across age thresholds, technical verification, product design, and regulatory enforcement. However, how to balance the effectiveness of age verification with the protection of personal privacy, coordinate the differing age standards among countries, and ensure that platforms genuinely implement the relevant requirements will remain important issues for the implementation of these policies.
(People's Daily, Brussels, October 18)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 曹玲娟
On October 17, the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival opened its curtain, and on the same day, the Shanghai Grand Opera House opened and the Shanghai Performing Arts Group was established, further enriching Shanghai's artistic atmosphere. During this year's Arts Festival, within one month, nearly 1,100 performances, exhibitions, and activities will take place, bringing people a splendid cultural feast. At the same time, citizens and tourists can step into the Shanghai Grand Opera House to take in the cultural scenery at a glance; the Shanghai Performing Arts Group integrates the city's state-owned performing arts resources and deeply explores its cultural heritage. In the two-way convergence of art and the city, the people's beautiful cultural life becomes even more colorful.
— Editor
On October 17, the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival opened. On the same day, the Shanghai Grand Opera House, located on the banks of the Huangpu River, opened, and the Shanghai Performing Arts Group was established, writing a striking and significant (浓墨重彩, nong mo zhong cai - "thick, heavy, important; ink, heavy, color") chapter in the development of Shanghai's performing arts.
This year's China Shanghai International Arts Festival puts forward the slogan "Art, Lighting Up the City's 'Twenty-Fifth Hour.'" In the daily life of the city, art brings people more beauty, and the Arts Festival is precisely an opportunity to explore the beauty of art and the charm of the city.
A festival, born for the city
On the banks of the Huangpu River, the fan-shaped curtain slowly unfolds.
On the evening of October 17, the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival opened at the Shanghai Grand Opera House, shaped like a "Chinese fan." Liao Changyong, Shi Yijie, Lei Jia, Yan Weiwen, together with Juan Diego Flórez, Siobhan Stagg, and other Chinese and foreign singers, took to the stage together; inside and outside the theater, stars shone brightly.
The China Shanghai International Arts Festival was born in 1999, adhering to the festival purpose of "a grand gathering of the arts, a festival for the masses of the people," and has become an important platform for the two-way convergence of Shanghai and the world's arts and culture and for mutual learning among Chinese and foreign civilizations. Over the years, the Arts Festival has cumulatively attracted more than 800 Chinese and foreign arts groups from over 80 countries and regions and more than 86,000 artists for exchange and cooperation, reaching nearly 95 million Chinese and foreign audience members.
This year's China Shanghai International Arts Festival lasts one month, with nearly 400 various performances, exhibitions, and activities, totaling nearly 1,100 sessions. Among them, the "Art Shared Worldwide" stage performance section has a proportion of Shanghai premiere programs of nearly 90 percent.
As the curtain rises, fine performances take the stage. Centering on themes such as commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March, Shanghai's literary and art troupes have launched a series of works on red themes, where the Chinese cultural lineage and the new voices of the times complement each other to enhance brilliance (相得益彰, xiang de yi zhang - "mutually, benefit, enhance; each, benefit, show"). The "two complete cycles" of Shostakovich and Beethoven, and operas such as Aida, Tosca, and Der Rosenkavalier, showcase Shanghai's ability to aggregate and allocate artistic resources.
On October 11, the Arts Festival's "Art Sky" public-benefit activities took the lead in opening. At Fuxing Island Shipyard Park, actors from Spain's Valla Theater Company performed suspended in midair, with melodious music drifting in the evening breeze. Expanding boundaries, everyone can immersively experience the beauty of art. With more than 100 "Art Sky" public-benefit activities and more than 180 cross-regional sub-venue activities, the Arts Festival delivers high-quality performing arts resources to the countryside, waterfronts, and communities.
"We hope to turn art into a tangible urban warmth within reach," said Li Ming, president of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival Center.
A theater, opened for the people
The Arts Festival's opening performance also raised the curtain of the Shanghai Grand Opera House.
The Huangpu River's sparkling and shimmering water (波光粼粼, bo guang lin lin - "wave, light, shimmering, shimmering"), passing boats, and light and shadow on the water's surface converge and blend with the dynamic stage arts and the city's historical transformations, reflecting this future-oriented Shanghai Grand Opera House.
After 10 years of preparation and construction, the Shanghai Grand Opera House is positioned as "the artistic hall of the world's opera, the premiere stage for Chinese original works, and the cultural living room of the people's city."
Ascending more than 400 steps, the "Chinese fan" slowly unfolds before one's eyes.
Inside the building are the Red Hall, the Shen Hall, the Mirror Hall, and the art education space, the Music Hall, covering a complete performing arts ecosystem from classic resident productions to cutting-edge experiments, and from professional performances to arts popularization.
The appeal of this brand-new landmark has long since crossed national borders: within one hour of the first round of ticket sales, more than 11,000 performance tickets were sold out, with box office revenue exceeding 8 million yuan, and ticket orders coming from 25 countries and regions.
The architectural posture of the Shanghai Grand Opera House extends outward, with a 10,000-square-meter public platform open to citizens and tourists. As people ascend the stairs and reach the building's rooftop, the Huangpu River scenery, park greenery, the Lujiazui city skyline, and the West Bund waterfront all come within one's full view (尽收眼底, jin shou yan di - "completely, receive, eye, bottom").
"The view from above is breathtaking," "The Mirror Hall is like a picture frame, framing the landscape of the Expo Culture Park" ... citizens and tourists marveled.
Architect Gong Cheng said: "What we have created is an open space." Whether people pause on the "Chinese fan" public landscape platform, step into the performing arts spaces to experience the charm of stage art, or enrich their cultural lives through exhibitions, screenings, and arts education activities, the Shanghai Grand Opera House opens its arms wide to serve every person who comes here.
A mechanism, building momentum for development
On opening day, the release of the Shanghai Drama Revitalization Three-Year Action Plan (2026–2028) and the founding ceremony of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group were held at the Shanghai Grand Opera House, turning a new page in the reform and development of Shanghai's performing arts undertakings.
Building on the solid foundation accumulated through years of reform, Shanghai is promoting the development of its troupes from individual entities as "bonsai" to the industry as a whole as "landscape," deepening a new round of systematic reform of state-owned literary and art troupes, establishing the Shanghai Performing Arts Group, and cultivating the competitiveness of the "Asian Capital of Performing Arts."
The newly established Shanghai Performing Arts Group, anchored on creation as the central task and performance as the central link, carries out systematic restructuring and holistic reshaping of the city's state-owned performing arts resources, and makes every effort to build Shanghai into a source of fine performing arts works, a hub of the performing arts industry, and a gathering place for performing arts talent.
Charting development. Closely following documents such as the Shanghai "15th Five-Year Plan" for Building a Socialist International Cultural Metropolis, Shanghai, based on its resource endowments and comparative advantages in red culture, Shanghai-style culture, and Jiangnan culture, has formulated and issued the Shanghai Drama Revitalization Three-Year Action Plan (2026–2028), deploying six major special actions covering the entire chain of drama development.
Deeply exploring heritage. The 18 municipal-level state-owned literary and art troupes have compiled, according to the "one troupe, one volume" principle, the Compendium of Classic Repertoire Works of Shanghai Municipal State-Owned Literary and Art Troupes, which has been released. This is the first time Shanghai has carried out full-coverage, large-scale systematic compilation of the classic repertoire works of all municipal-level state-owned literary and art troupes. The entire compendium consists of 18 volumes, collecting 1,358 plays, establishing a long-term mechanism of unified compilation, classified archiving, and dynamic management.
Fang Shizhong, executive deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that this is not a simple archival collection, but a systematic inventory of decades or even a century of artistic endeavor by state-owned literary and art troupes. Standing at a brand-new starting point, this compendium is precisely the continuous source of new strength or inspiration (源头活水, yuan tou huo shui - "source, head, living, water") for "setting out again."
Connecting hearts through art, moving toward beauty. In the "twenty-fifth hour" when art lights up the city, feel Shanghai's artistic beauty, history, humanity, heritage, and substance; at the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, through the two-way convergence of city and art, understand "what makes Shanghai Shanghai."
Return to TopBy: 姜泓冰
The 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival was held, the Shanghai Grand Opera House opened, and the Shanghai Performing Arts Group was established—three landmark projects in Shanghai's cultural and artistic field converged on the same day, allowing us to take a closer look and discover interesting commonalities among them.
The Shanghai Grand Opera House, designed with the concept of a "Chinese fan" and built after 10 years of preparation and construction, has been completed and put into use. This world-class theater complex can attract top-tier international arts groups and spectacular performances. Visitors can also check in at the new landmark, ascend to the rooftop terrace to enjoy the scenery on both banks of the Huangpu River, or enter the theater to participate in arts education programs, enjoying rich and diverse public cultural services and the nourishment of top-tier artistic excellence.
After 24 editions of development, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival has become an important bond for international cultural cooperation and exchange, as well as a highly anticipated urban arts carnival every golden autumn season. This year's performances and exhibitions have reached new heights in professional standards and international influence, with no shortage of "Shanghai-exclusive" projects. What many citizens look forward to includes not only the public-benefit activities under the "Art Sky" section, arts education, and performances by renowned artists that reach deep into communities and streets, but also some artistic live events that can be appreciated through large public screens in squares.
Culture is the soul of a city. One festival, one opera house, one group—these three major cultural projects of the city debuted on the same day, and the common characteristics they display happen to be the best answer to the question of "What makes Shanghai Shanghai." On the one hand, looking outward, with refined performance facilities and professional, meticulous festival and exhibition services, Shanghai attracts world-renowned troupes, masters, and masterpieces to the city, promoting the integration and coexistence of diverse cultures on stage. On the other hand, firmly upholding "Chinese characteristics" and practicing the concepts of "people's city" and "culture for the people," it is committed to providing the general public with richer spiritual nourishment.
The world-class opera house with the "Chinese fan" exterior, a landmark performing arts hall, has become the "city's cultural living room." The arts festival adheres to its founding purpose of "a grand gathering of the arts, a festival for the people," holding itself to the standard of world-renowned masters, troupes, and heavyweight performances, building a "pier" and stage for classic operas and original works from across the country, while also serving as a resource pool and great classroom for the city's public culture and aesthetic enhancement. In recent years, Shanghai has further added new scenarios integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions to empower the urban economy, striving for innovation, change, and excellence. The establishment of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group is the behind-the-scenes effort of this institutional renewal, demonstrating Shanghai's determination and responsibility to take a long-term view, deepen reform, and reshape the cultural industry ecosystem.
Hardware, software, and mechanisms were upgraded on the same day, resonating in unison, revealing the direction of Shanghai's cultural development: people-centeredness, artistry, and internationalism; never forgetting the roots, absorbing from the outside, and facing the future. Building stages for creators, empowering the industry, while steadfastly preserving the humanistic heritage and uniting international forces, Shanghai, a city with great tolerance and openness (海纳百川，有容乃大, hai na bai chuan, you rong nai da - "sea, accept, hundred, rivers; have, capacity, is, great"), will continue to shape a bright future for the performing arts.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 曹玲娟
On the evening of October 17, by the banks of the Huangpu River, the "Chinese Fan" of the Shanghai Grand Opera House opened.
The theater has a total construction area of 146,000 square meters, housing three main performance spaces with a total of 4,200 seats. The outdoor "Chinese Fan" double-helix staircase connects the ground with the rooftop, forming a public landscape platform with a total area of 10,000 square meters. Ascending step by step, the river view, parks, and the city skyline come within one's full view (尽收眼底, jin shou yan di - "completely, receive, eye, bottom").
The opening concert, "The Shanghai Grand Opera House and Her Friends," sounded its first note with "Ode to the Red Flag," composed by Lü Qiming, recipient of the "July 1 Medal." Numerous renowned artists from home and abroad took the stage together, as the timeless arias of Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini shone side by side with works such as "China in the Lights."
On opening day, the theater was connected inside and out through music: before the audience entered, an opera flash mob was staged in the public lobby; subsequently, the opening concert was performed in the Red Hall; after the concert concluded, the fourth movement of the "Ode to Joy" could still be enjoyed in the public lobby... Art meets the audience unexpectedly (不期而遇, bu qi er yu - "not, expect, and, meet") in the theater's open spaces.
The opening season brings together the finest operas in the world. The new production of "Tosca" by Teatro La Fenice in Venice makes its Asian premiere, Valery Gergiev presents a brand-new production of the opera "Aida" with the Mariinsky Theatre, and Christian Thielemann conducts the Berlin State Opera in the opera "Der Rosenkavalier"... From October to November, these productions will successively take the stage of the Red Hall.
The Shanghai Grand Opera House launched its first round of ticket sales on July 28, offering a total of 16 performances of the operas "Tosca," "Aida," "Der Rosenkavalier," and the complete Shostakovich symphony cycle. Within 10 minutes of tickets going on sale, the complete Shostakovich symphony cycle — the exclusive package for Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra (all 8 concerts) — was sold out.
Gergiev and the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra will present all 15 of Shostakovich's symphonies in their entirety in the Shen Hall in late October, tracing nearly 50 years of his creative journey; Rudolf Buchbinder and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra will take the stage in succession in early November, performing the complete Beethoven piano concertos.
The Shanghai Grand Opera House is not only a venue for world-renowned ensembles to premiere their works, but also a home ground for local literary and artistic forces. From the end of this year to the first month of next year, the Peking opera "Dragon and Phoenix Bring Auspiciousness" and the Kunqu opera "The Palace of Eternal Life" and others will be staged, where red genes, Chinese aesthetics, Shanghai style, and contemporary expression converge. "It begins with the sound of red, continues with world classics, turns back to Chinese stories, and culminates in the resonance of the times," said Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Opera House. Serge Dorny, director of the Bavarian State Opera, said: "We believe the Shanghai Grand Opera House will become a key force in driving the future development of the performing arts in Asia and beyond."
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王崟欣
On the morning of October 16, inside the Shanghai Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center, a Danish curator holding a cup of coffee was chatting with a performance director from Guangdong about next year's tour plans. Around them, similar conversations were taking place — at one high table after another, artists of different skin colors and nationalities were talking in small groups and exchanging contact information.
This was a scene from the International Performing Arts Conference and International Dialogue at the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. From October 14 to 17, approximately 500 institutions and more than 2,000 Chinese and foreign guests from over 50 countries and regions attended the event, where in-depth dialogues, project presentations, and city tours unfolded across Shanghai's performing arts venues and in the streets and alleys (街头巷尾, jie tou xiang wei - "street, lane, alley, corner").
Diverse dialogues, directly engaging new issues of the day. This year's festival International Dialogue section launched 8 thematic seminars, covering topics such as the legal boundaries of performing arts interaction, the global development of young creators, art empowering cultural tourism destination development, and the building of professional platforms for children's theater, spanning dimensions including industrial operations, talent cultivation, and business model innovation, charting directions for the future of international performing arts.
Precise matchmaking, creating new opportunities for cooperation. On the third floor of the Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center, nearly 100 Chinese and foreign cultural institutions and companies set up exhibitions on site. Zhang Jiang, head of the Beijing Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra, spread out brochures and enthusiastically introduced their work to guests. Last year, also through such on-site exhibitions, they reached on-the-spot cooperation with a music project from Switzerland, and the collaboration landed shortly thereafter. In the year that followed, performances were staged in more than 10 cities around the world.
While the exhibition booths buzzed with exchanges, in the theater on the first floor of the Performing Arts Center, more than 10 domestic and overseas projects took turns taking the stage for presentations, with judges asking questions on the spot, and one cooperation intention after another being precisely matched.
To improve the match rate between domestic and overseas works, this year's festival solicited high-quality stage projects from around the world in advance, with more than 70 projects submitted, and ultimately 30 video-presented projects and 15 on-site-presented projects passed the selection.
Inside and outside the conference, expanding new space for cooperation. This year's festival optimized the layout of offline exchange spaces, arranging more than 100 groups of discussion tables equipped with electronic display screens to expand the exchange arena. At the same time, "Bringing In" and "Going Out" workshops were established to provide more international cooperation opportunities for participating artists, producers, theaters, and booking agencies.
Beyond the conference venue, more cooperation is extending into urban spaces. The conference organized city tour activities, setting up 3 themed routes — the Hengfu Cultural Walking Tour, the Performing Arts Professional Visit, and the Suzhou Creek Cultural Exchange — and arranged on-site visits to the Shanghai Grand Opera House, allowing guests to deepen connections through immersive experiences, exchange creative ideas, and spark cooperation. "The China Shanghai International Arts Festival is striving to elevate its capacity, build itself into a key hub for the circulation of global performing arts resources, and unleash the agglomeration effect of the cultural 'wharf,'" said a relevant official of the festival.
Return to TopThis year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. Ninety years ago, the soldiers measured faith with their footsteps and blazed a Long March road of heroic grandeur. The stories along this road remain vivid and are told anew with each telling; they are a precious spiritual treasure of the Chinese nation and, moreover, a living textbook for fostering virtue through education and forging souls through character-building. In this issue of the Education section, we visit three schools to see how the great Long March spirit is passed down through storytelling and practiced through walking, inspiring young people to firmly uphold their ideals and convictions and to walk well the Long March road of the new era.
— Editor
A School History Bearing Witness to the Years of Beacon Fire and Smoke
People's Daily reporter Wu Yue
At the Chang'an Campus of Xidian University, in front of the sculpture "Running a School on the Long March Road," teachers and students often pause to gaze. The scenes of Red Army soldiers climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands draw teachers and students back to a period of beacon fire and smoke.
"'Starting with half a radio set, running a school on the Long March road' — this is precisely the portrayal of the school's history." Not far away, in the school history museum, student docent Xue Xinyue is explaining to first-year students, and a stretch of school history slowly unfolds: In 1934, the teachers and students of the predecessor of Xidian University — the Communications School of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army — followed the Central Red Army onto the long, long march. With no stable school buildings and no complete teaching equipment, under arduous conditions, the school persisted in running classes, and the teachers and students persisted in studying.
A painting on the wall drew the students' attention: on the march, a trainee carried a small wooden board on his back, on which English words and Chinese characters were written, and the trainees behind him memorized them as they walked... "Our learning conditions are already vastly different from the past (今非昔比, jin fei xi bi - "now, not, old, like"), but we must still carry forward the Long March spirit, work hard to build a solid professional foundation, and dare to gnaw at 'hard bones' in scientific research," said first-year student Li Shikuan.
"The school deeply mines the red treasure trove of its school history, integrates it into the construction of ideological and political courses and curriculum-based ideological and political education, makes good use of carriers such as the school history museum, and educates and guides young students to cultivate deep feelings for family and country, establish lofty ideals, and walk well the Long March road of the new era," said Liu Jianwei, executive dean of the school's School of Marxism.
In classrooms, teachers deliver distinctive ideological and political courses such as "Xidian and the Long March Spirit"; in the library, the exhibition "The Eternal Long March — Commemorating 'Running a School on the Long March Road' and Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the School" is on display; on the stage, the drama "The Never-Fading Electric Wave" and the symphonic chorus "Long March Suite" are performed one after another... The stories of the Long March are continuously told within the school.
Education is not confined to the campus. The school regularly carries out the "Retracing the Long March Road" summer social practice program, and one "ideological and political courses in motion" after another are held at the school's former teaching sites and amid the towering mountains and ridges the Red Army once traversed.
In Guangxi, teachers and students walked 10 kilometers in the rain, trudging along muddy mountain paths and crossing over Laoshanjie (Old Mountain Pass). "Beneath our feet is precisely the place where our predecessors practiced sending and receiving telegraphy." Young ideological and political course teacher Qu Jianjing introduced to the practice team members, "Back then, traveling by night over Laoshanjie, the trainees seized the gaps in the march and practiced sending and receiving telegraphic codes by the method of 'memorizing with the brain and reporting with the mouth.'" Stepping onto the mountains and rivers their predecessors once trekked, youth and history draw closer.
The electric waves stretch on without end, and faith grows firmer with the passage of time. In the classroom and along the walk, the students trace history and also draw spiritual strength from it.
"Each generation has its own Long March. Tackling the 'bottleneck' problems is our mission." Wang Yuxuan, a master's student in the School of Integrated Circuits, has been persistently tackling the technology of chip atomic-scale interface heat dissipation under the guidance of his supervisor. He said, "In the past, our predecessors safeguarded the lifeline of communications; today, we strive to break through scientific research bottlenecks. The underlying tone of striving that spans time and space is passed down from generation to generation (一脉相承, yi mai xiang cheng - "one, vein, follow, inherit")."
Xue Xinyue, having completed her docent task at the school history museum, returned to the laboratory to continue debugging code. "When I think of the difficulties our predecessors encountered back then, and then look back at the problems that are temporarily 'stuck' in front of me, I feel there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome." She said that standing in the school history museum, she tells history to more people; stepping out of the school history museum, she must turn her insights into the driving force for scientific research and pass the red electric waves to even farther places.
A Single Walk, Drawing Strength for Endeavor
People's Daily reporter Yan Yiqiao
On the banks of the Chishui River, the bluestone slabs of Taiping Ferry were warmed by the sun, and a group of young students leaned on the railing, gazing into the distance. "Is this the ferry crossing mentioned in our textbooks, where the Red Army crossed the Chishui River four times back then?" said Jiang Yanan, a student at the School of Marxism of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March, starting in March this year, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics launched the "Walking with the Earth · Retracing the Long March Road" series of immersive "grand ideological and political courses," tracing red footprints through on-site visits and drawing strength for endeavor.
"This is the first county in Sichuan that the Central Red Army entered on the Long March, an indelible coordinate in the history of the Long March." The first stop of the activity was Gulin, Sichuan, where teachers and students followed the thread of time to visit revolutionary sites, conducting teaching through dialogue, questions and answers, and discussion with every step they took.
With no fixed lectern and no neatly arranged seats, the classroom was moved onto the red soil land, where river-crossing stone pillars and mottled stone steps became living teaching materials. Ni Jingjing, a teacher at the School of Marxism, introduced that the school is committed to creating immersive learning scenarios, using forms such as on-site experiences and VR (virtual reality) experiences to allow students to "return" to the historical scene.
How can this series of immersive "grand ideological and political courses" move from the mountains and rivers into the hearts of more students? Along the way, students from the university newspaper reporter group of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics gave full play to their professional strengths, filming and producing micro-lecture videos and pushing them to the school's official website and video accounts.
At the Memorial Hall of the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, Yuan Yujia, a student at the Institute of Economics and Management, and her partner Xu Yingting selected a special collection item, the "Red Army note," as the "protagonist" of their video. The two immersed themselves in historical materials, looked up relevant reports, and also invited the accompanying teacher from the School of Marxism to guide and review.
"When the Red Army withdrew, even though the flames of war were already approaching, they still insisted on redeeming the Red Army notes held by the masses, using salt to honor a 'red credit.'" The two walked and narrated as they filmed a red "situational drama."
A complete course includes not only the knowledge lectures of ideological and political course teachers, but also the theoretical presentations of young students. The students were speaking their minds freely (畅所欲言, chang suo yu yan - "freely, what, desire, speak"), discussing everything from the strategic wisdom of the Long March to the responsibility of young people in the new era. Many students said: "The more we listen to ideological and political courses like this, the more we want to listen."
According to reports, at present, the series of immersive "grand ideological and political courses" has visited important Long March sites in Gulin, Mianning, Bazhong, Zunyi, and other places, with a cumulative total of more than 5,000 young teachers and students participating.
"We must let ideological and political courses step out of the small classroom and into the vast mountains and rivers, guide teachers and students to perceive faith while walking with the earth, and use on-site experiences to realize the transformation from book knowledge to value identification," said the relevant person in charge of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
A Storytelling Session, Passing on the Red Spirit
People's Daily reporter Wang Dan
The October sunlight fell on the playground of Yifu Primary School in Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, where several tall loquat trees kept their leaves evergreen and fine flower buds had already emerged at the tips of the branches. The students sat in a circle under the trees, and a red culture storytelling session was underway:
Sun Yi, deputy director of the Xinyu Municipal Cultural Center, narrated in a measured tone: In 1934, the Central Red Army assembled and set out from Yudu County, Jiangxi, and Chi Yuhua bid farewell to her husband Li Cailian... When she came to the line "Wait for me," many children's eyes reddened. Sun Yi said: "Through the story of 'Wait for Me to Return,' the children come to understand this great expedition and carry forward the red spirit."
Strolling through the campus, Long March elements can be seen everywhere. Behind the classroom of Class 1, Grade 5 hangs the calligraphy work of student Huang Yuze, "Carry Forward the Long March Spirit, Strive to Be a Good Youth of the New Era." "The teacher asked us to 'paint the Long March,' and my specialty is calligraphy, so I wanted to write these characters neatly and carefully," Huang Yuze said.
The school deeply cultivates curriculum-based ideological and political education and promotes the integration of five types of education. Vice Principal Shi Tingting said that the teachers have racked their brains, wanting to integrate the Long March spirit bit by bit into daily teaching, so that students can remember the extraordinary years through learning, thinking, practicing, and comprehending, and perceive the Long March spirit through running and challenges.
On the occasion of this year's International Children's Day (June 1), the school held a lively event titled "Retracing the Long March to Strengthen Body and Mind, Ninety Years of Youth Heading Toward the Future." Starting from the school's east gate, along the plastic track, two playgrounds were linked into a challenge course of nearly a kilometer. Departure from Ruijin, crossing the river at Yudu, the bloody battle at the Xiang River... more than ten checkpoints, each corresponding to a Long March story.
The children crawled, climbed, and cooperated to clear the checkpoints, exclaiming that it was "both fun and tiring." "We walked simulated checkpoints and it was already this tiring; back then the Red Army climbed real snow-capped mountains and crossed real grasslands, so it must have been even harder." At the final "joining of forces," the students waved their flags as if they had won a battle. Shi Tingting said with a smile: "Let them run and charge through the challenges — they will understand it more deeply."
These activities are not a momentary bustle. Today, the Party history and Young Pioneers history storytelling sessions at morning meetings, the class traditional culture storytelling sessions, the red culture storytelling sessions under the loquat trees, and the walking model storytelling sessions have all become signature programs of the school.
"The school also screens red films every month, such as 'Tunnel Warfare' and 'Landmine Warfare,' which the children all love." At the recent Jiulongshan Township Red Culture Festival, the students holding red-tasseled spears, looking valiant and spirited, left a deep impression on Shi Tingting.
"The loquat trees will guard the children as they grow, and the school's storytelling sessions will continue as well," Shi Tingting said.
Return to TopBy: 闫伊乔
The Long March was a great expedition that will shine forever in the annals of history, and it is even more so an inexhaustible resource (取之不竭, qu zhi bu jie - "take, from, not, exhausted") of spiritual wealth. How can the great Long March spirit radiate new vitality and vigor in the new era? The educational explorations of three schools offer the same answer: red education must move from the transmission of knowledge toward the cultivation of practice, guiding young people to experience through walking, to comprehend through immersion in real situations, and to grow through practice, and to internalize this into the strength to run well the historical relay race.
A pair of straw sandals measures the hardship of traveling long distances through difficult terrain (跋山涉水, ba shan she shui - "tread, mountain, wade, water"); half a quilt reflects the deep affection of military and civilians working together with one heart (军民同心, jun min tong xin - "military, people, same, heart"). To make red education enter the mind and touch the heart, one can start from these tangible, touchable, approachable, and endearing small stories, drawing that vast and magnificent (波澜壮阔, bo lan zhuang kuo - "wave, ripple, magnificent, vast") journey of 90 years ago close to the young people of today, moving their hearts, and making it the foundational color of their growth.
Small stories can also become a great classroom. Xidian University integrates the red history of the school into every link of education, so that the story of running a school along the Long March route is passed down from generation to generation (代代相传, dai dai xiang chuan - "generation, generation, mutually, pass down"); Southwestern University of Finance and Economics moves its classroom to the banks of the Chishui River, where the stone pillars for crossing the river and the mottled stone steps all become vivid "teaching materials." Stepping out of the small classroom, heading toward the vast mountains and rivers, and entering daily activities, the diverse forms shine brightly in each other's light (交相辉映, jiao xiang hui ying - "interchange, mutually, shine, reflect"), and the broad masses of young people strengthen their ideals and convictions while looking back at the road they have traveled, and draw the strength to strive forward while comprehending the mighty power of the Long March.
Each generation has its own Long March. Young people in the new era no longer need to undergo the life-and-death trials of climbing snow mountains and crossing grasslands, but the ideals, convictions, and sense of mission that transcend time and space are inheriting a continuous tradition or lineage (一脉相承, yi mai xiang cheng - "one, vein, mutually, inherit"). On the road of personal growth and development, the cultivation of scientific literacy, dialectical thinking, and innovative ability are the "snowy mountains and grasslands" that today's students need to cross; on the great journey of national rejuvenation, cultivating innovative talents and conquering key technologies are the "Loushan Pass" and "Lazikou" that today's educational front needs to overcome. Only when the heart holds faith can one go far. To walk well the Long March road of the new era, it is even more necessary for the broad masses of young people to take up the spiritual relay baton passed down by their predecessors, facing difficulties head-on (迎难而上, ying nan er shang - "meet, difficulty, and, go up") in their studies, tempering their character in practice, turning red faith into the strength to move forward, and letting the Long March spirit shine forever.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 吴 丹
Not long ago, at 8 a.m. at Shougang Park, Lu Honglin (鲁洪麟), a student majoring in actuarial science in the School of Finance at Capital University of Economics and Business (首都经济贸易大学), was already at his service post, sorting and compiling, together with classmates, the guest lists, released outcomes, and contract-signing situations for promotional events related to the China International Fair for Trade in Services. As a volunteer for the 2026 CIFTIS, he is responsible for completing daily summaries of promotional activities, categorizing, verifying, and quantifying scattered information to form a clear and searchable "outcomes ledger."
Even earlier, on the CUEB campus, a "mock CIFTIS" event kicked off with great fanfare, with nearly 30 enterprises setting up "stalls" on campus to showcase specialty products and trade services. Business negotiations, multilingual promotions, and cross-border policy interpretation have become students' daily coursework. Wang Man (王嫚), a student majoring in business English in the School of Foreign Studies, was capable of handling tasks independently (独当一面, du dang yi mian - "alone, manage, one, side"), taking the lead in contacting multiple enterprises to come to campus, arranging the venue, and setting up experience zones. "Having participated in the 'mock CIFTIS' for two consecutive years, my communication skills have been honed, and I have gained a better understanding of enterprises' talent needs," Wang Man said.
From classroom simulations to hands-on drills, from campus booths to the CIFTIS venue itself, CUEB students hone their skills and grow their abilities in real-world scenarios.
Students from the CUEB School of Marxism actively go to the grassroots frontline, using "youthful language" to interpret the Party's innovative theories for the masses, forging a backbone team of young people who are politically sound, adept at giving presentations, and willing to practice. Regularly holding "Reading" to Enjoy Youth book clubs is an agreement between the school's faculty and students. In the first half of 2026, seven sessions of the book club have already been held, inviting experts, scholars, and Beijing municipal model workers to campus to share stories of striving on the frontlines.
The classroom for the Urban Management (Regional Economic Management) major is not always in a lecture hall. Led by faculty members, students visit the "Three Cities and One District," the Xiong'an New Area, and the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center, witnessing the real progress of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated innovation; they visit the Cangzhou Mingzhu Commercial City to investigate the whereabouts and livelihoods of merchants after the relocation of non-capital functions from Dahongmen; and they visit enterprises such as JD.com, Meituan, and ByteDance to feel the pulse of platform economy development.
Internships and practical activities are not making superficial observations without depth (走马观花, zou ma guan hua - "ride, horse, observe, flower"). Since 2011, the CUEB Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Research Team has continuously published the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Blue Book." The team's faculty and students conduct solid frontline research, and the research outcomes in which students participate are sometimes transformed into course papers, sometimes incorporated into the team's special reports, and sometimes become the starting point for students' subsequent research. "To study Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, one must have good stamina in the field." To make the research solid, Liu Huazhen (刘华桢), a doctoral student in the regional economics program, goes on field research almost every week.
"Educating people in real-world scenarios, enabling students to deeply understand the contemporary significance of major national development strategies, to deeply recognize the major historical responsibility of participating in them, to stimulate students' forward-looking understanding of knowledge and thinking about problems, and to encourage students to explore proactively — this is precisely the important significance of university education," said Liu Ying (刘颖), Party Secretary of Capital University of Economics and Business.
Such an educational philosophy is being integrated into every link of talent cultivation at CUEB.
Classrooms are being "refreshed." Opening the "Tuoling" financial large model, each course now has a dedicated AI teaching assistant standing behind it, ready to answer students' questions at any time. CUEB is reshaping the classroom format through digital and intelligent transformation, building a cluster of smart courses, equipping each course with heuristic teaching agents and digital human platforms, so that students complete the closed loop from "learning" to "practicing" in simulated business processes.
Horizons are "breaking boundaries." The university has deepened cooperation with relevant departments and well-known enterprises to build a "computing power + data + algorithms" digital-intelligent foundation; industry mentors enter the classroom to dissect real fintech cases; special programs on international organizations guide students to directly face the scene of global governance. Interdisciplinary dual-degree programs, micro-major clusters, and emerging majors such as intelligent auditing and network and new media allow students' knowledge structures to follow industry demands.
The tempering of talent in real-world scenarios has borne fruit. A number of courses have been selected as national first-class undergraduate courses, and multiple majors have entered the national first-class undergraduate major construction points; the "Digital-Intelligence +" smart teaching ecosystem has been fully launched, and the university has become a typical case unit for artificial intelligence education application in Beijing. The "enrollment-training-employment" linkage mechanism is continuously being improved, mobilizing forces from all sides to form a joint effort to promote employment for all, and actively guiding graduates to find employment in key industrial sectors.
Scientific research innovation and think tank services have also opened up a new situation. In recent years, the university has undertaken a large number of national-level scientific research projects, with outcomes emerging widely. In the "Youth Innovation Beijing" 2025 "Challenge Cup" competition, CUEB students won the "Excellence Cup."
Standing at the new starting point of the university's 70th anniversary, Capital University of Economics and Business will continue to uphold the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, innovatively promote practical education work to go deeper and more solid, and educate and guide the broad body of students to bravely shoulder their missions and demonstrate the achievements of youth.
Return to TopBy: 吴建英
During morning recitation, a first-grade student pointed at the character "filial piety" and asked:"Why is 'old' on top and 'child' on the bottom?" I did not rush to explain, but instead took him to read stories about Chinese characters and draw the evolution of the character "filial piety." That day, after school, he brought his grandmother a cup of tea.The inheritance of cultural genes is often hidden in moments of reading.
Primary school is a critical period for language development. How can reading help China's fine traditional culture take root in children's hearts? Our school's exploration is to build a "1+X" reading curriculum cluster: using the unified Chinese language textbooks as the "1" and extended reading as the "X," striving to solve the dilemma of fragmented and superficial reading.
Taking the textbook as the starting point, so that extension has a thread. The "1" is the center, the main front for cultural inheritance. When studying "The Young China Says," we take students to read patriotic poetry and prose; when studying "Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats," we enter the stories of the Three Kingdoms; when studying "Lotus," we compare the lotus as depicted by different poets. Read one piece, lead a group, master one category, comprehend one principle — such extension is not simply adding quantity, but building structured reading around cultural themes, allowing students to touch the spiritual thread and feel the love for family and country through textual comparison.
Taking children as the center, so that culture has warmth. Cultural inheritance cannot rely on rote memorization (死记硬背, si ji ying bei - "die, memorize, force, back"); it must flow naturally along with children's nature. In the lower grades, the focus is on reading, writing, and drawing, nursery rhymes, and character stories, to feel the beauty of writing; in the middle grades, students read classical poetry and folk tales, gaining an initial understanding of cultural connotations; in the upper grades, they read classical masterpieces, sayings of the philosophers, and cultural topics, attempting cultural expression. We turn traditional festivals, calligraphy and opera, and myths and legends into micro-courses — small yet beautiful, short yet deep. Students encounter the classics through recitation, performance, and painting.
Taking life as the soil, so that reading has roots. We promote "Five Alls" reading: build reading spaces in all domains, advocate reading together by teachers and students and parent-child reading for all, run morning recitation, midday reading, and evening reflection throughout the entire process, integrate paper and digital reading across all media, and comprehensively teach students strategies for intensive reading, skimming, group reading, and whole-book reading. The school holds reading festival activities; students adapt folk tales into textbook plays, turn the "Book of Songs" into illustrated journals, and write biographies of the sages — reading extends from the classroom to the family and community, and China's fine traditional culture is internalized through expression and activated through action.
The inheritance of cultural genes is not about making students memorize how many knowledge points, but about letting them find a spiritual homeland in language and writing. When students marvel at Chinese characters, are moved by family and country, and rejoice in creation, reading is no longer just reading, but taking root.
(The author is the former chief principal of Jiangsu Nantong Dongzhou Primary School Education Group and deputy dean of the Nantong Teacher Development Academy; compiled by People's Daily reporter Ding Yasong)
Return to TopThis autumn, from the black soil of Heilongjiang to the cotton fields at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, from peach orchards in eastern Zhejiang to soybean processing workshops in Chongqing, the busy scene along the rural industrial chain is gradually unfolding. The harvest in the fields, the processing in the workshops, and the sales in the market — these production scenes not only carry the joy of a bountiful harvest, but also serve as a concentrated test of capital turnover, production organization, and market expansion capabilities: growers must pay land transfer fees and purchase seeds and fertilizer in a timely manner, acquisition and processing enterprises must stock up on raw materials and arrange production, and local specialty products must also cross the thresholds of channel construction and market sales radius.
Agricultural production depends on weather and follows the farming calendar, and funding needs are often "short-term, frequent, and urgent." At the same time, farmers and small and micro agricultural enterprises generally share characteristics such as light assets, a lack of standard collateral, and scattered operational data. Traditional credit models that rely only on financial statements and fixed assets find it difficult to reflect the true production and operation status of business entities. Moreover, the process of submitting materials layer by layer and handling matters through offline round trips may cause farmers and small and micro agricultural enterprises to miss the critical windows for sowing, harvesting, acquisition, and sales.
Focusing on these difficulties, China Minsheng Bank has continuously promoted data-based credit enhancement, the extension of services to the grassroots, government-bank coordination, and industrial chain linkage, embedding financial support into every link of cultivation, acquisition, processing, circulation, and sales. From a single loan resolving an urgent matter requiring immediate attention (燃眉之急, ran mei zhi ji - "burn, eyebrows, urgent") to a full suite of services accompanying the growth of an industry, China Minsheng Bank's financial services supporting the revitalization of rural industries are shifting toward comprehensive financial services that better understand the laws of agriculture, are closer to industrial scenarios, and are better able to connect the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
Data-based credit enhancement enables financial services to precisely match the needs of farmers
The key to solving the financing difficulties of agriculture-related businesses is to find new information that can truly reflect production and operation status. Data such as planting area, historical sales, order transactions, and goods flow are scattered across different platforms and operational links. After data analysis and model evaluation, they can become important bases for identifying operational capacity and assessing funding needs, giving business entities that lack traditional collateral the opportunity to obtain credit support.
In Heilongjiang, agricultural business entities are widely distributed and funding needs for production are highly seasonal, making it difficult for financial outlets to cover all agricultural operation areas. Relying on the big data construction achievements of the financial service platform of the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Harbin Branch of China Minsheng Bank has launched the "Grain Farmers Loan" (粮农贷) for agricultural planting entities. The product connects online application, automatic model approval, and customer self-service contract signing and disbursement, using a credit-based, automated approach to alleviate problems such as long offline processing cycles, high round-trip costs, and insufficient collateral.
For farmers, the value of online financial services is not just saving a trip to the bank, but more importantly, ensuring that funding support keeps pace with the farming calendar. In Daqing, China Minsheng Bank has promoted the practice of "applying for loans without leaving the village," extending the application process from the counter to the mobile phone. Financial services have shifted from "waiting for customers to come to the door" to proactive outreach — a vivid microcosm of China Minsheng Bank's use of digital finance to optimize the rural financing experience.
Promoting digital products does not mean weakening offline services. Customer managers and Party-community volunteer service teams of the Harbin Branch of China Minsheng Bank go deep into villages and hamlets to conduct needs surveys, application guidance, and post-loan services, combining the "speed" of technology with the "closeness" of services. Facing remote villages and scattered farmers, staff help farmers offline to understand products, verify needs, and resolve operational issues, while also optimizing online systems to improve the efficiency of approval and disbursement. Human-machine collaboration brings digital tools down to the fields and farm plots (田间地头, tian jian di tou - "field, between, ground, head"), further enhancing the accessibility and coverage of finance.
For large-scale agricultural reclamation scenarios, based on national-level platform agricultural data and core enterprise operational data, and applying mobile internet technology, China Minsheng Bank has specifically launched the "Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Agricultural Loan Connect" (北大荒农垦农贷通) product, adapting to the funding cycles of Beidahuang farmers for growing grain and receiving payment for grain sales, and flexibly setting payment methods according to the fund management needs of Beidahuang farms and the payment needs of growers, effectively meeting farmers' financing needs.
Relying on the data-based credit enhancement model, China Minsheng Bank has extended financial services deep into the Xinjiang cotton industry chain. The cotton industry covers multiple links including planting, acquisition, processing, and sales. The chain is long, with many participating entities, and the timing of fund use, capital scale, and risk characteristics differ significantly across links. The Urumqi Branch of China Minsheng Bank formed a product innovation team that visited relevant departments of the autonomous region, leading cotton enterprises, and the fields and farm plots, exploring the application value of relevant industrial data from the National Cotton Trading Market. On the basis of understanding the laws of the industry, it launched the "Cotton Farmers Loan" (棉农贷) and financing business for cotton processing enterprises.
On the planting side, the "Cotton Farmers Loan" integrates information such as cotton farmers' historical planting records, sales situations, and cultivated area to enrich the evaluation dimensions of business entities, providing eligible growers with pure-credit online loans; on the processing side, the bank relies on data such as ginning factories' historical transactions, cotton trading situations, total goods volume, and sales monitoring to judge the true operational status and funding needs of enterprises, providing special financing for enterprises to acquire seed cotton and process ginned cotton. Data is no longer just a production record; it has also become an important bridge for financial institutions to identify industry conditions and allocate financial resources.
Centering on the cotton production cycle, the Urumqi Branch of China Minsheng Bank connects planting financing, acquisition and processing, sales proceeds, and comprehensive financial services: loans support cotton farmers in planting, financing helps processing enterprises acquire in a timely manner, cotton farmers complete capital recovery after receiving sales proceeds, and the bank then provides follow-up comprehensive services. The business model is simultaneously embedded in channels such as online banking, mobile banking, and the Minsheng Small and Micro APP, covering the online application, approval, disbursement, and repayment links, and strengthening whole-process management through risk warnings, post-loan inspections, and personnel training.
Adapting to local conditions, so that financial products match the rhythm of agricultural production
Agricultural production has both common laws and regional differences. Orchards must wait for fruit to mature and reach the market, rice production must match the spring plowing and autumn harvest seasons, and livestock and poultry farming must consider the cycles of restocking and marketing. Therefore, financial services supporting the revitalization of rural industries cannot use a single set of parameters to cover all scenarios, but must start from the local industrial structure and reasonably set credit limits, terms, disbursement, and repayment arrangements.
In Huchen Township, Ninghai County, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, peaches, bayberries, rice, and livestock and poultry farming together form the local specialty agriculture landscape. A local peach farmer had planned to expand his orchard and update aging irrigation equipment, but the plan was shelved due to a funding gap. When the Ningbo Branch of China Minsheng Bank learned of this situation through the township government's matchmaking and a financing needs survey, it opened a green channel for the "Agriculture Assistance Loan" (助农贷) for the peach farmer through the "Beehive Plan" (蜂巢计划) special scenario service mechanism, accelerating approval and disbursement and helping the orchard upgrade project restart. The resolution of this specific problem further opened up the work of government-bank coordination in serving ordinary farmers.
To extend services to more business entities, the Ningbo Branch of China Minsheng Bank, together with the township government, surveyed the needs of growers and breeders, set credit limits, loan terms, and repayment arrangements based on operational scale, personal credit, and the production cycles of different product categories, and had staff regularly go down to the rural frontline to collect materials at the door and explain policies.
Chain-based coordination, allowing financial support to transmit along the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain
The chain of rural industry revitalization covers agricultural materials supply, planting and breeding, acquisition, processing, circulation, and sales. A funding bottleneck at any link may affect the entire chain. Therefore, financial services need to allocate funds based on real orders, procurement relationships, and transaction scenarios, allowing financial support to transmit along the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
In Henan Province, chemical fertilizer production enterprises are connected to a large number of downstream distributors. During the peak ordering season, funding needs are concentrated, and traditional financing models are often constrained by collateral and regional limitations. Centering on the chemical fertilizer ordering scenario, the Zhengzhou Branch of China Minsheng Bank launched the pure-credit, online "Order Quick Loan" (订货快贷), linking the supply chain transaction scenario with digital credit services, account settlement, and online operations, responding to distributors' needs through an "online + offline" approach. Financial services have extended from single credit disbursement to the ordering, settlement, and operational management links. As of the end of February 2026, the "Order Quick Loan" had provided more than 400 million yuan in financing support to 128 chemical fertilizer distributors and individual industrial and commercial households in Henan Province.
In Zhong County, Chongqing, the difficulty for enterprises comes from a "time lag." From raw material to finished product, a piece of fermented bean curd must undergo a long cellar-aging fermentation process, with raw materials and inventory tying up a large amount of working capital, while soybean acquisition has a clear seasonal window. During visits, the Chongqing Branch of China Minsheng Bank comprehensively assessed the product recognition, sales channels, and cash flow of the relevant enterprise, provided it with a 5 million yuan three-year credit loan, and opened an online disbursement channel. The enterprise was able to acquire local soybeans in a timely manner, and financial support also transmitted along the procurement chain to more than 1,700 farming households.
To help clear bottlenecks in the circulation link of agricultural products, the Chongqing Branch of China Minsheng Bank incorporated indicators such as business category, settlement model, turnover rate, and profit model into the credit measurement model for the agricultural trade customer group, allowing customer managers to conduct credit limit assessments through mobile terminals during market visits. This model reduces reliance on single bills and standard collateral, and also makes financial services more aligned with the actual operational conditions of merchants.
Technology empowerment, allowing local specialty products to reach a larger market
Financial assistance to agriculture must not only focus on the production link, but also on the market, helping business entities reduce customer acquisition costs, broaden sales radius, and use new digital tools to connect the fields, enterprises, and consumers.
The Hangzhou Branch of China Minsheng Bank has created the "Minsheng in Zhejiang" (民生在浙) common prosperity livestream studio. Through origin-site livestreaming, product recommendations, and other methods, it has brought specialty products such as Lin'an pecans, Qiandao Lake (千岛湖, qian dao hu - "thousand, island, lake") organic camellia oil, and Jiande strawberries to a broader consumer base. In addition, the livestream camera has extended from indoors to greenhouses and field ridges. In the Jiande Strawberry Town, livestream hosts introduce the local strawberry industry's planting techniques, variety characteristics, and taste features, while also promoting local homestays and the landscape of the Xin'an River. Agricultural product sales and rural cultural tourism thus draw customers to each other: consumers not only buy strawberries, but also come to know a local region through the camera.
As of the end of December 2025, the "Minsheng in Zhejiang" common prosperity livestream studio had conducted a total of 38 livestream events, cooperated with nearly 30 agricultural enterprises and small and micro merchants, attracted more than 510,000 online viewers, and completed more than 6,000 sales orders. Participating farmers and merchants do not need to pay livestream service fees and can also receive price subsidies, further reducing sales costs. The Hangzhou Branch of China Minsheng Bank uses digital channels to connect the fields and the dining table, extending financial assistance to agriculture from capital supply to channel construction and brand communication, and opening new space for local specialty products to reach a larger market.
From digital agricultural loans in Heilongjiang to full cotton industry chain services in Xinjiang, from the equipment renewal of the peach farmer in Huchen Township to the raw material acquisition of the fermented bean curd enterprise in Chongqing, from the ordering and turnover of chemical fertilizer distributors to the expansion of sales channels for Zhejiang local products, these practices demonstrate that China Minsheng Bank's use of financial services to support the revitalization of rural industries does not stop at simple financing support, but embeds financial support into every link of industrial production and operation.
Facing the new harvest season, China Minsheng Bank will continue to improve product supply around the real needs of agricultural business entities and specialty industries, enhance data application and service efficiency, deepen government-bank-enterprise coordination, channel more financial resources to the key links of rural development, and let the living water of finance both irrigate the fields and invigorate industries, both resolve the urgent needs of the present and build momentum for the long term, forming on the vast fields a service loop from the production end to the consumption end, from individual household operations to the industrial ecosystem, adding more enduring financial momentum to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
Data source: China Minsheng Bank
Return to TopOctober 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. More than 800 million people worldwide still live in extreme poverty.
What is the root cause of the slow progress of global poverty reduction, and where does the solution lie? Why has China been able to historically resolve absolute poverty, and what experience is worth learning from? Our reporter talked with Robert Walker, Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, Emeritus Professor of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and Professor at Jingshi College, Beijing Normal University, inviting him to share his understanding of China's poverty reduction philosophy and practical achievements.
Robert Walker has long been devoted to poverty research and is an important European scholar studying theories related to poverty and social policy. He was among the first to conduct research on multidimensional poverty concepts and dynamic poverty. He has traveled to Guizhou, Shanxi, Zhejiang and other places for field research on multiple occasions, systematically studied China's poverty reduction and development experience, and promoted it worldwide.
Participants in the dialogue:
Qu Pei, People's Daily reporter
Robert Walker, Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, Emeritus Professor of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Professor at Jingshi College, Beijing Normal University
Astonishing —
A historic leap rarely seen in the history of human development
Question: In your view, why is it so difficult for mankind to shake off poverty?
Answer: There is a biased view that poverty stems from laziness. That is not the case. I have seen many hardworking people struggling in poverty, and labeling them as "lazy" is truly deviating from the correct path or being biased (失之偏颇, shi zhi pian po - "lose, that; error, biased"). Those who are experiencing poverty are not fundamentally different from you or me; it is just that their environment, resources, and opportunities are different.
Poverty means lacking the resources necessary for survival and development, which is often a structural contradiction caused by multiple factors such as insufficient resource endowments, backward infrastructure, and lack of development opportunities. Poverty is multidimensional. Those in poverty not only bear the suffering of material deprivation but may also face multiple pressures such as social exclusion and deprivation of rights. Poverty is dynamic. People may repeatedly fall into poverty due to illness, unemployment, and other reasons, and countries may go through similar processes. Therefore, eradicating poverty is far more difficult than raising income.
Question: How do you evaluate China's poverty reduction achievements?
Answer: From 1949 to the present, China has completed a historic leap rarely seen in the history of human development: from a state of extreme poverty where the illiteracy rate was as high as 80 percent and most people struggled on the edge of survival, it has grown into an upper-middle-income country and is moving toward the ranks of high-income countries. Whether in terms of the economy, science and technology, the building of the social security system, or national cognition, this can be called a miracle.
The success of poverty reduction is by no means merely a change in numbers; more importantly, it reshapes the expectations of the people involved for the future and activates development possibilities. China's practice tells the world that eradicating absolute poverty is the starting point for achieving sustainable development. Faucets moved from outside the house to inside, village paths turned into cement roads, villagers' clothes no longer covered in mud — these improvements in living conditions have raised people's self-confidence and social inclusiveness.
Question: Why has China been able to comprehensively eradicate absolute poverty?
Answer: The great achievements of China's poverty reduction practice did not happen as a sudden miracle. First, leadership is very important. President Xi Jinping once said, "Poverty alleviation has always been an important part of my work, and I have devoted the most energy to it," demonstrating political determination at the national level. The strong executive capacity of the Communist Party of China has turned this determination into a combined force for eradicating poverty across the whole society. From the capital Beijing to remote villages, different governance levels and various entities all act around the same goal and support each other.
Another important factor is economic development and policy safeguards. Economic development has created the material foundation for large-scale poverty reduction. China has continuously explored and improved its poverty reduction policy tools, from carrying out large-scale, planned, and organized poverty alleviation and development at the beginning of reform and opening up, to the "8-7 Plan" striving to basically solve the problem of adequate food and clothing for 80 million rural poor, to comprehensively advancing the battle against poverty after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and finally comprehensively eradicating absolute poverty by the end of 2020.
Social mobilization is equally crucial. The Chinese people continuously unleash their creativity, which is the source of strength for advancing the cause of poverty reduction. The Chinese government continuously improves infrastructure and creates development opportunities, social forces participate extensively, and the production capacity and development awareness of the people continue to improve, jointly promoting the effectiveness of poverty reduction.
Question: If you were to use a few words to describe China's poverty reduction, what words would you use?
Answer: Astonishing, complex and arduous, often misunderstood, changing the world, smiling faces... and many more.
Complex and arduous —
Focusing the vision of poverty reduction work on every specific individual
Question: In what aspects is the "complexity and arduousness" of China's poverty reduction cause reflected?
Answer: China's determination to eradicate poverty means completely rooting out absolute poverty, rather than "improving" or "alleviating" it. "Improvement" is difficult to quantify, but "eradication" means there are clear standards, and every thorny problem must be faced head-on and solved. I have gone deep into China's countryside and witnessed the challenges faced by grassroots cadres, and I have also seen them continuously improve their methods in practice and persevere. This is by no means a smooth road, but a difficult process of moving forward: advancing, repeating, reflecting, and starting again.
In 2018, China's battle against poverty was being deeply advanced. I visited traditional villages in Guizhou and noticed poverty alleviation notices posted on the outside of some houses. I was very surprised at the time: was this labeling poor families and thereby causing discrimination? Only upon closer inspection did I find that what was posted was actually photos of the cadres providing assistance, with every family having a cadre responsible for liaison. I realized that China's poverty alleviation work had already gone deep into the grassroots.
In our global research, we have found that poor people can easily become hollow statistical figures, but China focuses the vision of its poverty reduction work on every specific individual. Imagine: if you are a poverty alleviation cadre responsible for 25 families, you not only need to know why each family is poor and what each needs, but also need to coordinate different institutions and resources, and work with them to help farming households find ways to escape poverty. Truly achieving this is very difficult and also very remarkable.
Question: What innovative measures in China's poverty reduction practice have left a deep impression on you?
Answer: This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's east-west poverty alleviation cooperation. In my academic research, I have rarely seen other countries undertake cross-regional cooperation on such a large scale. Large eastern Chinese cities send teams to western county towns thousands of miles away, transferring talent and experience; commercial forces from the developed eastern regions also invest and start businesses in the west, carrying out technical cooperation. National policy has made regions far apart a development community. This approach transcends the poverty reduction path of relying solely on external aid. It no longer regards the poor as passive beneficiaries, but instead forms a broad combined force through institutional and regional cooperation, stimulating the internal driving force for development. The Chinese model is difficult to replicate, but the concept of coordinated development contained within it has important reference significance for global poverty reduction.
Question: At a time of rapid technological development, what new changes do you think have emerged in China's poverty reduction practice?
Answer: During my visits to China's countryside, I found that smart agricultural machinery, agricultural robots, and the like are rapidly spreading. In the past, the common problems facing the countryside were the continuous concentration of resources in cities and the outflow of rural populations. Today, technological progress and business model innovation are creating new possibilities for rural development.
On the one hand, the internet has broken down traditional geographical barriers. In the past, people gathered in cities to shorten the radius of collaboration and concentrate development resources. Today, a large number of goods, services, and information can flow online, and rural communities also have the possibility of nurturing new forms of industry. On the other hand, even given the objective reality of rural population outflow, new technologies can achieve large-scale, high-efficiency agricultural production with less labor. I have seen that in some of China's villages, with the vigorous rise of livestream e-commerce, villagers can also develop careers from their homes. In the future, more innovative models of rural industrial development are bound to emerge.
Eliminating misunderstanding —
China's judgment on poverty has never looked only at residents' income
Question: You said China's poverty reduction is "often misunderstood." Could you give examples?
Answer: For example, a certain village has lived on a mountaintop for hundreds of years, but the local natural environment cannot generate enough productivity to lift the villagers out of poverty. What should be done? Other countries rarely face this kind of problem, but China's poverty alleviation cadres have faced a large number of similar difficulties.
China cannot allow poverty to continue, which means it must communicate and consult with the masses, and even consider relocating entire villages. Once relocation occurs, housing, production resources, and employment opportunities must be provided for them. This is a major systematic project. The transition of mountain residents moving into cities took Europe hundreds of years, but in China it may need to be completed within months or a few years, so full support must be given, with grassroots cadres tracking and assisting throughout the process from village to city.
Relocation for poverty alleviation is in itself a positive story, but some Westerners have interpreted it as "forced labor transfer" and even slapped on the label of "cultural genocide." This is what I mean by misunderstanding — a complex poverty governance problem misread as a preset political label.
Question: There is a voice saying that the reason China has been able to comprehensively eradicate absolute poverty is that the poverty line is too low. Do you agree?
Answer: Discussing poverty standards is of course necessary, but the purposes of different poverty lines need to be clarified. The standards of institutions such as the World Bank are used for international statistics and cross-country comparison, while in practice, each country needs to set specific standards needed for poverty alleviation policies according to its own situation.
From the beginning of reform and opening up to 2021, the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, calculated according to China's poverty standard, 770 million rural poor shook off poverty; calculated according to the World Bank's international poverty standard, China's poverty reduction population accounted for more than 70 percent of the global poverty reduction population in the same period. No matter which standard is used for statistics, China's poverty reduction results are very evident. China's poverty reduction policies have effectively promoted sustainable social development and raised the living standards of the entire population. This is a fact visible to all.
More importantly, China's judgment on poverty has never looked only at residents' income. In the process of the battle against poverty, China emphasized the "two assurances and three guarantees" — steadily realizing the assurance of adequate food and clothing and the guarantee of compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing — which reflects multidimensional poverty alleviation.
From the perspective of policy logic, following the laws of economic development, the poverty standard was set relatively low at the initial stage, then adjusted with development, and policy goals were also iterated in sync. The Communist Party of China deeply recognizes that the current needs of the people have transcended the level of adequate food and clothing and turned toward a higher quality of life. China has made common prosperity its goal and is striving to realize a new blueprint. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes "promoting the formation of an olive-shaped distribution pattern." Once this distribution pattern is realized, it will be a great achievement comparable to eradicating absolute poverty.
Question: There is a view in the West that after comprehensively eradicating absolute poverty, China has "put the cause of poverty reduction aside." What do you think?
Answer: That is not the case. The outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan clearly proposes to "coordinate the establishment of a normalized mechanism to prevent the return to poverty and the occurrence of new poverty," showing that China has not underestimated the complexity, long-term nature, and repetitiveness of poverty, but is advancing poverty alleviation as a sustained undertaking. On the one hand, it is necessary to proactively prevent and defuse risks, cultivate sustainable endogenous development momentum through industrial upgrading, scientific and technological innovation, green transformation, entrepreneurship and employment, so that those who have already shaken off poverty can continue to have development opportunities; on the other hand, it is also necessary to do a good job of risk protection and expand the coverage of social security.
From the governance dimension, poverty is divided into absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is a lack of basic survival resources and can be completely rooted out. Relative poverty arises from imbalanced socio-economic development and will exist for a long time along with social development. The task of China's current stage is to achieve socially inclusive development and ultimately move toward common prosperity. Whether this task can be completed depends on perseverance.
China's urban poverty reduction practice is a good example. As the population continues to concentrate from rural to urban areas, those who integrate into urban society should enjoy equal development opportunities. In May this year, China issued the "Implementation Opinions on Providing Basic Public Services Based on Place of Residence," promoting the equal enjoyment of basic public services by the registered-residence population and the non-registered resident population. This is precisely a manifestation of the improvement of social inclusiveness.
Changing the world —
China has demonstrated outstanding major-country leadership
Question: What significance do China's poverty reduction achievements have for the world?
Answer: China achieved the poverty reduction goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, directly accelerating the international poverty reduction process. In the future, China's contribution to the global poverty reduction cause will be reflected in exchanging experience, sharing opportunities, and development cooperation.
The essence of poverty reduction lies in empowerment, which is the essence of China's experience. It is necessary to empower administrative entities at all levels to participate in poverty governance, and also to empower individuals with basic living security, production tools, and production capacity. In this process, a people-centered approach must be upheld. The Communist Party of China has done an excellent job: the people firmly believe that the Communist Party of China and its governance system always serve the people.
As a scholar, I believe that the value of theory lies in transcending individual cases and being widely applicable. National conditions differ from country to country, and blindly copying China's experience is not advisable, but some experience gained from China's practice is worth learning from, such as carrying out efficient social mobilization, building diversified incentive mechanisms, and building a consensus on development among the entire population.
Question: The essence of poverty reduction lies in empowerment. Does this also apply at the international level?
Answer: Exactly. We often discuss a question: why is the development path of developing countries so difficult? The answer lies in structural problems. We must reform the governance system so that it no longer serves only vested interests, but creates opportunities for common development for all. This means we need to reform the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and others, and re-examine their roles. These institutions are crucial to the future of the world, and all countries should participate in their governance together, rather than a few wealthy countries dominating.
China has proposed the Global Governance Initiative, aiming to adjust the distribution of power and funds by reshaping rules, promote the reform of the global governance system, and empower the vast number of developing countries.
Question: What is the root cause of the slow progress of the global poverty reduction cause? And where does the solution lie?
Answer: The first goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to eradicate all forms of poverty everywhere in the world. As 2030 approaches, global poverty reduction progress is not satisfactory. Regional conflicts, economic instability, climate change, and other factors are multiple obstacles affecting poverty reduction.
The solution also lies in the agenda itself. Goal 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals clearly proposes "strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development." Only when developed and developing countries strengthen cooperation and develop hand in hand can the global poverty reduction cause truly move forward. The world urgently needs to build a development system with broad participation, joint contribution, and shared benefits among all countries.
China has demonstrated outstanding major-country leadership, continuously advancing international cooperation under the framework of the four major global initiatives, and walking at the forefront of global poverty reduction and sustainable development. In May this year, I witnessed in Beijing the establishment of the Global Alliance for Poverty Reduction and Development, which will become an important platform for exchanging experience and pooling actions.
We should embrace China, rather than regard China as an adversary and exclude it. This confrontational perspective ignores the potential for global common development and is completely wrong. China's valuable experience in poverty reduction and development deserves serious study by the world. Effective global poverty reduction cooperation should listen to the voices of all parties and pool the experience and wisdom of Global South countries.
The world today is full of uncertainty, but this may also be a turning point, providing an opportunity for us to reconstruct the global governance system. China advocates the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and sincerely and steadfastly practices it, providing a path of opportunity for the sustainable development of human society.
(Li Yan, reporter of this newspaper, participated in the writing)
Return to TopBy: 立 羽
In recent years, some large enterprises, while "competing on price" with their peers, have also been "competing on payment terms" against small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), leveraging their dominant market position to lengthen payment periods for SMEs. This not only squeezes the living space of SMEs but may also weaken the resilience and vitality of industrial and supply chains. In response to the difficulty SMEs face in recovering payments, the General Office of the State Council recently issued the Notice on Strengthening Governance of Difficulties in Payment Recovery for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as the Notice), which puts forward ten specific measures in four areas: improving industry rules on account payment, strengthening supervision over the payment behavior of large enterprises, regulating the management of non-cash payment instruments, and enhancing capital transmission efficiency and financing support.
Where exactly does the difficulty in recovering payments lie? It must be recognized that this issue is not simply a matter of "big enterprises bullying small enterprises." Behind it lie both structural factors—where, under an imbalanced position in the industrial chain, some large enterprises shift financial pressure upstream and downstream—and objective causes such as disputes over project quality, disagreements over acceptance standards, and cash-flow pressure on the large enterprises themselves. Distinguishing "malicious arrears" from normal commercial settlement disputes is the prerequisite for precise governance. The Notice focuses its attention on large enterprises with "large accounts payable and ample cash-type assets," rather than applying a single standard indiscriminately (一刀切, yi dao qie - "one, knife, cut") to all enterprises with longer payment periods.
The key to resolving this problem lies in extending institutional development from principled frameworks to operable rules. In recent years, the Regulations on Ensuring Payment for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and the Law on Promoting the Private Economy have established a multi-tiered institutional framework. However, because they contain few industry-specific provisions, rigid constraints are easily diluted during implementation. The focus of this Notice is precisely to fill the critical gap of "industry rules": it clarifies four elements—the starting point for calculating payment periods, payment methods, acceptance standards, and maximum payment deadlines—and promotes the formulation of settlement payment management regulations by industry, incorporating them into model contract texts; where payment methods are not specified, cash payment is mandatory. At the same time, it establishes closed-loop mechanisms including account monitoring, joint interviews, disciplinary action for breach of trust, and information disclosure, bringing account payment under the track of credit-based supervision.
From the perspective of financial stability, governing payment arrears is equally significant. Arrears by some large enterprises cause cash-flow strain for SMEs, forcing them to turn to bank loans, which pushes up the cost of social financing and, to a certain extent, weakens the transmission effect of monetary policy. However, it must also be recognized that the rise in financing costs caused by large-enterprise arrears is a structural effect; the difficulty SMEs face in financing also has multiple other causes, including information asymmetry, insufficient collateral, and an imperfect credit system, and the two should not be simply equated. In this regard, the People's Bank of China has actively cooperated with relevant departments to strengthen disclosure of accounts payable information by enterprises issuing bonds in the interbank market, and continues to support enterprises in replacing accounts payable through loans and bond issuance. At the same time, the People's Bank of China has carried out special actions for financial support for the private economy and for inclusive finance for micro and small enterprises, guiding reasonable growth in loan scale. As of the end of June 2026, the balance of inclusive loans to micro and small enterprises grew by 8.3% year on year. By exerting effort from both the "blocking" and "dredging" ends—both restraining the arrears behavior of large enterprises and providing liquidity support to SMEs—can the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks be held.
To safeguard high-quality development, governing payment recovery difficulties is an important part of consolidating the micro-foundation of the economy. SMEs are the main force of innovation and creation and the reservoir for stabilizing employment. The issuance of this Notice is precisely aimed at creating a stable and predictable development environment for SMEs. At the same time, the interest subsidy policy for micro, small, and medium enterprise loans, the relending policy for technological innovation and technological transformation, and the establishment of the second phase of the National SME Development Fund on the basis of the first-phase fund with a sub-fund scale exceeding 120 billion yuan and cumulative investment in over 2,000 enterprises, all inject long-term capital into the specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative development of SMEs. Only when "funds can be recovered" and "development has support" work in tandem can SMEs achieve maintaining steady progress to achieve long-term success (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "walk, steadily, reach, far") on the path of high-quality development.
Governing the difficulty of payment recovery for SMEs is both a tough battle and a protracted one. Ensuring that every account is paid on time and that every SME can operate with peace of mind requires coordinated efforts from all parties. The direction is clear, the rules are being implemented; by safeguarding market fairness with the power of institutions and responding to enterprises' expectations with practical measures, the arteries of China's large economic cycle will surely flow more smoothly.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 葛孟超
Since the summer of this year, large-denomination certificates of deposit (CDs), whose issuance scale had once been reduced, have appeared more frequently in the product lists of many banks. From large commercial banks to joint-stock banks, small and medium-sized banks, and then to foreign-funded banks, they have all launched large-denomination CD products one after another, with some popular products selling out quickly after going online. Why have large-denomination CDs made a comeback? Which investors are they favored by? A reporter recently conducted a survey.
Large-denomination CDs of multiple maturities are newly launched, and banks are increasing their issuance efforts
"I used a large-denomination CD to save the first batch of money for my baby's food. Both the principal and interest are rock-solid, and it's very worry-free." Ms. Ma, 33 years old, is a doctor. In two months, she will welcome the birth of her first child. On October 10, she deposited 520,000 yuan at ICBC to purchase a 3-year personal large-denomination CD with an annual interest rate of 1.55%.
In early July this year, Bank of China took the lead in issuing the first batch of 2026 personal large-denomination CD products, covering 7 maturities ranging from 1 month to 5 years, with the 5-year annual interest rate reaching as high as 1.60%. Subsequently, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank followed suit with large-denomination CD products. On August 1, ICBC issued two 5-year large-denomination CD products with annual interest rates of 1.60% and 1.55% respectively, and Bank of Communications also launched large-denomination CD products.
As general deposits that guarantee both principal and interest, large-denomination CDs usually require a minimum deposit of 200,000 yuan, offer interest rates generally slightly higher than ordinary time deposits of the same maturity, and can be transferred or withdrawn early in accordance with regulations. Previously, the issuance scale of large-denomination CDs had once been reduced. Now, with the relevant products back on the shelves, interest rates, quotas, and purchase channels have become the focus of depositors' attention.
On October 12, the reporter found through the Bank of China mobile banking app that large-denomination CD products with a minimum deposit of 200,000 yuan are very abundant, covering 7 maturity varieties from 1 month to 5 years. The interest rates for large-denomination CD products with a term of 60 months (5 years) are divided into two tiers: 1.60% and 1.55%. Among them, the 2025 first-issue 5-year product with an annual interest rate of 1.60% and the 2025 first-issue 2-year product with an annual interest rate of 1.20% have already sold out. On the same day, the ICBC mobile banking app showed that 5-year large-denomination CD products also include two types with annual interest rates of 1.60% and 1.55%, and products such as the 2026 first-issue 5-year with an annual interest rate of 1.60% and the 2026 second-issue 3-year with an annual interest rate of 1.55% have also sold out.
"Online large-denomination CDs are very popular. When they sell well, they're snapped up quickly." At a bank branch in Chaoyang District, Beijing, a customer manager told the reporter. The customer manager said that when online quotas are insufficient, depositors can also make reservations offline, and after the quota is approved, they can deposit the money within one month to complete the transaction. "Recently, there have been many buyers, so approval and queuing have been relatively slow. Lately, quotas have been relaxed, and processing has become faster."
Some joint-stock banks and small and medium-sized banks have also launched large-denomination CD products recently. The Huaxia Bank mobile banking app shows that the bank's 5-year large-denomination CD has an annual interest rate of 1.75%, with a minimum deposit of 200,000 yuan, and depositors can purchase it through channels such as branch counters, online banking, and mobile banking. China Minsheng Bank currently also has several 5-year large-denomination CDs on sale, with annual interest rates ranging from 1.75% to 1.79%.
Foreign-funded banks are also increasing their issuance of large-denomination CDs. Sinopac Bank (China) issued an announcement on September 29, stating that from September 29 to December 31 it would issue 3-year RMB personal large-denomination CDs nationwide. Bank of East Asia (China) issued 3-year RMB personal large-denomination CDs from September 16 to September 23. In October, HSBC Bank (China) launched multiple RMB large-denomination CD products with a minimum deposit threshold of 200,000 yuan, and some products are only available to newly opened accounts.
Subscription thresholds lowered, transfer mechanisms improved, making it more convenient for investors to purchase
Li Fangzhou, product manager of the Personal Finance Business Department of Bank of Communications, said that large-denomination CDs are deposits protected by the deposit insurance system, and some products also support transfer, balancing safety and liquidity. Issuing large-denomination CD products can provide conservative clients with an additional deposit option and consolidate the bank's stable funding base.
Since July this year, the personal large-denomination CD products issued by Bank of Communications have covered various maturities from 1 month to 5 years, with medium- and long-term large-denomination CDs such as 1-year and 3-year being the main varieties issued and purchased by customers.
"Judging from the market situation, product supply is sufficient and overall subscription enthusiasm is high. Funding sources are mainly the sedimentation of existing customer funds and new funds transferred in from outside the bank. Our bank dynamically adjusts the issuance scale and maturity structure based on market conditions, customer demand, and operational circumstances, keeping supply stable and orderly." Li Fangzhou said.
Since this summer, Agricultural Bank of China has launched 19 tranches of personal large-denomination CD products, covering various maturities, including 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year products. In terms of issuance, customers have been quite active in purchasing, with cumulative sales exceeding 300 billion yuan.
Experts analyzed that the recent restart of large-denomination CD products by multiple banks is the result of multiple factors working together, including the market environment, bank operations, and interest rate liberalization.
"The current overall environment is one of low interest rates and low risk appetite. Fluctuations in wealth management products, funds, and the equity market have increased, residents' financial management mentality is relatively conservative, and there is significant market demand for principal-guaranteed, stable products. There is a lot of idle capital in the market, but low-risk, high-certainty products are relatively scarce, which brings substantial market demand for large-denomination CDs." Liu Xiaoshu, chief economist of Bank of Qingdao, said.
Liu Xiaoshu analyzed that for banks, deposits are the most core and stable source of funds, and large-denomination CDs are standardized products with high recognition and good deposit-attraction effects. Therefore, all banks, whether large banks or small and medium-sized banks, are restarting large-denomination CD issuance to stabilize existing deposits and prevent capital outflows. "Otherwise, if you don't offer them, deposits will go to other banks."
"The recent reissuance of large-denomination CDs by large banks and small and medium-sized banks is a balance between the banks' own desire to stabilize liabilities and their desire to reduce costs." Lou Feipeng, a researcher at Postal Savings Bank of China, believes that at the end of last year, banks chose to delist high-interest long-term large-denomination CDs to lower costs, but the situation has changed this year: first, a large number of high-interest deposits purchased by ordinary people in previous years are maturing in a concentrated period, and banks need quality products to absorb this demand; second, bank lending is mostly long-term while deposits are mostly short-term, creating a maturity mismatch problem, so banks need to issue some long-term deposit products; third, in June this year, the People's Bank of China issued the "Measures for the Administration of Large-Denomination Certificates of Deposit (Draft for Comments)," which relaxed the requirements for transferring large-denomination CDs.
The draft for comments clarifies that both third-party platforms and banks' own channels can conduct transfers, early withdrawals, and redemptions of large-denomination CDs, providing greater room for capital allocation. "The supporting management rules for large-denomination CDs continue to be optimized, personal subscription thresholds have been lowered, the certificate transfer mechanism has been further improved, bank issuance operations have become more convenient, and this will also make it easier for investors to accept such products." Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting, said.
From the perspective of interest rate liberalization reform, Liu Xiaoshu said that banks now have stronger independent pricing power over interest rates and can flexibly adjust rates and maturities based on market capital tightness and their own liquidity conditions. The current market interest rates are generally stable, bank liability costs are controllable, and the market-based conditions for resuming large-scale issuance of large-denomination CDs are now in place.
Suitable for conservative investors; financial institutions should optimize products based on demand
What are the characteristics of the groups purchasing large-denomination CDs?
Jiang Zhubin, product manager of the Personal Finance Business Department of the Shanghai Branch of Bank of Communications, said that by age group, among customers purchasing large-denomination CDs, those over 50 account for the highest proportion, at nearly 60%. Most of these customers' funds are savings for retirement or old-age preparation, they have low risk appetite, and they prioritize guaranteed principal and interest; the next group is those aged 35-49, accounting for about 30%, mostly families with idle funds who are doing asset allocation, using them as a base allocation for their asset portfolios without pursuing high returns.
"In terms of age, our bank's large-denomination CD customers are mainly the elderly customer group. In terms of risk appetite, they are overall conservative and steady, with high requirements for principal safety and return certainty." Zhang Tianjiao, deputy general manager of the Personal Finance Department of the Beijing Branch of Agricultural Bank of China, said.
Compared with other conservative financial products, the characteristics of large-denomination CDs are mainly reflected in three dimensions. In terms of safety, large-denomination CDs are protected by the deposit insurance system, with full compensation of principal and interest within 500,000 yuan; savings treasury bonds are backed by national credit, offering the highest safety, with a minimum purchase threshold of only 100 yuan, lower than the 200,000 yuan for large-denomination CDs, but with fixed issuance periods and limited quotas. In terms of returns, the current interest rate on 3-year large-denomination CDs at large commercial banks is about 1.55%, while the rate on 3-year savings treasury bonds is 1.63%, giving treasury bonds a slight advantage; 5-year large-denomination CD rates range from 1.55% to 1.60%, with some small and medium-sized bank products offering higher rates, while the rate on 5-year savings treasury bonds is 1.70%. In terms of liquidity, large-denomination CDs can be transferred and pledged, savings treasury bonds can be redeemed early after being held for 6 months with interest calculated on a tiered basis, while bank wealth management products generally cannot be redeemed during the closed period.
Ordinary people choose large-denomination CDs mainly out of emphasis on capital safety, preference for the certainty of fixed returns, and the desire to obtain slightly higher interest returns on the basis of deposits.
"The renewed activity of large-denomination CDs gives ordinary people one more reassuring option." Lou Feipeng introduced that large-denomination CDs are essentially deposits, guaranteeing principal and interest, and are also protected by the deposit insurance system, making them very safe. With current deposit rates declining and wealth management products breaking rigid payment guarantees, large-denomination CDs are equivalent to providing investors seeking stability with a long-term investment product with stable returns. Especially for middle-aged and elderly people and conservative investors, investing in large-denomination CDs not only means no worry about losing principal, but also allows them to lock in several years of relatively fixed interest, giving them peace of mind.
Wang Pengbo also expressed a similar view: "The restart of large-denomination CD products means that the supply of principal-guaranteed deposit products in the market has increased. Large-denomination CDs themselves are bank deposits, protected by the deposit insurance system within 500,000 yuan, with strong certainty of principal and interest. This gives residents an additional comparable option beyond ordinary time deposits."
Facing residents' new demand for low-volatility products, financial institutions are currently continuously adjusting their product layouts, increasing the supply of pure fixed-income and low-volatility fixed-income-plus products, launching short-holding-period fixed-income wealth management products, and lowering management fees on some products. At the same time, they are also improving information disclosure mechanisms in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Li Fangzhou said that in terms of deposit products, Bank of Communications continues to issue large-denomination CDs on a regular rolling basis, enriching maturities, retaining transferable versions, and giving customers options that balance safety and liquidity. At the same time, it is optimizing the design of ordinary time deposit products to suit different customer groups.
Liu Xiaoshu suggested that in the current market environment, investors should completely abandon the illusion of "low risk, high returns." Any project that promises principal-guaranteed high interest, far exceeding normal market returns, carries hidden dangers and should be resolutely avoided. Large amounts of funds should not be concentrated in a single product or a single institution; instead, by spreading deposits, one can balance safety, liquidity, and returns. Older investors and those seeking stability should mainly invest in deposits, large-denomination CDs, and treasury bonds, acting within one's means (量力而行, liang li er xing - "measure, one's, strength, act, accordingly") and not making investments beyond their capacity to bear.
(Sun Jiayi participated in the reporting and writing)
Return to TopBy: 叶 坦
The Shibo Si (Maritime Trade Supervisorate) system was the core regulatory framework for managing overseas trade in ancient China. It developed and evolved alongside the rise of the Maritime Silk Road and served as the predecessor of the modern customs system. As a permanent government institution, the Shibo Si exercised systematic management over overseas trade through functions such as issuing maritime travel permits, inspecting and verifying cargo, levying and collecting taxes, official government purchasing, and administering foreign merchants.
Although the development of the Shibo Si system experienced twists and turns, and a policy of isolating a country from the outside world (闭关锁国, bi guan suo guo - "close, shut, lock, country") recurred at various points in history, the spirit of autonomous rule of law and governance experience spanning a thousand years still holds important reference value and modern significance for the overseas trade management of Chinese modernization today, particularly for the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The prototype of the Shibo Si first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan era, Guangzhou established the first Shibo Shi (Maritime Trade Commissioner) to manage overseas trade, though it was not yet a permanent institution. In the fourth year of the Kaibao reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (971 AD), Guangzhou formally established the Shibo Si, marking the institutionalization of this system. The Song Dynasty was an important period for the formation and development of the Shibo Si system, with maritime trade institutions successively established in Hangzhou, Mingzhou, Quanzhou, Mizhou, and other locations. In the third year of the Yuanfeng reign (1080 AD), the special foreign trade regulation Guangzhou Shibo Regulations was promulgated, which was also the world's earliest codified foreign trade law, predating the French Marine Ordinance (1681) by six centuries. By the Southern Song Dynasty, a management system of "Shibo Si—Shibo Wu—Shibo Chang" (Supervisorate—Office—Station) gradually took shape, marking the maturation of the ancient overseas trade management system. As the center of maritime trade shifted southward, Quanzhou became a world-class trading port, and the ancient Maritime Silk Road reached its zenith.
The Yuan Dynasty inherited the Song system and established Shibo Si extensively, incorporating the institution into the legal code as the Shibo Regulations, thereby unifying the rule-of-law-based management of foreign trade. The Yuan Dynasty also implemented the "government-capital ship" model, in which the government provided capital for merchants to operate, attempting government-merchant cooperation in overseas trade. In the early Ming Dynasty, due to Japanese pirate (wokou) harassment of coastal areas, a maritime ban was promulgated in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign (1371 AD), stipulating that "coastal residents may not privately go to sea." Meanwhile, tributary trade between the Ming Dynasty and its vassal states replaced private foreign trade, and the primary function of the Shibo Si became receiving tributary missions. In the first year of the Longqing reign (1567 AD), Yuegang (present-day Haicheng, Fujian) was opened for trade; through this single port alone, "the money exchanged in trade amounted to several hundred thousand taels annually, upon which both public and private interests depended," demonstrating the impact of foreign trade on the economy. However, the Ming Dynasty never restored the Shibo Si institutional framework. The Qing Dynasty completely abolished the Shibo Si, replacing it with modern-style customs houses supplemented by the Thirteen Hongs to control foreign trade, bringing the Shibo Si system to an end.
Surveying the historical trajectory, the Shibo Si system was of vital importance in ancient overseas trade, establishing a rule-of-law guarantee window for exchanges between China and foreign countries, with Shibo revenue serving as an important source of government income. The establishment of the Shibo Si helped maintain order in overseas commerce, coordinate trade disputes, supervise cargo quality, and restrict the import and export of contraband such as copper coins and weapons. It promoted the prosperity of coastal port cities, advanced the development of urban economies and market trade, and stimulated the vitality of industry and commerce. Chinese porcelain, silk, and other goods were sold far and wide to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region, and beyond, while exotic spices and products from foreign lands were imported into the country, forming an economic and trade network connecting ancient China with the wider world.
However, the Shibo Si system was a product of the traditional era, aimed at increasing the imperial court's fiscal revenue and maintaining rule. It used government power to forcibly purchase goods and exploit merchants, suppressed private commerce, and emphasized trade in luxury goods while neglecting people's livelihoods. Foreign trade policy fluctuated with political circumstances, lacking a sustained and stable national policy of openness. During periods of isolation from the outside world, foreign trade and the development of the Maritime Silk Road were severely affected. The rise and fall of the Shibo Si system demonstrates that openness, inclusiveness, and sound rule of law bring prosperity to maritime commerce, while closure, conservatism, and volatile policies lead to the decline of trade routes.
The rule-of-law norms and governance experience of the Shibo Si system offer multiple modern values and insights. First, we must adhere to opening up to the outside world, maintain the continuity and stability of foreign trade policy, and fully leverage the role of foreign trade in driving the economy. Second, attention should be paid to the locational advantages of ports, which require institutional empowerment to be transformed into economic development advantages; the rise of port cities promotes the development of export-oriented industries and is conducive to optimizing the regional economic landscape. Third, opening up cannot be separated from a law-based, professional regulatory system; attention must be paid to cross-border risk management and control, coordinating opening up with national economic security. Furthermore, commercial exchanges are also a process of mutual learning among civilizations; we should uphold openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit, and connectivity, and advance multilateral exchanges and cooperation. Finally, the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative should carry forward the historical traditions of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, draw on the gains and losses of a thousand years of governance experience from the Shibo Si system, and advance high-quality development of the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road.
(The author is a Chair Professor at the School of Economics, Peking University; compiled from an interview by Zhou Bin, a reporter for National Humanities History)
Return to TopHengtang Park, Yiwu, Zhejiang —
Weaving an "Underwater Forest"
People's Daily reporter Dou Hao
In Yiwu, Zhejiang, the 20,000-square-meter water surface of Hengtang Park ripples with clear, blue waves, visible to the bottom. On the waterfront platform, citizens stroll and relax, and occasionally a fish leaps out of the water, stirring layers of ripples.
"Before, the water was murky, with silt buildup, and in summer there was a fishy stench — everyone walked around it." Citizen Aunt Zhang is a long-time resident of the area. "Now the water is clear and the banks are green, and every day people come to stroll, walk their kids, and exercise."
Where exactly did the root of the problem lie before? In September 2022, the Yiwu Branch of the Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment organized a technical team to conduct repeated investigations, ultimately pinpointing a "triple pollution overlay": upstream sewage carrying nitrogen and phosphorus flowed directly in — external pollution that was "ingested"; sediment that had not been cleared for years continuously released pollutants — a "time bomb" buried at the bottom of the water; and fertilizer residue from surrounding flower fields entered the pond with rainwater — non-point source pollution that was hard to guard against. With the three types of pollution interwoven, the water body was overwhelmed and lost its self-purification capacity.
"The Hengtang problem is complex, with no ready-made experience to reference — we had to blaze our own trail." said Xu Shengjun, the project's technical lead and director of the Yangtze River Delta (Yiwu) Ecological Environment Research Center.
The treatment team abandoned the old symptom-treating approach of "changing the water and spreading chemicals," and aimed its first cut at external pollution. The park conducted a comprehensive investigation of pollution discharge hazards, laid sewage pipe networks totaling more than 2 kilometers, brought all surrounding domestic sewage into the sewage treatment system, and cut off direct discharge channels.
At the water inlet, an integrated water treatment facility quietly "came on duty." Incoming water first undergoes coagulation-sedimentation pretreatment, acting like a "filter gate" that blocks upstream pollutants outside the door — anything that does not meet standards is not allowed in.
Internal source cleanup was equally rigorous. The treatment team adopted environmentally friendly dredging and in-situ passivation technologies, precisely removing more than 10,000 cubic meters of polluted sediment, while locking down residual pollutants and preventing secondary release. A layer of volcanic rock filter media was also laid at the bottom of the water to allow beneficial microorganisms to multiply.
The technical team also adopted an "algae inhibitor + algae-eating insects" dual-direction algae control combination — the algae-eating insects consume algae, while the algae inhibitor suppresses algal regrowth, working on both fronts to rapidly improve water transparency. At the same time, more than 10 species of submerged plants were introduced, weaving an "underwater forest" beneath the surface. With fish, shrimp, snails, clams, and other benthic organisms "moving in," a self-repairing ecosystem took shape.
The results were immediate and obvious (立竿见影, li gangan ying - "stand, up, immediately, see"): water transparency rose from less than 30 centimeters to 1.5 meters and remained stably maintained, with water quality continuously reaching Class IV over the past six months. Egrets, wild ducks, and other waterbirds have returned to roost and forage, and biodiversity has increased significantly.
One pond of clear water has activated a city's ecological ledger. Today, the "bacteria-algae balance" grass-type clear-water state treatment technology has been promoted and applied throughout Yiwu city and surrounding areas, forming an integrated "engineering + operation and maintenance" industrial model, with a virtuous cycle of ecological and economic benefits.
The water is clear, and people are closer. The park's water ecology science popularization corridor has become a new check-in spot, with children stopping to learn about aquatic plants. The nearby Hengtang Village has also developed into the Yiwu International Land Port E-commerce City, attracting more than 900 leading e-commerce platforms and upstream and downstream enterprises.
"What was once an urban ecological shortcoming has transformed into a 'happy water cell' benefiting the people, and has further explored a replicable, promotable, and sustainably operable governance model for small and micro water bodies." said a relevant official from the Yiwu Branch of the Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment.
Shakeng Yong, Guangzhou, Guangdong —
"Ecological Rice Bowl" Brings a New Life
People's Daily reporter Wang Yunna
In Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, a stretch of clear water surges out from the western foothills of Maofeng Mountain, nourishing Dayuan Village in Dayuan Street. Beside this small stream called Shakeng Yong, Yatun Farm is in the busy farming season.
"The seven-color peanuts have just been harvested, and blueberries and strawberries are being transplanted in a rush." said Xu Haohuan, the post-2000s farm manager. As a native of the village, he once went to Australia to study. The transformation of the stream at his doorstep from turbid to clear changed his life choices.
For a long time in the past, small washing and printing workshops lined the banks of Shakeng Yong, discharging sewage directly, and the water quality of the stream in the Dayuan area remained at inferior Class V for an extended period.
"Small workshops were everywhere on both banks, sewage was discharged directly into the river, and the water turned black and smelly." Xu Haohuan still remembers the scene from his childhood.
Water treatment was imperative. In 2017, Baiyun District took real action against tough problems, making great efforts to fight the tough battle of water treatment.
"Water treatment is a hard-fought contest." Tan Huasheng, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of Dayuan Street, said frankly that for a long time, renting out riverside plots to build factory sheds had been an important source of income for many villagers.
But this round of water treatment by the district required clearing land within 6 meters of the riverbank. Seeing that the rent in hand was about to be lost, villagers had concerns and hoped for compensation, and the water treatment work was once hindered. "Visible real income is far more compelling than the abstract 'clear water and green banks'." Tan Sangui, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Dayuan Village, said frankly.
But the ecological bottom line could not be compromised. Village cadres went door to door to explain policies, spreading ecological concepts from point to surface, ensuring transparency in procedures and compliance in compensation throughout the process, gradually dissolving villagers' concerns.
In 2017, an on-site meeting for demolishing illegal structures on the Dayuan section of Shakeng Yong was held, 17,000 square meters of illegal river channel structures were demolished, and the river channel remediation was fully launched. In the following years, nearly a thousand "scattered, disorderly, and polluted" sites were cleaned up, all factory sheds along the river were demolished, and 2.3 kilometers of river channel were uncovered and restored to daylight.
Beyond source control, the underground pipe network was simultaneously densified. The local area built more than 170 kilometers of new sewage pipe networks in Dayuan Village in three phases, basically achieving full collection of domestic sewage; 138 water-related enterprises completed drainage unit rectification, with a compliance rate of 98%. In addition, through manual inspection combined with equipment source tracing, all 43 sewage outfalls were rectified.
After demolishing the old factories, it was even more necessary to plan a new path for development.
According to Li Jian, a third-level researcher at the Baiyun District Water Affairs Bureau, on the land vacated from the riverbanks, 16 pocket parks and 3 waterfront platforms were built, with public activity space reaching 88,000 square meters. Greenways combining flood control, leisure, and cultural functions were built along the river, with basketball courts, rest stations, and other facilities scattered along the way. Today, the 2.5-kilometer Shakeng Yong greenway, the 2-kilometer reservoir-ring greenway, and the Dayuan Wetland Park have become good places for villagers to relax.
Seeing the new opportunities in Dayuan Village, at the end of 2024, Xu Haohuan returned, transferring 43 mu of land from the village at an annual price of 5,000 yuan per mu to build his pastoral dream. With clear functional zoning for science education, research, and picking experiences, the farm receives an average of more than 4,000 visitors per month.
Shakeng Yong has flowed out a new life. Some villagers have also, acting in accordance with circumstances (顺势而为, shun shi er wei - "follow, trend, and, do"), set up camping bases and farmhouse restaurants, eating the "ecological rice bowl."
Li Wenqing, a native of Jiangxi engaged in e-commerce sales, has lived in Dayuan Village with his wife for many years, raising three children, and has witnessed the village's transformation with his own eyes. "The water is clear, the living environment is good, we like it here even more, and we can't bear to leave!"
Clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Water treatment has given Dayuan Village the confidence to re-plan its development and has also profoundly reshaped the industrial landscape of this land. Today, the stream has returned to clarity, the greenways have taken shape, giving rise to a new path of "greenway + e-commerce + cultural tourism" integration. Traditional e-commerce is transforming toward clustering and modernization, with the village handling an average of 4 million orders per day and annual transaction volume exceeding 60 billion yuan.
In 2026, relying on the post-resettlement support project for reservoir migrants, Baiyun District will also invest about 11 million yuan to upgrade infrastructure around Dayuan Reservoir and its tributaries, continuously improving the ecological environment and empowering regional economic development.
Daqinggou River, Baishan, Jilin —
Clear Water Directly Connects to the Convenient Morning Market
People's Daily reporter Liu Yiqing
In the crisp autumn weather, early in the morning entering Fuqiang Community's Fuqiang Residential Area in Jiangyuan District, Baishan City, Jilin, several dragonflies skim across the water surface of the Daqinggou River. The river water is clear and winding, directly connecting to the convenient morning market. Yao Jing, secretary of the community Party Committee, cheerfully greets and chats with old neighbors. "In the early days, this pond was just a stinking cesspool, and in summer you had to check the wind direction before opening the window." Yao Jing recalled.
The Daqinggou River is only a few minutes' walk from the residential area, but the long, cold winters in the Northeast cause freeze-thaw cycles that lead to poor water mobility. Combined with poor connectivity of the water system, the river channel had low water volume and poor water quality. Every summer, mosquitoes gathered in swarms, and people went out of their way to avoid it.
In 2025, Jiangyuan District listed the Daqinggou River, a small and micro water body, as a key river section for water environment treatment, incorporating it into the treatment list, and a water treatment campaign in front of and behind houses was thus launched.
Source purification to cut off pollution sources was the first step in water treatment. Staff from the Jiangyuan District Branch of the Baishan Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment carefully surveyed sewage outfalls and siltation conditions, completed water sample collection simultaneously, established a problem ledger, and then carried out district-wide dredging and desilting, completing dredging and bottom-laying operations for 1,700 meters of river channel.
At the beginning of the water treatment, Yao Jing found that some residents found it hard to change old habits, squatting by the pond to fish for shrimp or bringing basins to the ditch to scrub shoes and wash clothes — neither environmentally friendly nor safe. Yao Jing put up environmental protection banners by the river, encouraging enthusiastic residents such as Huang Guiqin to take the lead in forming a "river patrol team," walking along the river, admonishing uncivilized behavior when seen, and picking up garbage on the banks when spotted. Over time, residents also developed the habit. "This water has been getting clearer day by day under our watch, and protecting it is everyone's business." Huang Guiqin said.
On this basis, the water body remediation activated the living water, truly making the stagnant water "move." "We built ecological buffer zones along the entire line, relying on vegetation communities to stabilize the embankments, effectively reducing slope soil erosion and fully leveraging the ecological role of bank stabilization and soil conservation." Gao Yuechao, deputy district head of Jiangyuan District, introduced. During the treatment period, a 1,700-meter flood control embankment was built for the Daqinggou River, a continuous 1.7-kilometer slow-traffic footpath was built along the riverbank with guardrails installed; more than 2,600 plants including weeping willows, flowering plum, and calamus were replanted along the embankment, both restoring the water body's ecology and creating convenient leisure space for residents.
This summer, the Daqinggou River water system renovation project was fully completed. Now the pond is clear and the ditch is unobstructed, the footpath on the bank is smooth, and nearby residents often come to stroll and dance here. "When the music plays and the river breeze blows, life is comfortable." Huang Guiqin said.
Yaohu Lake, Nanchang, Jiangxi —
Self-Purification Capacity Continuously "Online"
People's Daily reporter Yang Yanfei
In late autumn, the morning mist has not yet dispersed on the northeast shore of Yaohu Lake in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Amid the metasequoia forest, a light gray cycling path winds forward, and several cyclists in helmets whiz past, startling egrets on the shallows, sending rings of ripples across the water surface. Beneath the surface, large patches of submerged plants sway with the current, supporting an "underwater forest"; on the lakeshore, tulbaghia, flowering peach, and canna lilies form a scattered landscape.
This Yaohu lakeside area, only opened this September, has quietly become people's new weekend destination. The 600,000-square-meter wetland is no longer just a plan on paper but tangible greenery, attracting more people to slow down, listen to the wind, watch the water, and get close to nature.
Fashion blogger Chen Yanran is one of the people "won over" by this scenery. When she first arrived in Nanchang a few years ago, this was still wasteland, but now it has become a natural backdrop in her camera lens. "Before, I always had to go to great lengths to find scenery and set up sets; now I just open the door and there's a picture frame." Chen Yanran said. The wind blowing through the reeds and the dancing water reflections add a touch of liveliness to her livestreams.
Clear water and green banks were not always the case. Previously, affected by multiple factors such as scattered fish pond farming, surface non-point source pollution, and sewage discharge along the shore, the water environment of the Yaohu lakeside area was severely damaged.
"The waterfront should originally have been a good place for everyone to relax, play, and get close to nature, but in the past, many places on both banks were occupied by vegetable plots, debris, and dead-end roads. Although we lived by the water, we lacked places to stroll, cycle, and enjoy the view." Wang Zhong, a nearby resident, said frankly that seeing waterfront resources wasted left a bitter feeling in his heart.
In 2025, Nanchang High-tech Zone launched the comprehensive ecological environment treatment and ecological product value realization project for the Lusha River area of Yaohu Lake.
During the initial planning of the project, Wu Junwei, the person in charge, led the design team to walk the shoreline again and again and enter communities, fully soliciting opinions. "The plan was revised round after round, and ultimately it was decided not to engage in large-scale demolition and construction, but to focus on ecological restoration and slow-traffic connectivity — intercepting sewage, dredging silt, restoring wetlands, and opening up broken points, stringing scattered green spaces into chains and networks."
During project implementation, instead of rigid concrete bank protection, ecological natural slope protection was adopted, paired with aquatic plants on the banks, maximizing the preservation of original ecologies such as shallows, deep pools, and sandbars; ecological floating islands dotting the water surface keep the water body's self-purification capacity continuously "online."
Now, a picturesque green corridor spreads along the shore of Yaohu Lake, with supporting ecological parking lots, leisure benches, and solar street lights along the route. The cycling rest station is already open, with showers, changing rooms, and rest areas all available, and ramps leading directly to viewing platforms.
At present, the treatment project for the areas on both sides of the Lusha River has also been basically completed, including ecological shoreline remediation, rice field restoration, greening remediation, and water ecology treatment. Once fully connected, the Yaohu Lake shoreline and the banks of the Lusha River will be integrated into one.
From lamenting helplessly at a situation one cannot change (望水兴叹, wang shui xing tan - "gaze, water, sigh, lament") to "living by the water," the changes in the Yaohu lakeside area bear witness to an ecological-priority, green-development path that is growing ever wider.
Return to TopBy: 嘉 哲
During an inspection tour in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on October 16, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that green development is an inherent part of high-quality development, and that it is necessary to coordinate high-quality development with high-level protection, adhere to the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts, and synergistically advance carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and economic growth, unswervingly following the path of ecological priority and green development.
Clear water, green banks, and fish swimming in shallow waters (水清岸绿、鱼翔浅底, shui qing an lv, yu xiang qian di - "water, clear; bank, green; fish, soar; bottom, shallow") is the simple aspiration of the people for the water environment around them. Since the beginning of the new era, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, China has resolutely declared war on water pollution, and the quality of the water ecological environment has continued to improve. The main stem of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II water quality for six consecutive years, and the main stem of the Yellow River for four consecutive years, with inferior Class V water basically eliminated in major tributaries.
At the same time, some small and micro water bodies around the people are still not quite up to expectations (不尽如人意, bu jin ru ren yi - "not, fully, follow, people, will"). Problems such as direct discharge of sewage and black and odorous water bodies at the doorstep have become livelihood pain points that the people feel relatively strongly about. Not long ago, the General Office of the State Council forwarded the "Action Plan for the Protection and Governance of Water Bodies Around the People" formulated by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments, promoting the extension of the battle to protect clear water from the "main arteries" of major rivers to the "capillaries" of ponds, ditches, and canals.
Water bodies around the people are connected on one side to the ecological environment and on the other to the people's daily lives. From a spatial perspective, water bodies around the people are closely adjacent to the areas where the people reside; from a functional perspective, they are closely related to the production and daily life of ordinary people, being numerous, widely distributed, and directly felt by the people. As a special kind of public good, the ecological environment, like healthcare, education, and elderly care, is an important component of the people's well-being. Benchmarking against the goals and requirements to identify shortcomings and find deficiencies, advancing the protection and governance of water bodies around the people is precisely the right time.
Highlight the problem-oriented approach and grasp the issues of greatest concern, most direct relevance, and most immediate interest to the people. Water bodies around the people are numerous and widely distributed, with pollution problems that are highly concealed and prone to fluctuation; solving these problems cannot be done by treating all issues with a single, indiscriminate approach (眉毛胡子一把抓, mei mao hu zi yi ba zhua - "eyebrow, beard, one, handful, grab"). It is necessary to closely target the pain points and bottlenecks in water governance, transform the issues of concern to the people—such as abnormal water color, foul odors, and floating garbage—into governance priorities and key tasks for tackling difficulties, and provide more high-quality water ecological environment products.
Proceed from reality and take scientific measures in light of local conditions. In Yongfa Village, Baiquan County, Heilongjiang Province, willow weaves stabilize the ditch bottom and green plants protect the ditch slopes, turning erosion gullies in the black soil region into ecological ditches that store water and preserve soil moisture. The natural resource endowments of various regions differ enormously; it is necessary to fully consider the level of economic and social development, strive to achieve one policy for each river and one policy for each lake, and ensure that every measure is practical and effective.
Coordinate "immediate remediation" with "long-term establishment," and shift from end-of-pipe remediation to source emission reduction. In the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone of Zhejiang Province, illegal sewage outfalls were sealed off and rectified, enhancing the water bodies' self-purification capacity, and the water quality of Chayuan Port has stably reached the Class III standard for surface water. Water problems manifest in the water, but their roots lie on the shore, reflecting governance shortcomings in industrial wastewater, domestic sewage, and river and lake management and protection. It is necessary to closely target pollution sources from industry, urban domestic life, and agriculture and rural areas, promote the green and low-carbon transformation of production and lifestyle from the source, and eliminate hidden dangers of water pollution at their roots.
Advancing the protection and governance of water bodies around the people is a systematic project and also a livelihood project. By taking earnest and practical action (真抓实干, zhen zhua shi gan - "true, grasp, solid, do") and making sustained, long-term effort (久久为功), striving to turn the small and micro water bodies around the people into beautiful "water cells" one by one, and doing a good job in the great undertaking of benefiting, serving, and empowering the people through ecology, we will surely paint a new picture of green, high-quality development.
Return to TopThe Long March is a magnificent epic composed by the Communist Party of China and the Red Army, and a towering monument in the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, this edition launches a special feature, following in the footsteps of the Red Army soldiers, walking with readers through several important locations along the Long March route, retrieving moving stories of the Long March, and telling of the continuation and inheritance of the great Long March spirit on this land of fervent devotion.
—Editor
Return to TopBy: 卜 谷
The quiet Yudu River, formed by the convergence of a thousand streams into a river surface over 600 meters wide, flows through the night.
"The road stretches far, the autumn wind is cool. The enemy presses in force, military affairs are urgent. The Red Army crosses the Yudu River by night, crosses the Five Ridges and seizes the Xiang River..." The "Long March Suite" mentions more than 20 place names, and the first of these is the Yudu River.
The Yudu River is another name for the Gong River, the main source of the Gan River, within the territory of Yudu County, Jiangxi Province. To ensure the Red Army crossed the river smoothly, the authorities at the time mobilized more than 800 boats of various sizes from the Gan River basin, gathering them along a 60-kilometer stretch of the waterway upstream and downstream, to help ferry the Red Army across or to build pontoon bridges. The people along both banks contributed door panels, bed boards, and other timber from their homes. One Grandpa Zeng, already over seventy years old, even sent his own coffin to the bridge-building site.
The pontoon bridges were always erected after 5 p.m. at dusk, dismantled before 6:30 a.m. at dawn the next day, then laid out in sequence and concealed on both banks, and re-erected after dusk the following evening. According to statistics, along a 30-kilometer stretch of river in Yudu County, there were 8 main Red Army ferry crossings, 5 pontoon bridges were erected, and the bridges were built and dismantled 15 times in total. At several crossings where no pontoon bridge was built, in shallow water the Red Army waded across the river; in deep water, fishermen used their fishing boats to ferry the Red Army across.
The sound of the Yudu River's waters is both silent and deafening noise (震耳欲聋, zhen er yu long - "shake, ear, desire, deaf"). On October 16, 1934, the various units of the Central Red Army completed their assembly north of the Yudu River. Starting on the 17th, the five corps of the Central Red Army's main force, together with the Central Committee, the Military Commission organs, and directly subordinate units, totaling more than 86,000 men, crossed the Yudu River southward, beginning the famous Long March.
From then on, this river was no longer merely a river; it acquired a special significance in history. At the former East Gate ferry crossing of the county seat stands a stone inscription. It was on the morning of December 23, 1983, that General Yang Chengwu came to Yudu County and on the spot wielded his brush to inscribe the four large characters "Long March Ferry Crossing."
Today, at the site of the "Long March Ferry Crossing" stone inscription, a memorial park has been built. I saw that to the left of the stone inscription in the park is the first song of the "Long March Song" handwritten by Lu Dingyi: "In the tenth month the autumn wind is cool, the Central Red Army is busy on its distant expedition. Crossing the Yudu River on a starry night, winning victories at Gubei and Xintian." To the right is a poem written by Ye Jianying on Army Day in 1962 in memory of Liu Bojian, the former director of the Political Department of the Southern Jiangxi Military Subdistrict: "The Red Army, resisting Japan, undertook the Long March, crossing the Yudu River by night with a gurgling sound. On the bridge, Bojian came to play the zhu, with the heroic spirit of Jing Ke and the sentiment of Gao Jianli." The two voices, facing the waters of the Yudu River, gaze at each other across the years.
Behind this stone inscription is the surging river, and not far away the Changzheng Yuan Grand Theater frequently resounds with the sonorous singing of the "Long March Suite." The performing troupe is the Changzheng Yuan Choir, which, since its founding in 2010, has persisted in public welfare performances for 16 years. The choir is a cultural calling card of Yudu County, spontaneously formed by more than 160 descendants of Red Army soldiers from over 70 units across the county. At every performance, they wear Red Army uniforms and stand in ranks like Red Army soldiers. What they sing is not merely technique, but an echo from their bloodline.
Yi Kemei was originally a middle school teacher and joined the Yudu County Changzheng Yuan Choir in 2015. She had three Red Army grandfathers, two of whom died in battle. The remaining grandfather was wounded while breaking through the Wujiang River and returned home, and later, at the decision of her great-grandmother, married the widow of her younger grandfather, becoming Yi Kemei's own grandfather. According to the customs of the Hakka people of southern Jiangxi, when her father was entered into the clan genealogy, he was recorded under the names of all three grandfathers, "one son supporting three branches of the family" to continue the ancestral line for the three grandfathers. Following a natural course of logic or development (顺理成章, shun li cheng zhang - "follow, logic, become, chapter"), Yi Kemei and her younger brother Yi Keyun became the granddaughter and grandson of the three Red Army grandfathers. Yi Kemei treats the choir's performances as an important duty and persists in the public welfare cause as a faith. She never asks for leave without reason, and has even attended performances several times while ill.
In Tantou Village, upstream from the "Long March Ferry Crossing" stone inscription, a different kind of echo resounds. Villager Sun Guanfa treasures a martyr's certificate, testimony to the fact that his father, Sun Daofa, followed the Central Red Army on the Long March in 1934 and died heroically in the Battle of the Xiang River. In this village of fewer than 400 people, 33 Red Army soldiers with verifiable names are recorded, of whom 32 never returned.
The Party branch secretary of Tantou Village told me that the village has more than 6,000 mu of selenium-rich land, and in recent years has built a Selenium Museum, a selenium-rich vegetable industrial park... A dazzling array of beautiful things (琳琅满目, lin lang man mu - "exquisite, jade, fill, eye") of selenium-rich agricultural products are sold to markets everywhere. Tantou Village has also been designated as a Jiangxi Province ecological civilization demonstration base and a provincial rural revitalization demonstration site.
Ferry crossings can be located on a map, but the river's waters never cease. Today, between the former 8 main Red Army ferry crossings on the Yudu River, 5 modern highway bridges span the river, replacing the 5 pontoon bridges that were once pieced together from fishing boats and door panels. The combination of the bridges' names is precisely: Red Army, Assembly, River Crossing, Long March, Victory. These 5 river-spanning bridges are like 5 rainbows, and also a set of modern monuments — a nation has carved its memory into the depths of the years.
Return to TopBy: 欧阳黔森
On this red land of Guizhou, there are countless mountain peaks. My profession once was prospecting for minerals among these mountains forming a vast forest (万峰成林, wan feng cheng lin - "ten thousand, peaks, become, forest"), yet unexpectedly I found a spiritual treasure trove. Walking among these towering mountains and steep ridges (崇山峻岭, chong shan jun ling - "lofty, mountain, precipitous, ridge"), there were countless little-known stories of the Red Army that moved me to tears, and from this arose the wish to write these stories down. After becoming a writer, I retraced the Long March route, precisely to fulfill that cherished wish. Thereafter came the novels Xiongguan Manda and Qilai, and the TV series Xiongguan Manda and The Great Turning Point. From listening to the Red Army's stories to writing the Red Army's stories, I have come to this understanding: the Long March spirit is an inexhaustible and endless resource (取之不尽、用之不竭, qu zhi bu jin, yong zhi bu jue - "take, from, not, exhausted; use, from, not, exhausted") of spiritual wealth. Revolutionary ideals higher than the heavens — this is not empty talk, still less a slogan. The Red Army soldiers, with their flesh-and-blood bodies, overcame every difficulty, feared no sacrifice, and with iron will defended their faith and upheld the lofty ideal of striving for the people's happiness.
Zhong Chibing was precisely such an iron warrior. In the battle of Loushan Pass, he was hit by nine bullets, his leg bone shattered, yet he insisted on continuing to fight and only withdrew from the front line after victory was won. The story of Lord Guan scraping the poison from his bone in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is known to everyone (尽人皆知, jin ren jie zhi - "all, people, all, know"), yet the story that happened to Zhong Chibing can be said to be even more shocking. Zhong Chibing's wound became inflamed and required amputation. There was no anesthetic, no surgical instruments — only a firewood chopper that villagers used to cut firewood on the mountain, and half a carpenter's saw used by woodworkers. Under such medical conditions, his wound became repeatedly infected, and within half a month he underwent amputation three times. Not only did he survive, but leaning on a crutch, he completed the entire Long March on one leg. Among the founding generals awarded ranks in 1955, He Bingyan, Peng Shaohui, Yu Qiuli, and many others were each either missing a leg or an arm. Heroes like Zhong Chibing are too many to count or mention (举不胜举, ju bu sheng ju - "lift, not, surpass, lift") among the Red Army soldiers.
"The Long March is a declaration, the Long March is a propaganda team, the Long March is a seeder." The red gene has been passed down from generation to generation (代代相传, dai dai xiang chuan - "generation, generation, mutually, pass down") on this fervent land. While filming the Long March-themed TV series The Great Turning Point, the director said something that left a deep impression on me. He said: "I never expected that after nearly 90 years, the local people's feelings toward the Red Army would still be so sincere and unadorned." Hearing him say this, a sense of pride welled up in my heart — he was speaking of my fellow villagers. Among these people, for instance, are Long Aibing and Long Yuanbin, whom I know — they are simply ordinary villagers. But when they saw the armed police soldiers participating in the filming put on Red Army uniforms and march, they led the villagers in putting up a banner reading: "The Red Army has returned." They also said sincerely: "Our good days were all won by the Red Army; we must receive the Red Army with the highest Miao hospitality." So these villagers, ten yuan from you, twenty yuan from him, pooled together more than 10,000 yuan and insisted on buying a yellow ox, slaughtering it to offer comfort to the "Red Army soldiers" in the filming crew.
Among the villagers like Long Aibing, some are embroiderers, some raise livestock, and some engage in mountain-specific specialty agriculture. When I saw them this year, it was in a large demonstration zone of high-standard farmland. Long Aibing said: "We mountain people have farmed all our lives, and never expected to be able to farm high-standard farmland where fields form squares, plots form blocks, ditches connect, roads link, waterlogging can drain, and drought can be irrigated." From his smile, I could clearly feel his sense of gain and happiness.
When General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Huamao Village in Zunyi, he said: "Whether the Party Central Committee's policies are good depends on whether the villagers are smiling or crying." Today, the battle against poverty has achieved a decisive victory, and comprehensive rural revitalization is flourishing and vigorous (如火如荼, ru huo ru tu - "like, fire, like, lush vegetation"). On this red land, the smiling faces raised are the joy arising spontaneously or naturally (油然而生, you ran er sheng - "oil, naturally, thus, arise") from the villagers' hearts.
I have climbed Loushan Pass more than once, looking out over this seething expanse of mountains. The words "This prosperous age is as you wished" ring unbidden in my ears. I think this must be the sound that every Red Army soldier who crossed this formidable pass back then most wanted to hear.
This is the echo of history!
Return to TopBy: 泽让闼
"Old brother: We have cut one thousand jin of highland barley in this field and eaten it ourselves. This wooden tablet can serve as evidence of our purchase of this highland barley from you. Please, after you return, take this wooden tablet to any Red Army unit or Soviet government, and you may redeem silver, tea, and whatever things you need equal in value to the highland barley we ate. Before you have redeemed these things, please keep this wooden tablet safe. General Political Department of the Front Army, Wheat Field No. ××."
This is the text on the wooden IOU that the Red Army left for the local people when requisitioning grain in Mao'ergai. At the very top, in thick brushstrokes, are written the words "Wheat-Cutting Certificate." It is a national first-class cultural relic, now housed in the Red Army Long March Memorial Hall in Songpan County, Sichuan.
One summer day in 2011, I had just finished class and arrived at the office when I heard colleagues discussing something that had just happened: when the family of Renzhen Zhuoma in Kecang Village, Songpan County, was renovating their house, they discovered a "wooden IOU" left by the Red Army among the old wooden planks they had torn down. Fortunately, the carpenter their family had hired could read, and he told the matter to a retired cadre in the village named Nimai. Nimai, knowing the matter was of great importance, quickly reported it to the township government, and only thus was this "Wheat-Cutting Certificate" not disposed of as an ordinary plank of wood.
A piece of history hidden away for a long time (尘封, chen feng - "dust, seal") once again entered the public eye, and many stories told orally by local people came alive in the physical evidence.
In July 1935, the vanguard units of the First Front Army of the Red Army crossed Dagu Mountain from Heishui County and arrived in the Mao'ergai area. Along the way, grain had always been a pressing problem for the Red Army, and especially after continuously crossing the harsh snowy mountains, the exhausted troops urgently needed rest and recuperation. Mao'ergai happened to be an excellent place—not only was it remote and secluded, but it had the most precious thing of all: grain. Only, in the July of the highlands, the highland barley was not yet ripe; they still had to wait.
After a month of rest and recuperation, the highland barley finally ripened, but requisitioning grain still required careful consideration. Since the Red Army had entered Mao'ergai, the local people, not understanding the situation, had fled into the deep mountains. To requisition grain but find no owners, they wrote IOUs on wooden planks and planted them in the fields, making a solemn promise to the people.
I once interviewed a descendant of an old Red Army soldier. Mother Namocuo, recalling her father's words, said that at the time the soldiers not only planted wooden IOUs in the crop fields; those who requisitioned grain at people's homes also wrote the IOUs on the wall panels of the hosts' houses. After the Red Army left, the people gradually returned to their villages. Seeing the wooden IOUs in the fields, no one recognized the Chinese characters on them, and as a result, some were used to panel walls, some became lids for grain bins, and one by one they gradually disappeared into the long river of time.
In August, the Red Army began crossing the Songpan grasslands. Although the main force took only seven days and seven nights to cross the grasslands, some units passed through twice or even three times before finally reaching Banyou. In this way, the Red Army's time of moving about and staying in the Songpan area was even longer.
The rapid passage of time (时光荏苒, shi guang ren ran - "time, pass, flow") — in the blink of an eye, more than seventy years had passed. In 2011, the "Wheat-Cutting Certificate" in Renzhen Zhuoma's home was discovered. As word spread, many people, undeterred by Mao'ergai's remoteness and the bumpy roads, came to interview and take photographs. Some private collectors even offered high prices to buy it, but the owners were unmoved. Soon, the wooden IOU was recognized as a national first-class cultural relic. The government asked the owners what they wanted in exchange, or how much money they wanted, but they wanted nothing and donated the wooden IOU to the state free of charge.
Afterwards, two more households separately discovered wooden IOUs. One was donated free of charge; the other was wrapped by its owners in a pure white hada and treasured away. These "Wheat-Cutting Certificates," one after another, bore witness to the great contributions the local people made to the revolution.
In the blink of an eye, ninety years have passed since the victory of the Long March. Today, one policy benefiting the people after another has brought enormous changes to Mao'ergai. I recall when I first went to work there: the houses in the villages were old and dilapidated, some leaning earthen walls even propped up with wooden beams. Now, every household has gray brick and red tile, and leisure farm stays and pastoral stays are everywhere. All of this perfectly illustrates the words Renzhen Zhuoma, now an elder, spoke when she donated the wooden IOU back then: "The highland barley the Red Army borrowed back then was paid back long ago!"
Return to TopBy: 张 铁
Arriving in Wuqi, Shaanxi, the sky was a brilliant blue. At the foot of Victory Mountain, ascending the steps, at the top stands the Monument to the Victory of the Central Red Army's Long March; atop the monument, the statues of the Central Red Army and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army stand like two trees that have grown together. Looking back, on the red stone surface in the middle of the steps is carved a timeline, ultimately fixed at: "October 19, 1935, Wuqi."
That day was also a clear one. "Wuqi Town welcomed us bathed in brilliant sunshine." In Yang Chengwu's Recalling the Long March, this moment was filled with the excitement of victory.
"Many forgot the fatigue of days of marching, and like children, hopping and skipping, ran straight toward Wuqi Town." Cheng Fangwu recorded this moment, "Everyone excitedly said, acting in unison without prior agreement (不约而同, bu yue er tong - "not agree, but same"): 'We've really returned to our own home!'"
Wuqi was the place of arrival.
The timeline on the stone surface has stopped, but Wuqi's timeline continues to extend.
Circling behind the monument, walking up the Red Army Long March trail. Wind blows through the forest, leaves rustle, like the sound of marching footsteps from those years. At the mountaintop, a wild pear tree stands lush and luxuriant (枝繁叶茂, zhi fan ye mao - "branch, abundant; leaf, luxuriant"). Beneath the tree, a statue of Chairman Mao Zedong sits calmly, gazing into the distance. On October 21 of that year, it was here that he commanded the final battle of the Central Red Army's Long March — the "Tail-Cutting Battle," firmly resolving "not to bring the enemy into the Soviet area."
Chairman Mao's bodyguard Chen Changfeng remembered this wild pear tree, on which grew fruit that tasted both sour and numbing, yet Chairman Mao said "this is very tasty." After convening the combat meeting, he rested beneath the tree, calm and composed (气定神闲, qi ding shen xian - "qi, settled; spirit, leisurely"), saying: "Don't call me when the gunfire is intense; call me when it turns to sporadic shots."
This wild pear tree has grown for who knows how many years. Fruit fell to the ground and grew into a small tree, which is now already sixty or seventy years old.
Gazing into the distance in the direction of Chairman Mao's view, layered and overlapping (层层叠叠, ceng ceng die die - "layer, layer; stack, stack") mountain ridges, layered and overlapping greenery. Green mountains like a sea, only this sea surges with green waves. Chinese pine, arborvitae, locust, apricot, wild peach... Who could have imagined that at the end of the last century, this place still had "mountains bald as monks' heads, gullies dry as barren mounds." A 1995 satellite remote sensing image shows that the entire county of Wuqi had almost no green at all.
"Create a beautiful northwest region anew." In 1998, Wuqi took the lead nationwide in closing mountains to grazing and returning farmland to forest, and the landing point of the Central Red Army's Long March fired the first shot of the "Green Long March," becoming "the nation's first county in returning farmland to forest."
The wild pear tree bears witness to the arrival of the Red Army's Long March; another tree, meanwhile, marks the departure of a green long march.
"Come on, let's go find the tree." East of Wuqi county town, deep in the Baiyu Mountains, lies a small mountain village called Nangou Village. In the village history museum, former party branch secretary Yan Zhixiong points to the first photograph, in which, on a bare cliff face, stands a lone old poplar tree. That was what it looked like when the Green Long March had just taken its first step.
Following Old Yan up the mountain, trees cover the slopes, roots joined to roots, branches touching branches, leaves meeting leaves. When the wind blows, the leaves all turn over at once, and the mountain seems to shudder. Old Yan pointed for a long time but couldn't pinpoint it. The old poplar tree has been hidden by the greenery covering the mountain. Finally, he lowered his hand: "No need to look anymore — every tree on this mountain grew from back then."
Recalling the "starting point" of this long march, Old Yan laughed, "Just the matter of penning the sheep in was enough to wear out my lips." Entering cave dwellings, making small talk, explaining policy, doing ideological work household by household — "A sheep's mouth is a pair of scissors, its hooves four shovels; saplings had barely poked out their little tips when they were nibbled clean." Yan Zhixiong said, "If the trees can't survive, we'll still have to endure hardship." The reasoning, like tree roots sinking into the loess, penetrated into the hearts of the masses. The village's thousand-plus sheep were converted from free-range grazing to pen feeding.
Carrying saplings on his back, lifting water buckets, walking at the very front, Yan Zhixiong became the "tree-planting secretary." Men, women, old and young shouldered shovels and packed dry rations — "Let's go! We'll follow the secretary to plant trees!" On ridges and cliff edges, tree after tree was planted, and planting went on for over a decade. Today, Wuqi's hilltops are clad in green, and the holy land of Yan'an has become a "National Forest City."
Unable to find the tree, Old Yan's enthusiasm was undiminished: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." The reservoir is still a reservoir, but pleasure boats and speedboats now float on the water; the orchard is still an orchard, but it now bears the sign of a study-tour base; the cave dwellings are still cave dwellings, but walking inside there are now bathrooms with flush toilets... Not only planting trees and fruit, and integrating agriculture, culture, forestry and tourism, the county has also launched "carbon sink" trading, so lucid waters and lush mountains can be directly converted into cash. Old Yan said, the trees have grown up, and the people have stayed.
Returning from Nangou Village to the county town, lights have already begun to twinkle on Victory Mountain. Flowing down, they become the streetlights along both banks of the Beiluo River. The streets are heavy and continuous traffic (车水马龙, che shui ma long - "vehicle, water; horse, dragon"), and pedestrians are crowded with people brushing shoulders and heels (摩肩接踵, mo jian jie zhong - "rub, shoulder; connect, heel"). On the nearby lawn, someone has pitched a tent, with a car parked right beside it.
When the Red Army arrived, Wuqi Town had only eleven households, and many leaders could only sleep out in the open. In 1944, Xie Juezai, one of the "Four Elders of the Long March," recalling the scene at the time, wrote a seven-character quatrain, Sleeping in the Buckwheat Field at Wuqi Town: "In the open field of buckwheat, covered with cotton garments, an iron staff as a picket to tether the horse's reins. Sleeping soundly, just like a warm spring night, only at dawn did I realize my body was covered in frost."
The wild pear tree remains verdant, and the old poplar tree hides safely away. The spark of a single fire that once traversed ten thousand li in those years has now become the lights of ten thousand households. One imagines, if Elder Xie were to sleep out again, he could tether his horse beneath the tree, pitch camp in the forest, gaze at the city's lights, and pillow his head on the sound of pines on both sides — he would surely sleep more soundly and more deeply.
Return to TopBy: 王锦涛
A military bugle, its bronze color subdued, its thin rust like moss, lies displayed in the display case of the Red Army Long March Victory Memorial Hall in Huining, Gansu. It says not a word. But I, standing before the display case, had only to look at it once, and it seemed that wind and thunder rose in my ears, echoing the clarion call of the bugle on Dadunliang 90 years ago.
Dadunliang is located south of Huining county town in Gansu. In October 1936, the First Front Army and the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army triumphantly joined forces in Huining. This stretch of yellow earth was seething with excitement! Yet at this very stirring moment, the reactionary Kuomintang clique massed five armies in four columns to strike, vainly attempting to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Red Army after the linkup. To cover the main force's northward withdrawal, the Fifth Army of the Fourth Front Army held fast at Dadunliang and launched the blocking action.
Enemy aircraft circled and dove, bombs smashed into Dadunliang, yellow earth churned upward, and smoke and dust obscuring the sun (烟尘蔽日, yan chen bi ri - "smoke, dust, cover, sun") filled the sky. On this very scorched earth, 17-year-old bugler Li Keyu stood standing up bravely and upright (挺身而立, ting shen er li - "straighten, body, and, stand"), pressing the mouthpiece to his lips and raising his head to blow the bugle against the hail of bullets. The clarion call split the rolling smoke of gunpowder, and the Red Army soldiers leaped up at the sound of the bugle and charged fiercely at the enemy.
Raising the bugle high amid a hail of bullets and gunfire (枪林弹雨, qiang lin dan yu - "gun, forest, bullet, rain") was no different from exposing oneself before the god of death. In the heat of battle, a bullet struck Li Keyu in the leg. He crashed heavily to the ground, yet his hands clenched the bugle tightly...
After the blocking mission was completed, the main force continued northward. Li Keyu, seriously wounded, could only remain in Huining with a group of wounded soldiers to recover. Army Commander Dong Zhentang comforted everyone, saying: "Once your wounds heal, I will personally come to take you back to the ranks."
As his leg wound improved, Li Keyu would often carry the bugle up Dadunliang and gaze toward the north. Spring passed and autumn came, year after year, and Li Keyu never saw his comrades return. How could he know that the promise to rejoin the ranks had long been severed by the long wind? Still less did he know that Army Commander Dong Zhentang and countless comrades had fought bitterly in the Hexi Corridor and would lie forever in sleep in the Gobi desert.
Return to his hometown in Sichuan, or continue waiting? Li Keyu chose the latter. Dadunliang became his hometown, and the local villagers affectionately called him "Red Army Li."
Charging requires heroic spirit, but keeping watch requires even truer faith. In the 1960s, Li Keyu served as captain of a production brigade. That bronze bugle, which had passed through the flames of war, sounded once again. This time, it was not a charge call, but a call to work. Every day at the first light of dawn, the clarion call would punctually wake the sleeping village, and the villagers would shoulder their hoes and shovels and go to the fields to work. Still that same bronze bugle, still that same bugler, and that high-spirited vigor had not changed in the slightest.
As a Red Army soldier, Li Keyu held fast to his original aspiration all his life and never made any special request to the organization.
In 1986, the Dadunliang Martyrs' Cemetery was completed. Li Keyu, already approaching seventy years of age, cradling the bugle that had accompanied him all his life, climbed Dadunliang once more with more than 70 old comrades-in-arms. The thousand words and ten thousand phrases he had accumulated over a lifetime were all dissolved into this tight embrace. When someone asked him what wish he still had in this life, he gently shook his head: "Compared with the comrades who died, the fact that I was able to survive is already more than enough."
At the moment of his final breath, Li Keyu held the bugle tightly to his chest, as if what he held in his arms was his 17-year-old self — that youth who stood tall on the high ground amid artillery fire and blew the bugle against the hail of bullets, who would never grow old.
The rapid passage of time (时光荏苒, shi guang ren ran - "time, pass, quickly") has gone by. "Red Army Li" has passed away, and the bugle has entered the memorial hall. But that high-spirited sound of the bugle has continued to ring through people's hearts. That clarion call still inspires the people of Huining today to strive to build an even better homeland.
Today's Dadunliang has long since "changed the world." In the Huining that the Red Army once traversed, underfoot was muddy yellow-earth road. Today, 6,178 kilometers of rural roads have woven a road network across the land of Huining, and private cars and taxis can enter even the most remote villages at any time. The Qinglan Expressway, National Highway 312, and National Highway 247 intersect here, and "Red Service Stations" have risen from the ground. The arduous march of former days is today already a well-connected network of roads (四通八达, si tong ba da - "four, connect, eight, reach") and a wide and smooth road (康庄坦途, kang zhuang tan tu - "broad, straight, smooth, path").
Stepping into a "Red Service Station," the counter is neatly lined with local Huining specialty products such as tartary buckwheat, Astragalus, and assorted coarse grains. Those who come for study tours and visits will often take a gift of old revolutionary base area specialties with them when they leave... Huining county's annual comprehensive tourism revenue exceeds 6.1 billion yuan, and Huining, once the most bitter thing under heaven (苦甲天下, ku jia tian xia - "bitter, surpass, world"), has now bloomed with flowers of moderate prosperity everywhere. The once desolate mountain ridges have become lush and verdant vegetation (草木葱茏, cao mu cong long - "grass, wood, lush, luxuriant"), the crops in the terraced fields are full of vigor and vitality (蓬蓬勃勃, peng peng bo bo - "flourishing, vigorous"), the ecology is increasingly pleasant, and life is growing ever more prosperous.
The bugle in the display case no longer sounds. But every person who pauses to gaze at it will hear the call of the bugle crossing time and space — it is the resounding footsteps of a contingent that traversed the 25,000-li Long March, then passed through 90 years of wind and rain, still charging forward, forward, forward with vigor.
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