People's Daily - November 6, 2026

A Record of the Granary of a Great Nation

To ensure food security, the key lies in seeds and farmland.

— Xi Jinping

A Record of Black Soil Protection in Northeast China

Reporters of this paper: Fang Yuan, Liu Yiqing

The Northeast region is China's main autumn grain-producing area and largest commercial grain production base. Here, over 1 million square kilometers of black soil constitute China's most fertile land. At present, the autumn harvest has entered its final stage.

"Black soil protection must be taken up as a major matter; the black soil must be used well and nourished well." General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the protection and utilization of black soil in Northeast China.

In September 2018, during an inspection of the ten-thousand-mu field of Qixing Farm in Heilongjiang, the General Secretary stressed: "Persist in combining use with nourishment and adopting comprehensive measures to ensure that the black soil does not decrease and does not degrade." In July 2020, during an inspection in Lishu County, Siping, Jilin, the General Secretary pointed out: "We must conscientiously summarize and promote the Lishu model, and take effective measures to truly protect and make good use of the black soil, this 'giant panda in the farmland'."

At present, at the ten-thousand-mu field of Qixing Farm, rice harvesting and autumn land preparation have been completed; in Longshan Village, Liujiaguanzi Township, Lishu County, corn harvesting is basically finished...

To do a good job in protecting the black soil, this "major matter," relies on meticulous management and protection without slackening throughout the four seasons. The Northeast region coordinates the advancement of black soil farmland infrastructure construction, soil erosion prevention and control, and fertile topsoil cultivation, and vigorously implements black soil protection projects.

Qixing Farm has put together a combination of measures centered on "combining use with nourishment." At the beginning of the year, before the frozen soil thawed, management and protection personnel pulled out plot files, marked weak fields, and planned soil protection schemes; in early spring when the ice and snow melted, they dug open the soil layer to see whether the straw had decomposed; during the rice growing period, they went into the fields to check soil and water conditions and observe growth... Today, Qixing Farm persists in combining use with nourishment and vigorously implements black soil protection measures such as full straw return to the field and deep plowing for fertility cultivation. Cultivated land quality has continued to improve. After years of fertilization and improvement, the farm's soil organic matter content has risen from 3.9% in 2018 to 4.2%, and rice yield per mu has steadily reached over 1,260 jin.

To use the black soil well and nourish it well relies on good agricultural techniques paired with good agricultural machinery. The strategy of "storing grain in technology" is being implemented in depth, and the black soil grows richer the more it is cultivated.

Wang Guiman, deputy director of the Jilin Lishu Experimental Station of China Agricultural University, led a team to Longshan Village to advance the Lishu model across the whole village. Today, the average corn yield per hectare here has increased from less than 20,000 jin to about 25,000 jin.

"The land is more fertile, but when traditional agricultural machinery enters straw-covered fields, the seed metering openings easily clog, resulting in sparse seedlings." Wang Guiman found skilled agricultural machinery operators in the county and joined forces with enterprises to tackle the problem, developing a no-till seeder suited to the Lishu model. In a single pass through the field, processes such as straw row formation, deep loosening, precision seeding, and fertilization are all completed.

The Lishu model has been promoted across more than 100 million mu in the Northeast region. In 2025, it was implemented for the first time on loess soil in Miyun, Beijing, and achieved the expected results.

Protect the black soil, safeguard the granary. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has cumulatively protected more than 400 million mu-times of black soil, and the comprehensive grain production capacity has steadily improved.

A handful of black soil, a season of golden grain. The great power's granary is built ever more solidly through protection across the four seasons.

A Record of Saline-Alkali Land Improvement and Utilization

Reporters of this paper: Li Rui, Shao Yuzi

China has 1.5 billion mu of saline-alkali land, of which 500 million mu has development and utilization potential. "Carrying out comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land is of important strategic significance for ensuring national food security and firmly holding the Chinese rice bowl." General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the comprehensive improvement and utilization of saline-alkali land.

From Dongying in Shandong, to Huanghua in Hebei, and then to Bayannur in Inner Mongolia, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made multiple inspection visits to saline-alkali areas, pointing out: "Change the concept of breeding, shifting from treating saline-alkali land to suit crops to selecting and breeding salt-tolerant plants to suit saline-alkali land" and "give play to the key role of scientific and technological innovation, and increase the intensity of saline-alkali land improvement and upgrading."

From "no harvest in nine years out of ten" to "stable and high-yield fields," the comprehensive improvement and utilization of saline-alkali land proceeds in light of local conditions and in a pressing, sequential manner —

For saline-alkali land in the central and western regions, water, fertilizer, and salt are coordinated and regulated to loosen the hardened soil layer; for soda saline-alkali land in the Northeast, "improving the soil" comes first, breaking through "alkali" to achieve rebirth; for coastal saline-alkali land in the East, "drainage" is the key, with irrigation and drainage facilities matched to drive away salt, and alkali-tolerant vegetation fixing the soil and reducing salt...

On November 5, in Wangdao Village, an agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zone in the Yellow River Delta of Dongying, wheat seedlings were turning green. Wang Fangzhi, secretary of the village Party branch, held a handful of soil and rubbed it with his fingertip; soil particles fell with a rustle. "This soil is highly alkaline and the land fertility is poor. Only by planting alkali-tolerant crops can yields be raised."

The demonstration zone has built a germplasm resource bank for salt-alkali-tolerant crops, breeding new varieties of salt-alkali-tolerant crops, planting grain and oil crops on light and moderate saline-alkali land, and planting forage grass on severely saline-alkali land.

"Adapting crops to the land" is being steadily explored. In recent years, agricultural departments have organized forces nationwide to carry out joint research on breeding salt-alkali-tolerant crops, screening out more than 1,100 high-quality seed sources and obtaining more than 700 recommended ones.

To do a good job in this major article on characteristic agriculture of saline-alkali land, it is also necessary to "adapt the land to the crops."

On the coast of the Bohai Sea, at Linjiang Farm in Yangsanmu Hui Ethnic Township, Huanghua City, Cangzhou, the last cutting of alfalfa has been harvested, and the rotation dry-alkali wheat has also been sown. By the field ridge, Liu Zhongkuan, chief expert of the Hebei Provincial Grass Industry Innovation Team and station chief of the Cangzhou Comprehensive Experimental Station of the National Forage Industry Technology System, said that alfalfa has a well-developed root system that can loosen hardened soil layers, fix nitrogen and increase fertility, reduce salt and treat alkali, and improve and fertilize saline-alkali land. "The soil nourished by five years of alfalfa is just waiting for a bumper harvest of dry-alkali wheat next year."

Cangzhou has innovatively promoted the alfalfa–dry-alkali wheat "5+2" grain-forage rotation model: planting alfalfa for five consecutive years, then planting one year of dry-alkali wheat and corn as two seasons of grain, with a six-year cycle. Since 2023, it has effectively improved the soil quality of 250,000 mu of saline-alkali land.

Nourish the land with grass and lay a solid foundation; nourish grain with the land and raise output. This year, the area of dry-alkali wheat in Cangzhou City has expanded from 1.002 million mu three years ago to 2.0583 million mu, and per-unit yield has increased from 245.4 kilograms to 305.4 kilograms.

On the alkali flats, fertile fields are reborn. Various localities are actively developing and utilizing all types of non-traditional cultivated land resources, including saline-alkali land, continuously expanding the space for agricultural production, and gaining greater confidence in firmly holding the Chinese rice bowl.

A Record of "Breeding, Propagation, and Promotion" of Chinese Seeds

Reporters of this paper: Wang Yongzhan, Cao Wenxuan, Song Chaojun

"The seed industry is the most important; to do agriculture well, the seed industry must be advanced." General Secretary Xi Jinping constantly bears in mind promoting self-reliance and strength in science and technology in the seed industry and achieving independent and controllable seed sources.

The seed industry revitalization action is more than halfway through, and the goals and tasks of "seeing results in five years" have been fully completed; for two consecutive years, crop seed trade has achieved a surplus; at present, varieties independently bred in China account for more than 95% of the area of crops, and the situation in which "Chinese grain" mainly uses "Chinese seeds" has become more solid.

These advances cannot be discussed without the "Nanfan Silicon Valley" — the National Nanfan Scientific Research and Breeding Base. Of China's major crop varieties, more than 70% have undergone Nanfan breeding.

In April 2022, in Sanya, Hainan, during an inspection of Nanfan scientific research and breeding work, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "Only by gripping Chinese seeds firmly in our own hands can we hold the Chinese rice bowl steadily and achieve food security."

With no winter all year round, it can be called a "natural greenhouse" for crop growth — "Nanfan's abundant light and heat resources are an accelerator for breeding; through repeated crossing and selection, the excellent traits of crops are brought together." said Sheng Zhonghua, a researcher at the China National Rice Research Institute.

Breeding in the interior every summer and flying to Nanfan in winter for generation advancement and selection, such "migratory bird" breeders number more than 8,000.

Yang Zhiyuan, an associate professor at Sichuan Agricultural University, is one of them. "Breeding experts from all over gather at Nanfan; who has materials with good resistance and whose combinations have strong advantages — sparks of cooperation can be struck just in conversation."

Up to now, in the rice new-variety and new-technology pilot testing base in Yongfeng Village, Meishan City, Sichuan, nearly 100 "new" rice varieties have completed harvesting and expert evaluation: the representative varieties cultivated this year all come from the Nanfan base.

Heading all the way north, to the Hexi Corridor. In early November, in Xiashuang Township, Liangzhou District, Wuwei, Gansu, in the pilot testing base of more than 100 mu of seed-production corn of the Wuwei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, contiguous corn had just been harvested. Feng Yimei, director of the Grain Crop Research Institute of the Wuwei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was leading staff in sorting seeds and preparing for the upcoming next stage of Nanfan work.

In the entire chain of breeding, propagation, and promotion, pilot testing and maturation is the key step for seeds to go from the laboratory to the experimental field, from "1 jin of seed" to "10,000 jin of seed."

On the front line of Nanfan, bending over to pollinate and watching over good seeds; at the Wuwei base, storing in the granary and checking quality, gathering strength for the coming year.

Up to now, the Wuwei Academy of Agricultural Sciences has cumulatively completed more than 40 seasons of Nanfan generation advancement for corn. Through pilot testing and other links, it has cumulatively bred and passed national or provincial approval for more than 45 new corn varieties, with a promotion area of more than 200 million mu.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, China has cultivated and promoted a batch of breakthrough new varieties that are high-yield, high-quality, multi-resistant, and widely adaptable. The four major national-level breeding and seed-production bases and 216 crop seed-production base counties and regional improved-variety propagation bases are being accelerated in construction.

Through demonstration and promotion, good seeds and good methods are spreading across the country. Today, the coverage rate of improved crop varieties in China exceeds 96%. Self-reliance and strength in science and technology in the seed industry are being accelerated, supporting the building of an agricultural powerhouse with resolute strides.

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Let Our Granaries Be Fuller (Editor's Note)

By: 栾心怡

"We must grasp the two key points of seeds and farmland, and strengthen the pairing of good seeds with good farmland." From vast fertile lands to tackling key problems in good seeds, to hold the grain rice bowl steady and firm, the key is to put into practice the strategy of storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology.

As of November 4, more than ninety percent of the country's autumn grain has been harvested, and a bumper harvest is already a foregone conclusion; grain production has seen consecutive years of bumper harvests, and output has stood firm at the 1.4 trillion jin level for two consecutive years... The stability of the granary of a major country is indispensable to (功不可没, gong bu ke mei - "merit, cannot, be, lacking") good seeds and good farmland. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes the goal of "comprehensive grain production capacity reaching around 1.45 trillion jin," and to climb even higher from a high starting point (高处再攀高, gao chu zai pan gao - "high place, again, climb, high"), we must continue to consolidate the two major foundations of farmland and seeds.

Only by guarding every inch of soil can one obtain a granary full of grain. Not only must we protect the black soil, the "giant panda among farmland," but we must also actively tap the potential of non-traditional farmland resources such as saline-alkali land, guarding the existing stock and revitalizing the increment, so that every inch of farmland becomes fertile ground for harvest.

Grasp China's seeds tightly, protect China's grain well. Seeds are the "chips" of agriculture and the confidence of farmers. To achieve independent and controllable seed sources, we must vigorously advance self-reliance and strength in science and technology in the seed industry, integrate industry, education, research, and application (产学研用结合, chan xue yan yong jie he - "industry, learning, research, application, combine"), and let every good seed lift up consecutive years of bumper harvests.

Let our granary be fuller, firmly grasp the initiative in food security, and we will surely accumulate more resilience and confidence for high-quality development.

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Shibianyu New Village Has a "New Ledger" (Frontline Observations on Implementing the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session)

By: 本报记者 张丹华

Opening Note

In his "Explanation of the 'Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Perseveringly Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party,'" General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "To run China's affairs well, the key lies in the Party, and the key lies in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party." The "Decision" of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party requires perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and constantly opening up new prospects in the new era for managing the Party and governing the Party, and for revitalizing and strengthening the Party.

Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is always on the road. Starting today, this newspaper opens the column "Frontline Observations on Implementing the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session," in which reporters go to the grassroots, to the frontline, and rush to the scene, focusing on the vivid practices of localities in deeply studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session, and displaying the high-spirited appearance of perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and promoting steady and sustained progress toward long-term success (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "walk, steady; arrive, far") of Chinese modernization.

At the foot of the Qinling Mountains, in Shibianyu New Village, Wutai Subdistrict, Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, tourists come and go from time to time at the "Ten Rooms" homestay.

This homestay, built by renting village collective housing, once had a contract problem — the Party A of the contract was the village committee of the village, while the Law on Rural Collective Economic Organizations stipulates: "Collective property is collectively owned by the members of the rural collective economic organization in accordance with the law, and the rural collective economic organization exercises ownership on behalf of the members collectively in accordance with the law."

How was the problem discovered? "'The clearing of the 'three assets' produced a 'clear account.'" said Xing Dongdong, secretary of the village Party branch.

The "Decision" of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party proposed to "carry out regular rectification of misconduct and corruption problems around the masses."

The "three assets" of rural collective funds, assets, and resources bear on the vital interests of the masses. Taking this as the entry point for rectification, the Xi'an Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, together with relevant departments, carried out a special governance campaign on the "three assets"; as of now, 79,000 contracts have been screened and collected, and 69,000 problematic contracts have been rectified.

Through a dragnet-style clearing and verification of assets, Wutai Subdistrict drew up a "property rights map": collective assets of 102.69 million yuan, resource assets of 100,000 mu, 3 village-run enterprises, and simultaneously verified the assets of 14 assistance projects. "Checking against the 'property rights map,' we screened and collected a total of 185 collective economic contracts, finding problems and supervising rectification one by one," said Kang Xin, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Wutai Subdistrict.

Logging into the Xi'an City rural three-assets management and monitoring platform and clicking on the asset card of the "Ten Rooms" homestay, the original contract, payment records, and so on are all clear, and the Party A of the contract has been changed to the "Shibianyu New Village Share-based Economic Cooperative."

"By establishing standardized archives, the long-standing situation in some villages and groups of vague asset bases and accounts not matching reality has been changed," said Chen Zhao, a second-level researcher of the Party Conduct and Government Conduct Supervision Office of the Xi'an Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.

A "clear account" must also be a "sunshine account."

Opening the "three assets disclosure" mobile application, in the accounts of Shibianyu New Village, even a fill light and a microphone are registered on the books... where the village's assets and resources are, and where the money is spent, are immediately obvious at a glance (一目了然, yi mu le ran - "one, eye, understand, clearly"). "Villagers working away from home can also look at any time," said villager Zhao Pingwa.

This application software, developed by the agricultural and rural department under the impetus of the Xi'an Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, has more than 2.09 million registered users. "The proportion of rural petition reports dropped from 45.1 percent in 2021 to 26.7 percent in 2025," Chen Zhao said.

The "clear account" and "sunshine account" ultimately become an "income-increasing account."

During screening, a lease contract for 6 mu of land was once found, with a lease term of 50 years and an annual rent of only 720 yuan. After litigation and negotiated rectification, the lease term was changed to 20 years, the annual rent increased to 40,000 yuan, and it rises by 5 percent every 5 years, increasing the village collective's income by more than 800,000 yuan.

Relying on the "account book," Xi'an established 177 subdistrict (town) rural collective asset supervision and operation service centers, and built the Xi'an Urban-Rural Integration Factor Trading Market. As of now, the trading market's transaction volume has reached 9.075 billion yuan, increasing village collective income by 5.1 billion yuan and saving 220 million yuan in expenditures.

"The Xi'an City rural three-assets management and monitoring platform will soon launch a 'cadre early warning' module, which plans to enter the information of persons such as the chairman and chief supervisor of share-based economic organizations and members of the village two committees into the system, compare and issue early warnings on contracts they sign, and the municipal and district-level commissions for discipline inspection and supervision can view the early warning information through authorization," Chen Zhao stated.

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Li Qiang meets representatives attending commendation conference for advanced models of national emergency management system and Chinese firefighting loyal guards

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) The commendation conference for advanced models of the national emergency management system and the Chinese firefighting loyal guards was held in Beijing on the morning of November 5. Before the conference, Li Qiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, met with the representatives attending the conference and had a group photo taken with them, and expressed congratulations to them.

Zhang Guoqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, took part in the meeting and the group photo, and afterwards attended the commendation conference and delivered a speech. He stressed that the national emergency management system must conscientiously study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, deeply study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and important instructions on emergency management, adhere to putting the people first and putting life first, adhere to coordinating development and security, make every effort to prevent and defuse major safety risks, and better safeguard the safety of people's lives and property and the overall stability of society.It is necessary to strengthen the primacy of prevention, persist in keeping the eyes downward, consolidate the grassroots foundation, earnestly improve the quality and effectiveness of risk and hidden danger investigation and rectification, enhance emergency rescue and handling capabilities, and hold the bottom line and red line of safety prevention. It is necessary to strengthen the Party's overall leadership over the emergency management team, persevere with constancy (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold, with, continuously, persistent") in advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, strictly enforce discipline and rules, forge excellent skills, ensure that the team always maintains political loyalty, and firmly shoulder the duties and mission of protecting the people's safety and benefiting the people.

State Councilor Wu Zhenglong took part in the meeting and the group photo.

At the conference, 8 first-class heroes and models, 19 second-class heroes and models, 99 advanced collectives, 197 advanced individuals, and 20 "Chinese Firefighting Loyal Guards" of the national emergency management system, as well as 118 advanced collectives and 157 advanced individuals of the National 119 Firefighting Award, were commended. Zeng Zhaojiao, director of the Yangjiang Municipal Emergency Management Bureau of Guangdong Province; Yang Qiqiao, deputy station chief of the special service station of the Shigatse City Fire Rescue Detachment of the Tibet Autonomous Region; Miao Zhongjun, squad leader of the emergency communications squadron of the Daxing'anling Detachment of the Inner Mongolia Fire Rescue Mobile Corps; Liu Qing, first-class chief clerk of the fourth supervision and enforcement division of the Shandong Bureau of the National Mine Safety Administration; Meng Lingyuan, director of the earthquake prediction department of the China Earthquake Networks Center; Tian Ruliang, group leader of the Shanghongyan Village Group of Miechang Township, Maguan County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and other commended representatives spoke at the conference.

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Deeply Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and Strengthen the Ideological, Political, and Disciplinary Conduct of NPC Deputies

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) (Reporter Peng Bo) On the morning of November 5, Zhao Leji, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, held a discussion and exchange with the NPC deputies attending the 25th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress. He stressed that NPC deputies must take the lead in studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, grasp implementation based on their posts and duties, strengthen their own ideological, political, and disciplinary work style development, and improve their ability to perform their duties in accordance with the law.

At the discussion, the deputies spoke in connection with their actual work around thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session. Zhao Leji listened carefully and held in-depth exchanges with the deputies. He said that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made strategic arrangements for unswerving perseverance (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold on, with, continuously, persistent") in advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, which is of major practical significance and long-term guiding significance for further opening up new prospects for managing the Party, governing the Party, rejuvenating the Party, and strengthening the Party in the new era, and for uniting and leading the people of all ethnic groups across the country to strive tirelessly for the grand goal of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

Zhao Leji pointed out that NPC deputies must accurately grasp the correct political direction of NPC work. Firmly establish the ideological consciousness, political consciousness, and action consciousness of upholding the Party's overall leadership, uphold the Two Establishments (两个确立) and achieve the Two Upholds (两个维护) with practical actions, and embody obedience to and service of the overall work of the Party and the state throughout the entire process of performing duties and fulfilling responsibilities. Persist in using the Party's innovative theory to unite hearts and forge souls — to concentrate hearts and forge souls, thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on upholding and improving the people's congress system, and consciously use them to arm the mind, guide practice, and advance work.

Zhao Leji pointed out that NPC deputies must practice the fundamental purpose of serving the people. Faithfully represent the interests and will of the people in participating in the exercise of state power, fully give play to the characteristics and advantages of coming from the people and being rooted in the people, take maintaining close ties with the masses as the foundation of performing duties and fulfilling responsibilities, enhance feelings toward the masses of the people, improve the ability to do mass work, listen to and reflect the wishes and voices of the masses through various means, embody the conditions, public opinion, and wisdom of the people in relevant bills, proposals, and deliberative speeches, and serve well as a bridge between the Party and the state and the masses of the people.

Zhao Leji stressed that NPC deputies must strengthen the sense of responsibility for performing duties in accordance with the law. Strictly abide by the rights and obligations of deputies and the content and procedures for performing duties as stipulated by the Constitution and laws, concentrate energy on attending NPC sessions, strictly observe meeting discipline requirements, conscientiously deliberate bills and reports, and put forward targeted, pragmatic, and pertinent opinions and suggestions. Carry out activities during the intersessional period in accordance with the law, participate in centralized inspections and special investigations according to unified arrangements, actively participate in the work of the Standing Committee and special committees, and, with regard to opinions and suggestions reflected by the masses, transmit them according to procedures to the relevant parties for study and handling.

Zhao Leji stressed that NPC deputies must establish a good image of integrity and devotion to public service. Carry forward the spirit of socialist rule of law, consciously serve as examples of respecting the law, studying the law, abiding by the law, and using the law, actively participate in publicity and education on the rule of law, and promote the effective implementation of the Constitution and laws. Scrupulously fulfill duties and work solidly, achieving great feats and establishing a career (建功立业, jian gong li ye - "build, achievement, establish, career") and striving to be a leader through courageous effort (奋勇争先, fen yong zheng xian - "brave, courageous, struggle, be first") in their own posts. Take the lead in practicing the core socialist values, maintain integrity and self-discipline (廉洁自律, lian jie zi lü - "clean, honest, self, discipline") and be fair and upright, and consciously accept the supervision of the original electoral units and the masses of the people.

Li Hongzhong, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the discussion.

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Sixth International Daoism Forum Opens in Hangzhou, China

(People's Daily, Hangzhou, November 5) The Sixth International Daoism Forum opened on November 5 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, sent a congratulatory letter, expressing congratulations on the convening of the forum and extending greetings to the guests attending the forum.

Wang Huning said that Daoism originated on the land of China and embodies the wisdom of Chinese civilization. The values of striving upward and toward goodness in Daoist culture have provided rich cultural resources for promoting social harmony and world peace, and have won broad recognition.

Wang Huning pointed out that the Chinese government has consistently actively practiced the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, and has always supported the Chinese Daoist community in carrying out international dialogue and exchanges on the basis of independence, equality and friendship, and mutual respect. With the strong support of the Chinese government, the International Daoism Forum has been successfully held five times and has produced wide-ranging influence at home and abroad. In particular, since the founding of the World Daoism Federation in 2023, a great deal of beneficial work has been done in international exchanges, translation of classics, and talent cultivation, injecting fresh vitality into the healthy inheritance of Daoist culture and its integration with China and the wider world. The International Daoism Forum and the World Daoism Federation have become important platforms for the global Daoist community to engage in exchanging and learning from one another (交流互鉴, jiaoliu hujian - "exchange, mutually learn from each other"), and have played a positive role in expounding Daoist wisdom, promoting equal dialogue, and building broad consensus.

Wang Huning said that this year's forum, with the theme "The Dao Gives Rise to Virtue, All Under Heaven in Harmony," echoes humanity's common aspiration for peace and development. He expressed the hope that Daoist figures at home and abroad will take the International Daoism Forum as a platform, cultural exchange as a bridge, and the exploration of the contemporary value of Daoist culture as their own responsibility, and contribute wisdom and strength to promoting world peace and development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Li Ganjie, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. He said that Daoist culture carries the cosmology, view of life and ethics unique to Chinese civilization, and has profound and unique value for the whole world. He expressed the hope that the Daoist communities at home and abroad will deeply expound the essential ideas of Daoism and promote the harmonious coexistence of different civilizations and sharing beauty and achieving common prosperity among different cultures (美美与共, mei mei yu gong - "beautiful, beautiful, with, together").

Before the opening ceremony, Li Ganjie met with some of the guests attending this year's forum.

The Sixth International Daoism Forum is hosted by the World Daoism Federation and the China Religious Culture Communication Association, and undertaken by the Zhejiang Organizing Committee of the Sixth International Daoism Forum. A total of about 500 people attended, including representatives of the Daoist community and experts and scholars from 46 countries and regions.

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Ding Xuexiang Attends Opening Ceremony of the 9th China International Import Expo and Meets with Foreign Political Figures

(People's Daily, Shanghai, November 5) (Reporters Cao Pengcheng, Huang Chao) The 9th China International Import Expo and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum opened in Shanghai on the 5th. Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended and delivered a keynote speech.

Ding Xuexiang said that President Xi Jinping has on multiple occasions attended the opening ceremony of the CIIE and delivered keynote speeches, expounding China's consistent position of safeguarding the multilateral trading system and promoting the development of free trade, announcing a series of major measures for China to expand high-standard opening up, and pointing out the direction and providing a steady stream of momentum for advancing universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Since its inception, the CIIE has borne witness to China's firm determination and practical actions in promoting high-standard opening up, to the remarkable results and enormous gains of enterprises and people of various countries in sharing the opportunities of the Chinese market, and to the unremitting efforts and important contributions of people of insight from all walks of life in improving global economic governance. China is willing to work with all parties to further run the CIIE well, give full play to its role as four major platforms — international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange, and open cooperation — and better benefit the people of all countries in the world.

Ding Xuexiang pointed out that at present, the great changes unseen in a century in the world are accelerating, economic globalization is encountering headwinds, the problem of unbalanced global development is prominent, and the international economic and trade order has been severely impacted. It is quite normal for everyone to pay attention to the issue of trade imbalance; the key is how to achieve trade balance. He put forward 4 points of view. First, persist in sharing the market, raise the level of openness and connectivity, better leverage the comparative advantages of various countries, and promote balance in the course of jointly making the "cake" bigger. Second, deepen investment cooperation, optimize the cross-border layout of industries, create favorable conditions for enterprise development, and promote balance in the course of integrating into global industrial and supply chains. Third, strengthen innovation empowerment, enhance the quality of supply, expand the boundaries of trade, and promote balance in the course of driving transformation and upgrading. Fourth, enhance understanding and mutual trust, fully accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, resolve differences through consultation, and promote balance in the course of breaking down barriers.

Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Before the opening ceremony, Ding Xuexiang visited the enterprise exhibition. After the opening ceremony, Ding Xuexiang toured the pavilions together with the foreign leaders attending the event.

During his stay in Shanghai, Ding Xuexiang separately met with Liberian Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Denisa Saková, and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner. He said that China is willing to strengthen mutual support with all parties, expand open cooperation, produce more practical results, and continuously inject new momentum into world development and prosperity. The foreign political figures highly appreciated China's adherence to open development, its sharing of market opportunities with all countries, and the important role it plays in the balanced and coordinated development of the world economy, and expressed the hope to deepen cooperation in various fields with China and better achieve mutually beneficial outcomes (互利共赢, hu li gong ying - "mutual benefit, win-win").

Chen Jining participated in relevant meetings.

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State Council decision on amending and repealing certain administrative regulations promulgated

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) Premier Li Qiang of the State Council recently signed a State Council decree, promulgating the Decision of the State Council on Amending and Repealing Certain Administrative Regulations, which takes effect on the date of promulgation.

In order to implement the decision-making and arrangements of the Party Central Committee on rectifying formalism and reducing the burdens on the grassroots, streamline and optimize the provisions of existing administrative regulations concerning special plans for the establishment of grassroots-level staffing, prevent and correct formalism in the drafting of plans, and implement the spirit of the reform of Party and state institutions, align with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations, and ensure the systematicity, coherence, coordination, and timeliness of legislation, the State Council conducted a review of the administrative regulations involved and decided to amend certain provisions of 14 administrative regulations and to repeal 4 administrative regulations.

Administrative regulations such as the Regulations on the Implementation of the Archives Law of the People's Republic of China were amended to cancel or adjust the requirements for special plans concerning grassroots-level staffing, effectively reducing the burdens on the grassroots.

Administrative regulations such as the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on River Course Management were amended to remain consistent with the relevant provisions of laws and administrative regulations including the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China, the Food Security Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations on Procedures for the Formulation of Administrative Regulations, and at the same time the names of State Council institutions that have been changed were adjusted, so as to better adapt to the current practice of China's administrative management system.

Administrative regulations such as the Provisions of the People's Republic of China on the Limits of Liability for Compensation for Maritime Carriage of Passengers Between Ports were repealed, so as to better adapt to the practical needs of current reform and development and the actual work in relevant fields.

(The full text of the Decision is published on page 7.)

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Gathering a Powerful Joint Force for the Great Cause of National Rejuvenation (Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee)

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was a very important meeting convened at a critical period when socialist modernization is basically being achieved. Over the past several days, the central committees of the various democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and personages without party affiliation have studied and implemented the spirit of the plenary session in depth through various forms, further gathering the powerful strength of united struggle.

All have stated that they must not forget the original aspiration of multiparty cooperation, unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, strive to enhance their capacity to perform their duties and earnestly strengthen their own construction, better display the new demeanor of participating parties and participating forces in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and make new contributions to comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.

This year is the year of work-style construction for the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang has explored the establishment of a work-style construction supervision mechanism and integrity and clean-governance files, continuously fostering a clean and upright political atmosphere (风清气正, feng qing qi zheng - "wind, clear; air, righteous").

"The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang fully endorses General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the plenary session and fully agrees with the plenary session's 'Decision.'" The Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang stated during its study that the convening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee points out the direction for the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang to further strengthen its own construction. The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang will unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, continue to insist on learning from the Communist Party of China, integrate with the actual conditions of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, and with higher standards and more solid measures, continuously enhance its ability to solve its own problems. The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang must examine gaps and make up shortcomings against the standards of political firmness, solid organization, strong performance of duties, fine work style, and sound institutions, enhance its capacity to perform duties, and contribute the strength of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang to striving to write a new chapter of Chinese modernization.

The Central Committee of the China Democratic League stated during its study that it will unify its thinking and actions with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and consolidate the common ideological and political foundation of multiparty cooperation; closely centering on the objectives and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, conduct in-depth research around key topics such as developing new quality productive forces, the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, and ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, actively offer advice and suggestions, carry out special democratic supervision in a substantive manner, do well in party consultations, and serve as a good adviser, good helper, and good colleague of the Communist Party of China; deepen the political handover, build strong talent teams, consolidate grassroots organizations, strictly advance work-style construction and internal supervision, carry out integrity education on a regular basis, raise the level of institutionalization and standardization of participating-party construction, and mobilize the broad membership to devote themselves to the great practice of Chinese modernization.

Not long ago, the China Democratic National Construction Association National Organ Construction Commendation Meeting and Work-Style Construction Promotion Meeting was held, aimed at focusing on work-style construction and pushing the organ construction of the China Democratic National Construction Association to a new level.

"We must consciously apply Xi Jinping's thought on Party building to plan and advance the China Democratic National Construction Association's own construction, continuously improve the capacity to perform duties, and always think together, stand together, and work together with the Communist Party of China." The Central Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association stated that it will actively practice serving the public through political participation (参政为公, can zheng wei gong - "participate, politics; for, public") and working hard for the benefit of the people (实干为民, shi gan wei min - "solid, work; for, people"), take serving Chinese modernization as the main line of work, give play to its distinctive advantage of close ties with the economic circle, and help ensure that the major decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee are put into effect; adhere to strict governance of the association, take the opportunity of the year of work-style improvement activities, and with higher standards and more solid measures, continuously advance work-style construction and integrity construction, continuously raise the level of construction of a participating party in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and contribute the strength of the China Democratic National Construction Association to upholding, developing, and improving China's new political party system.

"The Communist Party of China's high degree of clarity, strong will, and pragmatic measures in strengthening its own construction have set an example and provided guidance for participating parties to comprehensively strengthen their own construction." The Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy stated during its study that it will transform the study, publicity, and implementation of the spirit of the plenary session into concrete practice of implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping's requirement to "be strict in demands, strict in constraints, and strict in supervision," and truly achieve seeking truth and being pragmatic, persevering and being persistent (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold, it; with, perseverance"), and being strict to the end. It will give full play to the sectoral advantages of the China Association for Promoting Democracy in the fields of education, culture, publishing, and media, focus on major issues of economic and social development, conduct in-depth investigation and research, actively offer advice and suggestions, and widely build consensus, serve the public through political participation and work hard for the benefit of the people, promote new achievements in performing duties through new improvements in its own construction, and make new and greater contributions to comprehensively advancing the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

The Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party stated during its study that the plenary session made systematic arrangements for persevering in advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, fully demonstrating the responsibility and historical initiative of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in governing the Party, building the Party, and strengthening the Party, and that the status and role of the Communist Party of China as the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics will surely be further consolidated and enhanced in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party will guide and lead its broad membership to study deeply and thoroughly understand the spirit of the plenary session, learn from the Communist Party of China, and strengthen the education, management, and supervision of Party members and cadres of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party; focus on advancing the building of a Healthy China and a Beautiful China and cultivating and developing new quality productive forces, deepen research and offer precise suggestions, contribute ideas and efforts to the implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and welcome the victorious convening of the 21st National Congress of the CPC with practical actions.

Over the past year and more, deeply studying and earnestly practicing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important congratulatory letter on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the China Zhi Gong Party, the China Zhi Gong Party has achieved phased results in strengthening its own construction and performing the functions of a participating party.

"As the democratic party founded earliest in our country, the China Zhi Gong Party has always weathered storms together (风雨同舟, feng yu tong zhou - "wind, rain; same, boat") with the Communist Party of China and treated each other with utmost sincerity (肝胆相照, gan dan xiang zhao - "liver, gall; mutually, shine"), and has always maintained a high degree of consistency in thinking, politics, and action with the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core." The Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party stated that it must closely follow the plenary session's arrangements, place political construction in the foremost position, firmly establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, strictly observe discipline and rules, cultivate a clean and honest atmosphere, and strive to forge a high-quality participating-party team. It will earnestly do well in the "major article on overseas Chinese and maritime affairs," widely unite overseas Chinese, returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, and students studying abroad, conduct in-depth investigation and research, solidly do well in the work of advising on governance and democratic supervision, and actively serve the great cause of national reunification.

The Central Committee of the Jiusan Society stated during its study that it fully endorses and resolutely supports General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the plenary session and the various decisions and arrangements made by the plenary session. The great achievements and valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era have provided important guidance for the Jiusan Society to learn from the Communist Party of China and strengthen the self-construction of a participating party. The Jiusan Society will consciously align itself with the plenary session's new arrangements and new requirements, continuously consolidate and expand the results of the themed education on "serving the public through political participation and working hard for the benefit of the people," comprehensively strengthen the Jiusan Society's own construction with higher standards and more solid measures; implement the requirement of "strictness" throughout the entire process and all aspects of participating in and performing duties, and effectively improve the quality of deliberating on state affairs and offering suggestions and the effectiveness of democratic supervision.

The Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League stated during its study that it will educate and guide the broad membership to truly unify their thinking and actions with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, take next year's 80th anniversary of the founding of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League as an opportunity, consciously carry forward the fine tradition of multiparty cooperation of being of one heart with the Party, being patriotic and serving the people, working together with utmost sincerity (精诚合作, jing cheng he zuo - "exquisite, sincerity; cooperate"), and being dedicated and devoted, pass on the political convictions, noble demeanor, and deep feelings toward the Communist Party of China of the predecessors of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, and continuously consolidate the common ideological and political foundation of multiparty cooperation. It will continuously consolidate the results of the themed education on "serving the public through political participation and working hard for the benefit of the people," and do well in all duties with high standards and high quality. It will strengthen the construction of leadership teams, pay attention to the quality of member development, grasp the key tasks of the leadership transition, strictly rectify conduct and enforce discipline (正风肃纪, zheng feng su ji - "rectify, style; strictly, discipline"), consolidate and develop a good political atmosphere, and serve as a good adviser, good helper, and good colleague of the Communist Party of China.

Holding the National Conference of Young Entrepreneurs, the National Conference on Green Development of Private Enterprises, releasing the 2026 list of China's Top 500 Private Enterprises... Since the beginning of this year, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce has taken multiple measures to help the high-quality development of the private economy.

The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce stated during its study that it must integrate the in-depth study and implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with the study of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments (两个确立), enhance the Four Consciousnesses (四个意识), strengthen the Four Confidences (四个自信), and achieve the Two Upholds (两个维护), and provide a strong guarantee for promoting the work of the "two healths." It must advance the construction of Party organizations at all levels and in all fields in a systematic manner, and earnestly fulfill the primary responsibility of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party with respect to the Party building work of the chambers of commerce under its jurisdiction. It must guide people in the private economic sector to unswervingly listen to the Party and follow the Party, deepen the building of clean private enterprises, and guide private enterprises to establish and improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics. It must continuously strengthen the construction of political organs, consolidate and expand the results of the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, practice a cordial and clean relationship between government and business, improve the quality and effectiveness of services for private enterprises, promote the implementation of policies and regulations that promote the development of the private economy, and lead the development of the cause of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce with the new achievements of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party.

Attending situation briefing meetings and special study symposiums, carrying out exchanges and discussions... Over the past several days, personages without party affiliation have, based on reality, studied and implemented the spirit of the plenary session in depth.

Personages without party affiliation stated during their study that since the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has, with the courage to turn the blade inward, rectified the chronic illnesses and stubborn maladies within the Party, persevered in rectifying conduct, enforcing discipline, and combating corruption, and persevered without giving up (锲而不舍, qie er bu she - "carve, and; not, abandon") in purifying the Party's political ecology, pushing the Party to achieve revolutionary tempering, and leading social conduct and popular customs to continue improving with an excellent Party style. Personages without party affiliation sincerely admire: a ruling party with strong work style, strict discipline, and integrity and honesty gives the united front more confidence in firmly holding to the center and more strength in drawing the largest concentric circles. Personages without party affiliation will unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, deeply study and implement the spirit of the plenary session, deeply study and carefully comprehend Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, and with solid performance results, fine work style and conduct, and outstanding professional achievements, contribute wisdom and strength to comprehensively advancing the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5 — Xinhua reporter)

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Accelerate the Building of a Healthy China and Continuously Improve the People's Health and Well-Being

(Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, November 5) Liu Guozhong, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, conducted research visits in Guangxi and Fujian from November 3 to 5. He stressed that it is necessary to deeply study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the National Health Conference, unswervingly follow the path of health development with Chinese characteristics, implement the health work policy of the new era, promote high-quality development of health undertakings, ensure that the building of a Healthy China achieves decisive progress during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and continuously enhance the people's health and well-being.

Liu Guozhong successively visited Liuzhou City and Laibin City in Guangxi and Fuzhou City in Fujian and other places, going deep into township health centers and county-level hospitals, convening symposiums, and gaining a detailed understanding of primary-level medical and health services, the construction and operation of county-level medical communities, and other conditions. He stressed that it is necessary to firmly implement the strategy of prioritizing health development, integrate the protection of people's health into all policies, improve the medical service system, the traditional medicine system, the disease prevention and control system, and the medical security system, and better meet the people's ever-growing health needs. It is necessary to highlight prevention first and vigorously advocate healthy and civilized lifestyles. It is necessary to improve the joint prevention and control mechanism for major infectious diseases, strengthen the capabilities for preventing imported cases, monitoring and early warning, and emergency response, and carry out the patriotic health campaign on a regular basis. It is necessary to deeply implement the project to strengthen the foundation of medical and health care and the project to expand and upgrade medical rehabilitation and nursing care, strengthen the operational support of county and district-level and primary-level medical institutions, implement the tiered diagnosis and treatment system, give play to the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, strengthen scientific and technological innovation and the transformation of achievements, and comprehensively raise the level of medical services. It is necessary to advance the coordinated development and governance of medical treatment, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals, deepen the reform of public hospitals oriented toward public welfare, build a multi-tiered medical security system, and improve the mechanisms for drug supply security and use management. It is necessary to run the Party's leadership through all aspects and the entire process of the development of health undertakings, build strong contingents of cadres and talent, strengthen the construction of medical ethics and medical conduct, and foster a clean and honest atmosphere (风清气正, feng qing qi zheng - "wind, clear; qi, upright") in the industry environment and a social atmosphere of respecting doctors and valuing health.

Liu Guozhong also visited Nanning City in Guangxi and Xiamen City in Fujian to conduct research on reservoir operation and management, rural revitalization, and other conditions. He stressed that it is necessary to comprehensively and systematically advance the renovation and upgrading of old reservoirs, strengthen the reinforcement of dangerous reservoirs, improve the mechanisms for dispatch management and long-term maintenance and protection, and effectively enhance the capacity for flood control and disaster reduction. It is necessary to deeply study and apply the experience of the Thousand-Village Demonstration and Ten-Thousand-Village Improvement Project (千万工程), do a good job in autumn and winter agricultural production, advance self-reliance and strength in science and technology in agriculture, strengthen regular and precise assistance, and, in light of local conditions, advance the building of livable, workable, and beautiful villages.

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Strengthen the Deep Integration of Scientific and Technological Innovation with Industrial Innovation, and Drive Sustained, Innovation-led, and Improving Economic Development

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, conducted research in Beijing from November 4 to 5. He Lifeng pointed out that it is necessary to conscientiously study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and instructions concerning Beijing, accelerate self-reliance and strength in science and technology at a high level, strengthen the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, and promote the sustained development of the economy toward the new, toward the better, and toward the good.

He Lifeng successively went to Huairou, Tongzhou and other places in Beijing, conducting on-site research at relevant scientific and technological infrastructure and at intelligent manufacturing and biopharmaceutical enterprises, to learn about the transformation of scientific research achievements, enterprise development, and product exports, and convened a discussion with districts and townships to listen to opinions from the grassroots. He Lifeng pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen strategic support for science and technology, highlight the leadership of scientific and technological innovation supply and industrial market demand, give full play to the guiding role of the government, strengthen integrated innovation across industry, academia and research and the application of technology, and better serve the building of the science and technology innovation center. It is necessary to uphold equal emphasis on development and security, increase financial support and factor guarantees for fields such as artificial intelligence and the construction of computing power networks, make overall arrangements for both innovative development and risk prevention and control, and expand investment in the construction of new infrastructure in an orderly manner. It is necessary to develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, cultivate and strengthen emerging industries such as high-end manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals, support enterprises in independent innovation and in improving the quality and upgrading of products and services, continuously enhance international competitiveness, and actively integrate into and expand the global market.

He Lifeng required that it is necessary to adhere to goal orientation and problem orientation, promptly summarize and distill experience and practices that can be drawn upon and promoted, conduct in-depth study of the real problems and opinions and suggestions reflected by the grassroots and enterprises, optimize and improve relevant policies in a targeted manner, further tap the potential of domestic demand, and continuously promote high-quality development of the economy.

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Solidly Stabilize Employment and Continuously Ensure and Safeguard the Baseline of People's Livelihood

(Xinhua News Agency, Lanzhou, November 5) State Councilor Chen Yiqin conducted research on employment, civil affairs, and other work in Gansu from the 3rd to the 5th. She stressed that it is necessary to earnestly study the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, thoroughly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the work of Gansu, resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, solidly do a good job in stabilizing employment, continue to ensure and firmly safeguard the bottom line of people's livelihood, and make every effort to accomplish this year's targets and tasks.

Chen Yiqin successively went to Lanzhou City and Jiuquan City, went deep into industrial parks, enterprise workshops, township convenience service institutions, and other places, to learn in detail about industrial development, employment stabilization, bottom-line guarantees, elderly care services, and other situations, and presided over a symposium to listen to the opinions and suggestions of relevant grassroots units, enterprises, and experts. She stressed that employment is a family matter, and even more a matter of the state. It is necessary to treat employment as the top priority of people's livelihood, step up efforts to implement the action of stabilizing jobs, expanding capacity, and improving quality, earnestly do a good job in the employment of key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers, vigorously support the development of industries and enterprises with strong employment absorption capacity, and promote the continuous expansion of employment capacity. It is necessary to thoroughly carry out large-scale vocational skills upgrading training, deepen labor cooperation between the eastern and western regions, create more labor service brands with distinctive regional characteristics, and strive to promote employment and income growth for workers.

Chen Yiqin pointed out that it is necessary to expand the supply of rural elderly care services in light of local conditions, and strive to build a rural elderly care service system that is coordinated at the county level, coordinated between urban and rural areas, and in line with rural conditions. As the end of the year and the beginning of the new year approach, it is necessary to do a good job in caring for and assisting people in difficulty and disaster-affected people, distribute various types of relief funds on time and in full, promptly carry out visits and condolences to elderly people living alone, children in difficult circumstances, people with disabilities, and others, and truly deliver the care of the Party and the government to the hearts of the people.

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Intelligent Connectivity, Smart Vision of the Future

By: 本报记者

Sitting in a "brain-controlled wheelchair," one can control the wheelchair to move forward, backward, turn, and perform other actions through willpower alone; two embodied robots perform martial arts in the exhibition hall, unleashing "left hooks" and "spinning kicks," combining agility and power...

From November 2 to 5, the 2026 World Internet Conference "Light of the Internet" Expo was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. In the venue, 671 Chinese and foreign enterprises and institutions from 54 countries and regions participated in coordinated fashion, and one after another cutting-edge scientific and technological achievement left visitors extremely eye-opening (大开眼界, da kai yan jie - "great, open, eye, see").

The expo took "Intelligent Connectivity, Insight into the Future" as its theme, with "AI+" as the focus of display.

In recent years, embodied intelligence has been a hot spot of development in the field of artificial intelligence.

Swinging the racket, receiving the shuttlecock, smashing... a set of badminton movements smooth and flowing with natural ease (行云流水, xing yun liu shui - "walk, cloud, flow, water"). In the interactive experience area of the expo, the "sparring partner" robot of Dongyi Technology was very popular, and many visitors queued in long lines, waiting to test their skills against it.

The person in charge of the exhibition area introduced that this bipedal humanoid robot requires no remote control and no pre-programming; the self-developed physical agent acts as the "brain," completing perception, decision-making, and execution, predicting in real time the trajectory of high-speed incoming shuttlecocks, moving and positioning itself autonomously, and swinging the racket precisely to return the shot. An on-site experiencer could not help exclaiming: "In the future it can become my 'sports buddy' who is available whenever I call."

Generating PPTs, Excel formulas, and mind maps from a single sentence, and intelligently polishing, summarizing, and translating document content; assisting in writing code and checking code quality in real time... At the Tencent exhibition area, "WorkBuddy—All-Scenario Workplace AI Agent Workbench" attracted the gaze of many visitors.

At the expo, Tencent exhibited multiple artificial intelligence large models and agent tools. The relevant person in charge of Tencent introduced that in developing artificial intelligence, it is necessary to amplify the value and role of people, and enable artificial intelligence to deeply empower scenarios closely related to each other (息息相关, xi xi xiang guan - "breath, breath, mutually, connect") with people's livelihood, such as social networking, payments, employment, and public services.

Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, empowering all walks of life (千行百业, qian hang bai ye - "thousand, industry, hundred, occupation"). At the expo, many institutions and enterprises displayed advanced achievements in which digital technology, represented by artificial intelligence, promotes economic and social development.

With refining towers standing in clusters and pipelines crisscrossing, inspections in petrochemical plant areas no longer rely solely on manual labor... At the China Mobile exhibition area, the application achievements of the "Mobile Tiangong" industrial internet platform at Ningbo Zhenhai Refining & Chemical were displayed in visual form: the largest 5G industrial private network in the national petrochemical industry was built, embedding 5G, artificial intelligence, and mobile cloud into facility operations, equipment maintenance, and safety inspections, reducing maintenance frequency by 30% and lowering manual inspection costs by 35%.

"From a single factory to all walks of life, this transformation chain of 'network connection—platform aggregation—artificial intelligence decision-making' is extending." The relevant person in charge of China Mobile Zhejiang Company introduced that at present, "Mobile Tiangong" has covered 41 major industrial categories, served more than 320,000 enterprises, and implemented more than 50,000 5G+ industrial cases.

"Scan the QR code, and how much electricity was used and how much carbon was emitted in the production process of this woolen sweater is immediately obvious at a glance (一目了然, yi mu le ran - "one, eye, understand, clearly")." At the State Grid exhibition area, a staff member held a locally produced woolen sweater and showed everyone the "carbon footprint identity card" on it.

"When products go overseas, many countries and regions have requirements for carbon emission data in the production process." The staff member introduced that State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power, with the help of intelligent technology, uses time-of-use electricity-carbon factors to calculate product carbon footprints, and based on electricity use, new energy power generation, and other conditions in different time periods, calculates more refined carbon emission data for products, better empowering enterprises' products to go overseas.

In recent years, the application of artificial intelligence and other technologies has continued to transform production methods, empower economic development, and benefit people's lives. "Internet + healthcare" and "artificial intelligence + healthcare" have been hot topics of attention in recent years.

"It can conduct comprehensive analysis of multiple medical reports, linking indicators from different times to look at trends and identify potential health risks..." At the iFlytek booth, iFlytek Xiaoyi attracted many visitors to come forward and try it.

The booth staff introduced that iFlytek Xiaoyi can, based on health records, generate for users a comprehensive health management plan that is "personalized, executable, and dynamically adjusted."

A doctor independently adjusts and magnifies the field of view on the operating end, while the robotic arm on the patient end synchronously replicates the hand movements, precisely peeling the skin off a grape... In the exhibition area of the Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine, a "grape peeling" demonstration intuitively showed the stability and precision of robotic surgery, attracting visitors to stop and watch.

"One of the biggest challenges of remote robotic surgery lies in network latency. Through a customized 5G private network, we have controlled the latency to 75 milliseconds, an indicator superior to international standards." This doctor stated that digital technology is driving the expansion and downward extension of high-quality medical resources, enabling the broad masses to truly enjoy more high-quality medical resources.

Using artificial intelligence and other technologies to serve social governance has been the direction of efforts in various places in recent years.

Numbers leap and images change on the large screen, while the traffic passage status at intersections, traffic flow change trends, and signal light switching and other conditions are displayed synchronously... At the expo, a set of holographic digital traffic systems that can perceive, analyze, and command attracted many participants. "The Jiaxing Public Security Bureau, together with universities and research institutions, jointly developed a signal light adaptive control algorithm, effectively improving intersection traffic efficiency and safety levels." said Jin Jiadong, a police officer of the Xiuzhou Brigade of the Traffic Management Detachment of the Jiaxing Public Security Bureau.

Brain-computer interfaces, AR (augmented reality) perceptive interactive glasses, artificial intelligence security service "digital experts"... In each exhibition hall,尖端科技产品令人dazzled by a vast array of things (目不暇接, mu bu xia jie - "eye, not, space, receive"). A visitor exclaimed: "Through visiting the exhibition, I truly felt the charm of artificial intelligence and other technologies. The 'Light of the Internet' is illuminating our digital future."

(People's Daily reporters Jin Xin, Liu Junguo, Shen Shaotie, Dou Hao, Wu Yue)

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Notice of the General Office of the State Council on the Arrangement of Some Public Holidays in 2027

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) The General Office of the State Council's notice on the arrangement of some public holidays in 2027 is as follows in full:

To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all ministries and commissions of the State Council; and all institutions directly under the State Council:

With the approval of the State Council, the specific arrangements for the holiday and adjusted working-day dates for New Year's Day, the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day in 2027 are hereby notified as follows.

I. New Year's Day: January 1 (Friday) to the 3rd (Sunday), a total of 3 days off.

II. Spring Festival: February 5 (Lunar New Year's Eve, Friday) to the 13th (the eighth day of the first lunar month, Saturday), a total of 9 days off with adjusted working days. Work on January 31 (Sunday) and February 14 (Sunday).

III. Qingming Festival: April 3 (Saturday) to the 5th (Monday), a total of 3 days off.

IV. Labor Day: May 1 (Saturday) to the 5th (Wednesday), a total of 5 days off with adjusted working days. Work on May 8 (Saturday).

V. Dragon Boat Festival: June 9 (Wednesday), a total of 1 day off.

VI. Mid-Autumn Festival: September 15 (Wednesday), a total of 1 day off.

VII. National Day: October 1 (Friday) to the 7th (Thursday), a total of 7 days off with adjusted working days. Work on September 26 (Sunday) and October 9 (Saturday).

Units and individuals are encouraged, in conjunction with the implementation of systems such as paid annual leave, to actually form longer holidays and to promote traveling during off-peak hours (错峰出行, cuo feng chu xing - "mistimed peak, travel"). During the holiday period, all regions and all departments must properly arrange duty shifts and work such as safety, security, and epidemic prevention and control; in the event of major emergencies, they must report promptly in accordance with regulations and handle them properly, ensuring that the people spend the festival holidays in peace and safety.

General Office of the State Council

November 5, 2026

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Procuratorial Organ Files Public Prosecution Against Ma Xingrui on Suspicion of Bribery

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) On November 5, the reporter learned from the Supreme People's Procuratorate that the case of Ma Xingrui, former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and former deputy head of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, suspected of accepting bribes, has concluded investigation by the National Commission of Supervision and been transferred to the procuratorial organ for examination and prosecution. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has made a decision in accordance with the law to arrest Ma Xingrui on suspicion of the crime of accepting bribes, and designated the Yichang Municipal People's Procuratorate of Hubei Province to examine and prosecute the case. Recently, the Yichang Municipal People's Procuratorate has initiated a public prosecution with the Yichang Intermediate People's Court.

During the examination and prosecution stage, the procuratorial organ informed the defendant Ma Xingrui in accordance with the law of the litigation rights he enjoys, interrogated the defendant, and listened to the opinions of the defender. The procuratorial organ's indictment alleges: the defendant Ma Xingrui took advantage of the convenience of his positions as member of the Party Leadership Group, deputy general manager, secretary of the Party Leadership Group, and general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation; deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee; deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and governor; and member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, as well as the convenience conditions formed by his authority or position, to seek benefits for others and illegally accept other people's property, the amount being especially huge; he should be held criminally responsible for the crime of accepting bribes in accordance with the law.

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Page 1 editors: Hu Anqi, Zhao Zheng, Luan Xinyi; Page 2 editors: Lü Li, Guo Xueyan, Chen Zhen; Page 3 editors: Wu Gang, Jiang Bo, Xie Jianing; Page 4 editors: Liu Nian, Cui Bin, Zhang Xueyan

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Chinese Inspiration "Pieces Together" New Global Ideas (CIIE Story)

By: 本报记者 高 石

At the Tank Shanghai art center on the West Bund in Shanghai, a sea of flowers built from LEGO bricks spreads out before the white tank structures. More than 380,000 flowers and plants wind along a 30-meter-long arc. Pink-purple meets rose-red, dotted with orange and yellow, and visitors stop to take photos. At the LEGO Group's booth in the consumer goods exhibition area of the ninth China International Import Expo, the company has turned the creative inspiration of the flower sea into a flower shop, a subway, city street corners and other scenes closely connected to daily life, creating a "joyful community" and ingeniously combining its brand proposition of "connecting love through creativity and enjoying joy in building" with the "happiness economy" concept advocated at this year's CIIE.

"Having exhibited for nine consecutive years, the CIIE provides us with a unique opportunity to engage in in-depth exchanges with consumers," Niels B. Christiansen, chief executive officer of the LEGO Group, told reporters. "We will continue to invest in brand building, retail layout, business operations and sustainable development, bringing the joy of creativity to more Chinese consumers."

Understanding China through a table of "New Year's Eve dinner"

The LEGO brand entered the Chinese market in 1983. This Danish company's deeper bond with China began with a table of "New Year's Eve dinner" at the first CIIE.

A room built from 615 bricks, six chairs around a dining table, with grandparents, parents and two children seated together at one table; on the table, fish, dumplings, chicken legs, crab... a table full of dishes; indoors, bright red New Year flowers are placed; on the door, festive couplets and the character "Fu" are pasted; on the wall, a harmonious family portrait hangs.

In November 2018, the LEGO Group released this Chinese New Year's Eve dinner and dragon dance brick set at the first CIIE. Wen Xiaodong, senior concept designer at the LEGO Group, said: "For people familiar with the Spring Festival, this scene can evoke many beautiful memories."

What people did not expect was that this LEGO New Year's Eve dinner set drew enthusiastic pursuit from overseas fans. Ma Shining, general manager of the LEGO Group's China region, told reporters that this limited-edition set was initially scheduled for release only in China and the Asia-Pacific market, but some overseas fans left messages to the group online, hoping that China-themed sets could be launched globally.

"Our colleagues in Europe would ask colleagues traveling to China on business to buy New Year's Eve dinner series sets and bring them back. Whether our designers or overseas consumers, they begin to understand Chinese culture through our product sets, and then come to love Chinese culture," Wen Xiaodong said.

"We are delighted to see that these products have not only won the affection of Chinese consumers, but also the favor of consumers around the world who love elements of traditional Chinese culture," Ma Shining said. "The CIIE has built an excellent platform for us to display products covering all age groups and diverse interests, bringing the LEGO play experience to more children and families."

As of 2025, the LEGO Group has cumulatively debuted 34 new products at the CIIE, of which about two-thirds were inspired by Chinese culture, history and traditional festivals.

Chinese elements integrated into Danish design

After the New Year's Eve dinner and dragon dance brick set achieved great success, traditional Chinese culture inspired new creative inspiration among the LEGO Group's designers.

When Wen Xiaodong was a child, he received a LEGO toy set from his father and loved it so much he could not let it go (爱不释手, ai bu shi shou - "love, not, release, hand"). Many years later, carrying this love, he became a LEGO brick designer. He participated in the design of multiple sets related to traditional Chinese culture, including Monkie Kid.

"In China, we can gain many new insights and inspirations, which greatly helps us design products related to traditional Chinese culture," Wen Xiaodong said. "The two different fan designs in the LEGO Five Blessings Spring Welcome set came from the inspiration of Chinese consumers."

In November 2020, the Monkie Kid series of new brick sets inspired by Journey to the West appeared at the CIIE. In September of that year, the animated series of the same IP landed in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Japan, and was loved by LEGO brick fans around the world.

This year, on the internet, the topics Chinamaxxing and China Haul have gone viral globally, triggering widespread discussion of Chinese culture among foreigners. By building Spring Festival scenes and Chinese mythological heroes with their own hands, LEGO bricks offer people a way to experience traditional Chinese culture.

Cultural integration catalyzes innovation and has also led the group to continuously increase its investment. "The long-term investment of an enterprise depends on innovation being protected," said Robin Smith, vice president and general counsel for Asia-Pacific and China at the LEGO Group. "The LEGO Group's intellectual property protection in China has received active support from the Chinese government. This has added greatly to our confidence."

Robin Smith said: "This makes enterprises willing to continue innovating, deepen product localization, continue advancing what they are currently doing, and make long-term investments in China. We will jointly promote and safeguard a fair market environment."

The "green factory" behind a "leaf"

In 2013, in line with its strategy of locating production close to major markets, the LEGO Group announced the opening of a factory in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China. This was the LEGO Group's first factory in Asia.

In 2022, in order to further promote the long-term development of its business in China and the Asia region, the group announced the expansion of the Jiaxing factory's operations to create more production capacity.

Ma Shining told reporters the story of a "leaf" produced at the Jiaxing factory: in the "Friendship Camping Adventure" set, the bio-polyethylene raw material for the brick leaves comes from sugarcane in Brazil, and is currently used in the production of more than 200 plant elements and minifigure accessories; the vehicle windows use leftover material from recycled artificial marble, and have been used in the production of more than 900 transparent elements. He said the group is increasingly using renewable materials and recycled and reused materials to produce LEGO bricks, including using old fishing nets and engine oil to make some LEGO tire elements, mixing renewable energy with carbon dioxide from biological waste to make e-methanol for the production of more than 90 sturdy, non-bendable brick elements, and so on.

In 2023, the LEGO Group's global factories launched a pilot of more sustainable paper packaging bags. Currently, the Jiaxing factory has achieved 100 percent conversion of its existing paper packaging production lines.

"As an important production base of the LEGO Group in the Asia-Pacific region, the Jiaxing factory has always actively practiced the LEGO Group's commitment to sustainable development," Ma Shining said.

"Relying on the effects brought by the CIIE, we have built a mature and well-developed LEGO play ecosystem in China, covering retail networks, manufacturing, brand experience and LEGOLAND resorts," Ma Shining believes. "This has laid a solid foundation for us to achieve sustained growth in China."

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Jointly Protecting the Blue and Promoting Sustainable Prosperity

The ocean gave birth to life, connected the world, and promoted development. This expanse of blue sustains the well-being of all humanity and bears on everyone's future. Yet the high seas, which account for two-thirds of the ocean's area, have long remained a lowland of governance institutions, with less than 1 percent of their area under effective protection. When humanity's demands exceed the ocean's carrying capacity, the deficit in high seas governance has become a common challenge for all humanity.

In January this year, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (referred to as the Agreement) formally entered into force. This Agreement, embodying the fruits of nearly 20 years of consultations, for the first time established a legally binding, integrated protection framework for the high seas and the international seabed area, laid down common rules on conservation and sustainable use, and opened a new chapter in global ocean governance. As one of the first signatory states and one of the first states parties, China participated deeply in the negotiations throughout the entire process, consistently promoted the building of consensus in a constructive posture, and applied to host the Secretariat of the Agreement in Xiamen.

From November 5 to 11, the 2026 Xiamen International Ocean Week was held under the theme "Joining Hands to Protect the Deep Blue, Harmony and Coexistence Between Humanity and the Sea." Xiamen, this coastal city, is becoming a new platform for global multilateral ocean dialogue.

(1)

China has a continental coastline of approximately 18,000 kilometers and a long history of managing the sea, and its value pursuit of "caring for the ocean as we care for life" has been consistent from beginning to end (一以贯之, yi yi guan zhi - "one").

Xiamen's bay governance practice is a vivid portrayal of China's promotion of sustainable ocean development and realization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and the sea. The comprehensive governance of Yundang Lake explored an effective paradigm for the sustainable development of bay cities; in Tong'an Bay, more than 8 square kilometers of "reclaiming farmland and ponds from the sea" were returned to create an ecological space for people to enjoy the sea; rare species such as the Chinese white dolphin and the blue-throated bee-eater inhabit and reproduce in sea areas near the city... With its livable and business-friendly development appearance, Xiamen has become a world-renowned "International Garden City."

Exploration in one city reflects the whole. China's institutional system for marine ecological governance has been continuously improved, and governance results have continued to show. From China's Agenda 21 on the Ocean establishing the direction of sustainable development for maritime undertakings, to the first revision of the Marine Environmental Protection Law shoring up the bottom line of rule-of-law supervision, to the strategic deployment by the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to accelerate the building of a maritime power, China has consistently incorporated the construction of marine ecological civilization into the overall layout of ocean development.

Ecological protection through sustained, long-term effort has brought about the steady recovery of marine biodiversity. China has built 353 marine-related nature protected areas, protecting approximately 93,300 square kilometers of sea area, delineated approximately 150,000 square kilometers of marine ecological protection red lines, and 24 typical marine ecosystems have eliminated "unhealthy" status for five consecutive years. Key species such as the Chinese white dolphin, sea turtle, spotted seal, and coral have been effectively protected; the population of the "living fossil" Chinese horseshoe crab has regained vitality, and mangrove area has continued to grow. In Xiangyun Bay, Tangshan, the "undersea desert" has transformed into an "underwater forest"; in Qilihai, Qinhuangdao, returning aquaculture areas to wetlands has made it a "paradise for birds"; in Hailong Bay, Rizhao, "returning the port to the sea" restored a kilometer-long sandy shoreline—each ecological restoration practice confirms the governance results of advancing in synergy and coordination (协同并进, xie tong bing jin - "coordinate, and, advance") between protection and development.

Adhering to equal emphasis on conservation and utilization, China has continuously promoted the green transformation of the marine economy and extended its responsibilities to the high seas and oceans. Guarding the "blue granary," it has continuously advanced stock enhancement and release and independent fishing moratoriums, and strictly implemented the Agreement on Port State Measures; activating "green momentum," it has accelerated the layout of marine new energy such as offshore wind power and tidal energy, and built a green shipping system. As a major distant-water fishing country, China took the lead in implementing independent fishing moratoriums on the high seas, strengthened the control of distant-water sea fishing vessels, and set an example through practical action for global high seas fishery conservation.

Looking down over China's vast blue territory, the construction of beautiful bays has continued to expand in scope, improve in quality, and increase in effectiveness; public welfare supporting guidelines for beach cleanups have been implemented one after another; and spatial planning measures such as marine protected areas, ecological protection red lines, and ecological corridors have been implemented in an orderly manner, forming a governance pattern of land-sea linkage, joint river-sea governance, and port-city coexistence.

(2)

The blue planet on which humanity lives is not divided by the ocean into isolated islands, but is linked by the ocean into a community with a shared future, in which the people of all countries share common interests and risks (安危与共, an wei yu gong - "safety, danger, and, together").

In April 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed building a maritime community with a shared future, pointing out the direction for resolving the dilemmas of global ocean governance. Over the years, China has promoted the transformation of the maritime community with a shared future from vision into action, injecting inexhaustible momentum into building and caring for a beautiful and prosperous maritime homeland.

The difficulty of ocean governance lies in uneven development. Many developing countries have long coastlines but generally lack funds, technology, and talent, and often face a dilemma between ecological protection and economic development. Focusing on the real needs of all countries, especially developing countries, China has placed the focus of blue cooperation on capacity building, so that development results can benefit the people of all countries more and more fairly.

In practical cooperation, China focuses on the most urgent needs of developing countries. In Pacific island countries, China promoted the implementation of the "Marine Spatial Planning+" demonstration project on Malake Island in Fiji and the town of Levuka on Ovalau Island, helping local areas resolve the difficult balance between ecological protection and economic development; in Southeast Asia and South Asia, China extended the "Xiamen experience" of beach restoration to Thailand and Sri Lanka, and shared mangrove ecological restoration technology with Cambodia; in Africa, China used new fishing gear, advanced fishing technology, and nearshore aquaculture plans to expand the space for blue economic development in countries such as Uganda and Kenya.

Deep-sea scientific research and the sharing of scientific research are important marine public goods provided by China. Not long ago, the scientific research vessel "Deep Sea No. 1," carrying the "Jiaolong" manned submersible, set sail from Xiamen and invited scientists from South Pacific island countries to jointly participate in the second leg of China's Dayang 100 expedition. China has continued to deepen abyssal exploration and provides marine genetic resource preservation and digital sequence information storage services to the world. The Port of Shanghai, the Port of Hamburg, and the Port of Los Angeles have jointly built a green shipping corridor to coordinate the promotion of low-carbon transformation of shipping; China and Egypt have cooperated in marine archaeology and the protection of underwater cultural heritage, and the connotation of blue cooperation has continued to expand.

China has consistently placed technological empowerment and talent cultivation in a priority position in maritime cooperation. China issued the Principles on Blue Partnership, launched the Sustainable Blue Partnership Cooperation Network and the Blue Partnership Fund, and has signed marine cooperation agreements with more than 50 countries and international organizations; the "COAST" marine comprehensive governance toolkit integrates big data and artificial intelligence into marine spatial planning and opens technical interfaces to the world free of charge; it has deeply implemented the "Blue Talent Program" and the Chinese Government Marine Scholarship, held more than 300 capacity-building training courses in total, trained more than 6,000 marine professionals, and delivered practical experience in ecological restoration, climate response, and marine planning to developing countries.

Empowering global governance with local practice, China is not only able to manage and protect its own seas well, but also, with a posture of embracing the world, benefits the seas of the world. The continuously expanding "blue circle of friends" is truly bringing the benefits of sustainable ocean development together across the five continents and nourishing the world.

(3)

Firmly upholding the international system with the United Nations at its core and comprehensively participating in the formulation and implementation of ocean rules is China's consistent position in participating in global ocean governance.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the entry into force for China of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (referred to as the Convention). Over the past 30 years, China has exercised its rights under the Convention in good faith, fulfilled its obligations under the Convention, carried forward the spirit of multilateralism embodied in the Convention, supported the effective operation of the three major international institutions established under the Convention, and worked hand in hand with all parties to jointly maintain maritime peace and security, promote sustainable ocean development, strengthen marine scientific research and environmental protection, and advance sea-related exchanges and cooperation, contributing to improving global ocean governance and enhancing the common well-being of humanity.

Abiding by multilateralism, China has taken the initiative to build new platforms, construct new mechanisms, and broaden new paths for global ocean cooperation. Dialogue mechanisms such as the East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform, the Maritime Silk Road Countries Marine Spatial Planning Forum, and the Global Coastal Forum have been established one after another, building regular channels for countries to exchange governance experience.

Ocean governance is the dialectical unity (辩证统一, bian zheng tong yi - "dialectical, unity") of protection and development; it is necessary both to build a solid ecological barrier and to safeguard the development rights and interests of all countries, especially the Global South. At present, the problem that the Global South has insufficient representation and relatively weak discourse power in the ocean governance system remains prominent. Under the framework of the United Nations "Ocean Decade," China has initiated major scientific programs such as "Digital Deep-sea Typical Habitats," opened and shared expedition voyage resources with developing countries, and broadened the collaborative space for deep participation by the Global South. It has jointly built marine joint research centers, laboratories, and observation stations with countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Jamaica, pooling the synergy of self-reliance and strength in science and technology and coordinated governance in marine science and technology. China's practical sense of responsibility has won broad recognition from the international community, especially developing countries. Cambodian Minister of Environment Yang Sophalleth stated that China has played a positive role in global ocean governance and international marine protection cooperation and has demonstrated strong leadership.

The vast journey has no end; set sail and simply trust the wind. Standing at a new starting point in global ocean governance, China will always uphold the concept of a maritime community with a shared future, work with all countries of the world to protect the blue homeland and jointly promote sustainable development, and jointly sail toward a beautiful future of harmony between humanity and the sea and prosperous coexistence.

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Share China's Vast Market Opportunities with the World

(People's Daily, Shanghai, November 5) (Reporter Luo Shanshan) On November 5, at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, the "Report on the Development of China's Import Capacity 2026" was officially released. The report points out that China's role in the global export system is expanding from an important production center to an important demand center, becoming a key hub connecting manufactured products, resource-based products, and global supply chains. For global exports, China is not only one of the fastest-growing large markets, but also an important force supporting the stable growth of global demand.

Teams from the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Division on International Trade and Commodities of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development respectively undertook the writing of the relevant sections of the report.

The report is divided into two parts, with a total of 20 chapters. The first part analyzes the overall landscape, product structure, and policy environment of China's imports, answering "what can China buy." The report finds that China's share of absorbing global exports rose from 3.2 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent in 2025. China's large market provides demand for advanced manufacturing and also creates opportunities for resource-based products and specialty agricultural products, and every country can find room for development by combining its own advantages.

The second part focuses on the supply conditions of partner countries, studying "what can be sold, and how to sell it better." It selects 10 trading partners—Colombia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Pakistan, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, and the United Kingdom—and conducts country-specific research centered on economic infrastructure, industrial systems, and trade policy, helping each country transform its product advantages into capacity for exporting to China.

The report points out that China has always upheld development as the priority, open innovation, and win-win cooperation, proactively opening its doors to the world and sharing development dividends with all countries. China is providing more market access to developing countries and least developed countries, helping them integrate into global value chains and promoting inclusive global development. Expanding imports is an effective way to push the global governance system toward a more just and reasonable direction. In the face of the anti-globalization practices of some countries that vigorously pursue "decoupling and breaking chains," China has always been a defender of the existing international order and a practitioner of true multilateralism, taking expanded imports as a fulcrum, committing itself to building bridges of communication, and contributing Chinese solutions to improving global economic governance.

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Why Is the World Focused on "Exporting to China"?

By: 罗珊珊

From matchmaking activities at the exhibition to special studies in the conference room, how to "export to China" faster and better has become a matter of widespread concern.

Why is the world focused on "exporting to China"?

The Report on the Development of Capacity for Exporting to China 2026 holds that the Chinese market is both "large" and "new."

On "large": China has a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million; calculated by International Monetary Fund purchasing power parity, China is already the world's largest consumer market, has held steady as the world's second-largest importer for 17 consecutive years, and this year's total import volume is expected to exceed 3 trillion US dollars for the first time. On "new": new tracks and new drivers are constantly emerging, and demand for high-quality, upgraded consumption such as smart consumption and green consumption is growing rapidly.

More noteworthy is that the global pattern of exports to China is undergoing profound reconstruction: the share of exports to China from countries jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative has risen to 59.4%; general trade has become the main channel, and new forms of business such as cross-border e-commerce are developing vigorously (蓬勃发展, peng bo fa zhan - "flourishing, develop"); private enterprises have become the largest import entity. China's imports show the characteristic of simultaneous expansion of imports of high-end goods and primary commodities, providing an inclusive market for economies at different stages of development.

Behind the data lies a historic leap in China's economic role: expanding from an important global production center into an important demand center, becoming a key hub connecting manufactured products, resource-based products, and global supply chains. In the past, the world perceived China through "Made in China"; today, more and more countries rely on "exporting to China" to share the dividends of China's development.

This report itself also reveals the way China's vast market opens its arms: the trade partners mentioned in the second half include both developed economies such as the United Kingdom and Spain, and developing countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. Whether frontier technologies or distinctive local products, all can find buyers and find a stage in China. At this year's China International Import Expo, the area of free exhibition booths provided to the least developed countries increased by 17%. This sends a clear signal: China's expansion of imports is not a makeshift or temporary measure (权宜之计, quan yi zhi ji - "expedient, plan") born of momentary need, but a long-term choice to proactively open to the world.

"Let China's vast market become the world's great opportunity." The China International Import Expo has continued without interruption for nine years (九年不辍, jiu nian bu chuo - "nine, years, not, stop"), and this declaration is being repeatedly confirmed by one order after another and one forum after another. Fearless of headwinds and reverse waves, China has always shared opportunities with the world.

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Wang Yi Meets with Delegation of the Workers' Party of Korea

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, met in Beijing on the 5th with a delegation of the Workers' Party of Korea led by Kim Song Nam, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, Secretary of the WPK Central Committee, and Director of its International Department.

Wang Yi said that in June this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping successfully paid a state visit to the DPRK, pointing out the direction of advance for the development of China-DPRK relations in the new period. China is willing to work with the DPRK side to jointly implement the important consensus of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, and to promote the sustained, deep, substantive and sound development of China-DPRK relations. Wang Yi also briefed the DPRK side on the main circumstances of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Kim Song Nam said that the DPRK side is willing to work together with the Chinese side, following the will of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, to make unremitting efforts (不懈努力, bu xie nu li - "not slack, exert effort") for the development of DPRK-China friendly relations.

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Ding Zhongli Meets with Representatives of Both Sides of the 2026 China-France Mayors' Roundtable

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) Ding Zhongli, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, met in Beijing on the 5th with representatives of both sides of the 2026 China-France Mayors' Roundtable. Ding Zhongli stated that local cooperation is an important component of China-France relations, and that both sides should actively implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, strengthen practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and help the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership achieve steady and long-term development (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "walk steadily, reach far").

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2026 China-Chile Human Rights Seminar Held in Santiago

(People's Daily, Mexico City, November 4) (Reporter Wang Xiaobo) Santiago dispatch: The "2026 China-Chile Human Rights Seminar" was held on the 4th in Santiago, the capital of Chile. The seminar took as its theme "China-Chile Exchanging Ideas and Learning from One Another and Common Development — Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development," and participating guests exchanged views on topics including China and Chile's concepts and practices regarding the right to development, and practical cooperation and sharing the right to development.

Li Hongkui, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, said in his address that China and Chile are both important members of the Global South and share broad consensus and similar demands on the issue of development. China and Chile strengthening exchanging ideas and learning from one another (交流互鉴, jiaoliu hujian - "exchange, mutually learn from each other") and deepening practical cooperation is conducive to better sharing development opportunities, improving people's livelihood and well-being, and promoting the common development of the two countries and the raising of their levels of human rights protection.

Yue Yunxia, Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that she believes the two countries' shared commitment to and practice of the right to development will surely be transformed into better and more dignified lives for the peoples of the two countries, and will surely contribute wisdom and strength to South-South cooperation and to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Chinese Ambassador to Chile Niu Qingbao said that China is willing to work together with Chile, taking the continuous deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries as the lever, to make the development of bilateral relations better benefit the peoples of both countries, and to join hands in exploring a "Southern solution" for global human rights governance.

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Liu Haixing Leads CPC Delegation to Visit Pakistan and Bangladesh

(Xinhua News Agency, Dhaka, November 5, by reporter Chen Dongshu) From November 1 to 5, Liu Haixing, head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, led a CPC delegation on a visit to Pakistan and Bangladesh, where they separately met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz, Chief of the National Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar, Bangladeshi President Alamgir, Prime Minister Tariq, and Rizvi, acting general secretary of the Nationalist Party, among others; in Islamabad they attended the Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building exchange meeting and the "China Trip, Brotherhood: The CPC's Iron-Brother Friends in Pakistan" exchange event and the inauguration ceremony of the Pakistan-China Research Center on Party and State Governance, and in Dhaka they attended the China-Bangladesh "Party Plus" roundtable and the inauguration ceremony of the Bangladesh-China Research Center on Party and State Governance, as well as the China-Bangladesh "Party Plus" "Light Up the Future" livelihood donation event, among others, actively presenting and explaining the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and exchanging views in depth (深入交换意见, shen ru jiao huan yi jian - "deeply, exchange, opinion") on issues of common concern to both sides.

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Three Chinese archival documentary heritage items inscribed on the Asia-Pacific Regional Register of the Memory of the World Programme

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5, by reporter Hu Liaoran) On November 5, the reporter learned from the National Archives Administration of China that at the 11th plenary session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee of the Memory of the World Programme, held in Jakarta, Indonesia, the "Fish-Scale Registers of China (1581–1934)", the "Archives and Documents of the Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association of Macao (1857–1961)", and the "Archives Relating to China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation", which China organized and nominated, were officially inscribed on the Asia-Pacific Regional Register of the Memory of the World.

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China contributes to global marine biodiversity governance

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5) On November 5, 2026, the Chinese and English editions of the research report titled "The Status, Role, Prospects of the Marine Biodiversity Agreement and China's Role" were released to the public. The report, organized and compiled by the Institute of Ocean Development Strategy of the Ministry of Natural Resources, systematically explains the major significance of the entry into force of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (referred to as the Marine Biodiversity Agreement or the Agreement) and China's positive contributions, demonstrating China's sense of responsibility in promoting the construction of international rules and helping the Agreement to be implemented on the ground.

Full participation over nearly 20 years: Chinese solutions drove the conclusion of the Agreement

The Agreement entered into force on January 17, 2026. It is the third implementing agreement of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, filling the legal gap in the governance of marine biodiversity on the high seas and in the international seabed area. The entry into force of the Agreement is a landmark achievement of multilateralism in the field of global ocean governance, bearing on ocean health and the common well-being of all humanity. China participated throughout the nearly two-decade negotiation process, put forward constructive proposals on the four core issues of the Agreement, promoted the establishment of a benefit-sharing mechanism for marine genetic resources, established implementation paths for measures such as area-based management tools, enhanced the transparency of environmental impact assessment procedures, helped developing countries strengthen their capacity to implement the Agreement, and played a key role in bridging the gap between the North and the South (弥合南北分歧, mi he nan bei fen qi - "close, north, south, divergence"), building consensus among all parties (凝聚共识, ning ju gong shi - "condense, common, consensus"), and promoting the conclusion of the Agreement.

Promoting access to and benefit-sharing of marine genetic resources, helping more countries conduct collaborative research and share results

China has taken the initiative to open up scientific research survey voyages carried out by deep-diving platforms such as the "Jiaolong" and "Fendouzhe" and research vessels such as the "Deep Sea No. 1," vigorously carried out international cooperation in deep-sea scientific research, and shared the achievements of marine scientific and technological innovation with other countries. It has preserved nearly 60,000 samples of marine microbial resources and, through resource banks and databases, provides services for international users to obtain samples and data, continuously enhancing the capacity of developing countries to collect and research and develop marine genetic resources.

Strengthening marine ecological protection and restoration, consolidating the foundation for marine biodiversity conservation

China practices the governance concept of harmony between humanity and the sea, has delineated approximately 150,000 square kilometers of marine ecological protection red lines, established 353 marine protected areas, implemented 194 marine ecological protection projects, and is one of the few countries in the world whose mangrove area has achieved net growth. It actively participates in the United Nations "Ocean Decade" program, leads the implementation of 10 international big science programs including "Digital Discovery of Deep-Sea Typical Habitats," and continuously consolidates the scientific basis for the implementation of measures such as area-based management tools.

Accumulating experience in environmental impact assessment, assisting in providing technical support for developing countries' implementation of the Agreement

China continues to improve the legal system for environmental impact assessment of activities in the international seabed area, and contractors for mineral resource exploration in the "Area" actively fulfill their environmental assessment obligations. It has accumulated practical experience in environmental assessment of deep-sea activities and built up reserves of environmental data, professional technology, and specialized personnel, and can provide assistance to developing countries in carrying out environmental impact assessments of deep-sea activities, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the ways in which marine activities are conducted.

Promoting the building of cooperation networks and personnel training, enhancing the ocean governance capacity of the Global South

China has signed marine cooperation agreements with more than 50 countries and international organizations, jointly built more than 40 marine research centers and joint laboratories, and invested approximately 200 million yuan to implement more than 100 "small and beautiful" marine cooperation projects. It has held more than 300 training sessions on marine science, technology, and management, benefiting more than 6,000 young scholars and officials from developing countries, contributing to strengthening the implementation capacity of developing countries.

China is among the first signatories and contracting parties of the Agreement, has actively submitted an application for the Secretariat of the Agreement to be located in Xiamen, and looks forward to translating its ocean governance experience, scientific and technological capabilities, cooperation resources, and host-country support conditions into practical actions in service of all parties. The report holds that China has the will and the ability to provide sustained and stable support for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Agreement, so that the fruits of its own development may better benefit the international community.

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Central Lecture Team for Studying and Implementing the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee Gives Lectures in Shanghai, at the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, and at the Ministry of Public Security

(People's Daily, Shanghai, November 5) (Reporter Ji Juesu) The Central Lecture Team for studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee recently gave a lecture in Shanghai. Chen Jining, member of the Central Lecture Team, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, delivered the lecture report.

At the report meeting, Chen Jining closely followed the lecture theme, focusing on studying and implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Perseveringly Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" adopted at the plenary session, and, in conjunction with studying and implementing Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, proceeded from a deep understanding of the theme, major achievements, and important significance of the plenary session, and a comprehensive and accurate grasp of the overall requirements, strategic tasks, and major measures for perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, to provide a comprehensive lecture and in-depth exposition of the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

Chen Jining emphasized that studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee must be taken as a major political task, that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party must be advanced with a view to the overall situation of Shanghai's socialist modernization drive, that high-quality Party building must better lead and drive high-quality development, that efforts must be made to create Party-building achievements worthy of the birthplace of the Party, and that a fundamental guarantee must be provided for fully giving play to the role of leader, driver, and demonstration in advancing Chinese modernization.

Chen Jining also came to the New Era Shanghai Party Member Education Innovation and Practice Base located in Huamu Subdistrict, Pudong New Area, where he carried out exchanges and interactions with grassroots frontline Party member representatives from subdistricts, communities, schools, hospitals, and enterprises, and talked freely with everyone about their understandings and reflections around deeply studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) (Reporter Shi Yiqi) Liu Jinguo, member of the Central Lecture Team, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, recently gave a lecture on the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee at the organs of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

Liu Jinguo gave a comprehensive introduction to the grand occasion of the congress, closely focused on thoroughly studying and comprehending the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and the "Decision" of the plenary session, closely linked to the great practice of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, provided a systematic exposition and in-depth interpretation of the major significance, major achievements, and major deployments of the Fifth Plenary Session, and shared his understandings and reflections on studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session.

Liu Jinguo emphasized that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has left a lasting and glorious mark in history (彪炳史册, biaobing shice - "resplendent, write in history") and achieved great merits that last for generations (功在千秋, gong zai qianqiu - "merit, exist, thousand, autumns"), and that this fundamentally lies in the helmsmanship of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping's thought on Party building. Without full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, there would be no excellent situation in today's China, nor would there be a bright prospect for China in the future. Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is always on the road; the severity, complexity, arduousness, and long-term nature of the fight against corruption must not be underestimated in the slightest, and strategic resolve and historical patience must be maintained, fighting one battle after another and forever sounding the charge.

Liu Jinguo pointed out that the theme of the Fifth Plenary Session is the entire theme of discipline inspection and supervision work. Discipline inspection and supervision organs must keep in mind the "Three Musts," firm up the conviction of certain victory, fear no difficulties, fear no sacrifices, closely follow General Secretary Xi Jinping in perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, firmly walk the road of anti-corruption with Chinese characteristics, and continuously win new and greater victories.

Leading cadres at and above the division level of the organs of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, principal responsible comrades of dispatched and outposted institutions and of discipline inspection and supervision institutions of universities directly under central management, retired veteran comrades, and Party member representatives attended the meeting.

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) (Reporter Zhang Tianpei) The report meeting of the Central Lecture Team for studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee was held at the Ministry of Public Security on November 5. Wang Xiaohong, member of the Central Lecture Team, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Minister of Public Security, delivered the lecture report.

Wang Xiaohong, focusing on General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and the "Decision" of the plenary session, and in conjunction with the reality of public security work and the ranks, provided a comprehensive lecture and key interpretation of the spirit of the plenary session from the aspects of deeply understanding and grasping the major significance of the plenary session, deeply understanding and grasping the great achievements made in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, and deeply understanding and grasping the importance and urgency as well as the overall requirements, strategic tasks, and major measures for perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party.

Wang Xiaohong emphasized that public security organs must take studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session as a major political task at present and for a period to come, deeply study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, firmly support the Two Establishments (两个确立) and resolutely uphold the Two Upholds (两个维护), align with the content of the "Decision," always maintain the courage and determination to face problems squarely and turn the blade inward, take the Party's political building as the guide, perseveringly advance full and rigorous governance of the Party and strict management of the police, strive to forge an ironclad public security force of the new era, resolutely shoulder the heavy responsibility of safeguarding the happiness of the people and protecting the peace of the country and the home, and forever be loyal guardians of the Party and the people.

The report meeting was held in the form of a video conference, with more than 10,000 people participating in the main venue and branch venues combined.

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NPC Standing Committee 25th session deliberates multiple reports

Advance the optimization of the layout of the state-owned economy and enhance the effectiveness of state-owned asset management

People's Daily reporter Wei Zhezhe

On November 3, the State Council's comprehensive report on the management of state-owned assets in 2025 was submitted to the 25th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee for deliberation.

The report shows that in terms of enterprise state-owned assets (excluding financial enterprises), as of the end of 2025, the total state-owned capital equity of state-owned enterprises nationwide was 115.3 trillion yuan, corresponding to total assets of 430.7 trillion yuan and total liabilities of 281.2 trillion yuan, with an average asset-liability ratio of 65.3 percent.

In terms of financial state-owned assets, as of the end of 2025, the total state-owned financial capital equity nationwide was 36.9 trillion yuan, corresponding to total assets of 533.9 trillion yuan and total liabilities of 478.4 trillion yuan.

The report points out that as of the end of 2025, the total administrative and institutional state-owned assets nationwide were 71.9 trillion yuan, total liabilities were 13.0 trillion yuan, and net assets were 58.9 trillion yuan.

In terms of state-owned natural resource assets, as of the end of 2025, the total area of state-owned land nationwide was 523.604 million hectares, and the sea areas under China's jurisdiction covered approximately 3 million square kilometers.

Regarding the management of state-owned assets, the report points out that all regions and all relevant departments, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, conscientiously performed their duties of managing and supervising state-owned assets, made every effort to advance the optimization of the layout and structural adjustment of the state-owned economy, and continuously enhanced the effectiveness of management of all types of state-owned assets.

Among these, in terms of enterprise state-owned asset management, the systems and mechanisms for state-owned asset management and supervision were improved, and the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics was refined. The incentive and constraint role of assessment and evaluation was brought into play, and the classified assessment and evaluation system for state-owned enterprises was improved. The optimization of layout and structural adjustment were advanced, the structure of fiscal expenditure was optimized, support and safeguards for basic research and other areas were strengthened, and new quality productive forces were accelerated in their development.

In terms of financial state-owned asset management, every effort was made to promote the achieving of practical results (落地见效, luodi jianxiao - "land, fall, see, effect") in the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee; special treasury bonds totaling 500 billion yuan were issued in batches to support large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing their core tier-one capital. The foundation for state-owned financial capital management was consolidated.

In terms of administrative and institutional state-owned asset management, the institutional system was improved and refined, the integration of asset and budget management was deepened, the revitalization and utilization of assets were advanced, the management of public infrastructure and other assets was strengthened, and information systems were used to empower efficient management across the entire process.

In terms of state-owned natural resource asset management, the institutional system for natural resource asset management was improved, the spatial foundation for the protection and utilization of natural resource assets was consolidated, the capacity to safeguard the security of natural resource assets was enhanced, the overall protection of natural resource assets was strengthened, and the economical and intensive use of natural resource assets was promoted.

The report clarified the arrangements for the next step of work: further deepen the reform of state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, make state-owned financial capital better and stronger, strengthen full-caliber and whole-process management of administrative and institutional state-owned assets, deepen the reform of natural resource asset management, and systematically improve the quality and effectiveness of state-owned asset management.

The regulatory system for natural resource assets is continuously being improved

People's Daily reporter Qi Yukun

On November 3, the 25th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee heard the special report of the State Council on the management of state-owned natural resource assets in 2025, delivered by Vice Minister of Natural Resources Zhang Wentong.

The report shows that as of the end of 2025, the total area of state-owned land nationwide was 523.604 million hectares, of which state-owned cultivated land was 19.988 million hectares and state-owned construction land was 18.845 million hectares; 174 types of mineral resources had been discovered nationwide; the area of state-owned forest nationwide was 97.145 million hectares, and the stock volume of state-owned forest was 11.00 billion cubic meters. In 2025, the central government allocated a total of 231.08 billion yuan in funds for ecological protection and restoration governance and ecological protection compensation. Central budgetary investment and treasury bond funds of 43.12 billion yuan were arranged to support ecological engineering construction.

Over the year, confirmation and registration of natural resource rights were completed in more than 1,500 key areas, and confirmation and registration were completed in all of the first batch of 5 national parks. Exploration of natural resource asset accounting was deepened, and a single account of the family底 was well built and well managed.

The territorial spatial master plans of all provinces, cities, and counties nationwide were fully approved and implemented. A nationwide census of forests, grasslands, wetlands, and desertification was completed, and a government-version current map of unified natural resource survey and monitoring was initially established. A monitoring network for the implementation of territorial spatial planning was built, and for the first time the achievement data of the territorial spatial master plans of all provinces, cities, and counties nationwide were collected.

In terms of enhancing the capacity to safeguard the security of natural resource assets, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment completed the first round of evaluation of the ecological and environmental protection results of the national ecological protection red lines, and the Ministry of Natural Resources deployed and carried out trial evaluation of the protection results of the ecological protection red lines. The proportion of high-quality cultivated land among permanent basic farmland gradually increased.

The construction of the protected natural areas system with national parks as the main body was comprehensively advanced, and the monitoring system construction plans for the first batch of 5 national parks were implemented. Forest coverage rate and forest stock volume have maintained dual growth for 40 consecutive years.

The regulatory system for natural resource assets has been continuously improved. Since 2025, the Ecological Environment Code, the Mineral Resources Law, and the National Parks Law have officially come into force, and the Law on Cultivated Land Protection and Quality Improvement has been promulgated. Supervision of the implementation of the cultivated land occupation-compensation balance was continuously deepened, supervision of mineral resources was strengthened, and centralized on-site supervision by national natural resources inspectors (including the implementation of the forest chief system) was organized and carried out.

While positive results have been achieved in natural resource asset management, there are also many difficulties and challenges. The report proposes that the next step will be to deepen the reform of natural resource asset management, optimize the territorial spatial development pattern, enhance the capacity to prevent and control security risks of natural resource assets, coordinate the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, improve the utilization efficiency of natural resource assets, and comprehensively advance the building of a rule-of-law natural resources system.

Build a strong defense line for food security by rule-of-law means

People's Daily reporter Peng Bo

On November 3, the 25th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee heard the report of the NPC Standing Committee law enforcement inspection group on the inspection of the implementation of the Food Security Law of the People's Republic of China.

The report points out that the State Council and all departments and all localities conscientiously implemented the relevant requirements of the law, solidly advanced all work related to safeguarding national food security, built a strong defense line for food security by rule-of-law means, and achieved phased results and a good start in law implementation.

At present, grain production has reached a new high on an already high base; on the foundation of having remained stable above 1.3 trillion jin for many consecutive years, it has exceeded 1.4 trillion jin for two consecutive years, and in 2025 per capita grain availability exceeded 500 kilograms, achieving basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security in staple food rations. In 2025, the national average grain yield per mu was 798.2 jin, setting another new high, and the results of expanding soybean and oilseed planting continued to be consolidated.

The report points out that in implementing the provisions of the law on cultivated land protection, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued opinions on strengthening cultivated land protection, improving cultivated land quality, and improving the occupation-compensation balance, and on promoting the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land, clarifying the targets and tasks of cultivated land protection.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and other ministries and commissions decomposed and issued, level by level with locations attached, the protection targets and tasks of 1.865 billion mu of cultivated land and 1.546 billion mu of permanent basic farmland, incorporated them into territorial spatial plans at all levels, and ensured they were implemented and mapped. By the end of 2025, the total area of cultivated land nationwide was 1.94 billion mu, firmly holding the red line of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land. From 2024 to 2025, central funds of 417.4 billion yuan were arranged to support localities in building 180 million mu of high-standard farmland.

In implementing the provisions of the law on the revitalization of the seed industry, full mechanization of the entire grain production process, income safeguard mechanisms, and benefit compensation mechanisms, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other departments and units solidly advanced the implementation of various tasks such as seed industry revitalization; the planting area of crop varieties independently bred in China has exceeded 95 percent, the two major staple grain crops of rice and wheat are completely self-sufficient in varieties, and the coverage rate of improved varieties has exceeded 96 percent.

Solid efforts were made to promote the implementation of the action for high-quality development of agricultural machinery and equipment. In 2025, the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation, sowing, and harvesting nationwide reached 76.7 percent, and the comprehensive mechanization rates of the three major staple grains of rice, wheat, and corn exceeded 90 percent, 98 percent, and 92 percent respectively. The Ministry of Finance and other ministries and commissions steadily implemented subsidy policies such as subsidies for corn and soybean producers, and full-cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major grain crops and soybeans were steadily implemented nationwide.

The report also points out the main problems that exist, including that there are still shortcomings in the spatial layout of grain production and in cultivated land protection and quality improvement. The report suggests further implementing the Food Security Law, strictly implementing all legal provisions, systematically optimizing grain-related policy measures in accordance with the law, and comprehensively building a strong bottom line for national food security.

The rule-of-law environment of the Hainan Free Trade Port continues to improve

People's Daily reporter Qi Yukun

On November 3, at the 25th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee, Xiao Jie, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, delivered the report of the NPC Standing Committee law enforcement inspection group on the inspection of the implementation of the Hainan Free Trade Port Law of the People's Republic of China.

The report points out that the State Council conscientiously did a good job in implementing the Hainan Free Trade Port Law, implemented the overall plan for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and initially established the policy and institutional system of the free trade port; the island-wide independent customs operation was steadily implemented, core policies gradually achieved practical results, trade and investment liberalization and facilitation continued to deepen, new momentum for industry was accelerated in its cultivation, and positive results were achieved in law implementation.

The law enforcement inspection group went deep into 8 cities (counties) in Hainan, visited more than 30 enterprises, hospitals, schools, as well as cadres and masses, to learn about opinions and suggestions. The report holds that the rule-of-law environment of the free trade port continues to improve, supporting regulations are continuously being refined, the rule-of-law supervision and enforcement mechanisms are continuously being improved, and publicity and education activities on the law are being steadily carried out.

A series of policy documents have been issued successively, including policies on implementing "zero tariffs" on imported goods and exempting tariffs on processed value-added goods sold domestically, and comprehensively implementing the reform of the market access commitment-and-entry system, minimal approval, and acceptance with missing items to be supplemented.

In terms of building a modern industrial system, the four leading industries of tourism, modern services, high-tech industry, and high-efficiency agriculture with tropical characteristics improved in quality and efficiency. Emerging industries took shape and gained momentum, and the construction of key parks such as the Sanya Yazhou Bay Nanfan Science and Technology City, the Deep Sea Science and Technology City, and the Wenchang International Aerospace City was accelerated. Future industries were laid out with foresight, and the hydrogen energy industry developed in an orderly manner.

Ecological protection and governance were solid and vigorous, and the transformation of ecological value achieved remarkable results. The battles for blue skies, clear waters, and clean soil were advanced on a regular basis, and the rate of good air quality remained stable above 98 percent. Drawing inferences from one case to another, vigorous efforts were made to rectify problems such as illegal sea reclamation and aquaculture pollution, and a mechanism linking ecological protection results with resource allocation and assessment and evaluation was established.

Since the independent customs operation, as of September 30 this year, the "zero tariff" policy on imported goods has realized a total value of imported goods of 4.29 billion yuan and tax exemptions of 720 million yuan. Eight ports for opening to the outside world and 10 "second-line ports" were built to high standards, 242,000 new registered business entities were added, and sales of duty-free shopping by departing island passengers reached 27.52 billion yuan.

The report also points out some difficulties and problems in the process of law implementation. For example, the institutional mechanisms for trade liberalization and facilitation need to be improved, and high-level opening-up needs to be continuously deepened. The report suggests focusing on institutional integrated innovation to improve the policy and institutional system of the free trade port; further releasing the dividends of fiscal and tax reform to enhance the level of benefiting enterprises and the people; and focusing on improving the quality of the rule-of-law system to build a solid foundation for the institutional safeguards of the free trade port.

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Together We Draw a New Blueprint, a Strong Voice Echoes Across the World

By: 本报记者 孙广勇 喻思南 刘晓宇

Mountains and seas are not far apart, and those who share the same goals are of one heart. At the 2026 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum, more than 200 foreign representatives from 100 countries and international and regional organizations and 182 media outlets and institutions, together with Chinese representatives, focused on media exchange and cooperation for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and jointly discussed cooperation and development in areas including firmly upholding win-win cooperation, building consensus of thought, deepening content collaboration, embracing the wave of technology, and cultivating cultural friendship.

Responsibility and Commitment

The media are participants, witnesses, and narrators in Belt and Road cooperation

The Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum provides a platform for media from various countries to engage in dialogue, exchange, and practical cooperation. Media representatives from various countries attending the forum said they will make good use of this platform, devote themselves to promoting the development of state relations, communicating the will of the people, deepening understanding and mutual trust, and playing a positive role in Belt and Road development.

Zeng Yan, member of the Standing Committee of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and head of the Publicity Department, said that Yunnan and South Asian and Southeast Asian countries are geographically contiguous (山水相连, shan shui xiang lian - "mountain, water, mutually, connect") and culturally close, that Yunnan is an important hub in the southwestern direction of Belt and Road cooperation, and that it is making every effort to build a center radiating toward South Asia and Southeast Asia. Yunnan will continue to make good use of the South Asia and Southeast Asia Media Alliance, the Internet Celebrity Alliance, and the Journalists' Home that it initiated and established, hold the China–South Asia and Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum, deeply implement the "World Heritage Tourism Plan," and regularly hold series of activities such as transnational Spring Festival galas and Mid-Autumn Festival galas, and sincerely invites more friends to join in and together tell the wonderful stories of Belt and Road cooperation.

Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of Kazakhstan's Delovoy Kazakhstan, believes that the news media should attach importance to listening to different voices and respecting cultural differences, and through objective reporting and in-depth exchange help the people of different countries enhance mutual understanding.

Jiang Haiqing, member of the Editorial Affairs Meeting of China Media Group, said that in recent years China Media Group has continued to promote deeper and more substantive Belt and Road media cooperation, injecting momentum into deepening mutual learning among civilizations and promoting mutual understanding and friendship (相知相亲, xiang zhi xiang qin - "mutually, know, mutually, close"). The "Silk Road TV Community," as the world's first international film and television media alliance that takes the "Silk Road" as its bond and is oriented toward all media, provides a broad platform for promoting film and television exchange and cooperation among national media.

Working Together Side by Side

Belt and Road cooperation: from a Chinese initiative to international practice

The Belt and Road reflects the path of Chinese modernization and also demonstrates the win-win path of China working together side by side (携手同行, xie shou tong xing - "hold, hands, together, walk") with the world. As the 15th Five-Year Plan gets underway, from the "freehand brushwork" to the "meticulous painting," from "hard connectivity" and "soft connectivity" to "heart connectivity," the brushstrokes of cooperation are becoming ever more refined, and the underlying color of win-win is becoming ever more distinct.

"Fuzhou was born by the sea and has prospered toward the sea, and since ancient times has been an important starting point of the Maritime Silk Road," said Qin Haixiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee. He said that Fuzhou is striving to strengthen its gateway hub, smooth economic and trade exchanges, and expand cultural exchanges; the volume of import and export trade with countries jointly building the Belt and Road accounts for more than 40 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume; it has established international friendship city relations with cities in many countries jointly building the Belt and Road; and people-to-people exchanges, artistic exchanges, and cultural and tourism cooperation have continued to deepen. He expressed the expectation to join with everyone in promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and jointly writing a new chapter of open cooperation.

Marcia, artistic director of the Copacabana Fort Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has already come to China for the third time. "Brazil-China relations are not only about trade and investment, but even more about encounters, opportunities, and dreams between people." She said that China is a place with stories and friends and occupies a special place in her heart.

"Since 2013, our overseas investment segment has set out on a new journey (扬帆起航, yang fan qi hang - "raise, sail, set, sail")," said Xu Siwei, secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of China Reform Holdings Corporation Ltd. He said that over the past more than 10 years, China Reform Holdings has walked side by side with more than 40 enterprises and more than 100 projects, with cumulative investment in overseas projects exceeding 38 billion US dollars, of which Belt and Road-related projects account for about 80 percent.

Saadia Sharif, chief marketing officer of Pakistan's Battle Media Group, said that the first phase of construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor effectively alleviated Pakistan's energy shortage and pushed forward positive progress in infrastructure construction, and that the Suki Kinari hydropower station project provides electricity to numerous households and has created a large number of jobs.

Wang Zhiheng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of the Agricultural Bank of China, said that the Agricultural Bank of China has strengthened financial services for connectivity, supported key projects such as the Pinglu Canal, the China-Thailand Railway, and Cambodia's Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, and over the past three years has handled nearly 7 trillion yuan in international business with countries jointly building the Belt and Road.

"We are bringing advanced technologies such as the 'Hualong One' to the world, not only exporting technology and equipment, but also sharing standards, talent, and management concepts, and moreover showing the world the spirit of Chinese nuclear industry people in pursuing excellence," said Zhang Tao, deputy secretary of the Leading Party Members Group and general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation. He said that the corporation will always promote global cooperation in areas such as nuclear energy and the application of nuclear technology, and contribute practical and efficient Chinese solutions to the global action to address climate change.

Mutual Learning and Mutual Reference

Following the trend of digital and intelligent development, upholding the principle that science and technology should be upward and toward the good

At present, the rapid development of artificial intelligence has brought all-round and deep-level impacts on the media landscape and the ecology of public opinion, and has also provided new opportunities for jointly building countries to fill development shortcomings and open up space for cooperation.

Galina Baitelek, president of the Information and Publishing Group of Kyrgyzstan's Znamya newspaper, said that the Kyrgyz side looks forward to further strengthening exchange and cooperation with the Chinese side in areas such as digital transformation, multimedia content production, and artificial intelligence application, and through joint training, internship exchanges, and other means, creating more opportunities for the growth of young journalists.

Viyasen Subramoni, chief executive officer of South Africa's Independent Online news website, believes that carrying out cooperation around infrastructure construction, industrialization development, skills training, digital connectivity, and trade facilitation will help African countries enhance their capacity for independent development and promote the realization of economic and social development goals.

At the forum, People's Daily and the relevant responsible person of Fujian Province jointly read out the "Fuzhou Initiative on Belt and Road Media Cooperation." The initiative points out that new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence are profoundly changing the forms of media and the ecology of public opinion, containing both opportunities and challenges. Media of all countries should follow the trend of digital and intelligent development, uphold the principle that science and technology should be upward and toward the good, deeply explore the rich connotations of Belt and Road cooperation in areas such as green, digital, and health, empower the dissemination of quality content with technology, and let the voice of Belt and Road cooperation cross mountains and seas and reach broader groups.

"To know each other deeply despite the distance, one does not speak of how deep the clouds and seas are." The 2026 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum builds a platform through cooperation, freezes the truth through the camera lens, and conveys warmth through the stroke of the pen, letting understanding and trust take root in exchange, and letting the melody of people-to-people connectivity echo long on the new journey of the Silk Road.

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Deeply Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and Strengthen the Ideological, Political, and Disciplinary Conduct of NPC Deputies

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) (Reporter Peng Bo) On the morning of November 5, Zhao Leji, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, held a discussion and exchange with the NPC deputies attending the 25th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress. He stressed that NPC deputies must take the lead in studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, grasp implementation based on their posts and duties, strengthen their own ideological, political, and disciplinary work style development, and improve their ability to perform their duties in accordance with the law.

At the discussion, the deputies spoke in connection with their actual work around thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session. Zhao Leji listened carefully and held in-depth exchanges with the deputies. He said that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made strategic arrangements for unswerving perseverance (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold on, with, continuously, persistent") in advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, which is of major practical significance and long-term guiding significance for further opening up new prospects for managing the Party, governing the Party, rejuvenating the Party, and strengthening the Party in the new era, and for uniting and leading the people of all ethnic groups across the country to strive tirelessly for the grand goal of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

Zhao Leji pointed out that NPC deputies must accurately grasp the correct political direction of NPC work. Firmly establish the ideological consciousness, political consciousness, and action consciousness of upholding the Party's overall leadership, uphold the Two Establishments (两个确立) and achieve the Two Upholds (两个维护) with practical actions, and embody obedience to and service of the overall work of the Party and the state throughout the entire process of performing duties and fulfilling responsibilities. Persist in using the Party's innovative theory to unite hearts and forge souls — to concentrate hearts and forge souls, thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on upholding and improving the people's congress system, and consciously use them to arm the mind, guide practice, and advance work.

Zhao Leji pointed out that NPC deputies must practice the fundamental purpose of serving the people. Faithfully represent the interests and will of the people in participating in the exercise of state power, fully give play to the characteristics and advantages of coming from the people and being rooted in the people, take maintaining close ties with the masses as the foundation of performing duties and fulfilling responsibilities, enhance feelings toward the masses of the people, improve the ability to do mass work, listen to and reflect the wishes and voices of the masses through various means, embody the conditions, public opinion, and wisdom of the people in relevant bills, proposals, and deliberative speeches, and serve well as a bridge between the Party and the state and the masses of the people.

Zhao Leji stressed that NPC deputies must strengthen the sense of responsibility for performing duties in accordance with the law. Strictly abide by the rights and obligations of deputies and the content and procedures for performing duties as stipulated by the Constitution and laws, concentrate energy on attending NPC sessions, strictly observe meeting discipline requirements, conscientiously deliberate bills and reports, and put forward targeted, pragmatic, and pertinent opinions and suggestions. Carry out activities during the intersessional period in accordance with the law, participate in centralized inspections and special investigations according to unified arrangements, actively participate in the work of the Standing Committee and special committees, and, with regard to opinions and suggestions reflected by the masses, transmit them according to procedures to the relevant parties for study and handling.

Zhao Leji stressed that NPC deputies must establish a good image of integrity and devotion to public service. Carry forward the spirit of socialist rule of law, consciously serve as examples of respecting the law, studying the law, abiding by the law, and using the law, actively participate in publicity and education on the rule of law, and promote the effective implementation of the Constitution and laws. Scrupulously fulfill duties and work solidly, achieving great feats and establishing a career (建功立业, jian gong li ye - "build, achievement, establish, career") and striving to be a leader through courageous effort (奋勇争先, fen yong zheng xian - "brave, courageous, struggle, be first") in their own posts. Take the lead in practicing the core socialist values, maintain integrity and self-discipline (廉洁自律, lian jie zi lü - "clean, honest, self, discipline") and be fair and upright, and consciously accept the supervision of the original electoral units and the masses of the people.

Li Hongzhong, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the discussion.

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Ding Xuexiang Attends Opening Ceremony of the 9th China International Import Expo and Meets with Foreign Political Figures

(People's Daily, Shanghai, November 5) (Reporters Cao Pengcheng, Huang Chao) The 9th China International Import Expo and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum opened in Shanghai on the 5th. Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended and delivered a keynote speech.

Ding Xuexiang said that President Xi Jinping has on multiple occasions attended the opening ceremony of the CIIE and delivered keynote speeches, expounding China's consistent position of safeguarding the multilateral trading system and promoting the development of free trade, announcing a series of major measures for China to expand high-standard opening up, and pointing out the direction and providing a steady stream of momentum for advancing universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Since its inception, the CIIE has borne witness to China's firm determination and practical actions in promoting high-standard opening up, to the remarkable results and enormous gains of enterprises and people of various countries in sharing the opportunities of the Chinese market, and to the unremitting efforts and important contributions of people of insight from all walks of life in improving global economic governance. China is willing to work with all parties to further run the CIIE well, give full play to its role as four major platforms — international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange, and open cooperation — and better benefit the people of all countries in the world.

Ding Xuexiang pointed out that at present, the great changes unseen in a century in the world are accelerating, economic globalization is encountering headwinds, the problem of unbalanced global development is prominent, and the international economic and trade order has been severely impacted. It is quite normal for everyone to pay attention to the issue of trade imbalance; the key is how to achieve trade balance. He put forward 4 points of view. First, persist in sharing the market, raise the level of openness and connectivity, better leverage the comparative advantages of various countries, and promote balance in the course of jointly making the "cake" bigger. Second, deepen investment cooperation, optimize the cross-border layout of industries, create favorable conditions for enterprise development, and promote balance in the course of integrating into global industrial and supply chains. Third, strengthen innovation empowerment, enhance the quality of supply, expand the boundaries of trade, and promote balance in the course of driving transformation and upgrading. Fourth, enhance understanding and mutual trust, fully accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, resolve differences through consultation, and promote balance in the course of breaking down barriers.

Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Before the opening ceremony, Ding Xuexiang visited the enterprise exhibition. After the opening ceremony, Ding Xuexiang toured the pavilions together with the foreign leaders attending the event.

During his stay in Shanghai, Ding Xuexiang separately met with Liberian Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Denisa Saková, and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner. He said that China is willing to strengthen mutual support with all parties, expand open cooperation, produce more practical results, and continuously inject new momentum into world development and prosperity. The foreign political figures highly appreciated China's adherence to open development, its sharing of market opportunities with all countries, and the important role it plays in the balanced and coordinated development of the world economy, and expressed the hope to deepen cooperation in various fields with China and better achieve mutually beneficial outcomes (互利共赢, hu li gong ying - "mutual benefit, win-win").

Chen Jining participated in relevant meetings.

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Sixth International Daoism Forum Opens in Hangzhou, China

(People's Daily, Hangzhou, November 5) The Sixth International Daoism Forum opened on November 5 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, sent a congratulatory letter, expressing congratulations on the convening of the forum and extending greetings to the guests attending the forum.

Wang Huning said that Daoism originated on the land of China and embodies the wisdom of Chinese civilization. The values of striving upward and toward goodness in Daoist culture have provided rich cultural resources for promoting social harmony and world peace, and have won broad recognition.

Wang Huning pointed out that the Chinese government has consistently actively practiced the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, and has always supported the Chinese Daoist community in carrying out international dialogue and exchanges on the basis of independence, equality and friendship, and mutual respect. With the strong support of the Chinese government, the International Daoism Forum has been successfully held five times and has produced wide-ranging influence at home and abroad. In particular, since the founding of the World Daoism Federation in 2023, a great deal of beneficial work has been done in international exchanges, translation of classics, and talent cultivation, injecting fresh vitality into the healthy inheritance of Daoist culture and its integration with China and the wider world. The International Daoism Forum and the World Daoism Federation have become important platforms for the global Daoist community to engage in exchanging and learning from one another (交流互鉴, jiaoliu hujian - "exchange, mutually learn from each other"), and have played a positive role in expounding Daoist wisdom, promoting equal dialogue, and building broad consensus.

Wang Huning said that this year's forum, with the theme "The Dao Gives Rise to Virtue, All Under Heaven in Harmony," echoes humanity's common aspiration for peace and development. He expressed the hope that Daoist figures at home and abroad will take the International Daoism Forum as a platform, cultural exchange as a bridge, and the exploration of the contemporary value of Daoist culture as their own responsibility, and contribute wisdom and strength to promoting world peace and development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Li Ganjie, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. He said that Daoist culture carries the cosmology, view of life and ethics unique to Chinese civilization, and has profound and unique value for the whole world. He expressed the hope that the Daoist communities at home and abroad will deeply expound the essential ideas of Daoism and promote the harmonious coexistence of different civilizations and sharing beauty and achieving common prosperity among different cultures (美美与共, mei mei yu gong - "beautiful, beautiful, with, together").

Before the opening ceremony, Li Ganjie met with some of the guests attending this year's forum.

The Sixth International Daoism Forum is hosted by the World Daoism Federation and the China Religious Culture Communication Association, and undertaken by the Zhejiang Organizing Committee of the Sixth International Daoism Forum. A total of about 500 people attended, including representatives of the Daoist community and experts and scholars from 46 countries and regions.

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Serving the Party's mission and tasks: to forge iron, one must be strong oneself

By: 何 娟

"Adhere to serving the mission and tasks, adhere to taking the Party's political building as the guiding principle, adhere to comprehensive strictness, adhere to a problem orientation, adhere to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, adhere to leading by example from above, and adhere to governing the Party in accordance with regulations" — the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party clearly set forth the principles for persevering in advancing the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Starting today, this page launches a series of commentaries to join the broad readership in studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session, in deeply understanding and grasping the "seven adherences," and in better gathering the strength to forge ahead.

— Editor

For weekend leisure, pocket parks are just a step away. For long-holiday trips, national parks display the magnificent scenery of mountains and rivers.

"Planting greenery wherever there is a gap" — more than 50,000 pocket parks have been built nationwide; the first batch of national parks, on the fifth anniversary of their establishment, bears witness to the systematic restructuring of the protected natural areas system... From pocket parks to national parks, the ecological changes of the new era can be felt and seen.

In November 2012, when the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee first appeared collectively, General Secretary Xi Jinping listed the 10 "betters" that ordinary people hoped for, among them "a better environment," and solemnly promised that "the people's aspiration for a better life is our goal of struggle."

He kept his word (说到做到, shuo dao zuo dao - "speak, arrive, do, arrive"). Today, on the land of China, the skies are bluer, the mountains greener, the waters clearer, and the environment more beautiful.

"Our Party harbors the lofty ideal of communism and is determined to pursue the great cause of the Chinese nation through the ages, firmly shouldering the heavy responsibility bestowed by history and the people." Bravely bearing the historical mission and grasping historical initiative — why is the Communist Party of China able to do so?

To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. Taking "obeying and serving the development of the cause of the Party and the state" as an important principle of Party building, and through the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party tightly integrating Party building with the cause of the Party and the state — this is an important secret.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party deliberated and adopted the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persevering in Advancing the Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), which put forward 7 principles for persevering in advancing the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, the first of which is "adhering to serving the mission and tasks."

Look back at the ecological changes. Facing "problems that arise after development" such as frequent environmental pollution and extensive development that is difficult to sustain, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, focusing on the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, pursued ecological civilization construction with unprecedented intensity.

Look at a river. Central ecological and environmental protection inspections "drew the sword" time and again, the Yellow River Protection Law came out, and the "Yellow River chorus" of the new era resounds with high spirits.

Look at a stretch of sky. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region joined forces in air pollution prevention and control, launching the battle to defend the blue skies and letting blue skies remain.

Look at a stretch of forest. Deeply practicing the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," Sanming, Fujian, opened up the channel for converting "two mountains," turning good ecology into real gold and silver.

With ideological guidance, organizational guarantees, and institutional protection, the "two mountains" concept took root and flourished (落地生根, luo di sheng gen - "fall, ground, grow, root") on the land of China, and historic, turning-point, and overall changes took place in ecological civilization construction.

From one area, the whole picture can be observed. Since the new era, from the historic elimination of absolute poverty to the economic aggregate continuously reaching new levels, we have successfully written a new chapter of the two major miracles, and we are closer than at any time in history to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and more confident and capable of achieving it — "the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has played a fundamental guarantee role."

From this, one can better appreciate the far-reaching considerations and practical orientation of the "Decision" in that "all policies and measures planned and proposed are closely tied to the development needs of the cause of the Party and the state."

Seen from the perspective of purifying the Party's political ecology.

Strengthening the sense of purpose, enhancing political oversight, and using the goodness of the political ecology to promote the excellence of the business environment and increase the effectiveness of grassroots governance — this is an important lever for our Party to lead economic and social development.

In Jinhua, Zhejiang, more than 15 million pieces of information on over 1.28 million enterprises citywide are collected, policies benefiting enterprises are pushed to enterprises, and policy matching accuracy exceeds 95 percent. From "enterprises seeking policies" to "policies seeking enterprises" and then to "following the enterprise all the way through" — the government-business relationship is both clean and close, and the market has both vitality and order.

"Enhancing the Party spirit of Communists," "ceaselessly rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline"... The "Decision" deploys 7 strategic tasks and major measures precisely in order to consolidate and develop a clean and upright political ecology and to escort Chinese modernization on a steady and far journey.

Seen from the perspective of officials taking responsibility and taking action.

One list of duties lightens the burden and loosens the constraints at the grassroots. In Longnan, Jiangxi, 166 extra tasks that the grassroots could not bear were returned to higher-level departments. "Directing one's energy to the right place" — the vigor of officials in doing work was boosted, and the people's sense of gain was enhanced.

Practice shows that "strictness does not mean managing everyone to death," but rather building a high-quality cadre team with firm politics, strong skills, fine conduct, and strict discipline, and pushing the broad ranks of Party members and officials to boldly do work and start businesses while abiding by rules and discipline.

"Mission-type party" — many people observe and understand the Communist Party of China from this angle. A foreign political figure once said with feeling: "You always formulate all kinds of plans, and all kinds of plans can always be realized."

On the new Long March, the more effective the governance and management of the Party, the more powerful the guarantee for economic and social development. By deeply grasping the experience of the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, adhering to serving the mission and tasks, and persevering in advancing the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, we will surely be able to continuously open up new realms of China's governance through the governance of the Communist Party of China.

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From "Surviving" to "Living Better" (Warm News Commentary)

By: 卢 涛

Improving the quality of life is a profound humanistic care, and also a vivid portrayal of the continuous progress of social civilization.

[Person] Lu Yong

[Event] Lu Yong, the prototype for the protagonist of the film Dying to Survive, may soon be able to stop taking his medication. Back then, the imported original research drug for treating chronic myeloid leukemia was expensive, and he had no choice but to walk the edge of the rules, seeking affordable generic drugs, and shared the purchasing channels with fellow patients, for which he was also punished. Today, thanks to the supply of innovative drugs and the safety net of medical insurance, taking medication is no longer difficult for him. He is also preparing to gradually stop taking the drug under strict monitoring, in pursuit of a higher quality of life.

[Commentary]

"As long as I have medicine to take, I can keep living." After falling ill, Lu Yong's thinking was simple, yet it voiced the common sentiment of patients in the same situation. "Stopping medication is my dream." Today, taking medication is no longer a problem, and Lu Yong has begun to examine the side effects of drugs on the body and the constraints that taking medication places on the rhythm of life.

From "surviving" to "living better," more than 20 years have passed, and Lu Yong's wishes have changed. How did the change come about? One individual's experience of battling illness is also a microcosm of a country's health system development and progress.

Innovation and creation, solving the problem of "whether it exists or not."

Due to reasons such as high research and development costs and small numbers of patients, the "life-saving drugs" for some major diseases were once priced high, and many diseases long lacked specific effective medicines. There is no shortcut to breaking through the predicament; one must return to the "origin" and lay the foundation.

Look at research and development. As of the end of 2025, the total number of innovative drugs under research in China had already accounted for one-third of the global total; the 11 drugs with new targets and new mechanisms approved for market this year are all domestically developed independently... With the patience of long-termism to "gnaw on the hard bones," domestically produced innovative drugs have blossomed and borne fruit.

Look at policy. In recent years, medical insurance fund spending on innovative drugs has increased substantially. For example, Gleevec, used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, has a reimbursement rate of over 70 percent after being included in the medical insurance catalog. The specific drug for the rare disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which once cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, can now be used for less than 40,000 yuan after entering the medical insurance catalog.

In recent years, fellow patients around Lu Yong have gained access to domestically produced second- and third-generation chronic myeloid leukemia drugs. Pharmaceutical innovation brings hope for life, and the medical insurance safety net means the prices of good drugs are no longer unapproachably high (高不可攀, gao bu ke pan - "high, not, can, climb"), which not only gives patients more powerful "weapons" to fight disease, but also helps strengthen their confidence to overcome illness and live optimistically.

Mechanism reform, solving the problem of "whether it is fast or not."

Establishing four accelerated channels—breakthrough therapeutic drugs, conditional approval, priority review and approval, and special approval—to continuously shorten drug approval times... The reform of the drug review and approval system continues to advance, effectively enhancing the timeliness of drug supply.

This year, China's first broad-spectrum anti-cancer targeted drug began clinical application in major hospitals, taking only 8 months from submission of the market application to formal approval. By changing "people waiting for drugs" into "drugs waiting for people," more "golden windows" for treatment and recovery can be seized, sparing patients some of the anxiety of waiting and the regret of "not making it in time."

Conceptual innovation, solving the problem of "whether it is good or not."

Looking ahead to a future of being a "normal person," Lu Yong admitted frankly that "it simply feels like being reborn." Behind the "rebirth" is the support of rigorous monitoring and regular follow-up visits.

From screening and diagnosis to treatment and follow-up, this kind of refined health management is not an isolated case. Shandong has explored and applied a full-cycle management model for hemophilia; Futian District in Shenzhen, Guangdong, has built a "three-level linkage" prevention and treatment network for rare diseases... High-quality resources are channeled downward and services delivered to people's doorsteps, making high-quality "living with illness" and "imperceptible" recovery possible.

Treating illness is no longer the whole of life, and patients also have the right to pursue a high-quality life—this concept is increasingly taking root in people's hearts (深入人心, shen ru ren xin - "deep, enter, people, heart"). Treating "the disease of the person" while also caring for "the person with the disease," helping patients ease their suffering and improve their quality of life, is a profound humanistic care, and also a vivid portrayal of the continuous progress of social civilization.

Behind Lu Yong's story are China's increasingly strong medical service capacity, medical insurance support capacity, and pharmaceutical innovation capacity. Carrying forward strengths, consolidating the foundation, shoring up shortcomings, and strengthening weaknesses, it is believed that as the building of a Healthy China continues to take solid steps, partings that make people "tear up" as in the film will surely become fewer and fewer.

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Consumption Potential Often Lies in What Is Within Reach

By: 李 攀

Recently, cross-sector integration has emerged in the film and television industry; the screen no longer has boundaries, production crews are no longer limited by scheduling, and doors leading to diverse consumption scenarios are being opened one after another thanks to "film and television+".

At Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang, tourists eagerly line up to check in for the "visa-on-arrival" short-drama experience; ordinary people can also immersively "join the crew" — young people play protagonists who stage a comeback, while aunties dress up as imperial consorts in the inner palace, fulfilling their dream of being actors.

Beijing Jacky Chan Cinema (Wukesong branch) has launched the country's first giant-screen immersive gaming space, which hosts team-building salons and party events during the day and returns to film screenings after nightfall.

With business formats renovated, services upgraded, and cross-sector partnerships forged, the film and television industry is leaping out of the traditional single model and opening up new tracks for development.

Wherever there is demand, there is the trend, and there is opportunity. Innovation is the key engine for seizing the opportunities of "film and television+".

When film and television collide with dining and retail, themed restaurants and co-branded merchandise let audiences extend the joy of moviegoing into daily life; when film and television integrate with the cultural tourism industry, filming locations become popular check-in spots, and "planting the seed" of desire by following the camera lens becomes a new choice for tourists' travel; when film and television combine with study-tour experiences, professional explanations of film and television knowledge and fun filming experiences let audiences gain new knowledge while having fun... These attempts at cross-sector integration both revitalize the content resources accumulated by the film and television industry and inject cultural substance into related consumption, driving more consumption scenarios to shift from "one-off experiences" to "sustained operations".

Culture is the main axis of "film and television+" cross-sector integration. Business format expansion, scenario innovation, and consumption conversion must all unfold around this main axis.

Relying on the 38th Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Films, Beijing held a "Midsummer Film Carnival", creating a matrix of 13 film-and-light markets across the city and upgrading the "ticket-stub economy": audiences holding ticket stubs and other proof can enjoy linked discounts such as dining discounts and shopping full-reduction offers at more than 40 commercial districts and more than 1,100 merchants across the city.

From "showing a film" to "activating a swath of consumption", building on film and television narrative and cultural heritage to connect content production with consumption scenarios not only contributes to (添砖加瓦, tian zhuan jia gu - "add brick, add tile") the people's better life, but can also drive two-way empowerment of cultural value and market returns, activating new vitality for sustainable consumption.

In the long run, the development of "film and television+" still needs steady exploration on the basis of safeguarding the content core. Without a cultural core, no matter how lively the check-in projects or immersive experiences, they may be but fleeting popularity. Only by taking quality content as the root and innovative services as the branches can "film and television+" bear more new fruits of consumption.

To promote the high-quality development of the film and television industry, in the final analysis one must find an evolutionary path of advancement that conforms to the laws, so that supply and demand promote and advance each other. The China Film Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Notice on Promoting Diversified Operations of Cinemas and Prosperous Development of Cinema Culture", which explicitly proposes to "build cinemas into comprehensive cultural experience spaces integrating film viewing, socializing, entertainment, and consumption".

Serving up a sumptuous cultural feast while also driving upstream and downstream industries to take flight together, and continuously using "film and television+" to broaden the boundaries of consumption, is conducive to better satisfying the people's diverse, multi-level, and personalized spiritual and cultural needs, and to giving full play to the social and economic benefits of the cultural industry.

The potential of consumption is often close at hand. When more and more "old businesses" learn "new sales calls", and when more and more "old playthings" are played with "new tricks", China's super-large market will surely surge with inexhaustible momentum in the adaptation of supply and demand.

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Picture Report

The foundation of outdoor sports venues and facilities has been consolidated at an accelerated pace, the supply of events and activities has been continuously enriched, and the consumption potential of lower-tier markets has been further unleashed... The "China Outdoor Sports Industry Development Report (2025–2026)" released not long ago shows that as of the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the number of outdoor sports participants in China exceeded 500 million, and the total scale of outdoor sports-related industries reached approximately 3.17 trillion yuan.

This is precisely:

A staff taps the dark mountain mist, crossing ridge and hill,

Twin oars lightly row down the emerald river.

People working together in unity (众相携手, zhong xiang xie shou - "all, mutually, hold hands") seek the pleasures of the wild,

And in leisurely mood there too is a golden mountain hidden.

Text by Zhai Qinqi

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"Observing" the Zunyi Conference: A Spiritual Convergence (Zongheng)

By: 朱浙萍

Not long ago, the broadcast of the "Zunyi Conference" episode of the major revolutionary history television drama The Great Long March set off a wave of "attending the meeting across space" online.

A stretch of history spanning more than 90 years, a "dialogue-driven drama" advanced almost entirely through conversation—why is it that young people accustomed to sped-up viewing and short videos were willing to settle down and "sit in" on it?

For a long time, the film and television market has always assumed that young people "cannot stomach" the "coarse grain" of serious history, but the surging traffic generated by this wave of "attending the meeting across space" tells us that what young people reject has never been seriousness itself, but rather dull preaching and detached, unrealistic plotting. When the content is sufficiently "hardcore," young people will embrace the main melody in the most passionate way.

It is reported that for this drama, the creative team repeatedly revised the manuscript (六易其稿, liu yi qi gao - "six, change, its, draft") and walked the Long March route three times. For the "Zunyi Conference" scene, the team even replicated the meeting site one-to-one, with every slogan and every map verified against the evidence. It is precisely this kind of "clumsy hard work" that makes the unfolding clash of ideas truly credible, and lets the audience pass through the screen to become "participants" in history.

If polished production is the admission ticket that draws young people to "sit in," then what truly leaves people with eyes filled with tears (热泪盈眶, re lei ying kuang - "hot, tears, fill, eye sockets") is the spiritual core borne by the meeting itself. In the drama, Mao Zedong's sharpness in getting straight to the heart of the matter (一针见血, yi zhen jian xie - "one, needle, see, blood") in dissecting the ills drew netizens' exclamations of "too fascinating." This "fascination" stems from a spiritual power that transcends time and space.

Every generation has its own "Long March road," and in the face of uncertainty must summon the wisdom to break through deadlock and the courage to solve problems. The recreation of the forebears' demeanor in film and television is precisely a kind of historical echo, inspiring contemporary youth to establish lofty spiritual coordinates.

When the light of historical truth resonates at the same frequency as the real-world demands of contemporary youth, those great spirits that once led the predecessors to change China's destiny are no longer merely historical memory, but can become an undying lamp on the road ahead for generation after generation of youth.

(Excerpted and adapted from Zhejiang Daily)

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Make Medical Accompaniment Services Reliable and Useful (People's Sharp Commentary)

By: 金台岩

Elderly people going to the hospital alone often face inconveniences such as difficulty registering and difficulty finding the right department, and some patients are unfamiliar with hospitals when seeking medical treatment in other cities... In recent years, aiming at the pain points of seeing a doctor and receiving medical treatment, socialized medical accompaniment services have gradually emerged.

Medical accompaniment services are not unimportant or dispensable (可有可无, ke you ke wu - "can have, can not have") "errand-running businesses," but rather a real need jointly driven by factors such as population aging and the digitalization of medical treatment.

Recently, the national standard "Socialized Medical Accompaniment Services: Basic Requirements" was officially implemented. The implementation of the first national standard for the medical accompaniment industry has set rules and drawn boundaries for medical accompaniment services.

For some time in the past, during the process of rapid expansion, a number of irregularities emerged in the medical accompaniment industry. Some people, under the banner of medical accompaniment, did the business of "scalpers" and "registration touts," and inflated prices, hidden charges, and exaggerated service promises also occurred from time to time. This is not only caused by the misconduct of individual practitioners; behind it there also exist problems such as the absence of standards, unclear responsibilities, and lagging oversight.

The introduction and implementation of this national standard is precisely a landmark step in pushing the industry toward regularization and standardization. It clearly defines the boundaries of medical accompaniment services: they may provide services such as medical treatment guidance, queuing on behalf of others, collecting medicines, and companionship and conversation, but may not provide services involving the interpretation of examination results, choosing or consenting to treatment plans on behalf of others, and the like. The clear division of boundaries not only draws a red line of conduct for the industry and practitioners, but in essence also answers the question of the identity of medical accompaniers: they may only serve as medical treatment assistants and must not overstep their position to become the subject of diagnosis and treatment.

More critically, the national standard makes clear that the service providers of socialized medical accompaniment are institutions. This means that medical accompaniment services will shift from the long-standing model dominated by scattered individual orders to institutionalized operation. Under the past individual-order model, qualifications were difficult to standardize, services and fees were also subject to considerable arbitrariness, and disputes were difficult to handle; after the shift to institutionalized services, personnel screening, service scope, fee rules, dispute handling, and consumer rights protection will all have clearer foundations.

It should also be noted that this is a recommended national standard, not a mandatory one. What will make it "hard"?

It relies not only on administrative oversight, but also on the sound operation of market trust mechanisms. Once a recommended standard enters service contracts, platform rules, institutional commitments, and insurance claims, it can be transformed into verifiable and accountability-traceable binding conditions. Consumers can verify service content according to the standard, platforms can screen institutions according to the standard, and dispute handling can also use the standard as an important reference. In other words, the national standard does not take effect by force through a one-size-fits-all approach (一刀切, yi dao qie - "one, knife, cut"), but rather, through contractualization and platformization, gradually becomes a hard rule regulating the operation of the industry.

In the long run, institutional transformation will help the industry improve quality and expand capacity. The scattered individual model makes it very difficult to establish a unified training system for practitioners, and also difficult to enhance the overall social trust in the industry. Relying on standardized institutional operation, the industry is expected to accelerate the improvement of its service reputation and win more social recognition.

The implementation of the national standard is only the starting point. Taking this as an opportunity to promptly follow up with supporting regulatory measures and strengthen industry self-discipline is the only way to let the standard better play its effect and promote the healthy development of the industry. In practice, it is also necessary to advance with the times (与时俱进, yu shi ju jin - "with, time, together, advance") in improving relevant norms. For the medical accompaniment industry, regulation is not only a constraint, but also a bottom line; it not only limits undesirable phenomena, but also enables this livelihood service to go more steadily and further.

(Excerpted from the "People's Sharp Commentary" WeChat public account)

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Page editors: Li Zheng, Zhang Fan, Yu Xuan

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Central and State Organs Should Stay in the Front Rank

By: 王 毅

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persevering in Promoting Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, profoundly summarizes the great achievements and valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, expounds the overall requirements for persevering in promoting full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes important deployments for Party organizations of central and state organs to play an exemplary role and march in good order in the first square formation. We must take Xi Jinping's thought on Party building as our guide, profoundly understand and comprehensively implement the spirit of the Decision, serve well as the "three exemplars," build model organs, and continuously open up new prospects for Party building in organs and the development of various undertakings, making new and greater contributions to advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

I. Profoundly understand the major significance of strengthening Party building in central and state organs, and effectively enhance the ideological consciousness and action consciousness of marching in good order in the first square formation

Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to Party building in central and state organs. General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the conference on Party building in central and state organs and delivered an important speech, stressing that Party building in central and state organs must take the lead and set an example, which is determined by the status and role of central and state organs. We must, from the height of the overall development of the Party and the country's undertakings, profoundly understand the important significance of giving play to the exemplary role of Party organizations in central and state organs, and continuously advance the improvement of quality and efficiency of Party building in organs according to the standards and requirements of the first square formation.

(1) This is the political requirement for upholding and strengthening the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Upholding the Party's leadership means, first of all, upholding the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee; this is the highest principle of the Party's leadership, and at no time and under no circumstances can it be ambiguous or wavered." Affairs lie in all quarters, but the key lies in the center. In the governance system of the Party and the state, the Party Central Committee is the brain and the hub, deciding the major policies of the Party and the state. Central and state organs are institutions established by the Party and the state; the authority of each department in its work comes from the authority of the Party Central Committee, and the foremost political responsibility is to uphold and strengthen the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. This is a matter of direction and principle, a matter of Party spirit, a matter of the overall situation, and bears on the future and destiny of the Party and the state. Only by marching in good order in the first square formation of practicing the Two Upholds (两个维护) with a high degree of political consciousness, and by upholding with practical actions the authority of the Party Central Committee that is fixed in one supreme position and settles matters with one final word, can we forever preserve the distinctive true character of central and state organs as political organs, and can we implement and embody the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee in all fields and all aspects of reform, development and stability, internal affairs, foreign affairs and national defense, and governing the Party, the state and the military, ensuring that the Party Central Committee always exercises overall leadership and coordinates all parties.

(2) This is the solid guarantee for keeping unimpeded the "first kilometer" of implementation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "central and state organs are the 'first kilometer' of implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, and no 'roadblocks' may appear." Central and state organs bear important responsibility for the complete, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments and the realization of the Party Central Committee's strategic intentions in the work of their own departments, their own systems and their own fields. To ensure that implementation is connected from top to bottom and executed with strength, central and state organs must continuously enhance their political judgment, political understanding and political execution, continuously enhance their sense of mission and responsibility for keeping the "first kilometer" unimpeded, and earnestly march in good order in the first square formation. To ensure that there is no deviation in the political direction of implementation, no temperature gap in actual action, and no shortfall in work results, they must keep in mind the "great matters of the country" and the great plans of the Party, be good at thinking about and planning the work of their own departments, their own systems and their own fields within the overall situation of the Party and the country's undertakings, and improve the scientific nature and targeted nature of implementation.

(3) This is the urgent need for persevering in promoting full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "To deepen full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and carry out self-revolution, we must start with strictness in central and state organs and start with Party building in organs." The work style of central and state organs directly bears on the image of the Party Central Committee and on the image of the Party and the government among the people. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, central and state organs have taken the lead in carrying forward the Party's glorious traditions and fine work style, implemented the spirit of the Central Committee's the Eight-Point Regulation (八项规定), continuously deepened the rectification of the Four Malfeasances (四风), and pushed full and rigorous self-governance of the Party to develop in depth, letting the masses personally feel the new changes and new atmosphere. At the same time, we must clearly recognize that central and state organs have a special status, concentrated power and wide influence, and the risk of corruption and work-style problems must not be ignored. Only by firmly and consciously marching in good order in the first square formation, with each level setting an example for the level below and each level leading the level below in action, transmitting pressure level by level and strengthening strict management and strict governance, can we form a work posture of never relaxing and jointly managing with concerted efforts, and truly persist in the strict tone, strict measures and strict atmosphere over the long term.

(4) This is the concentrated embodiment of giving play to the demonstrative and leading role of Party building in organs. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Central and state organs are closest to the Party Central Committee and serve the Party Central Committee most directly, and they have an important weathervane role for Party building in organs and even for Party building in other fields." Central and state organs occupy a special and important position in the governance system of the Party and the state; when the quality of Party building in organs is improved, it can lead and drive Party building in other departments, producing the effect that a single small change can trigger a massive chain reaction (牵一发而动全身, qian yi fa er dong quan shen - "pull one hair, move the whole body"). Since the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions and major deployments on strengthening Party building in central and state organs, driving new concepts, new systems, new patterns and a new appearance in Party building in organs. Central and state organs must always keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's exhortations, genuinely love the Party, always worry about the Party, firmly protect the Party and do their utmost to invigorate the Party, firmly grasp the functional positioning of Party building in organs of centering on the center, building the ranks and serving the masses, and build model organs that stress politics, observe discipline, bear responsibility and are efficient, truly reassuring the Party Central Committee and satisfying the people.

II. Accurately grasp the situation and tasks of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and resolutely implement the decisions and deployments for marching in good order in the first square formation

The Decision profoundly analyzes the new situations and new problems facing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and points out that as profound changes occur in the conditions of the world, the country and the Party, the task of the Party uniting and leading the people in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests has become more arduous, the task of the Party uniting and leading the people in promoting reform and development and maintaining social harmony and stability has become more arduous, and the task of the Party in maintaining its advanced nature and purity has become more arduous. Central and state organs must earnestly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on Party building in organs, serve as exemplars in thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, serve as exemplars in always maintaining a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, and serve as exemplars in resolutely implementing the various decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, and earnestly put into place the important deployment of "giving play to the exemplary role of Party organizations in central and state organs."

(1) Take the lead in achieving the Two Upholds. The Decision requires that central and state organs "deepen the building of political organs." It is necessary to strengthen in a targeted manner education on the awareness of political organs and education on political discipline and political rules, guide Party members and cadres of central and state organs to always align themselves with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and comments with the highest standards, the strictest requirements and the best quality.Practicing the Two Upholds should be embodied in the action of resolutely implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, embodied in the actual results of performing duties and doing one's own work well, and embodied in the daily words and deeds of Party members and cadres. Consciously plan strategies, formulate policies, deploy tasks and advance work in accordance with the Party's basic theory, basic line and basic strategy. Uphold and strengthen the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with a clear-cut stand, improve the mechanism for implementing the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, promptly request instructions and report on important matters to the Party Central Committee, and first benchmark and align important formulations with the Party Central Committee.

(2) Take the lead in deepening theoretical arming. The Decision requires "persisting in using the Party's innovative theory to coalesce the heart and cast the soul" and "strengthening the building of a Marxist learning-oriented party." Central and state organs must study one step earlier and study one level deeper in studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and take the lead and serve as a demonstration in understanding thoroughly, grasping firmly and practicing earnestly. Persist in studying consciously and proactively, studying promptly and in step, studying in connection with reality, and studying with firm belief and earnest practice, arm the mind with the Party's innovative theory, solidify the foundation of ideals, temper political character, and solve well the master switch problem of the worldview, outlook on life and values. Carry forward the Marxist style of study, persist in and make good use of the standpoints, viewpoints and methods running through it, and implement the results of study in doing one's own work well and promoting the development of undertakings. Earnestly carry out centralized education within the Party, promote the building of learning-oriented Party organizations and the building of scholarly organs, improve the system of cadre education and training, and integrate theoretical study into daily life and grasp it regularly.

(3) Take the lead in consolidating the grassroots foundation. The Decision points out: "Persist in grasping organs to lead systems and managing industries to manage Party building, improve the mechanism for synchronously advancing Party building in organs, directly affiliated enterprises and institutions, and dispatched agencies, and deepen the building of Party branches with strong political functions, strong branch leadership, strong Party member ranks and strong role exertion." Primary-level Party organizations are the foundation for ensuring the implementation of the Party's lines, principles, policies and decisions and deployments. Central and state organs must establish a clear orientation of vigorously grasping the grassroots, focus on enhancing the political functions and organizational functions of primary-level Party organizations, deepen the building of "four strong" Party branches, actively select and cultivate "four good" Party members, and forge strong and powerful primary-level Party organizations in organs. It is necessary to improve and implement the various systems of democratic centralism and stimulate the combat effectiveness and creativity of primary-level Party organizations. It is necessary to promote the deep integration of Party building and business work and continuously solve the "two skins" problem. In light of the different characteristics and laws of Party building in organs, enterprises and institutions, provide classified guidance and precise measures, shore up weak links and strengthen weaknesses, so that the meridians, blood vessels and qi of the organizational system flow smoothly, and let the Party flag fly high on the front line of central and state organs.

(4) Take the lead in rectifying work style, enforcing discipline and combating corruption. The Decision stresses: "Strenuously refrain from 'organ diseases' and 'yamen style,' and prevent 'darkness under the lamp.'" When conducting research and making decisions, central and state organs must go deep among the masses, deep into reality and deep to the front line, and resolutely overcome formalism and bureaucratism. Grasp the characteristics and laws of the Party's mass work in the new era, implement the "four down to the grassroots" system, improve the normalized mechanism for central organs to stay grounded and young cadres to go to the grassroots, and improve the ability to do mass work online. Advance the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style building, persevere in implementing the spirit of the Central Committee's Eight-Point Regulation, streamline meetings, documents and submitted materials, implement the "short, substantive and new" requirements, improve the style of meetings and documents, persist in Party and government organs living frugally, and strictly implement regulations on leading cadres' visits abroad. Put discipline in the forefront, deepen the application of the "four forms" of supervision and discipline enforcement, do a good job in discipline education, political virtue education and family tradition education, and build a solid ideological and moral defense line against corruption and degeneration. Persist in governing the Party by systems and by regulations, guide Party members and cadres to correctly exercise power while observing rules and discipline, and eliminate the space for rent-setting and rent-seeking by strengthening institutional building. Maintain a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, deepen the joint investigation and joint treatment of work style and corruption, and advance in an integrated manner the goal of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt and not wanting to be corrupt.

III. Give full play to the leading role of taking the lead and setting an example, and comprehensively grasp the practical requirements for marching in good order in the first square formation

The Decision points out: "Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is always on the road." For central and state organs to play an exemplary role in persevering in promoting full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, they must persist in high standards and strict requirements, serve well as the vanguard in studying, publicizing and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, and demonstrate new responsibility and new achievements in promoting high-quality development through high-quality Party building.

(1) Take forging loyalty to the Party as the soul. The cause of the Party and the cause of the people are forged by the loyal dedication of tens of millions of Party members, and the political character of loyalty to the Party must be continuously tempered. Loyalty to the Party is a political standard and even more a practical standard. Party members and cadres of central and state organs must continuously temper the Party spirit of Communists, always be loyal to the core, support the core, safeguard the core and defend the core, always take the Party's banner as their banner, the Party's direction as their direction and the Party's will as their will, and ensure that what the Party Central Committee advocates is resolutely responded to, what the Party Central Committee decides is resolutely carried out, and what the Party Central Committee prohibits is resolutely not done.

(2) Take wholehearted service to the people as the heart. The Party's foundation lies in the people, its bloodline lies in the people, and its strength lies in the people. We must keep in mind that the country is the people and the people are the country, persist in building the Party for the public and governing for the people, consciously practice the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and firmly stand together with the people, think together with them and work together with them. Keep in mind that the people's yearning for a better life is our goal of struggle, practice the people-centered development philosophy, and continuously enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness and security with practical actions. Keep in mind that benefiting the people is the greatest political achievement, take whether the people support, approve, are happy and agree as the fundamental criterion for measuring the gains and losses of all work, and strive to hand in an even more outstanding answer sheet to the people.

(3) Take strengthening practical work and taking responsibility as the foundation. It is necessary to profoundly understand where the highest interests of the Party and the state lie, and strengthen forward-looking thinking, overall planning, strategic layout and integrated advancement. Persist in genuine hard work, actively take responsibility and act around the central task of the Party, bravely shoulder the heaviest burdens, dare to gnaw the hardest bones, be good at taking on hot potatoes, and continuously open up new prospects for work. Dare to and be good at struggle, always uphold principles, take a clear stand in the face of major rights and wrongs, bravely rise to difficulties in the face of contradictions and conflicts, step forward at any time in the face of crises and difficulties, and be able to resolutely struggle in the face of unhealthy trends and evil influences. Persist in bottom-line thinking, enhance the sense of responsibility of always feeling uneasy, and bear responsibility, remain loyal to duty and go all out in preventing and defusing risks.

(4) Take bravely carrying out self-revolution as the key. Self-revolution is the "second answer" proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping for escaping the historical cycle of order and chaos, rise and decline. For the Party to always become the pioneer of the times and the backbone of the nation, and always become a Marxist governing party, it must first of all be strong itself. On the new journey, we must always maintain the sobriety and firmness to solve the unique problems of a large party, be good at examining ourselves according to the requirements of the development of the times, alerting ourselves with a strong sense of hardship, and improving ourselves with the spirit of self-revolution, and continuously achieve self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation and self-enhancement. Persist in the style of seeking truth from facts, establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, and create a political ecology that is clean and upright.

History illuminates the future, and struggle achieves great undertakings. Let us unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, comprehensively implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, persevere in promoting full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, keep the mission in mind, strive to be strong, resolutely march in good order in the first square formation of practicing the Two Upholds, and strive unremittingly to comprehensively build a great modern socialist country and comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization!

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United by the Tianshan Mountains, Together We Build a Better Life

By: 本报记者 崔 妍 李亚楠

"Do the sounds of the bayan still drift from Liuxing Street..." As night falls at a restaurant on Liuxing Street in Yining, Xinjiang, Ilixat Dilixat plays and sings "Apple Fragrance" on a dombra for the customers; customers and performers join in dances of various ethnic groups, and laughter echoes through the street. Music knows no ethnicity; amid song and dance, all ethnic groups are as close as one family.

One song sings out love for home and country. On Liuxing Street, everyone knows the Ili Ethnic Unity Accordion Band, in which more than 60 music lovers from 13 ethnic groups spontaneously perform songs representative of various ethnic groups for visitors. "The song we love to sing most is still 'My People, My Country'; every time we sing it, a sense of pride wells up spontaneously (油然而生, you ran er sheng - "oil, naturally, arise")!" says band member Haizhatola.

Joyful Meshrep melodies echo across the square of the Liuxing Street scenic area, as local residents and visitors from everywhere dance hand in hand to the rhythm. Zhang Chunyan, a visitor from Hebei, is immersed in it, fully enjoying the beautiful atmosphere here: "This dance is especially infectious; moved by this enthusiasm, one can't help but join in."

In this hexagonal street block, people of all ethnic groups live close to one another (比邻而居, bi lin er ju - "close, neighbor, and, reside"), in unity and mutual help. As the integration of culture and tourism deepens, residents of all ethnic groups share the dividends of development. Abdusul Kurban, 74 this year, was born and grew up on Liuxing Street: "In the tourist season there are thirty or forty thousand visitors a day. My son sets up a stall at the door selling dalieba, yogurt curd, shaved-ice yogurt, and handmade yogurt, and earned over a hundred thousand yuan in half a year."

One exhibition hall strikes up a song of unity. In the Tacheng Accordion Culture Exhibition Hall, performer Dawuran Duysenhan's rendition of "Katyusha" wins round after round of applause; as the tune ends, he sets down the accordion and begins explaining to visitors: the hall holds more than 1,000 accordions of different types from over a dozen countries.

Dawuran told reporters that people of 29 ethnic groups live in the Tacheng region; in their spare time they often gather to play the accordion and dance, and on important days the merry tunes of the accordion are all the more indispensable.

Last August, 5,282 people gathered in Tacheng to play the accordion together, setting a new Guinness World Record for the "largest accordion ensemble." "At festive gatherings, wedding celebrations, and neighbors' chats, when the music strikes up, men and women, old and young, dance to the rhythm, regardless of ethnicity or age; the sound of the instrument is a common language," Dawuran said.

One village walks out a road to prosperity. Amid the sounds of planing, sanding, and strumming, craftsmen in Towan Kuwusak Village, Kuwusak Township, Shufu County, Kashgar Prefecture, are meticulously crafting all kinds of musical instruments. In 2025, 64 households and 130 people here were engaged in instrument making, with an annual output of more than 60,000 instruments and sales revenue of more than 2 million yuan. "Thanks to this craft, we now have no worries about food and clothing," says Rehman Abdulla, a representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage Uyghur instrument-making technique, smiling happily.

In recent years, the village has developed a cultural-tourism model of "production + exhibition + sales + experience," receiving more than 150,000 visitors in 2025. Visitors from everywhere carry away instruments and cultural-creative products, which has boosted surrounding lodging, catering, and other businesses. "We use the sound of the instrument to play the movement of culture-tourism integration," says Wang Yuanjun, director of the Shufu County Culture and Tourism Development Center. "The leaping notes are the code to prosperity."

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2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit closes

(Xinhua News Agency, Hangzhou, November 5) (Reporter Tang Tao) On November 5, the 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, themed "Openness and Cooperation for a Shared Digital Future—Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," completed all its agenda items and came to a close. About 1,800 guests from 138 countries and regions attended the conference to jointly discuss the path of openness and cooperation and to jointly plan the future of digital and intelligent development.

"This summit brought together guests from all sectors around the world, focusing on in-depth exchanges on the concepts and practices of open-source openness in artificial intelligence, providing useful exploration for artificial intelligence to empower the development of cyberspace." Ren Xianliang, Secretary-General of the World Internet Conference, introduced at a press conference on the 5th that at the summit's main forum, not only was a Wuzhen Dialogue set up around "open-source openness," but the "Action Initiative for Jointly Building Global Open Artificial Intelligence" was also released for the first time, putting forward 18 specific action initiatives around four aspects: jointly advancing openness and development, jointly safeguarding security and trustworthiness, jointly participating in dialogue and governance, and jointly upholding mutual benefit and inclusiveness.

In addition to the main forum, this year's summit also set up 27 sub-forums, the largest number of sub-forums set up in any year to date, with even more rich and varied (丰富多彩, feng fu duo cai - "abundant, many, diverse, colorful") content. During the summit, reports including "Frontier Artificial Intelligence Security and Governance 2026: Risk Perception and Collaborative Governance" and the "Practical Guide for Global South Economies to Promote E-commerce Development" were also released.

This year's "Light of the Internet" Expo was likewise full of highlights, displaying and releasing more than 1,000 new technologies and new products, with more than 100 embodied intelligence robots carrying out live real-scenario operations on site. At the same time, a digital-intelligent consumption market was held for the first time, with more than 130 "treasure new products" allowing visitors to see, feel, play with, and purchase them; an Artificial Intelligence OPC (One-Person Company) Carnival was held for the first time, gathering more than 60 OPC communities and enterprises from around the world and creating a one-stop platform for display, competitions, releases, matchmaking, and practical training.

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Self-Discipline Convention on the Development of Agents Released

(People's Daily, Jiaxing, November 5) On the 4th, at the "Global Cooperation and Innovation in Mutual Trust, Mutual Connectivity and Interoperability of Agents — Jointly Building the Intelligent Internet Forum" of the 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center, together with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and other units, released the "Self-Discipline Convention on the Development of Agents."

The convention proposes to improve the agent trust system. It calls for establishing tiered, verifiable agent identity identifiers, and improving mechanisms for agent identity verification and management, authorization and control of permissions, and the expression and embedding of rules. The convention also proposes jointly building interconnectable infrastructure and other measures.

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2026 "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition Results Announced

(People's Daily, Jiaxing, November 5) On the morning of the 5th, the award ceremony of the 2026 "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.

The "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition is one of the important brand events of the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit. This year, the competition, in keeping with the development trends of frontier technologies, introduced a "5+2" competition structure, in which the five major tracks are digital-intelligent healthcare, intelligent connected mobility, intelligent terminals, intelligent manufacturing, and new consumption, and, based on industry needs, two scenario competitions were added: AI (artificial intelligence) + manufacturing and new mobility; the two special competitions are the OPC (one-person company) special competition and the open-source competitive challenge.

This year's competition collected a total of 1,347 projects from 31 countries and regions around the world. In the end, 10 projects won the grand prize, and there were also 10 first prizes, 30 second prizes, and 48 third prizes.

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Photo Report

On November 5, the Huaibei Municipal Federation of Trade Unions in Anhui Province held a themed event, "Eat Dumplings, Learn Folk Customs, Welcome the Start of Winter," at a trade union service station. Takeout riders, sanitation workers, and other outdoor workers came together to experience traditional folk customs and welcome the Start of Winter solar term.

The photo shows outdoor workers cooking dumplings.

Photo by Zhang Feng (Image China)

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Yangtze River Delta "AI+" High-Value Scenario Co-Building and Sharing Cooperation Initiative Released

(People's Daily, Jiaxing, November 5) On the 4th, one of the signature events of the permanent venue of the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit — the 2026 Digital Yangtze River Delta Development Conference — was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.

At the conference, 21 city representatives from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui jointly launched the Yangtze River Delta "AI+" High-Value Scenario Co-Building and Sharing Cooperation Initiative, promoting the cross-city replication and extension of innovation results achieved in one place, so that the dividends of artificial intelligence technology can benefit all walks of life (千行百业, qian hang bai ye - "thousand, industry, hundred, business"), and creating a Yangtze River Delta demonstration model for the nationwide implementation of the "AI+" initiative.

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Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Resource Conservation Strategy Issued

(People's Daily, Beijing, November 5) (Reporter Liu Zhiqiang) In order to advance the economical and intensive use of all types of resources, safeguard national resource security, and accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the National Government Offices Administration recently jointly issued the "Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Resource Conservation Strategy."

The plan sets out the guiding ideology for implementing the comprehensive resource conservation strategy, proposing that by 2030, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP, water consumption, and land used for construction purposes will respectively decrease by about 10 percent, 10 percent, and 15 percent compared with 2025; the loss rate at each link of the entire grain industry chain will continue to decline; the annual volume of major renewable resources recycled will reach 510 million tons; and a social trend of valuing conservation will be further formed. The plan takes a prominent problem-oriented approach (问题导向, wen ti dao xiang - "problem, guide, direction"), putting forward key tasks and measures in seven areas, including further advancing energy conservation and energy efficiency improvement, strengthening the economical and efficient use of water resources, and deepening grain conservation and combating food waste.

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Page editors: Zhang Yanchun, Song Yu, Wang Bo

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Decision of the State Council on Amending and Repealing Certain Administrative Regulations

Decree of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

No. 851

The Decision of the State Council on Amending and Repealing Certain Administrative Regulations was adopted at the 99th executive meeting of the State Council on October 16, 2026, and is hereby promulgated, to take effect as of the date of promulgation.

Premier Li Qiang

October 29, 2026

In order to implement the decision-making and arrangements of the Party Central Committee on rectifying formalism and reducing burdens at the grassroots level, streamline and optimize the provisions of existing administrative regulations concerning special plans for grassroots staffing, prevent and correct formalism in plan formulation, and effectively reduce burdens at the grassroots level, and to implement the spirit of the reform of Party and state institutions, to properly connect with the relevant provisions of laws and administrative regulations such as the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China, the Food Security Guarantee Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations on Procedures for Formulating Administrative Regulations, and to ensure the systematicity, integrity, coordination, and timeliness of legislation, the State Council conducted a review of the administrative regulations involved. After review, the State Council decides:

I. To amend certain provisions of 14 administrative regulations. (Attachment 1)

II. To repeal 4 administrative regulations. (Attachment 2)

This Decision shall take effect as of the date of promulgation.

Attachments:

1. Administrative regulations the State Council decides to amend

2. Administrative regulations the State Council decides to repeal

Attachment 1

Administrative regulations the State Council decides to amend

I. In the Implementing Regulations of the Archives Law of the People's Republic of China, Article 12, Item 2 is amended to read: "(2) Formulate institutional norms for archival work in the administrative region, compile development plans for archival undertakings in the administrative region in light of actual needs, and organize their implementation."

II. In the Regulations on Drug Rehabilitation, Article 4, Paragraph 4 is amended to read: "The health administrative departments of local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of drug rehabilitation medical institutions, shall, together with public security organs, judicial administration departments and other departments, specify the requirements for the establishment and administration of drug rehabilitation medical institutions in medical institution establishment plans, and shall provide guidance and support for drug rehabilitation medical services."

III. In the Regulations on Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, Article 18, Paragraph 1 is amended to read: "People's governments at or above the county level shall, in light of the number, distribution, rehabilitation needs and other circumstances of persons with disabilities in the administrative region, rationally distribute rehabilitation institutions, establish public-welfare rehabilitation institutions, and incorporate the establishment of rehabilitation institutions into the plan for the basic public service system."

IV. In the Regulations on Natural Disaster Relief, in Article 19, Paragraph 1, "plan for the restoration and reconstruction of residents' housing" is amended to read "scheme for the restoration and reconstruction of residents' housing."

V. In the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on River Course Management, Article 21 is amended to read: "Within the scope of river course management, the use of waters and land shall conform to the requirements of river flood discharge, water conveyance, and navigation."

Article 27, Paragraph 2 is amended to read: "Reclaiming river courses by enclosure is prohibited."

Article 44, Item 6 is amended to read: "(6) Reclaiming lakes and river courses by enclosure."

VI. In the Regulations on the Administration of Earthquake Monitoring, Article 9 is amended to read: "The compilation of layout schemes for earthquake monitoring networks shall adhere to the principles of scientific rationality and resource sharing, and shall be coordinated with territorial spatial planning."

Article 10 is amended to read: "The overall layout of the national earthquake monitoring network and the layout scheme for the national-level earthquake monitoring network shall be formulated and organized for implementation by the department in charge of earthquake work under the State Council.

"The layout scheme for the provincial-level earthquake monitoring network shall be formulated and organized for implementation by the department responsible for managing earthquake work of the people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, on the basis of the overall layout of the national earthquake monitoring network.

"The layout schemes for the earthquake monitoring networks of cities divided into districts and of counties shall be formulated and organized for implementation by the departments responsible for managing earthquake work of the people's governments of cities divided into districts and of counties, on the basis of the layout scheme for the provincial-level earthquake monitoring network."

Article 11 is deleted.

In Article 31, "the overall plan for land use and urban and rural planning" is amended to read "territorial spatial planning."

VII. In the Implementing Rules of the Metrology Law of the People's Republic of China, a paragraph is added to Article 3 as Paragraph 2: "The metrology administrative department of the State Council and the metrology administrative departments of provincial people's governments shall formulate development plans for metrology undertakings."

Article 23, Item 2 is amended to read: "(2) Establish measurement standards and social public measurement standards, and organize the dissemination of quantity values."

Article 59 is deleted.

VIII. In the Regulations on Water Conservation, Article 10, Paragraph 1 is amended to read: "The relevant departments of the State Council shall, in accordance with the division of duties, compile the national water conservation plan on the basis of the national economic and social development plan and the national water resources strategic plan. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in light of economic and social development needs, water resource conditions, and the national water conservation plan, organize the compilation of water conservation plans for their administrative regions."

IX. In the Regulations on the Construction of a Barrier-Free Environment, Article 4 is amended to read: "People's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate the construction of a barrier-free environment into the national economic and social development plan."

X. In the Regulations on the Management of the Taihu Lake Basin, in Article 7 and Article 56, "the Water Law of the People's Republic of China and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China" is amended to read "the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China and the Water Law of the People's Republic of China."

Article 10, Paragraph 2 is deleted.

Article 60, Item 1 is deleted.

In Article 63, "the provisions of Article 74 of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China" is amended to read "the provisions of the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China."

In Article 67, Paragraph 2, "the provisions of Article 66 of the Water Law of the People's Republic of China" is amended to read "the provisions of the Water Law of the People's Republic of China."

XI. In the Regulations on Land Reclamation, Article 22 is amended to read: "The competent departments of land and resources of people's governments at or above the county level shall, on the basis of investigation and evaluation, determine the key areas for land reclamation as well as the objectives, tasks, and requirements of land reclamation in accordance with territorial spatial planning, and organize their implementation after reporting to the people's government at the same level for approval."

Article 24, Paragraph 2 is amended to read: "The competent departments of land and resources of people's governments at or above the county level shall determine annual reclamation projects on the basis of the objectives, tasks, and requirements of land reclamation and the annual arrangements for land reclamation funds."

XII. In the Regulations on Resettlement for the Construction of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River, in Article 7, "the resettlement management agency of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council" is amended to read "the agency of the State Council responsible for the management of resettlement for the construction of the Three Gorges Project (hereinafter referred to as the Three Gorges resettlement management agency)."

Article 8, Paragraph 2 is deleted.

In Article 8, Paragraph 3, Article 9, Paragraph 4, Article 35, Paragraph 2, Article 37, Article 38, Paragraph 1, and Article 60, "the resettlement management agency of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council" is amended to read "the Three Gorges resettlement management agency."

Article 9, Paragraphs 2 and 3 are deleted.

Article 18, Paragraph 1 is amended to read: "The relocation and reconstruction of rural residential areas shall be in light of local conditions, conducive to production, and convenient for living."

Article 19, Paragraph 1 is amended to read: "For the relocation and reconstruction of towns, the specific locations of the public buildings and various infrastructure facilities that need to be relocated and reconstructed shall be determined."

In Article 27, "the provisions of the Planning Outline" is amended to read "the relevant provisions."

Article 29 is amended to read: "The relevant local people's governments shall strengthen the management of capital construction in the inundation area of the Three Gorges Project. No unit or individual may, without authorization, construct new projects, expand projects, or rebuild projects below the inundation line."

Article 30 is amended to read: "The relevant public security organs in the Three Gorges reservoir area shall strengthen household registration management in the inundation area and strictly control the migration of population from non-inundation areas into the inundation area. For persons who move in due to birth, marriage, job transfer, transfer or demobilization of military personnel, assignment of graduates of institutions of higher learning and secondary specialized technical schools, and release after completion of sentence, and whose household registration is approved by the public security organ of a people's government at or above the county level, the state shall be responsible for their relocation and resettlement; for persons who move in without authorization for other reasons, the state shall not be responsible for their relocation and resettlement."

In Article 55, Article 59, Article 60, Article 61, and Article 63, "administrative sanction" is amended to read "sanction."

In Article 62, "the Environmental Protection Law and the Water and Soil Conservation Law" is amended to read "the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China and the Water and Soil Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China."

XIII. In the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Drought Relief, Articles 13, 14, and 15 are deleted.

XIV. In the Regulations on the Administration of Grain Circulation, Article 49, Paragraph 2 is renumbered as Article 50 and amended to read: "After a grain emergency plan is activated, those who fail to undertake emergency tasks in accordance with state requirements, or fail to obey the unified arrangements and dispatch of the state, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Food Security Guarantee Law of the People's Republic of China."

In addition, the numbering of articles in the relevant administrative regulations shall be adjusted accordingly.

Attachment 2

Administrative regulations the State Council decides to repeal

I. Provisions on the Limits of Liability for Compensation for Maritime Passenger Transport Between Ports of the People's Republic of China (approved by the State Council on November 20, 1993, promulgated by Order No. 6 of the Ministry of Communications on December 17, 1993)

II. Measures for the Administration of Nature Reserves of the Forest and Wildlife Type (approved by the State Council on June 21, 1985, promulgated by the Ministry of Forestry on July 6, 1985)

III. Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals (promulgated by Decree No. 344 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on January 26, 2002; first revised in accordance with Decree No. 591 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on March 2, 2011; second revised in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Amending Certain Administrative Regulations on December 7, 2013)

IV. Regulations on Post-Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction in Wenchuan (promulgated by Decree No. 526 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on June 8, 2008)

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 5)

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Loess Plateau Village Embraces Carbon Trading

By: 本报记者 贾丰丰

In northern Shaanxi, deep in the Loess Plateau, there is a place called Gaoxigou.

The older generation of Gaoxigou people relied on pickaxes and shovels to control the water and open up wasteland. Today's Gaoxigou, this small mountain village has taken on new changes, and the old mountain gully has taken on a new appearance.

"It was the newly planted trees and the soil that could not run away that made the contribution"

Gaoxigou Village is in Mizhi County, Yulin, Shaanxi.

Former village party branch secretary Jiang Liangbiao has spent his whole life rooted in this mountain gully. What he never expected was that in recent years he would still be able to have something to do with "carbon sinks."

On January 7, 2025, the country's first carbon sink transaction for silt dams landed in Gaoxigou Village. The village's five silt dams have cumulatively achieved carbon sequestration and emission reduction of 27,600 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, successfully transferring 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and taking in 1.5 million yuan.

How did a small mountain village on the Loess Plateau become connected with carbon sink trading?

The answer is hidden in the mountain ridges before one's eyes. Gaoxigou Village, with an area of 4 square kilometers, has 40 mountain ridges and 21 gullies and branches, a typical landform of the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau.

Jiang Liangbiao recalled that more than 90 percent of the village's land is steep slope. In the 1950s, to make a living, farming households opened up wasteland all over the mountains, reluctant to leave even a patch of open ground the size of a winnowing basket. Who would have thought that low yields from extensive planting (广种薄收, guang zhong bo shou - "widely, plant; thinly, harvest") would make them poorer the more they dug.

The land was opened up too ruthlessly, and the soil and water could no longer be held back. A single rain in the flood season could easily trigger a mountain flood, washing away the fields on the mountain, tearing up the roads in the gully, and sending rolling yellow mud into the Wuding River and finally into the Yellow River.

"At that time, the villagers could not say what ecology was, but they had grasped a simple truth: where there is much grass and dense trees, the soil cannot run away." Jiang Liangbiao said with emotion. And so, a decades-long effort to tame the mountains and plant trees took root in Gaoxigou—"build terraces on the gentle slopes on the mountain, build silt dams and embankments at the bottom of the gully, plant trees and forests on the high and distant mountains, build orchards on the sunny slopes of nearby mountains, plant forage grass on abandoned sloping land, and plant caragana on barren slopes and steep cliffs."

Forests anchoring the mountain tops, grass stabilizing the slope surfaces, and dams blocking the gully bottoms—these are the three ecological defense lines that the people of Gaoxigou have guarded over several decades. The village's land layout has been optimized several times, forming today's pattern of "three parts forest, two parts grass, one part farmland."

Generation after generation has protected the greenery and tamed the mountains, and on the village's 4 square kilometers of land, the forest and grass coverage rate has been forced up to more than 78 percent. The road has grown wider and wider, and the ecological ledger has gained "new income"—the loess silt layer can sequester carbon, and green mountains and clear waters can be exchanged for money.

"When the news of the carbon sink transaction spread back to the village, the older generation could not understand it, but in their hearts they knew that it was the newly planted trees and the soil that could not run away that made the contribution." Jiang Liangbiao squatted on the dam beam and scooped up a handful of silt soil: "This is the good fortune accumulated by several generations, one pickaxe and one shovel at a time, one blade of grass and one tree at a time."

Silt dams intercept and store sediment and seal in organic matter, sequestering carbon day after day and year after year, turning the soil and water that once washed away into a sleeping carbon reservoir and an asset that preserves its value.

Gaoxigou's carbon sink account is calculated for the long-term cycle. The entire 1.5 million yuan from carbon sinks is retained and used entirely for dam reinforcement, mountain forest tending, ecological management and protection, and industrial upgrading, with ecological returns feeding back into ecological protection. "The more green the gullies and ridges become, the thicker the green family fortune will accumulate," Jiang Liangbiao said.

"Use northern Shaanxi flavors to keep visitors' footsteps here, use pristine scenery to keep their longing in their hearts"

In addition to the new income from carbon sinks, eco-tourism has also become a booming new trade in the village.

Gao Jinwu, who opened the village's first farmhouse restaurant, used to fear most that he could not keep tourists there. Last year, 10 space capsule guesthouses were newly built on the mountain ridge, with layered terraces and distant mountains like dark eyebrows outside the floor-to-ceiling windows; on clear nights one can watch the stars, and after rain one can listen to the wind. Many young people come for this.

Seizing this wave of "traffic," Gao Jinwu converted several of his old cave dwellings into a distinctive farmhouse courtyard, where one can see terraces when pushing open the window and fields right outside the door. Oil cakes steamed in an earthen stove, millet paired with pickled cabbage—"use northern Shaanxi flavors to keep visitors' footsteps here, use pristine scenery to keep their longing in their hearts," Gao Jinwu said.

On holidays, Gao Jinwu's guesthouse is often extremely difficult to find accommodation (一房难求, yi fang nan qiu - "one, room; difficult, seek"), the farmhouse restaurant earns 70,000 to 80,000 yuan a year, and together with the income from selling apples, coarse grains, and other agricultural products, the whole family has steadily taken up the "eco-tourism rice bowl."

Integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism and connecting the industrial chain, Gaoxigou's tourism formats are upgraded step by step and renewed layer by layer. At the foot of the mountain, the live-action drama "There Is a Gaoxigou in Northern Shaanxi" uses the green mountains and gullies as its stage, performing the story of the people of Gaoxigou themselves; at night, the intangible cultural heritage "molten iron fireworks" bloom in midair, drawing tourists to compete in taking photos... Gaoxigou has brought in professional teams such as media and tourism companies to operate, revitalizing idle cave dwellings, putting abandoned land to use, and gradually giving the village the capacity for sustainable development.

Mountain-ring paths are built following the terrain, landscape nodes are built according to the mountains, and business formats are laid out in a well-arranged, orderly yet irregular fashion (错落有致, cuo luo you zhi - "scattered, falling; have, order"), with the village collective coordinating operations and farming households participating in groups. The living environment is improved at the same time: village roads are unobstructed, sewage is treated jointly, garbage is sorted, and the village appearance is neat.

"In the past, farming meant depending on the heavens for food; now, growing fruit and enjoying the scenery bring income from both sides." Jiang Liangbiao said, "Green mountains and clear waters have become the 'characteristic industry' of our mountain gully, attracting more tourists to Gaoxigou."

"A good path for one village has become a new path for an entire area"

The mountains are green and the trees are many—how to manage them?

In 2023, Yulin City's first 5G intelligent monitoring platform for forest pests and diseases was put into use in Gaoxigou Village. Cameras watch the forest 24 hours a day, and information such as pest conditions, forest growth, and fire risks is transmitted back in real time.

In the past, patrolling the mountains relied on legs; now, managing the forest relies on screens. Jiang Liangbiao said: "The older generation planted the forest with pickaxes; this generation must manage and protect it well with science and technology."

Villages have boundaries, but the mountains are connected and the forests are adjacent. The matter of managing and protecting forests has made the people of Gaoxigou understand: calculating the ecological account and the prosperity account well cannot be separated from a "systemic account."

Today, the locality has broken out of the limitations of a single village and a single place. The three villages of Gaoxigou, Baijian, and Jiangxingzhuang are developing in a group, breaking down village boundaries, integrating resource advantages, and planning and building as one, forging a new path of contiguous governance, contiguous revitalization, and contiguous common prosperity.

"Gaoxigou has an ecological model and a cultural tourism brand, Baijian has location, transportation, and land resources, and Jiangxingzhuang has pastoral scenery and agricultural heritage. Each of the three villages has its own advantages, and only by developing in a group can they go steadily and far." said Gao Lidong, party branch secretary of Gaoxigou Village.

Based on the integrated construction of "Greater Gaoxigou," the three villages have implemented a series of livelihood and development projects: carrying out environmental rectification and slope greening along 21 kilometers, conducting ecological restoration of 900 mu of mountain bodies on both sides of the roads linking the three villages, replanting greenery, beautifying slopes, and clearing water systems, so that scattered mountain and water resources are strung together like beads into a chain and connected into a landscape; integrating the three villages' terraced orchards, coarse grain bases, and under-forest spaces, unifying varieties, management, and sales, so that characteristic agricultural products such as millet and mountain apples even share the same brand—"Gaoxigou." Su Yongfeng, a villager from Baijian Village, said: "In the past, when we grew coarse grains, each family grew and sold its own, at low prices and hard to sell; now with a unified brand and unified channels, good products sell at good prices."

"A good path for one village has become a new path for an entire area." Jiang Liangbiao said, "The next step is to develop ecological study tours. When the children come, they will not only look at the trees, but also learn how to calculate the carbon sink account."

The mountain is still that mountain, and the gully is still that gully. The ledger is renewed page by page, and the days of Gaoxigou move forward day by day.

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Mother River will be even more beautiful (Editor's Note)

By: 金 石

The Yellow River has nurtured countless sons and daughters of the Chinese nation and nourished the roots of a civilization spanning more than five thousand years.

Recently, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions, stressing that we must "firmly grasp the strategic requirement of focusing on protection, with the key lying in governance" and "strive to make this Mother River ever more beautiful," providing an important guide for continuing to advance ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin on the new journey.

From "two breaches in three years" to peace and safety year after year, behind the miracle lies the systematic policy implementation of "one chessboard" and the sustained, long-term effort of "one blueprint," fully demonstrating the notable advantages of the socialist system. In the upper reaches, protecting the source, Qinghai advances national park construction and guards the "China Water Tower"; in the middle reaches, conserving the soil, Shanxi presses forward with afforestation in successive waves and fights the tough battle of the Yellow River's "ji-shaped bend"; in the lower reaches, strengthening the dikes, Shandong has completed 806 kilometers of standardized dikes, fortifying a "Great Wall on the water"... With thought guiding and strategy taking root, the provinces and regions along the Yellow River and relevant departments each keep to their positions and each perform their respective duties (各尽其责, ge jin qi ze - "each, fulfill, their, responsibility"), driving the Yellow River to benefit the people's livelihood and gradually unfold a picture of happiness.

The beauty of the great river reflects the transformation of water governance. In recent years, Henan has separately signed horizontal ecological protection compensation agreements with Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi; Inner Mongolia and Ningxia have joined forces to edge the desert with vegetation belts, reducing the volume of sand transported into the Yellow River... Innovating ideas, innovating mechanisms, and continuously improving the pattern of major protection and major coordination, the "Yellow River chorus" sings ever louder.

The Party has led the people in governing the Yellow River for 80 years; past trials and tribulations have brought today's splendid scene, and today's strivings will surely pave a long scroll of green.

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Qinghai hand-pulled noodles serve up new flavors

By: 本报记者 龚仕建 乔 栋

Late at night, past 11 p.m., at the "Qingpu" hand-pulled noodle shop on Nanqixiang Lane in Xining, Qinghai, there was no shortage of diners coming in for noodles. The soup dumplings went into the pot, the water came to a boil and bubbled, and in less than 3 minutes a bowl of steaming, fragrant (香气扑鼻, xiang qi pu bi - "fragrance, fill, nose") hand-pulled noodles was served. Citizen Xiong Kai took a sip of the soup first: "Zanjin! This is exactly the taste!"

Yak bone broth is the "soul" of this bowl of highland hand-pulled noodles, but in the past, wanting a bowl of noodles with authentic broth in the middle of the night was quite difficult.

The yak bone broth simmered early in the morning would be continually topped up with boiling water, and the flavor of the broth would gradually grow thin. By the time the last ladle of broth was scooped into a noodle bowl, it might only be midday, but it could no longer be sold that day.

"Why can't we produce a pot of yak bone broth whose taste and nutrition are as good as fresh, ready to open and use at any time?" Ten years ago, Ma Xueming, head of Qingpu Catering Supply Chain Co., Ltd., looked with envy at the clay-pot soup ingredient shops next to the noodle shops, which were supplied by supply chains. He scraped together 2 million yuan in startup capital, all to relearn how to make this bowl of soup.

"At the time no one was making noodle soup bases. I ran around to many food companies and research institutions, but either the quality was unstable or the numbing intensity of the Sichuan pepper was distorted." It was not until 2019, after continuous experimentation, that he finally obtained supply-chain ingredients with stable nutrition, broth color, and flavor, and Qingpu Catering Supply Chain Co., Ltd. also developed rapidly. "Today, our yak original-broth hand-pulled noodle franchise stores already number 160 nationwide, and our hand-pulled noodle industry supply-chain factory supplies broth bases and various ingredients to more than 5,000 noodle shops," Ma Xueming said.

Like Ma Xueming, Qinghai's "army of hand-pulled noodle makers" once grew rich on a single bowl of noodles. After more than 30 years of development, more than 200,000 Qinghai people and more than 30,000 noodle shops are distributed across more than 300 cities nationwide. "In recent years, we have continuously pushed the hand-pulled noodle industry toward branding, breaking the 'small, scattered, weak' state of the traditional single-store business model," introduced Ma Liping, president of the Qinghai Province Hand-Pulled Noodle Industry Association.

Unify the logo and build the "Qinghai Hand-Pulled Noodles" public brand.

At the end of last year, many Qinghai hand-pulled noodle practitioners operating elsewhere received this message: as long as they added the regional public brand logo "Qinghai Hand-Pulled Noodles" in front of their own brand, they could receive a reward. Noodle merchants responded one after another, and shops of every description gradually acquired a unified logo.

Qinghai also issued guiding opinions on promoting the high-quality development of the hand-pulled noodle industry, pushing forward the construction of demonstration stores with unified decoration, clothing, and shop signs, and pushing forward the "three stores in one" integration of hand-pulled noodle shops, specialty agricultural and livestock product exhibition-and-sales stores, and "Great Beauty Qinghai" promotional stores. Organic green agricultural and livestock products such as Qaidam black goji berries, yak beef jerky, and Qinghai yogurt entered the storefronts, attracting diners to "buy along the way." Since last year, Qinghai hand-pulled noodle shops across the country have undergone large-scale complete transformations (改头换面, gai tou huan mian - "change, head, exchange, face").

Brand segmentation: build a "public brand + enterprise brand" coordinated development pattern.

"When I first hung up this sign 10 years ago, daily turnover was not very good." Walking into the Benmu Qinghai Beef Hand-Pulled Noodle shop in Zhengzhou, Henan, person in charge Ma Muhai said, but he gritted his teeth and persevered: "Good hand-pulled noodles will definitely win market recognition." At present, Benmu Qinghai Beef Hand-Pulled Noodles has opened multiple stores in Henan.

"We encourage noodle shops to adopt a dual-brand model, launching regionally recognizable brands on the basis of the public brand 'Qinghai Hand-Pulled Noodles'—for example, highlighting the 'Benmu' brand in Henan and the 'Northwest Hand-Pulled Noodles' brand in Guangdong," Ma Liping introduced.

Big data support to help optimize store operations and brand building.

Inside the Digital Economy and Hand-Pulled Noodle Industry Data Development and Operations Base in Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong City, digital-human "noodle masters" on 50 computers were streaming live continuously. "Through live-streaming to draw traffic, the number of diners coming to the store this month increased by about one-third," introduced Ma Xiongwei, person in charge of a Qinghai hand-pulled noodle shop in Shenzhen, Guangdong. "I give the store's operating data to the base, and the base builds consumer profiles and helps me optimize marketing strategies. Based on the suggestions, we launched a 'yogurt + clear-broth beef noodles + braised egg' set meal, and it has been selling especially well recently."

Hualong is the hometown of Qinghai hand-pulled noodles. Noodle shops operated by people of Hualong origin currently number more than 20,000 nationwide. "The operating information from these stores flows back to form massive data resources, providing better support for the brand image and industry development of hand-pulled noodles," said Duan Dazhen, secretary of the Hualong County Party Committee.

A bowl of Qinghai hand-pulled noodles is wafting out new flavors and growing into a big industry.

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Page editors: Chen Juan, Yang Xiaoyu, Dong Wenxin

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China Southern Power Grid Accelerates Building of New-Type Power Grids to Help Build an Energy Powerhouse

On November 2, the 7th International Forum on New-Type Power Systems and the 22nd China Southern Power Grid International Technical Forum were held in Haikou, Hainan. With the theme "Advancing Toward the New, Powering a Green Future," the forum aimed to build a platform for learning from each other's experiences (经验互鉴, jing yan hu jian - "experience, mutual, learn from each other") and win-win cooperation, and to help advance the green and low-carbon energy transition. China Southern Power Grid has thoroughly implemented the new energy security strategy of "four revolutions, one cooperation," taking the construction of a new-type power grid as the driver, coordinating development and security, and comprehensively supporting major progress in the construction of new-type power systems. At present, new energy has leapt to become the largest installed power source in the southern region, non-fossil energy accounts for nearly 70 percent of installed capacity and more than half of electricity generation, the southern regional electricity market has moved into formal operation, digital grid construction is deepening and becoming more substantive, and a picture of a new-type power grid that is "greener in foundation, higher in efficiency, and firmer in security" is unfolding gradually (徐徐铺展, xu xu pu zhan - "slowly, slowly, spread out") across the southern region.

More "integrated"

The "six networks" synergize to unleash aggregated effects

The new-type power grid has wide-area connectivity; coordinated development with the water network, computing network, new-generation communications network, urban underground pipeline network, and logistics network will generate greater value aggregation gains. China Southern Power Grid has thoroughly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, using new-type power grid construction to promote the coordinated development of the "six networks," and has actively carried out demonstration explorations.

The new-type power grid and the water network highlight smart dispatch coordination. In the Beipanjiang River basin, China Southern Power Grid, relying on water network–power grid coordinated dispatch, smooths fluctuations in new energy output across multiple time scales and supports the efficient use of clean energy in the basin. In 2025, the water energy utilization rate in the Beipanjiang River basin will rise significantly, and clean energy generation will basically achieve full consumption.

The new-type power grid and the computing network highlight energy-saving and carbon-reduction coordination. Relying on the electricity-carbon-computing coordinated operations platform, China Southern Power Grid has implemented the country's first batch of electricity-carbon-computing matching transaction pilots, explored a new mechanism of two-way empowerment between "west-to-east power transmission" and "east-to-west computing resource deployment," and created the Guizhou model of electricity-carbon-computing coordination, which was selected into the country's first batch of landmark major application scenario project lists.

The new-type power grid and the new-generation communications network highlight digital interaction coordination. Guangzhou, Guangdong, innovatively built a "power supply + communications" mutual protection coordination model, helping achieve millisecond-level low-latency direct acquisition and direct control for the "four observables"—observable, measurable, adjustable, and controllable—dispatch of photovoltaics. At the same time, the "space-air-ground integrated" emergency communications support project will further enhance network resilience under extreme conditions.

The new-type power grid and the urban underground pipeline network highlight urban renewal coordination. China Southern Power Grid has deeply participated in the planning and construction of Guangzhou's urban utility tunnels, advanced the intensive co-construction and sharing of power grids and underground utility tunnels, completed a cumulative 340 kilometers of cables laid in tunnels, connected more than 35 substations, and deployed supporting smart sensing, intelligent inspection, and digital management systems, achieving integrated layout of power grid facilities and urban utility tunnels.

The new-type power grid and the logistics network highlight transportation-energy integration coordination. In Hainan, China Southern Power Grid is exploring a new path of two-way coupling between the island's new-type power grid and the logistics network. Hainan Power Grid, centering on "determining sites by transport capacity, reducing risks through model innovation, and gathering ecosystems through platforms," is driving rapid growth in the battery charging and swapping business, providing a replicable practical sample for the green transformation of heavy trucks in domestic island economies and port cluster regions.

The period of the 15th Five-Year Plan and a period thereafter is a key stage in which the coordination of the "six networks" moves from demonstration exploration to scale replication, and from single-point breakthroughs to systematic integration. China Southern Power Grid will take technical consensus as the core, scenario co-construction as the lever, and mechanism building as the guarantee, focus on coordination priorities such as top-level planning, operation and dispatch, and market formats, deepen work on the direction of coordination between the power grid and other networks, arrange and build a batch of landmark demonstration projects in echelon, and accelerate the creation of modern infrastructure integration innovation practice models covering key cities, parks, and industrial clusters in the five southern provinces and regions.

More "robust"

"Main grid, distribution grid, microgrid" coordination builds a solid foundation for the new-type power grid

The rapid climb in new energy installed capacity has made green power consumption an urgent practical issue to be solved. During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the share of new energy installed capacity in the five southern provinces and regions rose from 15 percent in 2020 to 39 percent in 2025, with wind and solar new energy installed capacity increasing by more than 200 million kilowatts, and the 14th Five-Year Plan target of adding 100 million kilowatts was completed a year and a half ahead of schedule; new energy has leapt to become the largest installed power source in the southern region. By 2030, new energy installed capacity in the southern region is expected to reach 500 million kilowatts (including outside the region), the share of non-fossil energy electricity is expected to reach 64 percent, and the share of electricity in end-use energy consumption is expected to reach 38 percent.

The key to solving green power consumption lies in new-type power grid construction. As the core hub for building new-type power systems, the new-type power grid is the platform carrier where power energy flows, information flows, and value flows converge and circulate. China Southern Power Grid will, through systematic reshaping of layout, structure, and functions, comprehensively enhance the power system's capacity to absorb, allocate, and regulate clean energy, so that more green power can "be generated, transmitted, and used well."

During the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China Southern Power Grid will arrange investment of nearly one trillion yuan, advance in an integrated manner the coordinated development of the flexible main grid, resilient distribution grid, and elastic microgrid—the "main grid, distribution grid, microgrid"—and coordinate the combined efforts of new architecture, new technologies, and new services, striving to initially complete the new-type power grid by 2030.

The main grid is the backbone network of the new-type power grid, bearing the responsibility for long-distance power transmission and cross-regional mutual assistance. China Southern Power Grid will focus on deepening west-to-east power transmission and expanding north-to-south power transmission, coordinate the planning and construction of the trunk power grid, strengthen the flexible interconnection functions of the large AC-DC integrated grid, and promote the optimized allocation of power resources over a larger scope. It will accelerate the full connection of major green power transmission corridors and build projects such as the Tibet-Guangdong DC project. The Tibet-Guangdong DC project relies on the abundant photovoltaic, hydropower, and wind power resources of southeastern Tibet; 100 percent of the transmitted power is clean energy. After it is put into operation, it can transmit more than 43 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area each year, equivalent to replacing about 12 million tons of standard coal consumption and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 33 million tons.

The distribution grid connects the main grid above and users below, and directly bears on power supply quality and new energy consumption capacity. By 2030, China Southern Power Grid will initially complete a new-type distribution system that is safe and efficient, clean and low-carbon, flexible and agile, and smart and integrated; the average customer outage time (medium voltage) will strive to fall to 3.5 hours; it will support new load development demand of more than 100 million kilowatts and meet the grid connection needs of more than 50 million kilowatts of new distributed new energy, and will take the lead in building the basic form of a new-type distribution system in areas with high penetration of distributed new energy.

The microgrid is close to end users and is the smallest unit with self-balancing, self-regulation, and self-security, playing an important role in reinforcing the balance capacity at the end of the power grid. China Southern Power Grid will focus on the three major scenarios of grid endpoints, parks, and villages and towns, and, following the "demonstration—standardization—promotion" strategy, advance the construction and grid connection of a batch of smart microgrids, creating models of distribution-microgrid coordination.

China Southern Power Grid's new-type power grid construction has achieved a series of landmark results, and the characteristics of the new-type power system in the southern region are increasingly evident. By 2030, China Southern Power Grid will initially complete a new-type power grid that is safe and reliable, green and low-carbon, strong and resilient, and smart and flexible; the coordination effectiveness of the "main grid, distribution grid, microgrid" will be significantly enhanced; the power supply guarantee capacity and the power grid's capacity to optimize the allocation of resources will continue to improve; and newly added clean energy electricity will gradually cover the newly added electricity consumption of the whole society. A new-type power grid will support the construction of the new-type power system in the southern region, help achieve the carbon peak target on schedule, inject strong momentum into the building of a new energy system and an energy powerhouse, and better serve the high-quality development of the economy and society in the five southern provinces and regions and the Hong Kong and Macao regions.

Data source: China Southern Power Grid

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Uphold a Shared Market and Expand Opening-Up and Cooperation

By: 本报记者 齐志明 陆凡冰

Gathering fine products from the five continents, bringing together guests and friends from the four seas. On November 5, the Ninth China International Import Expo opened in Shanghai. With 162 countries, regions, and international organizations participating, 4,142 overseas enterprises exhibiting, and the overall exhibition area exceeding 440,000 square meters for the first time, the Expo tightly connects high-quality global supply with China's super-large market.

Inside the exhibition halls, people come and go; each new product, each handshake, each order transmits a clear signal: China's huge market is becoming a huge market shared by the world.

Innovation momentum accelerates its gathering

A batch of cutting-edge achievements that empower industries and benefit people's livelihoods are showcased in a concentrated manner

Split-type endoscopic surgical robots, 6G terminal prototype devices, water treatment systems capable of simultaneous softening and mineralization... On the first day of the exhibition, novelty filled the air and the scene was brilliant and varied (精彩纷呈, jing cai fen cheng - "splendid, colorful; magnificent, diverse"), as global cutting-edge achievements vied to complete their debuts and first shows, leaving people dazzled.

In the medical devices and pharmaceutical health exhibition area, Merck Healthcare brought 16 innovative products covering the fields of cardiovascular metabolism, oncology, rare diseases, and assisted reproduction, and systematically displayed its full value-chain layout with "ecological co-construction" as the key, attracting many people to observe and inquire. "With the help of the Expo, we continue to bring global innovative products into China, accelerate deep collaboration with relevant Chinese enterprises, open up cooperation in every link of the value chain, and accelerate bringing more medicines to more patients, benefiting people's health," said Mu Ande, Managing Director of Merck China Healthcare.

The Eli Lilly booth concentratedly displayed its cutting-edge achievements in fields such as cardiovascular metabolism, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology. From the Mounjaro injection already approved in China to new drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, these drew considerable attention. "The Expo lets global innovative achievements meet Chinese demand faster. We will join hands with all parties to translate more scientific breakthroughs into health outcomes accessible to patients, and contribute to accelerating the advancement of Healthy China," stated De Hulan, Vice President of Eli Lilly Group and General Manager of Eli Lilly China.

The AI (artificial intelligence) + sample aliquoting, extraction, and purification workstation making its debut, the targeted APC hemophilia non-factor investigational drug SR604... Not far away, the booth of Yingkang Life was quite popular; this year the company brought more than 40 innovative achievements, with a debut and first-show rate exceeding 60 percent. "The Expo connects global wisdom with Chinese demand through high-level opening up. We will join hands with global partners to accelerate the transformation of innovative achievements and better meet the people's demand for high-quality medical and health services," said Tan Lixia, Chairman of Yingkang Life.

In the automobiles and smart mobility exhibition area, the robots brought by Cool High Technology drew crowds of onlookers: a heavy-load quadruped robot steadily traversed simulated stairs and gravel terrain, while an urban operation robot autonomously identified garbage and completed road sweeping. The enterprise uses its self-developed dual-layer intelligent agent world model as the "brain," employing a "one brain, multiple forms" architecture to drive quadruped, wheeled, and other multi-form robot bodies, pushing urban embodied intelligence from technical verification toward real-scenario implementation. At present, its robots have been deployed and applied in dozens of countries and regions.

At this year's Expo, representative exhibits making their global debut, Asian premiere, or China premiere exceeded 480 items, a new high over previous years. A batch of cutting-edge achievements that empower industries and benefit people's livelihoods are showcased in a concentrated manner, and innovation momentum accelerates its gathering.

The bond of cooperation is tied ever tighter

It is both a "debut stage" and a "matchmaking stage"

On the afternoon of the 5th, China Co-op Group organized multiple member enterprises for centralized signing. China National Agricultural Means of Production Group deepened potash fertilizer cooperation with enterprises such as BHP, China National Cotton Group signed a three-year agreement for 300,000 tons of cotton with Louis Dreyfus and Cargill, and Co-op Grain and Oil and Co-op Cold Chain brought high-quality grain and imported beef to Chinese dining tables. "The Expo opens a window for agriculture-related enterprises to connect with global resources, ensuring the supply of agricultural materials while enriching the supplies available to the people," said Liu Yong, Deputy General Manager of China Co-op Group.

The Expo is both a "debut stage" and a "matchmaking stage." On the first day of the exhibition, major deals were successively concluded, cooperation accelerated its implementation, and pragmatic cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises advanced in depth.

China Energy Engineering Corporation has participated for nine consecutive years, with cumulative intended procurement amounting to nearly 14 billion US dollars; this year it again signed procurement agreements exceeding 1.6 billion US dollars, its "shopping cart" packed full. "The Expo is an important window connecting the two markets of domestic and international, and a globally shared international public good," introduced Ni Zhen, Party Secretary and Chairman of China Energy Engineering Corporation. This year, companies affiliated with the enterprise signed procurement agreements with enterprises from Germany, Italy, the United States, and other countries, among which the gas turbine equipment procured from Siemens will be put into use in a power station project in the United Arab Emirates.

Beyond the booths, an "invisible production and supply chain" is also growing. On the opening day, Meituan Healthcare, together with more than 10 globally renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Pfizer, and Eisai, and leading chain pharmacies such as Yifeng and Dashenlin, formally established the "New and Specialty Drugs Debut Alliance," which will further open up the "last kilometer" of innovative drugs outside hospitals and effectively enhance the accessibility of medicines within the "15-minute life circle." The alliance aims to link up all parties in the industry to jointly build a broadly covering debut network for innovative and specialty drugs, and improve the supply coordination efficiency during the launch period of new products. "Instant retail lets good medicines reach patients faster, and also extends the Expo's achievements from the booth into daily life," stated Wu Jiani, head of the instant retail business of Meituan Healthcare Business Unit.

At this year's Expo, various departments and localities coordinated and linked up, with more than 40 trading delegations and more than 600 trading sub-delegations attending to observe and procure, making the event's "sharing" attribute more pronounced. Exhibits become commodities, exhibitors become investors—this bears witness to the strong momentum the Expo injects into promoting high-level opening up.

Two-way engagement to share opportunities

Providing more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities

Organon, participating for the fifth year, focused on cardiovascular health and other areas, concentratedly displaying classic original research products covering disease fields such as cardiovascular, respiratory, dermatology, pain, and women's health. "As an old friend of the Expo, we deeply feel the sustained momentum released by this platform. China's continuously upgrading medical and health needs, its continuously improving medical service system, and its vibrant innovation ecosystem have created important opportunities for our long-term development," said Wu Zefa, a relevant person in charge of Organon.

By hosting the Expo, China proactively opens its arms wide, providing the world with more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities. The Expo's opening effect continues to manifest, and its spillover effect continues to be released, enabling more multinational enterprises to share the opportunities of China's huge market.

Only by understanding China can one take root in China. At the China Pavilion, in front of the "AI Ask-and-Search" interactive experience device set up at the Xiaohongshu booth, visitors lined up in long queues. Upon inputting "How to take parents sightseeing in Shanghai on the weekend," what the screen gave was not a standard guide, but a large amount of real sharing from users—which route is more suitable for the elderly, which local Shanghai cuisine restaurant has lighter flavors, and what time period has fewer crowds at the Bund. "With the help of AI technology and the content platform, overseas brands will better understand the segmented needs of Chinese consumers when entering the Chinese market, making it easier for enterprises to provide high-quality products and services that better match supply and demand," introduced a staff member at the Xiaohongshu booth.

In the trade in services exhibition area, Kuaishou E-commerce turned its booth into a "shelf that can broadcast": the influencer livestream room, brand broadcast area, brand product exhibition area, and new merchant exchange area are connected into one circulation route. Nutritional products from the Netherlands, specialty foods from Australia, beauty products from the United Kingdom... These imported goods are explained clearly, seen clearly, and sold through livestreaming. "Benefiting from the Expo effect, we are stepping up efforts to introduce more quality goods to better meet people's personalized and diversified consumption upgrading needs," said the person in charge of the national exhibition project of Kuaishou E-commerce Marketing.

VOSS, with two products—imported natural spring water and sparkling water from Norway—appeared for the third time at the booth of the Norway National Pavilion. "Through the Expo, Norway's high-quality packaged water is drawing ever closer to the lives of Chinese consumers, and the company's products are extending into more quality consumption scenarios in China," stated Huang Yusheng, a relevant person in charge of VOSS.

Walking through the major exhibition areas, "China opportunities" is a high-frequency phrase spoken by exhibitors. Appearing at the Expo for the eighth year, Boston Scientific this year brought 100 innovative products, of which 9 made their debut and first show, realizing the side-by-side display of global cutting-edge technology and China's local innovation. "The Chinese market has long surpassed sales and application, becoming an important market integrating local R&D, high-end manufacturing, clinical cooperation, and open innovation. We are willing to combine our global strengths with China's strengths, continuously break new ground in open cooperation, and let innovative achievements benefit more patients," said Zhang Jun, a relevant person in charge of Boston Scientific.

Connecting China and the world, the Expo gives full play to the role of the four major platforms of international procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people and cultural exchange, and open cooperation, becoming a globally shared international public good, promoting the building of an open world economy, and letting win-win cooperation benefit the world.

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CIIE Stage Continues to Write Splendid Chapters (Editor's Observation)

By: 卢 涛

Cream pineapples from Benin, saffron from Afghanistan... On the first day of the 9th China International Import Expo, walking into the Asia-Africa Products Zone of the Agricultural and Food Products Exhibition Area, exhibits of every kind were dazzling to the eye. This year, the Asia-Africa Products Zone was further upgraded, and the area of free exhibition booths provided to least developed countries increased by 17 percent. More African enterprises brought distinctive products, turning the dividends of the zero-tariff policy into trade opportunities.

Walking through the "Four-Leaf Clover," one could see that the enterprises' exhibition had been upgraded in degree of specialization, with globally debuted and first-shown exhibits displayed in a concentrated manner; the country exhibitions were distinctive in character with rich activities; and the scene of people-to-people and cultural exchange activities was bustling with excitement. Friends and guests from all over the world arrived as promised, gathering on the CIIE stage to jointly write another brilliant chapter.

Here, one feels the vitality of openness. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes "expanding high-standard opening up and opening up new prospects for win-win cooperation." From Fortune Global 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises to overseas small and medium-sized traders, from the "full-attendance" veterans of all nine CIIEs to the "new faces" exhibiting for the first time, from high-tech equipment to traditional national brands — enterprises of different types and products from all over the world can all, through this "estuary" that is the CIIE, flow into the great sea of China's economy and seek opportunities in our country's super-large-scale market. The first eight CIIEs cumulatively attracted 27,000 exhibitor-visits by overseas exhibitors to the enterprises' exhibition, with cumulative intended transaction volume exceeding 580 billion US dollars; openness commitments have been translated into visible order volumes and increments of development.

Here, one listens to the pulse of cooperation. The first eight CIIEs cumulatively released more than 3,400 new products, new technologies, and new services, stimulating new vitality in the consumer market. Introducing customs clearance facilitation measures, establishing a "6 days + 365 days" year-round exhibition and sales mechanism, and building online trade channels — a series of measures have promoted the transformation of large numbers of exhibits into commodities, bringing numerous new products, trendy products, and hit products into the Chinese market. At the same time, the spillover effect of the CIIE has continued to amplify; more and more exhibitors have taken root in China and increased their investment, building multinational company headquarters, regional R&D centers, and the like, injecting momentum into high-quality development.

Here, one understands the bonds between peoples. Saf and Tang He, a couple from Bangladesh, have, through the CIIE, driven the sales of distinctive jute handicrafts, improving the lives of thousands of impoverished women. There are many more CIIE stories like this; with the help of this international public good shared by the world, the common aspiration of the people of all countries to pursue a better life is accelerating into reality. At this year's CIIE, more than 1,300 institutions participated in the display of people-to-people and cultural exchange activities; visitors can appreciate intangible cultural heritage from various places, view the folk customs of many countries, and taste world cuisines, enhancing understanding and deepening friendship through mutual learning among civilizations.

"China's market is so big — everyone is welcome to come and take a look." The CIIE is getting better and better with each holding, conveying our country's firm determination to walk hand in hand with the world and pursue mutual benefit and win-win results, and bearing witness to the fact that China, steadily advancing toward modernization, is injecting more stability and positive energy into the world.

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'Being a Companion for Consumers' Better Lives' (Exploring the CIIE)

By: 本报记者 王东辉

Diglyceride oil, grain and miscellaneous grain rice balls, Shuxin vinegar... As a "full-attendance" participant at all nine editions of the China International Import Expo, Yihai Kerry Arawana, a company under Wilmar International, showcased in a concentrated manner various new products developed in recent years, following current trends (顺应潮流, shun ying chao liu - "follow, adapt, trend, current") in healthy consumption.

Focusing on consumers' pursuit of "eating healthily," Yihai Kerry Arawana has built a big-health product matrix and integrated it into consumers' daily lives. "In the past, enterprises researched and produced blended oil to achieve nutritional balance; now, against the backdrop of shifting market demand, we use science and technology to empower our products and extend their connotation to 'safe, nutritious, healthy,'" introduced Jiang Yuanrong, director of the company's public affairs department. "Making consumers' dining tables healthier is the company's wish; we are willing to be companions to consumers in their pursuit of a better life."

Leveraging the platform built by the Import Expo, Yihai Kerry Arawana successfully signed quite a few orders. Jiang Yuanrong introduced that, on the one hand, high-quality and diverse agricultural products from around the world enter the Chinese market through the Import Expo, enriching domestic supply for healthy consumption; on the other hand, through industrial cooperation, Chinese enterprises bring advanced models and high-quality products to the world.

In the consumer goods exhibition area, the display cabinet of the Swiss company Wild features six different kinds of toothpaste, attracting passing visitors to stop. "The Import Expo allows us to interact directly with consumers," said company vice president Christopher, adding that China's market demand is vast and diverse, and the country is committed to creating a sound business environment, so the company is very confident about developing in the Chinese market.

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Bringing More Good Fruit to Chinese Consumers

By: 本报记者 王崟欣

Entering the agricultural and food products exhibition area, the air is filled with a rich fruity aroma. Inside glass cases, New Zealand kiwifruit are neatly arranged; on display stands, bananas of different varieties and countries of origin attract visitors who line up to taste them...

A white jade pearl durian from Penang, Malaysia, has become a star product. "Its creamy white flesh and plump shape are what make it distinctive," introduced Xia Xianlin, customer director of Joy Wing Mau Chile Co., Ltd.

"This is a global debut product we specially brought to the CIIE this year, and we hope to use the CIIE's spillover effect to bring this product to China," Xia Xianlin said.

Staff set up stands at the CIIE site and began livestreaming. Kiwifruit, jackfruit, bananas... the sounds of hawking rose one after another, creating a lively scene.

Having participated in the CIIE for nine consecutive years, Goodfarmer Group is committed to bringing the world's fine fruits to China. This year, Goodfarmer Group likewise brought two debut new products to the CIIE: a Magic Star apple with a deep red surface color, and a Peruvian organic banana with a rich banana aroma.

"Last year, the organic blueberries debuted at the CIIE, and their sales have continued to grow since the start of this year," introduced Zhou Houxiang, general manager of pineapple products at Goodfarmer Group. "The CIIE is a valuable display window and cooperation platform. We want to bring more fine fruits to Chinese consumers, and also let ourselves be seen by the Chinese market."

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Page editors: Lü Zhongzheng, Wu Kai, Han Wenrong

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Gathering at the "Four-Leaf Clover" to Open Up New Opportunities

By: 本报记者 姜泓冰

On the afternoon of November 5, at the central circular plaza of the "Four-Leaf Clover" of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), ethnic songs and dances, opera performances, instrumental music performances, and costume shows from various provinces across the country as well as from Canada, Spain, Kazakhstan, and other countries were staged in succession. Bright and colorful costumes, melodies diverse yet equally beautiful and moving, smiling faces and repeated "hello"s... The "CIIE Cultural and Art Gathering" event, which uses art to connect Chinese and foreign civilizations, is like a gathering of old friends year after year, and together with the economic and trade activities of the CIIE, it continuously conveys to the world China's voice of openness, inclusiveness, and seeking harmony among all cultures (美美与共, mei mei yu gong - "beautiful, beautiful, and, together").

On the opening day of the Ninth China International Import Expo, most of the visitors entering the exhibition halls were experts in the know who understood how to "read the underlying logic." It is worth noting that this year the teams taking part in "group visits" along specialized routes increased noticeably. For example, following the route through the medical equipment and healthcare exhibition area, one can visit the booths of global medical giants one by one, listen to staff explain in detail the mysteries of cutting-edge technologies such as surgical robots, artificial intelligence imaging, and brain-computer interfaces, and some can even try them out firsthand; the specialized and "aloof" route through the trade in services exhibition area integrates enterprises in exhibition and business travel, logistics and supply chains, finance, and professional services, making it easier to transform intangible services into perceptible business connections.

Jin Fangqian, Global Vice President and General Manager of China Region of the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, together with a robot, led visitors on a tour of the 500-square-meter booth and introduced the latest progress of "CIIE babies" that have moved from "exhibits" to clinical use. "What I feel most deeply at the CIIE is the opportunities released by China's continued expansion of high-level opening up and encouragement of pharmaceutical innovation," Jin Fangqian said. For Gilead Sciences, the CIIE is both a window for displaying the world's cutting-edge innovation achievements and an important platform connecting innovation, cooperation, and demand.

"In China, enter new tracks." Under this prominent theme slogan in the innovation incubation zone, you can encounter small and medium-sized enterprises and innovative technology products from all over the world, sometimes even just small startup teams carrying good ideas and good technology products. Italy's Livorsi Group joined hands with China's EGO Group to organize 10 Italian science and technology innovation enterprises to make their debut at the CIIE. A person in charge of Livorsi Group said: "We are optimistic about China's industrial manufacturing capabilities and sound industrial ecosystem, and hope to work together to turn good technology into good products and benefit the whole world."

There are giants and there are startups, there are old friends and there are new friends, there are first launches and first shows, there are closed loops of the ecosystem chain, larger in scale, more professional, and newer in form — "the new era, sharing the future," beginning with unwavering openness and cooperation, and achieved through solid effort and sustained, long-term effort.

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CIIE's Circle of Friends Expands Again

By: 本报记者 季觉苏

A few raw-wood chairs stand at the entrance of the exhibition hall; visitors come and go, and only on closer look do they discover the ingenuity hidden within: change the angle, and the shapes of the chairs spell out the word "CANADA."

On the opening day of the Ninth China International Import Expo, inside the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the booths of 69 countries and international organizations each present their own distinctive character, presenting an overwhelming array of things to see (目不暇接, mu bu xia jie - "eye, not, able to receive").

The Canada Pavilion takes raw-wood tones as its main color scheme, with woods of varying shades joined together to create rich layers. "We have used many kinds of wood, hoping through the element of wood to showcase Canada's natural resources and design characteristics," introduced a staff member of the pavilion.

Following the fragrance of tea, one arrives at the Sri Lanka Pavilion. Ceylon black tea, spices, coconut products and other specialty products are out in a profusion of beautiful things (琳琅满目, lin lang man mu - "bright, jade, fill, eye"). Mangala Wijesinghe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, said that participating in the CIIE provides an important opportunity for his country to display specialty products and expand cooperation. "We hope to integrate into China's industrial chain," said Wijesinghe. In addition to traditional tea, rubber products, and gems and jewelry, Sri Lanka also looks forward to deeper cooperation with Chinese enterprises in fields such as home appliances, information and communications, and electronics and electricals.

Walking into the Serbia Pavilion, the tall exhibition walls on both sides are divided into individual square compartments filled with all kinds of toys, making one feel as if entering a fairy-tale world. "Without play, there would be no science, no art, and in the final analysis, no business either," said Danijel Nikolić, a Serbian exhibitor. Serbia has participated in nine consecutive CIIEs, and hopes that by telling cultural stories, the peoples of the two countries will deepen mutual understanding and build connections.

Old friends arrived as promised, and new friends keep joining. In the Country Exhibition of this year's CIIE, five countries—Moldova, Romania, Seychelles, Gabon, and Somalia—along with the United Nations Development Programme are participating for the first time. Moldova, making its debut, has brought specialty wines and agricultural products, hoping to connect with Chinese buyers; Romania hopes, through its national pavilion display, to help more of its enterprises enter the Chinese market.

The China Pavilion, located in the middle of the Country Exhibition, likewise draws visitors to stop. Humanoid robots deftly brew tea drinks; cross-border e-commerce enterprises display technological applications in which robots identify and authenticate goods; and models of the domestically built large cruise ships "Adora Magic City" and "Adora Flora City" are also on display here.

Different languages, cultures, and products converge here, building a broad stage for countries around the world to enhance exchanges and share the opportunities of China's vast market.

(Luo Dan and Yang Zi participated in the reporting and writing)

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Invisible Exhibits, Visible Services

By: 本报记者 王崟欣

In the trade in services exhibition area of this year's China International Import Expo, concrete products are almost nowhere to be seen, yet negotiations, launches, and debut promotions are likewise extremely lively and bustling (热闹非凡, re nao fei fan - "noisy, not ordinary").

Dun & Bradstreet: this company provides the world's enterprises with a unique identity code — the "D-U-N-S Number." "As a global data- and analytics-driven decision empowerment institution, we hope that through the CIIE we can bring global data service capabilities to Chinese enterprises, and also help Chinese enterprises go global," introduced Wu Guangyu, president of Dun & Bradstreet China.

This year, at Dun & Bradstreet's booth, a newly developed intelligent open platform is about to make its Asian debut. "This is an AI decision-making infrastructure we have launched to adapt to the current AI (artificial intelligence) era, and we hope to use the CIIE platform to amplify its influence," Wu Guangyu introduced. Unlike the traditional model of the past, in which one "searches for one item and obtains one item," now, whether enterprises build their own agents or use mainstream domestic AI platforms, all can call the data services provided by Dun & Bradstreet.

"Participating in the CIIE for the seventh year, we have new gains every year," Wu Guangyu said. At last year's CIIE, Dun & Bradstreet signed a strategic cooperation with the Management Committee of the Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Cross-border Data Technology Co., Ltd., centering on the need to build a "global commercial data service platform for Chinese enterprises going global" and introducing Dun & Bradstreet's professional data capabilities. "The project has achieved phased results, and at this year's CIIE we also specifically held a report on the phased results."

Informa Exhibitions Group is an exhibition organizer with business across the globe. "We have participated in the CIIE many times, and our connection with the Chinese market is growing deeper and deeper." Zhang Yue, business development manager of Informa Exhibitions Group, spread out a special booth map: an irregularly shaped stage, booths of various colors, an exchange area, a music experience area... "As one of the exhibitors in the trade in services exhibition area of the CIIE, we continue to build more platforms for exchange and cooperation, supply-demand matching, and open sharing for the Chinese market," Zhang Yue said. "As soon as the CIIE ends, we will hold the 2026 Hongqiao International Science and Technology Week in Shanghai, and will bring global technology companies and investors to Shanghai, into Shanghai, for in-depth exchanges with Shanghai's technology companies."

At the same time, Informa will expand more business, including organizing Chinese enterprise delegations to exhibit overseas and providing services for going global.

Just as they were speaking, a participant from SF Express stepped forward and asked whether there was an exhibition in the logistics industry. Business cards were exchanged, and a new cooperation thus sprouted.

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Bringing More Cutting-Edge Technologies into Practical Application

By: 本报记者 姜泓冰

High density of multinational famous enterprises, high content of cutting-edge innovative technology… the medical equipment and pharmaceutical and health care exhibition area has always been one of the widely noticed (备受关注, bei shou guan zhu - "receive, endure, attention, concern") "star" exhibition areas at the China International Import Expo. On the opening day of this year's expo, walking into this exhibition area was like a "reunion of old friends" of global medical brands.

The Siemens Healthineers booth, which has unveiled "big items" every year, this year launched the China debut of the world's first photon-counting CT-guided PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) solution, the Asian premiere and first exhibition of the world's first native AI (artificial intelligence) spectral angiography system, and the global premiere of an intelligent ring radiotherapy platform that can increase the precision conformal capability of radiation in tumor treatment by 5 times and increase the speed of radiotherapy planning by 50 percent, as well as nearly 20 other new products.

"Over the past 9 years, Siemens Healthineers has cumulatively exhibited more than 200 innovative products and solutions at the expo, of which about 85 percent have been approved for marketing in China and about 60 percent have achieved local production," said Wang Hao, a member of the Global Leadership Committee of Siemens Healthineers. Siemens Healthineers will continue to transform the debut achievements of the expo into implementable and replicable local solutions, contributing to the building of a Healthy China.

Doctors buried themselves in front of screens, operating meticulously; several robotic arms nearby performed surgical movements, nimble and precise. At the booth of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd., the China debut of the thoracoabdominal endoscopic surgical control system "Da Vinci 5" was unveiled, drawing onlookers and admiration from time to time. From its first appearance at the inaugural expo to its launch in China in 2019, the growth course of the Da Vinci surgical robot is precisely a vivid microcosm (生动缩影, sheng dong suo ying - "vivid, miniature, reflection") of the spillover effect of the expo.

"The expo is a big stage for enterprises to explore the two-way integrated development of global innovation and Chinese practice," introduced Chen Yuqing, chairman of Fosun Pharma. Artesunate for injection produced by Fosun Pharma has treated more than 92 million patients with severe malaria, and the independently developed PD-1 serplulimab and trastuzumab have both been approved for marketing in more than 50 countries and regions around the world. "We have walked all the way together with the expo, using it to connect global innovation resources and deeply cultivate the Chinese market. We believe that the continued expansion of opening up during the 15th Five-Year Plan period will bring more cooperation opportunities."

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Open a Broader Market with a Cup of Coffee

By: 本报记者 王崟欣

"Would you like a cup of coffee? A CIIE special blend."

This year, the CIIE has set up a coffee activity area for the first time. In the agricultural and food products exhibition area, the "Taste Coffee, Observe the World" international exchange series of activities, co-hosted by the China International Import Expo Bureau and the People's Government of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, attracted the attention of many participants.

A single coffee bean extends into an industrial chain covering green bean cultivation, cross-border trade, roasting and processing, equipment research and development, brand terminal consumption, and other links. With coffee as the bond, the coffee activity area aims to present the global coffee industry chain ecosystem, build a bridge for dialogue between global producing regions and the Chinese market, and promote the transformation of more exhibits into commodities and more exhibitors into investors.

The domestic coffee brand Saturnbird was invited to this year's CIIE, displaying its Airship intelligent coffee output system and setting up a coffee-making area. "Making friends through coffee (以咖会友, yi ka hui you - "use coffee to meet friends"), coffee has a strong international character," said Zhang Gang, marketing head of Saturnbird Airship. "Around our making area there are exhibitors from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and other places; these countries are all new markets we want to expand into in the future, and we look forward to opening up a broader market with a cup of coffee."

Colombia's national brand LOK dark chocolate is participating in the CIIE for the sixth year. "In previous years our exhibits were only chocolate; this year we have brought more products — coffee beans, ice cream, baked goods," said Li Xiao, president of LOK dark chocolate China. "China has already become one of the fastest-growing markets in the global coffee market, with vigorous demand, so this year we have brought Colombia's newest and best coffee beans, hoping to gain the recognition of Chinese consumers."

Zuo Jiayi, a coffee roaster from New Zealand, brought coffee products made with the latest variable-temperature extraction, liquid nitrogen rapid granulation, and freeze-drying technologies. "No coffee machine is needed, nor any particularly exquisite skill; just take some processed coffee beans, add a little water, and you can taste the deeply extracted coffee flavor from a high-mountain estate in Panama." Zuo Jiayi was delighted to be able to participate in this year's CIIE: "The CIIE has friends from all over the world, and we also hope our new coffee products will gain more partners."

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Witnessing Chinese Design Going Global

By: 本报记者 田 泓

The brand's "three stripes" light band switches between red and white—the Adidas booth at this year's China International Import Expo takes "Three Stripes Moving Forward, Advancing Together with China" as its theme, expressing its determination to continue embracing "China Opportunity 2.0."

Adidas, attending the expo for the fifth time, has expanded its booth area from 300 square meters at the previous edition to 500 square meters. At the booth, the technological innovation, deep local cultivation, and Chinese design presented through the three main narrative lines of "Glory, Growth, Aesthetics" are precisely a reflection of Adidas's development path in China in recent years.

At the 20th Asian Games held in October this year, the Chinese women's volleyball team members wore Adidas "Cold Plum Blossom Reflects the Dragon" competition uniforms, attracting global attention. During the "Su Super League" tournament, as an official strategic partner, Adidas custom-made to specific requirements (量身定制, liang shen ding zhi - "measure body, customize") competition uniforms and training equipment for 13 city teams under the "one city, one outfit" approach. These competition uniforms and equipment also appeared as exhibits at the booth, bearing witness to the enterprise's highlight moments of growing together with China's competitive sports and national fitness.

At last year's expo, Adidas exhibited a Chinese-style jacket that integrated traditional Chinese clothing elements such as frog buttons and mandarin collars with the classic three-stripe design, which became a globally popular hit. It sold 12,000 units within 27 minutes of launching in the North American market, and even spurred overseas tourists to come to China for reverse daigou purchasing. "This confirms the expo's unique spillover effect and the penetrating power of Chinese culture," said Bjørn Gulden, global CEO of Adidas.

At this year's expo, Adidas will also join hands with the China Children and Teenagers' Fund to jointly hold the signing and donation ceremony for the second phase of the "Fulfilling Dreams for the Future · Infinite Possibilities" public welfare project.

Currently, more than 65% of the products Adidas sells in China are designed by local teams, 95% are made in China, and 25% of locally designed products are sold globally. "We are full of confidence in the Chinese market, and this confidence will not change," said Bjørn Gulden.

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Safeguarding Health with Innovative Technology

By: 本报记者 沈文敏

On the opening day of this year's China International Import Expo, in the agricultural and food products exhibition area, the Danone booth—returning for a ninth consecutive year—became a popular photo spot. This year, Danone presented more than 150 innovative products in a concentrated display, including 9 new products making their global or national debut, using robust nutritional technology to deliver health protection solutions across the entire life cycle.

In the maternal and infant section of the booth, many visitors stopped to examine the formulas of new products in detail and inquire about suitable use scenarios. The globally debuted Neocate Syneo liquid formula, custom-made for specific needs (量身打造, liang shen da zao - "measure body, create") for Chinese babies, completed the leap from an import expo exhibit to a domestic consumer good, suited to the physical constitution of Chinese infants and young children as they grow, and its convenient and scientific feeding method drew praise from many visitors. The simultaneously debuted Neocate HMO nutritional formula specifically addresses the difficult problem of catch-up growth in infants and young children; the first-showing Aptamil Platinum relies on proprietary self-protection nutritional technology to suit the needs of mixed-feeding babies... A range of customized nutritional products won fans with their robust formulas.

In addition, Danone's nutritional technology for all age groups was on display, covering diverse scenarios such as general health maintenance, patient rehabilitation, and everyday beverages. The patented Akk strain technology making its on-site debut focuses on intestinal metabolic health and meets the current public demand for everyday health maintenance; the professional medical Shqiang enteral nutrition suspension helps post-operative patients recover. In the beverage experience area nearby, new products such as winter-limited-edition Mizone and YouC Manyi let visitors directly experience nutritional innovation on the tip of the tongue.

Behind the eye-catching new products is localized scientific research strength deeply cultivated in China. Relying on the newly upgraded Shanghai R&D Innovation Center, the Wuxi smart factory, and the Wuhan 5G aseptic production line, Danone has built a complete local industrial chain of "R&D—production—export," and multiple domestically produced nutritional products are exported overseas in large quantities.

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Page editors: Guan Xuanyue, Zhang Weihao, Zhai Qinqi

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Practice the "Four Persists" and Build a Team of Journalists Trusted by the Party and the People (Deeply Study and Implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

By: 中华全国新闻工作者协会党组

On November 7, 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping met with all the representatives of the Ninth Council of the All-China Journalists Association (hereinafter referred to as "the China Journalists Association") and the representatives of the winners of the China News Award and the Changjiang Taofen Award, and delivered an important speech (hereinafter referred to as the "11·7" important speech), fully affirming the achievements of the Party's news and public opinion work, putting forward the important requirement of the "Four Persists" for the broad ranks of journalists, and expressing the earnest hope that the China Journalists Association truly become the "home of journalists," thereby providing fundamental guidance for doing well the Party's news and public opinion work and strengthening the building of the news workforce.

Over the past 10 years, the national news and public opinion front has deeply studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, especially the spirit of the "11·7" important speech, and has studied and practiced earnestly (深学笃行, shen xue du xing - "deep study, earnest practice") around the "Four Persists," powerfully promoting the vigorous development of the news cause. On the new journey, we must further deepen our understanding of the laws governing the "Four Persists," forge an even more capable news workforce, and further gather the public opinion strength for strengthening the Party and the country.

Starting from a new point, deepen understanding of the "Four Persists" and further consolidate the ideological foundation for building the news workforce

The "Four Persists" are: persist in the correct political direction and be a journalist with firm politics; persist in the correct orientation of public opinion and be a journalist who leads the times; persist in correct journalistic aspirations and be a journalist with superb professional skills; and persist in the correct orientation of work and be a journalist with fine conduct. This is an important theoretical crystallization of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core leading news and public opinion work. With the rapid development of communication technologies, profound changes have taken place in the media landscape and the ecology of public opinion; the dominant position of traditional media in public opinion has been challenged, and the concepts, methods, and means of news and public opinion work urgently need to keep pace with the times. What kind of news workforce to build and how to build this news workforce have become major theoretical and practical questions urgently awaiting answers. Standing at the height of the overall work of the Party and the state, General Secretary Xi Jinping inherited the important ideas of classic Marxist writers on news work, summarized the historical experience of the Party in leading news and public opinion work and news workforce building, especially the fresh experience since the 18th Party Congress, and put forward the important requirement of the "Four Persists," enriching and developing the Marxist view of journalism. The "Four Persists" are rich in connotation and rigorous in logic; they carry on a tradition from generation to generation (一脉相承, yi mai xiang cheng - "one vein, inherit from") and are internally connected with General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the Party's news and public opinion work symposium and a series of new expositions and new requirements on the Party's news and public opinion work, and are a vivid unfolding of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, in the field of news and public opinion.

Clarifying the principles and requirements, and establishing the overall framework of "four in one" for building the news workforce. The "Four Persists" are full of earnest expectations and earnest entrustment for the broad ranks of journalists, and comprehensively and systematically explain our Party's standards and requirements for building the news workforce. The "Four Persists" correspond one-to-one "what principles to persist in" with "what kind of journalist to be." These four aspects are not separate items, but an interconnected and organically unified whole; they contain both fundamental requirements in political stance and specific standards in the practice of performing duties; they speak both of direction and orientation and of ability and conduct; in sum, they mean being journalists trusted by the Party and the people. The establishment of this target framework marks that our Party's understanding of the laws of news workforce building has reached a new height.

Clarifying functional positioning, and marking out the complete coordinates for journalists to establish themselves and practice their profession. From the work level, the correct political direction determines the nature and direction of news and public opinion work, and resolves the question of what banner to hold and what road to take; the correct orientation of public opinion embodies the orientation and tone of news and public opinion work, and resolves the question of how to guide and where to guide; correct journalistic aspirations concern the ability and level of news and public opinion work, and resolve the question of on what basis to perform duties and what skills to possess; the correct orientation of work affects the style and image of news and public opinion work, and resolves the question of whom to serve and what kind of person to be. From the level of workforce building, firm politics is the primary standard, casting the foundation of standing for journalists; leading the times is a distinctive marker, clarifying the direction of duty performance for journalists; superb professional skills are a necessary condition, consolidating the foundation for journalists to become talented; and fine conduct is an important guarantee, cultivating professional character for journalists. The four aspects each have their own emphasis and support one another, inspiring journalists to shoulder the heavy historical mission and responsibility of the times.

Consolidating the political foundation, and ensuring that the news workforce moves steadily and far in holding the banner and setting direction. In the "11·7" important speech, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To persist in the correct political direction, we must stand on the correct political stance." "We must use the Marxist view of journalism to look at problems and explain the world, both understanding the objective world and transforming the subjective world, and stand firm on the Party-spirit stance of news and public opinion work." General Secretary Xi Jinping also emphasized: "News and public opinion work is work that does orientation work; it must have correct orientation." "We must look at both the forest and the trees, and get clear the relationship between the forest and the trees." "Only when this relationship is clear can we properly handle the relationship between positive publicity and objective criticism, the relationship between the mainstream and the tributaries, and the relationship between the ten fingers and one finger." These important expositions speak both of how to view and of how to act, and profoundly reveal the extreme importance of the correct political direction and orientation of public opinion. For journalists, the question of direction and orientation is not an abstract principle, but is concretely embodied in the planning, interviewing, and writing of every report, and in the grasp of the timing, degree, and effect of every act of public opinion guidance. Only by internalizing the requirements of direction and orientation into conscious thought and conscious action can we ensure that the news workforce never loses its direction or deviates from its course at any time or under any circumstances.

Persisting in cultivating both virtue and ability, and using the "two-wheel drive" of ability and conduct to promote an overall leap in the quality of the news workforce. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Professional ability is very important. With good intentions and simple feelings, but unable to grasp the laws of news and lacking professional ability, the result is twice the effort for half the result. The professional ethics of practitioners are also very important; news and public opinion work must be regarded as a sacred mission." "Carry forward the professional spirit, strictly observe professional ethics, work diligently, and be willing to dedicate." These important expositions profoundly explain the internal relationship in which the improvement of ability and the tempering of conduct complement each other and neither can be neglected. For journalists, to improve ability, they must conform to the new trend of accelerated iteration of information technology and profound adjustment of the communication landscape, strengthen Internet thinking, master all-media skills, and become all-media-type and expert-type talent; to improve conduct, they must consciously practice the Party's mass line in the new era, go deep into the grassroots and deep among the masses, temper excellent footwork, eyesight, brainpower, and writing power, and strive to produce works with thought, warmth, and quality. Only by unifying ability and conduct, supporting conduct with ability and guaranteeing ability with conduct, can one become a journalist with firm politics, superb professional skills, and fine conduct, one whom the Party and the people can trust.

Deeply grasp the results and experience of practicing the "Four Persists" over the past 10 years, and focus on consolidating the practical foundation for building the news workforce

Over the past 10 years, the news and public opinion front has resolutely implemented the spirit of the "11·7" important speech, unified thinking with the "Four Orientations" requirements, and translated action into the "Four Dos" goals, further deepening understanding of the responsibilities, positioning, missions, and tasks of news and public opinion work. The news workforce has taken on a new atmosphere and demonstrated new actions, fully manifesting the enduring power of truth and the great practical power of the "11·7" important speech.

Theoretical arming has continued to deepen, and the conscious thought and conscious action of practicing the "Four Persists" have markedly strengthened. Over the past 10 years, all news units have taken the study of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on the Party's news and public opinion work as the top priority, and through methods such as study by the theoretical study center group of Party committees (Party groups), special discussions, centralized rotational training, and guided study at pre-editing meetings, have pushed study and implementation to continue to deepen and become more solid. Major central media and the Party newspapers and stations of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have implemented the "headline project," taking reporting well on General Secretary Xi Jinping and publicizing and explaining well Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the primary political task and the most important political responsibility, driving the broad ranks of journalists to build the foundation of faith in deep study and careful comprehension and to sharpen the will to take responsibility in earnest practice. Education in the Marxist view of journalism has continued to deepen, and online and offline education, practice, and training for the "home of journalists" academy have been innovatively carried out, so that the broad ranks of journalists have a deeper grasp of the internal laws of news and public opinion work. Persisting in applying what has been learned to practical work (学以致用, xue yi zhi yong - "learn to apply") and using application to promote learning, they have transformed the results of study into ideas for planning topics, the ability to grasp orientation, the skills to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, and the consciousness to improve conduct, promoting the "Four Persists" to produce results and take effect in the practice of news and public opinion work in the new era.

Having withstood tests in great battles and great examinations, the role of mainstream media at critical moments and in key fields has been fully manifested. Over the past 10 years, the news and public opinion front has turned the practical action of implementing the "Four Persists" into vivid practice of serving the overall work of the Party and the state and eulogizing the great people. In a series of major thematic publicity efforts for the 19th and 20th Party Congresses and for the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the mainstream media persisted in unity, stability, and encouragement and in giving priority to positive publicity, sang the main melody, and spread positive energy; the news workforce further tempered political loyalty and mission responsibility in recording the times. In urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, the broad ranks of journalists acted immediately upon receiving orders (闻令而动, wen ling er dong - "hear order, then move") and moved toward danger, further tempering conduct, will, and professional spirit at critical moments. In international communication, the mainstream media took the initiative to set agendas and clearly stated their positions, conducting public opinion struggles with reason, advantage, and appropriate restraint (有理有利有节, you li you li you jie - "have reason, have advantage, have restraint") on major concerns bearing on the country's core interests and on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, and other matters, while also focusing on presenting a credible, lovely, and respectable image of China and presenting to the world a real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China. In the all-media transformation, the main force advanced comprehensively into the main battlefield; from the flourishing of many kinds of media products (百花齐放, bai hua qi fang - "hundred flowers, bloom") such as short videos, livestreams, and H5 in coverage of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to innovative practices such as "cloud interviews" and "immersive experiences" in coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, the news workforce further improved all-media literacy and professional skills in deep integration.

Systems and mechanisms have been continuously improved, and the pattern of integrating the "Four Persists" into daily work and grasping them regularly has become more complete. Over the past 10 years, the news and public opinion front has taken building systems and strengthening mechanisms as the fundamental guarantee for practicing the "Four Persists," gradually forming a work pattern from periodic concentrated study to normalized, long-term, and effective practice. A learning and education mechanism covering all personnel has been built, integrating learning and education into daily editing and reporting work, continuously carrying out education and practice to strengthen the "Four Forces," and promoting "firm politics" to transform from an external requirement into internal consciousness. A whole-process orientation management mechanism has been improved, embedding the requirements of correct political direction and public opinion orientation into the entire chain of editing, production, broadcasting, and publishing, persisting in one standard and integrated management online and offline, strengthening the implementation of responsibilities in all links of topic planning, manuscript review and signing, and release and dissemination, concretizing orientation management into operable and traceable process norms, and promoting "leading the times" to be powerfully embodied in news reporting. The assessment, evaluation, and incentive mechanism has been improved, improving the assessment and evaluation system with communication power and influence as core indicators and encouraging the production of high-quality content as the orientation, carrying out the selection of the China News Award and the Changjiang Taofen Award with high quality, and carefully organizing activities such as "good journalists tell good stories" and the publicity and selection of "National Top Ten Journalists," promoting "superb professional skills" to become the common pursuit of journalists. The institutional mechanism for talent guarantees has been deepened, implementing relevant deployments for deepening the reform of the personnel management system of news units, establishing mechanisms for the introduction, training, and transformation of all-media-type and expert-type talent, and promoting "fine conduct" to be persistently cultivated in institutional guarantees.

Continuous efforts have been made in workforce building, and the political quality, professional ability, and style and image of journalists have continued to improve. Over the past 10 years, the news and public opinion front has taken the "Four Persists" as the yardstick; the structure of the workforce has been continuously optimized, ability and quality have markedly improved, and the mental outlook has taken on a completely new look. Persisting in taking political requirements as the foundation to build a firm foundation of loyalty, guiding journalists to take a clear stand on major matters of right and wrong and not to yield an inch on major issues of principle, their political character of loyalty, cleanliness, and responsibility has become ever more distinct. Persisting in taking ability building as support to improve professional skills, actively adapting to the trend of media integration and development, promoting the transformation of the editing and reporting workforce toward composite and professional types, and markedly strengthening the communication power, guiding power, influence, and credibility of news and public opinion. Persisting in taking conduct building as guarantee to temper professional character, launching a large number of excellent works that are "covered in soil," "beaded with dew," and "steaming hot," journalists winning the trust of the Party and the people with solid conduct, fresh style of writing, and rigorous style of study, and the reputation of the news workforce continuing to rise.

Deeply understand the new requirements put forward by the systemic transformation of mainstream media, and strengthen the consciousness and firmness of practicing the "Four Persists"

General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions on grasping the dominance of public opinion under informatized conditions, providing a powerful ideological weapon for doing well the Party's news and public opinion work under the conditions of the new era. The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Party Central Committee made the major deployment of "promoting the systemic transformation of mainstream media," and the "Recommendations" of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Party Central Committee further proposed "deepening the systemic transformation of mainstream media, promoting integrated management of news publicity and online public opinion, and improving the ability to guide mainstream public opinion." Compared with media integration and development, systemic transformation covers a broader scope, reaches deeper points, and has stronger linkage; it is a profound transformation in which mainstream media, under the Party's leadership, promote a leap in ability, reconstruction of the landscape, and renewal of the ecology. We must actively adapt to the new characteristics and new trends of the transformation, integrate the requirements of the "Four Persists" into the entire process of the transformation, and support the in-depth advancement of the systemic transformation of mainstream media with new results in news workforce building.

Grasp the new issues raised by the evolution of the communication landscape, and strengthen the political leadership of mainstream media in a diverse and turbulent communication environment. At present, the trend of "decentralization" in information dissemination is increasingly obvious. Data show that short-video creator accounts exceed 1.6 billion, and online audiovisual users number nearly 1.1 billion; the scale of content production subjects and the breadth of audience coverage far exceed the radiation capacity of traditional news organizations. With the help of hot events, some erroneous views may rapidly ferment, and the difficulty for mainstream media to firmly grasp the political direction and hold the political bottom line has markedly increased. Communication channels may be diverse, but political stance cannot be ambiguous; expression methods may be innovated, but the Party-spirit principle cannot be shaken. Deepening the systemic transformation of mainstream media must never weaken the political attributes of mainstream media; rather, under new communication conditions, it is necessary to better persist in the principle of the Party managing the media and better perform the duties of mainstream media. It is necessary to conform to changes in the communication landscape, always uphold the political color of mainstream media in expanding channels and platforms and innovating communication methods, not changing their fundamental nature because of technological change and not altering their aspirations because of channel change, and strengthen political leadership and enhance communication effectiveness with strong political resolve.It is necessary to enhance political acumen and political discernment, be good at distinguishing right from wrong amid complex information and seeing the essence amid the clamor of many voices, and ensure that mainstream media always stand firm in political stance and play a leading role in the great tide of systemic transformation.

Grasp the new challenges raised by changes in the public opinion ecology, and play the role of "timpani" and "weather vane" in the clamorous public opinion field. Under the dual action of algorithmic recommendation and social distribution, information dissemination has shifted from "people seeking information" to "information seeking people"; personalized recommendation, while satisfying audience needs, also traps audiences in "information cocoons," and topics set by mainstream media sometimes find it difficult to enter audience horizons;emotional expressions often spread faster than rational voices, and preconceived judgments in hot events easily override the facts themselves; in the online public opinion field, the demands of different groups differ markedly, views clash fiercely, and the difficulty of building consensus increases. The more clamorous the public opinion field, the more mainstream media need to issue authoritative voices and run correct orientation through all links of content production, distribution and dissemination, and interactive feedback. It is necessary to comprehensively improve the quality of positive publicity and the capacity for online content construction, increase the push of high-quality content, promote the deep embedding of mainstream value orientation into algorithmic recommendation models, prevent inferior content and extreme views from gaining amplified effects through algorithms, and make the technological chain a transmission chain for correct public opinion orientation. It is necessary to improve the public opinion guidance mechanism and the coordination mechanism for responding to public opinion, do well in monitoring, research, and judgment of public opinion on emergencies and social hot spots, and grasp timing, degree, and effect in hot-spot guidance. It is necessary to strengthen commentary and in-depth reporting, cultivate commentary backbone and professional investigative reporters, respond to social concerns with works that have sharpness, depth, and warmth, and demonstrate the responsibility of mainstream media in clearing away the corrupt and promoting the pure (激浊扬清, ji zhuo yang qing - "stir up turbidity, raise clarity").

Grasp the new requirements raised by technological iteration and upgrading, and enhance the professional ability of the news workforce in the profound transformation of intelligent communication. At present, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing are changing with each passing day (日新月异, ri xin yue yi - "day new, month change"), and intelligent communication is reshaping the entire process of news production and dissemination. Generative artificial intelligence can rapidly generate manuscripts, images, and videos; the threshold for news production appears to have lowered, but the requirements for content quality and professional judgment have instead become higher; audience needs are highly segmented, and the communication method of "one set of discourse for the whole world" is difficult to sustain. Technological change ultimately tests the change in people's abilities. It is necessary to strengthen forward-looking research and strategic layout for new types of communication channels, accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of mainstream media, apply new technologies to all links such as data analysis, topic planning, editing and processing, distribution and recommendation, and effect evaluation, improve the organizational structure and work processes adapted to all-media development, and realize integrated content production and integrated planning of operations. Journalists must not only possess traditional abilities in interviewing, writing, editing, and commenting, but also learn to use artificial intelligence tools, data analysis methods, and multimedia expression means, and improve content production efficiency in human-machine collaboration. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly recognize that content is always the core competitiveness of news; only by maintaining adherence to the essence of news while mastering new technologies can one win the initiative and win the future in the profound transformation of intelligent communication.

Grasp the new tests raised by the adjustment of media formats, and temper the fine conduct of going deep into the grassroots in the wave of transformation in the all-media era. In the all-media era, journalists have more diverse channels for obtaining information and can obtain large amounts of material without leaving home, making it easy to develop a tendency to rely on the Internet and become estranged from the grassroots. Some are content to find topics online, conduct interviews by telephone, and piece together manuscripts from materials, going to the scene less and less and drifting farther and farther from the masses; some, under the pressure of traffic, pursue "short, quick, and flat" content, and the problems of homogenization and superficiality in news reporting are prominent; some even sacrifice the principle of truthfulness to seize timeliness and attract attention. The more advanced the communication means, the more one must not lose the fine tradition that "news comes from the soles of the feet"; the more prominent the temptation of traffic, the more one must not relax the hard constraints of professional ethics. It is necessary to guide editors and reporters to calm their minds and bend their bodies, persist in and carry forward the mass line well in the all-media era, consciously resist the trend of the vulgar, the pandering, and the mediocre, and resolutely oppose breaking the bottom line to attract attention and abandoning principles to chase traffic. It is necessary to improve guarantee mechanisms, incorporate situations such as going deep into the grassroots frontline and strictly observing professional ethics into assessment and evaluation, reflect them in professional title evaluation and selection of the excellent and advanced, and form a clear orientation of valuing the frontline and valuing integrity.

Lead the high-quality development of news and public opinion work with high-quality Party building, and put the requirements of the "Four Persists" into practice in the practice of strengthening the Party and the country

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Party Central Committee deliberated and adopted the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Perseveringly Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party," making strategic deployments for perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and embodying the historical initiative of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in strengthening the Party and the country. The news and public opinion front must take studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session as a major political task at present and for a period to come, further unify thought and action with the deployments and requirements of the Party Central Committee, consciously use Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building to plan and advance Party building in news units, and put the requirements of the "Four Persists" into practice in the practice of strengthening the Party and the country.

Stand firm on the Party-spirit stance and further implement the political responsibility of governing the Party and the Party's self-governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The Party-spirit principle is the fundamental principle of the Party's news and public opinion work." "The Party-spirit principle must not only be spoken of, but spoken of with confidence and righteousness; one must not be evasive or hesitant." For the Party's news and public opinion work to persist in the Party-spirit principle, the most fundamental thing is to implement in place the principles of the Party managing propaganda, the Party managing ideology, the Party managing the media, and the Party managing the Internet. News units must earnestly strengthen the Party's leadership and Party building, strictly implement the responsibility system for ideological work, persist in planning, deploying, implementing, and assessing Party building work together with news business work, unify guiding direction, grasping orientation, managing positions, and strengthening the workforce, and ensure that the Party's news and public opinion work moves steadily and far with the actual results of governing the Party and the Party's self-governance. Guide the broad ranks of journalists to embody loyalty to the Party in every interview, every report, and every page, unify being responsible to the Party with being responsible to the people, unify embodying the Party's propositions with reflecting the people's voices, and safeguard the authority and credibility of the Party's news and public opinion work with practical actions.

Enhance historical initiative and further gather the public opinion strength for strengthening the Party and the country. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The Party's news and public opinion work is an important work of the Party and a major matter of governing the country and securing the country." Journalists must carry forward the spirit of historical initiative, find their own positioning accurately in the process of strengthening the Party and the country, and play a unique role. Deeply publicize the achievements and experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, deeply publicize the major significance and deployment requirements of perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, deeply publicize the good experience and good practices of all localities and departments in implementing the spirit of the plenary session, fully display the image of a vigorous Marxist ruling party that always stands at the forefront of the times, is sincerely supported by the people, can withstand all kinds of wind and wave tests, and provide public opinion support for opening a new situation in governing the Party, the Party's self-governance, and strengthening the Party. It is necessary to fully display the unique advantage of leading China's governance with the governance of the Communist Party of China, deeply publicize the goals, tasks, and strategic deployments of economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, present in panorama the grand blueprint, bright prospects, and rich practice of Chinese modernization, powerfully manifest the strong resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy in pressing forward despite heavy pressure (顶压前行, ding ya qian xing - "under pressure, move forward") and moving toward the new and the better, further sing the bright theory of the Chinese economy, and widely gather the public opinion strength for forging ahead on the new journey.

Grasp the strict requirements and further display the good image of the news workforce. The style and image of the news workforce directly concern the image of the Party and the weight of the Party's news and public opinion work in the hearts of the masses. Perseveringly advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has put forward higher standards and stricter requirements for Party members and cadres on the news front, and has also driven the building of the entire news workforce to align with higher standards. It is necessary to persist in the strict tone without wavering, both requiring strictly and managing strictly, and sincerely caring and sincerely cherishing. Guide journalists to tighten the master switch of worldview, outlook on life, and values, consciously resist the erosion of money worship, hedonism, and extreme individualism, and at the same time seriously investigate and deal with violations of rules and discipline such as false news, paid news, and news extortion with a zero-tolerance attitude, and resolutely safeguard the purity of the news workforce. Improve the norms of journalistic professional ethics and the industry self-discipline mechanism, improve the management of editing and reporting processes and the content review system, and prevent violations of rules and discipline from occurring at the source. Strictly implement the spirit of the Central Committee's Eight-Point Regulation and resolutely rectify formalism and bureaucracy in interviewing and reporting. The broad ranks of journalists must keep in mind social responsibility and maintain integrity, maintain resolve in the face of temptations of fame and gain, hold the bottom line in complex environments, and display the good style of journalists in the new era.

The China Journalists Association is the bridge and bond through which the Party and the government maintain close ties with the press, and an important force for the prosperity and development of the Party's news cause. In 2027, the China Journalists Association will welcome its 90th anniversary. We must always keep in mind our duties and missions, thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on mass organization work and the Party's news and public opinion work, especially the important instructions on the China Journalists Association, continue to unite and lead the broad ranks of journalists to study deeply and comprehend carefully and to believe firmly and practice the important requirements of the "Four Persists," deeply carry out research on the topic of the China Journalists Association's 90-year course, summarize historical experience, grasp the laws of development, forge ahead in deepening reform, actively open up and innovate, strive to build a "home of journalists" in the new era that is more warm, more vigorous, and more influential, and make new and greater contributions to consolidating and strengthening the mainstream thought and public opinion of forging ahead in the new era.

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Using embroidery-like precision to make our work solid and complete (Reflections)

By: 汪立峰

Embroidery is a traditional folk handicraft. Threading the needle and drawing the thread, all within a square inch, fine and dense and perfectly precise, fully displays the craftsman's ingenuity. Embroidery emphasizes meticulousness, and doing work should be the same. General Secretary Xi Jinping used embroidery as a metaphor, stressing: "We must strengthen precise thinking, ensure that when planning we take charge of the overall situation and when operating we are meticulous and refined, and use embroidery-like efforts to make our work solid and complete." These plain words contain a profound truth: a beautiful picture must be drawn stitch by stitch; in undertaking work and starting businesses, only precision and fineness produce excellence. From advancing national strategy on the large scale to serving a single community on the small scale, all test the patience and skill of embroidery.

What pattern to embroider, what colored thread to use, what stitching method to follow — all must be planned before embroidering. When planning is meticulous, starting the needle and drawing the thread will be done with great skill and ease (得心应手, de xin ying shou - "get, heart, respond, hand"). If one acts without a plan or foresight (绣一针看一步, xiu yi zhen kan yi bu - "embroider, one, needle, look, one, step"), the stitches will be thrown into disorder, and one may even end up unraveling the thread and starting over, wasting all one's effort. It can be seen that the process of planning is itself a manifestation of embroidery-like effort. During his work in Zhengding, Hebei, Comrade Xi Jinping rode a bicycle to every one of the county's 25 communes and more than 220 production brigades, and after gaining a clear understanding of conditions at the grassroots level, proposed the "semi-suburban" economic development path, setting a clear direction for local development; during his work in Xiamen, Fujian, he led the formulation of the "1985–2000 Xiamen Economic and Social Development Strategy," which both grasped the macro level and proposed strategic goals and focused on the micro level and refined task measures, providing scientific guidance for Xiamen's development. Acting only after careful planning (谋定而后动, mou ding er hou dong - "plan, settle, then, move") demonstrates the inner wisdom of embroidery-like effort. When Party members and cadres undertake work and start businesses, only by making thorough plans in advance, getting the basic situation clear, understanding the task goals, thinking through the methods and measures, distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the difficult from the easy, and the urgent from the less urgent, and anticipating various risks and variables, can they have a well-thought-out plan in mind (胸有成竹, xiong you cheng zhu - "chest, have, complete, bamboo"), make no errors across a thousand stitches and ten thousand threads, and achieve twice the result with half the effort (事半功倍, shi ban gong bei - "matter, half, achievement, double").

Any exquisitely skilled (巧夺天工, qiao duo tian gong - "skillful, snatch, heaven, workmanship") fine embroidery piece must be finely made; any beautiful blueprint plan must start from the details. In the battle against poverty, General Secretary Xi Jinping also used embroidery as a metaphor: "Whom to support, who will support them, how to support them, and how to exit — the entire process must be precise, and some require a round of 'embroidery' effort." It is precisely by relying on targeted poverty alleviation that we applied policies according to village, household, and person, took appropriate measures to solve specific problems (对症下药, dui zheng xia yao - "against, symptom, apply, medicine") and carried out precise drip irrigation, and ultimately won the battle against poverty in all respects. In urban governance, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "urban management should be as fine as embroidery," again emphasizing a working method of meticulous dedication and targeted measures. Every street and every lane, every flower and every tree all embody the precision and warmth of urban governance. Meticulous dedication, in the final analysis, means upholding "one key for one lock," refining macro goals into operable, implementable specific steps and links, and abandoning extensive and crude practices such as taking full responsibility for everything oneself (大包大揽, da bao da lan - "big, wrap, big, take on"), "flood irrigation," "sprinkling pepper powder," and "a dragonfly skimming the water," so that the work becomes more solid and effective.

Embroidery most avoids impatience and restlessness;one crooked stitch and the entire piece loses its standard. The exquisite subtlety of embroidery lies precisely in every stitch landing in a solid place. What is worth guarding against is that in real work, some places spend their thoughts on packaging, are keen on doing empty deeds and playing tricks, which appear to be a mass of blooming flowers but are in fact castles in the air; some Party members and cadres are divorced from reality and from the masses, are keen on putting on shows and seeking the limelight, and appear to be busy and bustling but are in fact mere surface articles. These practices of formalism and bureaucratism are incompatible with true embroidery-like effort and must be resolutely corrected and governed. "What the people worry about, I must keep in mind; what the people hope for, I must put into action." To do embroidery-like effort well, every stitch must land on the urgent difficulties and anxieties of the masses, every thread must run through the actual concerns of the masses, and the actual needs of the masses must be taken as the "needle hole" into which Party members and cadres direct their efforts, constantly creating work achievements that satisfy the people.

Doing work with embroidery-like effort is a manifestation of precise thinking and also a display of taking responsibility and acting. At present, we are in a critical period of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, and the difficulties and obstacles we face are unprecedented. No matter what post one holds, every Party member and cadre should be an excellent "embroiderer," using the solid effort of stitch after stitch to constantly overcome difficulties and obstacles, calmly respond to risks and challenges, make sustained, long-term effort, do good deeds and accomplish good things, and together weave a brilliant and colorful new picture of Chinese modernization.

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Connecting Mountains and Seas, Journeying Toward the Future: Industrial Bank Supports High-Quality Belt and Road Initiative Cooperation Through Finance

Finance is an important support for high-quality Belt and Road Initiative cooperation. In Central Asia, Industrial Bank helped the Development Bank of Kazakhstan successfully issue 2 billion yuan in offshore RMB dim sum bonds, opening a new channel for RMB financing in Central Asia; in Argentina, a wind power project supported by an Industrial Bank offshore syndicated loan feeds clean electricity into the local power grid. Across the vast Silk Road where mountains and seas are linked, financing connectivity paves a smooth path for cooperation.

Since 2013, Belt and Road Initiative cooperation has moved from a Chinese initiative to international practice, from a "broad brushstroke" to a "meticulous painting," unfolding a road of opportunity for joint development and common prosperity. Industrial Bank, rooted in Fujian, the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has steadily advanced its international layout, continuously improved its diversified cross-border financial services system, and used financing connectivity to promote infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, and people-to-people connectivity (民心相通, mín xīn xiāng tōng - "people, heart, mutually, connect").

Serving infrastructure connectivity: building solid support for interconnection

Industrial Bank persists in exerting efforts in both directions, leveraging its integrated financial services advantages to support the "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, and joining hands with overseas peers to advance the "soft connectivity" of cross-border financial networks.

At the Xi'an International Port Station, the China-Europe Railway Express "Chang'an" train carrying new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products and other goods departs for Duisburg, Germany. Industrial Bank has cumulatively provided more than 1.4 billion yuan in funding support to the operator of the China-Europe Railway Express "Chang'an," escorting the "steel camel caravan" as it gallops across the Eurasian continent.

In East Africa, Industrial Bank, relying on the multi-functional free trade account of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone, participated in an international syndicate for the Export Buyer's Credit of the Tanzanian Ministry of Finance, providing US$50 million in 15-year financing for the Central Line Standard Gauge Railway, a landmark livelihood project of China-Tanzania Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, matching the project's long-term construction funding needs and helping open a sea outlet for inland resource-producing areas.

In recent years, Industrial Bank has also lead-underwritten the first perpetual medium-term note in the national interbank market supporting a "Maritime Silk Road" construction project, and invested in the corporate bonds (panda bonds) of Singapore's Global Logistic Properties, using diversified financing tools to support the "hard connectivity" of infrastructure.

"Soft connectivity" continues to upgrade. As one of the first domestic banks to access the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), Industrial Bank quickly launched CIPS Bond Connect direct services and implemented direct investment settlement services in the interbank bond market; as one of the first batch of domestic participating institutions, it accessed the multi-Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge); it built the "Hangmao Chain" blockchain trade finance platform, putting the entire process of cross-border payments, digital letters of credit, and document duplication checks on-chain, ensuring the efficient flow of goods, information, and capital in China-ASEAN foreign trade. From January to September this year, Industrial Bank's cross-border RMB receipts and payments amounted to 1.63 trillion yuan, up 13.81 percent year on year.

Moving forward together in the same direction (大道同行, dà dào tóng xíng - "great, way, together, walk"), building together and winning together. Industrial Bank upholds the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and continues to expand its global financial cooperation "circle of friends." As of now, Industrial Bank has cooperation with more than 1,400 global correspondent banks and more than 1,300 banks with test-key arrangements, covering 106 countries and regions on five continents, achieving direct clearing in 14 mainstream currencies and receipt and payment settlement in more than 190 currencies.

Jointly building the Green Silk Road: painting a new picture of low-carbon development

As a domestic practitioner of green finance, Industrial Bank adheres to the dual-driven approach of "financing + intelligence," extending its green finance advantages overseas to support the building of the Green Silk Road, while deeply participating in global green finance governance and promoting the joint building and sharing of green finance technologies and standards.

Kazakhstan is rich in wind energy resources, but its power structure has long relied on thermal power resources. Chinese private new energy enterprise Universal Energy built two wind farms with a combined 100 megawatts locally, but faced the difficulty of high local-currency financing rates. In response, Industrial Bank introduced China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation export buyer's credit insurance and provided a special RMB loan to reduce financing costs. Today, the project has been fully connected to the grid at full capacity, and can reduce carbon emissions by about 400,000 tons per year.

Industrial Bank also uses the power of finance to support Chinese green technology in sailing overseas. In Kyrgyzstan, Industrial Bank supports the construction of a waste incineration power generation project, helping waste treatment and resource utilization. In Indonesia, it provided more than 700 million yuan in cross-border RMB export buyer's credit to Huayou Cobalt, supporting the construction of nickel-cobalt hydrometallurgy and ternary precursor projects, and deepening cooperation in the new energy industry.

To match the funding needs of green projects in Belt and Road Initiative partner countries and to identify, prevent, and manage corresponding risks, Industrial Bank relies on the bridging role of the China-UK Green Finance Working Group and the Green Finance Professional Committee of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association, uses models such as green credit, green trusts, green leasing, green bonds, and green funds to support green industry development, and broadens funding channels through green credit asset securitization and green financial bonds.

In 2018, Industrial Bank issued its first overseas green bond in Luxembourg. In 2022, the Hong Kong Branch of Industrial Bank issued a green bond themed on the China-EU Common Ground Taxonomy, promoting the alignment of green finance standards with international standards; this bond issuance was included in the "10th Anniversary of the Green Belt and Road: Innovative Concepts and Practice Cases."

Industrial Bank is one of the first signatories of the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road, and was invited as the only banking financial institution to join the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition, joining hands with more than 120 global partners to serve the sustainable development of Belt and Road Initiative partner countries and contribute to the realization of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Deepening industrial cooperation: activating new momentum for mutual benefit and win-win (互利共赢, hù lì gòng yíng - "mutual, benefit, together, win")

Industrial cooperation is the realistic bond that drives win-win cooperation among Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. Industrial Bank follows the pace of Chinese enterprises "going global," improves integrated financial services linking settlement, financing, credit protection, risk management, and global treasury management, and promotes the precise alignment of Chinese enterprises' global layout with the industrial upgrading needs of Belt and Road Initiative partner countries.

Currently, Saudi Arabia is actively advancing its "Vision 2030" and vigorously developing non-oil industries. In response to pain points such as the large upfront investment and cumbersome cross-border financing procedures of Chinese enterprises' overseas industrial parks, Industrial Bank, relying on the FTN account of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, designed a comprehensive "domestic guarantee + FT loan" service plan, with supporting foreign exchange purchase price-locking services, to provide one-stop financial support for a large aluminum industrial park project of a Chinese aluminum processing enterprise, helping Saudi Arabia cultivate a local manufacturing industrial cluster.

Fujian is a major center of China's optoelectronics industry. In recent years, some core upstream enterprises in the optoelectronics industry chain have gone to Southeast Asia to lay out production capacity. In response to needs such as land acquisition, factory building construction, equipment procurement, technical team building, and initial operations, Industrial Bank customized an integrated service plan of "cross-border financing + exchange rate hedging + policy consulting," helping a leading Fujian optoelectronics enterprise invest and build a factory in Thailand and injecting momentum into the diversified development of the local industry.

As the localized layout of industrial chains accelerates, the demand for cross-border fund management has become increasingly prominent. Industrial Bank built the Global Treasury global financial management platform to help multinational enterprises achieve global account visibility and efficient fund collection and allocation, reducing exchange costs. At the same time, it provides a supporting "Sunshine Cross-Border" compliance service system, offering professional support such as policy interpretation and risk assessment, covering the entire life cycle of enterprises from opening overseas markets to global operations.

Promoting people-to-people connectivity: building a heart-to-heart bridge for the blending of civilizations

The friendship between nations lies in the closeness of their peoples, and the closeness of peoples lies in heart-to-heart connection. Industrial Bank creates inclusive and convenient cross-border financial services, so that the fruits of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative cooperation benefit more ordinary people.

Industrial Bank continues to expand small-currency settlement services, and has launched direct exchange and direct remittance services for 14 currencies including the UAE dirham, facilitating enterprises' trade settlement and cross-border consumption, study abroad, and tourism. At the border port of Khorgos, it also innovatively launched a "NRA account + domestic bank card" cross-border payroll service, enabling foreign truck drivers to conveniently enjoy domestic mobile payments, multi-currency cash withdrawal and other services.

Centering on cross-border people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Industrial Bank launched the "Global Life" cross-border financial services system, covering cross-border payment and settlement needs such as overseas travel, study, work, and medical treatment, facilitating people-to-people exchanges and cooperation among Belt and Road Initiative partner countries.

Relying on important international platforms such as the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and the China Import and Export Fair, Industrial Bank promotes enterprise matchmaking, project implementation, and regional opening. At this year's CIFIT, Industrial Bank conducted exchanges with a number of overseas financial institutions to expand its international interbank cooperation network; at the same time, together with China UnionPay, it launched the first student debit card, the E-Lu Global Card, using financial connectivity to promote people-to-people connectivity.

Finance builds bridges linking mountains and seas, and we move forward together along the great road toward the future. Industrial Bank will continue to advance its internationalization strategy, deepen cross-border financial innovation, strengthen its globally integrated financial service capabilities, and join hands with partners in Belt and Road Initiative partner countries to jointly build a more open, green, inclusive, and shared future.

Data source: Industrial Bank

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One-Stop Consultation and Referral Saves Patients Money and Worry (People's View · Improving the Medical Experience)

By: 本报记者 刘雨瑞 李俊杰

Introduction

In August of this year, 14-year-old Xiaohan, a girl from Wuhu, Anhui, was in such unbearable back pain that she finally told her grandmother, Ye Shuidi. Ye Shuidi hurriedly took Xiaohan to Wuhu Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for examination, where it was found that the child's scoliosis had already reached 45 degrees.

In her desperation, Ye Shuidi filed an out-of-town medical treatment registration for Xiaohan and prepared to take her granddaughter to a major hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Soon after, a staff member from the Wuhu Municipal Consultation and Referral Management Center called: "There's no need to travel far. We can invite experts from other places to come to Wuhu to diagnose and treat her, and there are subsidies for medical expenses."

After the expert consultation, Xiaohan underwent surgery in Wuhu and is now recovering. Why the change of mind? Ye Shuidi said with emotion: "If you can get seen and get treated well close to home, who would still run off to other places?"

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the National Health Conference in October this year: "We should optimize the medical treatment experience and continuously improve the convenience and satisfaction of the masses in seeing a doctor and receiving medical treatment."

To solve the urgent, difficult, and worrying problems of "difficulty in referral and the hardship of running around" for the masses in seeing a doctor and receiving medical treatment, in recent years Wuhu has built a Consultation and Referral Management Center and set up consultation and referral service centers in medical institutions, matching patient needs, promoting medical resources, publicizing medical insurance policies, and organizing expert consultations, striving to enable patients to receive treatment locally and first visits at the grassroots level.

Like Xiaohan, there are quite a few patients who originally planned to seek medical treatment elsewhere but ultimately stayed in Wuhu. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of people registered for out-of-town medical treatment in Wuhu dropped 19.1 percent compared with the same period in 2023, and the proportion of grassroots medical treatment volume rose to more than 65 percent.

"What we are targeting are the three major pain points of the masses' hardship in running around for medical treatment, the dispersion of medical resources, and disordered referrals; the essence is to improve the coordinated mechanism of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment"

Ye Shuidi also knew that going to Nanjing for medical treatment was not easy. "At the time I couldn't worry about so much; I just thought big cities have higher medical standards, and the child's illness had to be cured," she said.

Located in the Yangtze River Delta, many residents of Wuhu, Anhui, are accustomed to seeking medical treatment elsewhere. For patients, this means additional burdens such as transportation and accommodation; for the Wuhu health department, there are deeper worries.

"When patients do not receive medical treatment locally for a long time, medical insurance funds continuously drain away. Local hospitals have no contact with complicated and difficult cases, and it is hard to improve medical technology. And these, in turn, further aggravate the outflow of patients." Zheng Haifeng, then director of the Health Commission of Fanchang District, Wuhu, said with emotion, "There is no way but to break through through reform."

How to implement "We must continue to deepen the reform of the pharmaceutical and healthcare system, balance the layout of high-quality medical resources, improve grassroots infrastructure conditions, and provide reliable guarantees for the people's health"?

Zheng Haifeng and his colleagues figured that for cases their own hospital could diagnose and treat, they should promptly understand patients' needs, recommend medical resources, and explain medical insurance policies; for cases difficult to diagnose and treat, they should invite experts from other hospitals or other places for consultation, and when necessary invite experts to Wuhu for diagnosis and treatment. "In this way, ordinary people avoid running around, medical insurance funds stay local, and hospitals can also use others' experience (他山之石, ta shan zhi shi - "other mountain, of stone") and difficult cases to improve their capabilities, achieving win-win results for all parties." As the reform of the pharmaceutical and healthcare system advanced in depth, a fire was lit in their hearts.

In April 2023, Fanchang District People's Hospital established a Consultation and Referral Service Center. The local medical insurance department pushed out-of-town medical treatment registration information to the center, and center staff learned about patients' needs one by one and organized consultations, keeping patients local as much as possible.

At this time, "referral" meant patients who originally planned to go out for treatment instead receiving treatment locally.

Chen Jianhua, head of the Consultation and Referral Service Center of Fanchang District People's Hospital, mentioned that even within a hospital, multidisciplinary consultations in the past often relied on personal relationships among doctors. If they knew each other, a phone call could coordinate things; if not, cross-department collaboration was not smooth.

"Now, for consultations initiated through the center, our hospital's doctors must respond; 'personal favor' has become 'institution'." Chen Jianhua introduced that the center also uniformly connects with outside experts and conducts registration management, so that their visits to the hospital for consultations and surgeries are more standardized.

Zheng Haifeng introduced that at present, most consultation and referral service centers in Wuhu's medical institutions are attached to the medical affairs departments. "The medical affairs department is already responsible for medical quality control and has stronger overall binding force on the physician team; having it lead consultation and referral work makes scheduling convenient."

As the reform effects gradually emerged, in June 2023, among Wuhu's secondary and higher-level medical institutions, 16 established consultation and referral service centers, and afterward this gradually expanded to 20. Thanks to the matchmaking of the Consultation and Referral Service Center of Wuhu Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, experts from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital performed surgery on Xiaohan.

As of October 2026, among the 241,000 patients in Wuhu who planned to seek medical treatment elsewhere, 25,300 stayed local for treatment; the city cumulatively carried out 34,000 consultations and multidisciplinary diagnoses and treatments, and invited outside experts to Wuhu to perform 17,400 surgeries. In 2025, Wuhu's medical insurance fund expenditures for out-of-town medical treatment decreased by more than 91 million yuan.

In September this year, Zheng Haifeng was transferred to serve as chief of the System Reform Section of the Wuhu Municipal Health Commission. He said: "Studying the spirit of the National Health Conference held not long ago, we more deeply realize that 'reform is a powerful driving force for the development of health undertakings.'"

"Wuhu promotes the substantive operation of the municipal-level Consultation and Referral Management Center, targeting the three major pain points of the masses' hardship in running around for medical treatment, the dispersion of medical resources, and disordered referrals; the essence is to improve the coordinated mechanism of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment," admitted Yang Yan, director of the Wuhu Municipal Health Commission.

"Each hospital demonstrates its own strengths (各展所长, ge zhan suo chang - "each displays own strength") and works in coordination"

As reform deepened, new problems emerged.

At Wuhu Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wang Baolei, the doctor in charge of Xiaohan's bed, found that some hospitals, limited by equipment conditions, could not help even by inviting outside experts, and so directly advised patients to seek medical treatment elsewhere. In fact, other hospitals in the city had the conditions, and timely referral could reduce patients' running around.

"We don't understand the situation of other hospitals in the city, so we tend to recommend major hospitals elsewhere," Chen Jianhua agreed with Wang Baolei's view, but he also explained the difficulty: "The referral channel is not smooth; even if we know a certain hospital in the city has resources, it often still depends on doctors communicating personally."

"In the past, hospitals only guarded their own 'plot of land,' thinking that once a patient left their hospital, it made no difference where they received treatment. The city's medical resources did not form a coordinated whole (一盘棋, yi pan qi - "one board of chess")." Liu Yan, chief of the Medical Administration and Hospital Management Section of the Wuhu Municipal Health Commission, saw it clearly.

In January 2024, the Wuhu Municipal Consultation and Referral Management Center was established, and opening up the city's referral channels became an important task. Now, doctors select the receiving medical institution in the medical affairs system, fill in the referral date and reason, and the referral is completed.

Under the overall coordination of the Consultation and Referral Management Center, in the past two years more than 800 primary-level and lower medical institutions in Wuhu have also connected to the referral system. This means village doctors can also directly refer patients to major hospitals in the city.

At this point, the extension of "referral" has already broadened—it includes both patients who planned to go out receiving treatment locally and referrals between hospitals within the city.

The channels are open, but if doctors are not familiar with the specialty advantages of other hospitals, the referral mechanism will still be difficult to make effective.

This summer, the heads of almost all medical institutions in the city crowded into a small meeting room of the Consultation and Referral Management Center. They took turns on stage to introduce their respective advantageous disciplines.

"Since 2025, three such promotion meetings have been held. Medical technology keeps advancing; diagnostic and treatment methods that could not be carried out before may become available after a period of time," said Wei Jinlian, head of the Consultation and Referral Management Center. The center also regularly sorts out the city's medical resources, makes them into booklets, and distributes them to medical institutions.

Resources within the city are coordinated, and external experts are shared. The Wuhu Municipal Consultation and Referral Management Center has established an expert pool, bringing expert resources scattered across various hospitals under unified management. At present, the expert pool already has more than 3,200 people and connects more than 150 medical institutions nationwide.

As one of the largest and strongest comprehensive hospitals in southern Anhui, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical University (Yijishan Hospital), located in Wuhu, has been designated as the backstop hospital. In principle, difficult cases are first referred to this hospital for consultation, and those assessed as unable to be diagnosed and treated are then referred outside the city.

"Referrals within the city must also be based on reality. For example, the Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine that treated Xiaohan has the city's best orthopedics; difficult cases related to orthopedics are given priority for referral here," Wei Jinlian said.

Wei Jinlian believes it is necessary to push medical institutions onto a path of differentiated development and form a medical service system with complementary advantages: "Whichever hospital is good at something, let patients go there for treatment, and the relevant disciplines can develop better."

However, large hospitals, due to heavier reception loads, are insufficiently willing to take on cases referred from lower levels that are not highly difficult to diagnose and treat. To this end, Wuhu has set assessment indicators requiring that among inpatient cases in secondary medical institutions, those transferred upward must account for more than 25 percent, and for tertiary medical institutions more than 15 percent.

There must be upward referrals, and also downward referrals. After patients are treated by higher-level hospitals and their conditions stabilize, they can be transferred back to lower-level hospitals. But some major hospitals, out of consideration for medical risks and other factors, are not confident about letting go; some grassroots medical institutions, due to insufficient capacity, cannot take on patients.

This year, Wuhu clarified five categories of circumstances that should be referred downward, including hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and required that the downward referral proportion of inpatient cases in secondary and tertiary medical institutions exceed 80 percent. At the same time, it promotes tertiary medical institutions providing designated assistance to lower-level hospitals and selects grassroots medical personnel to go to higher-level hospitals for further study. As of October this year, the city has cumulatively referred 115,000 patients in the rehabilitation period downward.

"We must deeply implement the project to strengthen the foundation of medical and health care, optimize the functional positioning and structural layout of medical and health institutions, promote hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, and enable the masses to get seen and get treated well nearby." General Secretary Xi Jinping's words at the National Health Conference strengthened Wuhu's confidence in providing the masses with high-quality and efficient full-process, one-stop consultation and referral convenience services.

"We will further improve the mechanism so that upward and downward referrals are smoother. Only when each hospital demonstrates its own strengths and works in coordination can the entire medical system develop healthily," Liu Yan said.

"Only by firmly establishing the view of political achievements that benefits the people does the medical service system have vitality"

At Wuwei Municipal People's Hospital in Wuhu, Gong Guofang, head of the Consultation and Referral Service Center, took out a referral form with yellowed edges, on which were written the patient's name, medical history, and treatment process.

"In the past, patients had to take the form themselves to a higher-level hospital to register and see a doctor. Without professional assistance, some examinations had to be repeated," Gong Guofang said. "Many patients figured that either way they could not avoid a round of trouble, so they might as well head straight to a major hospital from the start."

How to "enable ordinary people to enjoy high-quality medical services at their doorstep"? How to achieve "serious illnesses not leaving the province, general illnesses solved in cities and counties, and daily illnesses solved at the grassroots"? Wei Jinlian and her colleagues pursued this tirelessly.

"Referral is not just sending a patient from one hospital to another; more importantly, it should let patients worry less and make medical services more continuous." In 2026, Wei Jinlian received the National May 1 Labor Medal. It is an honor and also an encouragement; together with her colleagues, she strives to optimize the consultation and referral experience.

"You're being discharged today—how do you feel?" Morning light poured into the ward as Gong Guofang came to visit Nie Guangfa, a patient about to be discharged.

"Much more comfortable." As his body gradually recovered, a smile spread across Nie Guangfa's dark face. In August this year, he suddenly suffered severe stomach pain and first went to the Yaogou Township Health Center in Wuwei. Grassroots doctors had difficulty making a diagnosis, so they referred him to Wuwei Municipal People's Hospital.

Before he had even left the township health center, a call came from the Consultation and Referral Service Center of Wuwei Municipal People's Hospital. Staff told him that after arriving at the hospital, dedicated personnel would assist with registration and would inform the doctor of his condition in advance. Test results completed at the township health center were transmitted simultaneously, so there was no need to repeat examinations.

"I have no children and little education; if I had to register and find a doctor myself, I simply couldn't figure it out," Nie Guangfa said. After examination, he was diagnosed with cardiac cancer. In late October, experts from the Gastrointestinal Surgery Department of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine rushed to Wuwei to perform surgery on him, and he is currently recovering well.

Gong Guofang helped Nie Guangfa pack up his bedding, basin, bowls, and other items, and accompanied him to complete the discharge procedures. At the payment window, after medical insurance settlement, Nie Guangfa only needed to pay about 1,500 yuan.

Why was the cost not high? Gong Guofang explained in detail: "As long as the upward referral is standardized, the medical insurance reimbursement deductible can be lowered or canceled. In addition, you are a recipient of the minimum living guarantee, so there are extra benefits." As of October this year, Wuhu's preferential medical insurance policies for referrals have cumulatively reduced fees by more than 29.96 million yuan for 78,300 person-times.

"Then what about the money for the outside expert to come perform the surgery?" Nie Guangfa was still somewhat uneasy.

"The city has a policy: when outside experts are invited to carry out multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment for difficult and critical cases and the patient is ultimately kept local for treatment, medical insurance will increase the score value when settling according to DIP (Diagnosis-Intervention Packet, payment by disease score), which is equivalent to providing a subsidy," Gong Guofang answered.

"The Party and government's policies truly take the ordinary people into consideration; I originally thought it would cost a lot of money," Nie Guangfa said with emotion.

Medical insurance funds are the people's "life-saving money" and "rescue money." To guide the masses to first seek treatment at the grassroots, Wuhu has optimized its resident medical insurance policy: from tertiary medical institutions to primary-level medical institutions, the reimbursement ratio has risen from 70 percent to 90 percent, and the medical insurance reimbursement deductible has also dropped from 1,000 yuan to 200 yuan.

After completing the discharge procedures, Gong Guofang handed the doctor's orders to Nie Guangfa. "In our system, you have already been referred downward to the township health center. The doctors at the health center can also see these orders, and your family doctor will also make home follow-up visits," she instructed. "Don't rush; follow the doctor's orders and recover well."

At present, Wuhu is building a health "gatekeeper" system with family doctors as the main body. When the masses fall ill, someone promptly connects with them and standardizes upward referral; when their condition improves, there is orderly downward referral and regular follow-up, making whole-life-cycle health management substantive.

"Patients sometimes cannot distinguish the difference between secondary A-level and tertiary A-level hospitals; they just want their illness cured, which requires the medical system to strengthen its service awareness," said Ding Baijing, deputy mayor of Wuhu. "Only by firmly establishing the view of political achievements that benefits the people does the medical service system have vitality."

"With sustained, long-term effort, hammering one blow after another in the spirit of driving a nail, we will continuously improve the consultation and referral system"

To the east of Wuhu First People's Hospital stands a small two-story building, where the Wuhu Municipal Consultation and Referral Management Center is located.

After the management center was established, the municipal medical insurance bureau uniformly pushed out-of-town medical treatment registration information here, and center staff took the initiative to contact patients, understand their demands, and then triage them as needed according to their conditions.

"When we first started, after handling one batch of demands, we would refresh and another batch would come; every day our throats hurt from answering and making calls," Wei Jinlian recalled. As the masses became more familiar with the policies, the number of out-of-town medical treatment registrations clearly fell.

Safeguarding the people's health is a systematic project that requires sustained effort over a long period.

In March this year, the Wuhu Municipal Health Commission convened the heads of the city's major medical institutions to study and formulate a referral whitelist, incorporating same-organ allotransplantation, proton therapy for malignant tumors, and other items. For such patients, no matter which level of medical institution they visit, they can be directly referred to high-level hospitals outside the city without going through the consultation and referral process. "At present, Wuhu's capacity to diagnose and treat some diseases is still relatively weak; we must never delay treatment opportunities," Yang Yan explained.

The demands for referral in reality are far more complex than the system design.

At present, some medical specialties in Wuhu are still in the cultivation stage, and technical strength is still accumulating. A citizen made an analogy: "We've just learned to steam buns, but the dough still won't rise." In addition, some patients' family members live outside the city for a long time and, considering the convenience of caregiving, prefer to seek medical treatment elsewhere.

"If too much emphasis is placed on the procedures and standards of in-city consultation and referral, to a certain extent it will affect the convenience of the masses' independent choice of medical treatment location," a head of a county-level medical institution's consultation and referral service center admitted frankly.

For medical institutions, once patients insist on going out for treatment, their wishes must be respected. A grassroots doctor believes: "If work effectiveness is judged only by the volume of outward referrals, without fully considering objective factors such as patients' actual needs and gaps in specialty capacity, that would also not conform to reality."

Institutional details must be calibrated in practice.

Previously, some districts and counties set limits on referral levels: patients at primary-level medical institutions could only first be referred to county-level hospitals, and if diagnosis and treatment were difficult, the county-level hospitals would then refer them upward. Faced with such institutional design, some patients directly chose to seek medical treatment elsewhere. In April this year, the city coordinated and canceled the intermediate links, and the outward referral rate of patients in the relevant districts and counties dropped significantly.

Service details likewise need improvement.

At the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical University, in the spacious and bright outpatient hall, the large characters "Consultation and Referral Service Center" are very eye-catching. "At first, the service center was located upstairs, which was inconvenient for patients to find and ran counter to the original intention of optimizing the medical treatment experience. Later, we moved the service center to the first-floor outpatient area," introduced Wu Xianqi, head of the hospital's Consultation and Referral Service Center.

"Next, we will advance the standardized construction of the city's consultation and referral service centers, unifying service functions, site layout, signs, and guiding markers, so that when the masses walk into any hospital, they can quickly find the service window," Yang Yan stated.

The sharing mechanism for expert resources also has room for improvement.

"Although the management center has published the list of the expert pool, in actual operation it still relies on hospitals that previously established contact with the experts to issue invitations, and experts can only perform surgery at the corresponding hospital, which may increase the number of times patients are transferred," a municipal hospital director believes. If the management center uniformly signed cooperation agreements with experts and expanded the scope of experts' diagnosis and treatment, patients' medical treatment would be more worry-free.

"Reform cannot be achieved overnight (一蹴而就, yi cu er jiu - "one stamp and achieve"); we must make sustained, long-term effort, hammering one blow after another in the spirit of driving a nail, continuously improve the consultation and referral system, and constantly enhance the masses' sense of gain," Yang Yan said.

(Xiaohan is a pseudonym in this article; Zhang Wenting participated in the reporting and writing.)

Original Voices

I am 63 years old this year, and more than two years ago I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My husband accompanied me to Nanjing for chemotherapy, two rounds every three weeks, with each round costing more than 1,000 yuan. He was reluctant to spend money on lodging, so he dozed on a chair. By the end of last year, I really could not hold on anymore, and I somewhat wanted to give up. At that time, the Consultation and Referral Management Center once again noticed my out-of-town medical treatment registration information and called again, persuading me to go to Fanchang District People's Hospital. They said that in my situation, I could also receive chemotherapy at the district hospital, the reimbursement ratio was higher, and there was no need to travel back and forth. And so, I have lived safely for nearly another year. The doctors all say this is a miracle.

— Sheng Shuping, villager of Xintang Village, Pingpu Town, Fanchang District, Wuhu

I am a doctor at a township health center. On October 22, I was found to have obstructive jaundice. If treatment was not started promptly, my life would be in danger, and I panicked. My wife is also a doctor; she is very decisive and had my colleague refer me to Wuwei Municipal People's Hospital. The examination results I had done at the township health center had already been synchronized to the municipal hospital, saving a lot of examination time. The municipal hospital's Consultation and Referral Service Center also helped me contact experts from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University; the experts came specially from Hefei and performed surgery on the 24th. Only after experiencing it myself did I know how solid the consultation and referral mechanism is. As publicity committee member of the Party branch of the township health center, I want to explain this policy that benefits the people to my fellow villagers.

— Tang Yongchun, doctor at Yaogou Township Health Center, Wuwei, Wuhu

This year there was a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. I sensed something was wrong and immediately handled the referral procedures and sent him to a major hospital. When we arrived, medical staff were already waiting at the entrance of the emergency building, and treatment was very timely. There are also some patients cured and discharged from major hospitals who previously came to the community hospital for follow-up visits but could not clearly explain what the doctors had instructed. Now, by opening the referral system, the treatment situation, doctor's orders, and so on are clear at a glance, and family doctors can also follow up continuously. Hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, with upward and downward connections, is becoming smoother and smoother, and the people's trust is the most persuasive: in the first nine months of this year, our community hospital's outpatient volume increased by 9 percent over the same period last year.

— Wang Yewen, director of Jinghu Xincheng Community Health Service Center, Jinghu District, Wuhu

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Addressing Urgent Concerns and Optimizing the Medical Experience (Reflections)

By: 刘雨瑞

When it is difficult for the masses to see a doctor, where does the difficulty lie? One prominent crux is the uneven distribution of medical resources and the asymmetry of supply and demand information; patients do not clearly know which hospital they should go to or which doctor they should see, and sometimes, traveling from place to place in exhaustion (辗转奔波, zhan zhuan ben bo - "toss, turn, run, rush"), they still find it difficult to obtain effective diagnosis and treatment. When encountering complicated and serious illnesses, many patients habitually flock to large cities and large hospitals, making the tension between supply and demand of high-quality medical resources even greater.

The pain points of the masses are the points where reform must exert force. In recent years, Wuhu City, Anhui, has built a consultation and referral service system, proactively connecting with patients' needs, unblocking two-way referral channels, promoting hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, and striving to enable the masses to see a doctor nearby and see a doctor well.

From "people seeking services" to "services seeking people," optimizing the medical treatment experience is backed by a transformation in service concepts, resource allocation methods, and governance thinking.

Strengthen the awareness of serving the people. To measure the effectiveness of medical and health work, one cannot look only at how many patients hospitals have admitted and how many diagnosis and treatment items they have carried out; one must also look at whether it is convenient for the masses to seek medical treatment and whether their burdens have been reduced. Health is connected to the happiness of millions of households; only by firmly standing on the standpoint of the masses in planning reform and treating patients' matters as one's own matters can reform measures be precise and effective.

Promote coordination of medical resources. Medical institutions at different levels have different functional orientations and emphases; if they act independently without coordination (各自为政, ge zi wei zheng - "each, self, act, government") and communication is not smooth, then even if the total amount of medical resources increases, the masses may not necessarily fully benefit. Large hospitals focus on complicated and severe illnesses, specialized hospitals give play to their distinctive advantages, and primary-level medical institutions take on rehabilitation and follow-up visits; only by each playing to their respective strengths (各展所长, ge zhan suo chang - "each, display, own, strength") and coordinating in linkage can the overall utilization efficiency of regional medical resources be improved.

Improve the policy guarantee system. For services to proactively seek people, relying only on the enthusiasm of medical personnel is difficult to sustain over the long term. By continuously improving supporting policies such as medical insurance payment and performance assessment, not only can the masses obtain tangible benefits from seeking medical treatment nearby, but the enthusiasm of medical institutions at all levels can also be mobilized, and only then can the consultation and referral service system operate stably and in an orderly manner.

The construction of the consultation and referral service system cannot be achieved in a single step (一蹴而就, yi cu er jiu - "one, kick, and, achieve"); it must be pursued with sustained, long-term effort. Only by upholding the supremacy of the people and the supremacy of life, and continuously exerting force on the urgent, difficult, worrying, and eagerly anticipated problems of the masses in seeking medical treatment, will the foundation of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment be planted ever more firmly, and medical services become more equitable, accessible, convenient, and efficient.

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Page editors: Yang Yan, Sun Zhen, Dai Linfeng

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Reviewing the Old to Create the New, Everlasting Friendship

By: 刘军国

On October 26, upon learning the news of the passing of former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, my heart sank, and there immediately flashed in my mind the scene of visiting him on the eve of the end of my posting in Japan five years earlier. That day, he was full of vigor and high spirits (精神矍铄, jing shen jue shuo - "spirit, vigorous"), as kind and amiable as ever, and took up his pen to write for me the four characters "wengu chuangxin" (review the old to create the new) as a memento.

During my time as a correspondent for the People's Daily Japan Bureau, I walked into Mr. Fukuda's office on several occasions to interview this modest and wise (谦和睿智, qian he rui zhi - "modest, gentle, wise, sagacious") elder, and I also often met him on public occasions. Mr. Fukuda was an old friend of the Chinese people; for a long time he kept China-Japan friendship in his heart and upheld a correct view of history. During his tenure as prime minister, China and Japan signed the Joint Statement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Japan on Comprehensively Promoting a Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit, which set out important principles for the development of bilateral relations. As a politician of integrity and a sense of responsibility, the peace philosophy and cooperation propositions he steadfastly upheld leave us much to draw on today.

Passing the torch from one generation to the next (薪火相承, xin huo xiang cheng - "firewood, torch, mutually, inherit"), and laying a solid foundation

Mr. Fukuda was born in 1936. After graduating from Waseda University, he first worked at a company, and later served as secretary to his father, then Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda. In 1990, Mr. Fukuda was elected to the House of Representatives, went on to serve successively as Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan and other posts, and assumed the office of Japanese Prime Minister in 2007.

Mr. Fukuda's conviction of friendship toward China was rooted in family influence and his firsthand experience of the times, and embodied the sustained commitment of two generations. In his youth, Mr. Fukuda followed his father in taking part in China-related affairs. In 1978, Takeo Fukuda and the visiting Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping attended the ceremony for the exchange of instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan, and the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan formally entered into force.

When speaking of Deng Xiaoping, Mr. Fukuda was always filled with sincere respect. In one interview, he picked up pen and paper and wrote, stroke by stroke, the three characters "hao hao ye" (in Japanese, meaning "a gentle, kind old grandfather"), using this plain appellation to describe Deng Xiaoping's magnanimous, amiable, and radiant demeanor. He recalled the details of those years with keen interest: when Deng Xiaoping visited the Kimitsu Steel Works of Nippon Steel Corporation and was confronted with a highly automated workshop where not many workers were busy, he mistakenly thought the factory was on holiday. When the Chinese side expressed the hope of introducing advanced steelmaking technology, the Japanese enterprise said it was willing to help China build an advanced steel plant. Whenever he recalled this episode, Mr. Fukuda would sigh with emotion that the historic choice of reform and opening up opened the curtain on China's later takeoff.

When Mr. Fukuda took office as Japanese Prime Minister, China-Japan relations had just gone through a period of twists and turns. He inherited the friendly aspirations of the older generation, withstood pressure from right-wing forces within Japan, and worked hard to push China-Japan relations back onto the right track. In 2008, China and Japan signed the Joint Statement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Japan on Comprehensively Promoting a Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit; this was the fourth political document in the history of China-Japan relations. The statement carried forward the principles established in the previous three documents—the China-Japan Joint Statement, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan, and the China-Japan Joint Declaration—and made clear that the two countries are partners in cooperation, do not constitute a threat to each other, and support each other's peaceful development. Mr. Fukuda repeatedly stressed that the four political documents are the ballast that keeps Japan-China relations steady and far-reaching, and are the bottom line that cannot be crossed in handling bilateral issues and must not be shaken at any time.

In 2012, Mr. Fukuda, then 76, announced his withdrawal from the House of Representatives election. After bidding farewell to political circles, he still kept China-Japan people-to-people exchanges in his heart. In 2013, when meeting a visiting delegation of Chinese local news cadres to Japan, he borrowed the term "positive energy" that he had learned during a visit to China and called on both sides to work together to continuously accumulate the "positive energy" for developing bilateral relations.

When conversing with Mr. Fukuda, I could often feel rational reflection and human warmth at the same time. During an interview in July 2018, I brought him specialty honey I had bought while on a business trip to Nagano Prefecture. Mr. Fukuda opened the package on the spot, took a pastry from the table, dipped it in the honey and ate it, and while saying "delicious," warmly invited me to taste it together.

That day, when the conversation turned to the principles of governing the state and bringing peace to the realm, he blurted out Mencius's famous saying, "Those without a constant livelihood have no constant heart." Seeing that I could not for the moment recall the source of the classical text, he walked straight to the other end of the table, picked up an electronic dictionary to look up the original text, and pointing at the screen, explained it to me sentence by sentence. This detail made me truly feel that Mr. Fukuda harbored from the bottom of his heart a respect for traditional Chinese culture. This cultural empathy that crosses national borders was also the spiritual source that drove him for decades to promote China-Japan friendship.

"Do not do unto others what you do not want done unto yourself" was regarded by Mr. Fukuda as the golden rule for resolving disputes in the world. He stated that China, with its five thousand years of history, is "very much worthy of pride," and that ancient Chinese philosophers such as Confucius were thinking very early on about how to resolve disputes and maintain unity. He said: "As long as we persist in our efforts in this direction, we will ultimately be able to create peace and safeguard peace."

Devoted to Boao, with Asia in his heart

After bidding farewell to political circles, Mr. Fukuda never laid down the responsibility of people-to-people diplomacy, and year in and year out traveled on the multilateral stage of China-Japan exchanges and Asian diplomacy. He faced history squarely, embraced the broad vision of Asia's common development, and interpreted with his actions a politician's responsibility and sense of duty.

From 2010 to 2018, Mr. Fukuda served as Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia. During his eight-year tenure, he frequently shuttled between China and Japan, actively devoting himself to forging Asian consensus, promoting Asian development, and enhancing Asia's influence through the forum.

In Mr. Fukuda's view, with the Asian region's economy developing rapidly, people's livelihood improving with each passing day (日新月异, ri xin yue yi - "day, new, month, change"), and the situation unpredictable and rapidly changing (风云变幻, feng yun bian huan - "wind, clouds, change, transform"), there was a great need each year to gather government, business, and academic circles from various countries to assess the situation, exchange insights, and pool and give play to collective wisdom. The Boao Forum for Asia was precisely undertaking this mission of the times. He sincerely commented on many occasions that China had built an important platform for dialogue and consultation for Asia and made important contributions to regional exchanges of ideas.

Mr. Fukuda highly endorsed the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind put forward by China. He believed that this concept clearly conveyed to the world China's position of adhering to peaceful development. The countries of the world share both joys and sorrows (休戚与共, xiu qi yu gong - "joy, sorrow, together, share"), and the Belt and Road Initiative is precisely an important vehicle for the community with a shared future for mankind to move from concept to practice.

"The Communist Party of China has fulfilled its solemn promise to the people with practical actions, and has united and led the Chinese people in achieving great successes in socialist modernization." Mr. Fukuda visited China dozens of times, with his footprints covering many places. He witnessed with his own eyes how the road from Beijing Capital Airport to the city, once lined with farmland on both sides, is now densely packed with high-rise buildings (高楼林立, gao lou lin li - "high, building, forest, stand"). He remarked with emotion on many occasions that the tremendous achievements of reform and opening up stemmed from China's overall social stability and a development path suited to its national conditions. China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, and this practice is worthy of serious study by the world.

Using history as a mirror (以史为鉴, yi shi wei jian - "use, history, as, mirror"), and facing the future

Only by facing history squarely can the future be opened up. In an interview, Mr. Fukuda told me that his understanding of history originated from unforgettable and deeply etched in his heart (刻骨铭心, ke gu ming xin - "carve, bone, engrave, heart") childhood memories of war. In 1942, when he was still a child, he followed his family as they moved between Nanjing in China, Tokyo in Japan, and Gunma Prefecture. What he saw and heard under the shadow of war planted in the depths of his heart an aversion to war. This personal experience prompted him throughout his life to strongly advocate that Japan should face squarely the historical lessons of its war of aggression and must not evade or distort the truth of history.

In June 2018, Mr. Fukuda made a special trip to Nanjing, visited the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, laid a wreath to mourn the victims, and wrote in his own hand the inscription "Peace in East Asia." He was also one of the few former Japanese prime ministers to enter this memorial hall. Inside, he stopped to carefully read original historical materials such as the diaries of Japanese invading soldiers. When leaving the memorial hall, he deliberately took away a volume of historical materials compiled by the hall. Later, at the interview site in Tokyo, he even opened this heavy collection of materials and showed it to me.

Mr. Fukuda told me that the exhibition narrative of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders is objective and fair, without embellishment or exaggeration. He repeatedly called on more Japanese people to visit it, to understand history and draw lessons from it. In Mr. Fukuda's view, looking back at history is not for the sake of perpetuating hatred, but to alert the world and prevent tragedy from repeating itself.

Mr. Fukuda firmly believed that the vast majority of the Japanese people cherish peace and long for stability in their hearts. He often used cherry blossoms to express his hopes, wishing that Japan-China relations could greet a warm and bright situation like cherry blossoms in full bloom in spring.

The man has gone far away, but his exemplary style endures. The most important inspiration Mr. Fukuda left us is that countries, in getting along with one another, should uphold the overall interest. China and Japan must abide by the four political documents, persist in using history as a mirror, and translate mutual respect into policies and actions. People-to-people exchanges are a continuous and fresh source (源头活水, yuan tou huo shui - "source, living, water") for bilateral relations; just as Mr. Fukuda practiced throughout his life, we should expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, enhance mutual understanding among the peoples, accumulate mutual trust through practical cooperation, and dissolve estrangement and differences.

Cherry blossoms bloom on schedule year after year. May today's Japanese government cherish the painstaking efforts of Mr. Fukuda and other politicians of the older generation, turn back from the wrong path, reflect on and stop erroneous words and deeds, and make the efforts it should to push China-Japan relations back onto the right track.

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Measuring the Long March on Foot (Reading the World)

By: 王秀涛

In August 1983, a piece of news from Beijing thrilled the 75-year-old American journalist Harrison Salisbury: he had been granted permission to conduct on-the-ground reporting along the route of the Red Army's Long March. Upon learning the news, he wrote with delight: "I could travel the Long March route, covering all 25,000 li, not one li less." Two years later, this trek crystallized into a book of more than 300,000 characters, The Long March: The Untold Story (see image, file photo). And the original source of this book can be traced back to another book.

In 1938, Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China was published in the United States. In the book, Snow devoted a chapter to recounting the Long March, and predicted that "one day someone will write a full epic of this soul-stirring (惊心动魄, jing xin dong po - "startle, heart, move, soul") expedition." Salisbury, then working for the United Press in the United States, was deeply moved after reading it. In 1944, Salisbury and Snow, both war correspondents, met in Moscow. The two reported side by side on the Soviet Red Army's combat news, and often talked about China. Salisbury later recalled: "The more I knew, the more I wanted to understand the arduous course of Mao Zedong and his communist movement. I had to start from the beginning, and that was the Long March."

Actually setting out on this road would take several more decades of waiting. In 1972, Salisbury came to New China for the first time, and raised with Premier Zhou Enlai his wish to report along the Long March route and write a complete history of the Long March. Thereafter, he visited China many times and extensively collected historical materials related to the Long March, until the long-awaited door finally opened.

In March 1984, Salisbury and his wife Charlotte flew to Beijing. This veteran journalist, who had won the Pulitzer Prize and was known for on-the-ground investigation and a sharp pen, was not satisfied with archives and memoirs; he wanted to see with his own eyes the waters of the Xiang River, the mist of Loushan Pass, the iron chains of the Luding Bridge. Over two and a half months, accompanied by General Qin Xinghan, then deputy director of the Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, and Zhang Yuanyuan, then an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they traveled almost entirely along the route of the First Front Army of the Red Army—mainly by jeep and minibus, and on foot or by mule and horse when vehicles could not pass—crossing 7 provinces over a journey of about 12,000 kilometers.

At Jiaoping Ferry on the banks of the Jinsha River, Salisbury insisted on walking the full 15 kilometers of mountain road on foot to reach the site where the Red Army had crossed the river that year. However, on the night of his return to Huili, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital—the medical staff responsible for the rescue discovered that Salisbury had long had a pacemaker implanted in his body. A week later, as soon as the old man was out of danger, he continued the journey. This pacemaker, which accompanied him as he retraced the Long March route, is now collected in the Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Upon climbing the Luding Bridge and facing the 13 iron chains spanning the raging waves, Salisbury wrote in the guest book: "In the Long March, no battle or place can compare with the Luding Bridge. I cheer for the Red Army men and women who flew across the Dadu River and won this victory!"

In October 1985, The Long March: The Untold Story was published in the United States, and was subsequently translated into multiple languages, further making the great spirit and moving stories of the Long March known to the world. In 1986, the Chinese edition of the book was launched by the PLA Publishing House; the first edition quickly sold out and it was reprinted several times thereafter.

The reason this book became a representative work in the history of overseas writing on the Long March is not only that Salisbury firmly believed that "only those who have personally walked this route can depict in a realist manner the battles and hardships of the Long March," but also that his writing was built on hundreds of interviews and extensive seeking out of archival documents. Beyond the main text, there are approximately 40,000 characters of notes, and almost every record is backed by evidence (言必有据, yan bi you ju - "speech, must, have, evidence"). More importantly, Salisbury did not write the Long March as a mere hymn of praise, nor did he avoid the enormous sacrifices—the First Front Army had 86,000 people at the start and only a few thousand upon reaching northern Shaanxi—as well as the debates, mistakes, and disagreements within the Party. Taking the Long March as his entry point, the author presented the tortuous course of the Chinese revolution.

In Salisbury's view, the Long March, this "crucible of the Chinese revolution," was at the same time "a paean of humanity's struggle for survival." When recounting the stories of the Long March, he always placed people at the center of history. He described Mao Zedong's extraordinary talent and great strategic vision (雄才大略, xiong cai da lue - "grand, talent, great, strategy"), Zhou Enlai's meticulousness and thoroughness (缜密周全, zhen mi zhou quan - "careful, dense, all-around, complete"), the Red Army commanders' strategizing from within the command tent (运筹帷幄, yun chou wei wo - "plan, calculate, curtain, tent"), and ordinary soldiers' perseverance in desperate straits; he also wrote of Mao Zedong's silence and painful reflection after the Battle of the Xiang River, and of the soldiers' exhaustion and hunger.

The book recorded the resolute and fearless (坚忍无畏, jian ren wu wei - "persevering, enduring, no, fear") women soldiers on the Long March. When enemy aircraft raided Yangchang in Pan County on the border of Yunnan and Guizhou, He Zizhen threw herself over regimental political commissar Zhong Chibing, who had been wounded on a stretcher. Shrapnel wounded her in 17 places, and she collapsed in a pool of blood. After waking from days of unconsciousness, He Zizhen instructed the nurses not to let Mao Zedong know—"He is very busy, I don't want him to worry." Equally moving are the stories of the cooks. When crossing the great snow mountains, they insisted on carrying more than 30 kilograms, with rice and other food still in their pots. At the summit, they boiled fresh ginger and chili soup to save the sick: "We cannot let anyone die on the snow mountain." The hot soup was handed to others, but two cooks collapsed and never woke again. By the time the Red Army reached northern Shaanxi, this unit had sacrificed 9 cooks.

These stories undoubtedly explain the reasons for the victory of the Long March and the Chinese revolution: firm ideals and convictions, a fearless spirit of sacrifice, the ideology of collectivism... At the same time, they also show that the Long March is China's, but the spirit it displays belongs to all humanity. As Salisbury said: "Reading the story of the Long March will make people realize once again that once the spirit of humanity is aroused, its power is inexhaustible."

Salisbury's efforts gave his judgment particular weight—the Long March foretold the future of a nation. He wrote: "The Long March is unparalleled in the world. The heroic spirit it displayed inspires a nation of 1.1 billion people, driving China forward toward a future that no one can predict." In the book, Salisbury connected the Long March with the "new Long March" of reform and opening up at that time. Today, the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March has arrived, and the "new Long March" of that year has gone very far. This book not only retraces the historical journey, but also, starting from the Long March, reveals the infinite possibilities for the future development of the great Chinese nation.

(The author is a professor at the School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China)

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South Africa's "Tea" Fragrance (Global Reflections)

By: 戴楷然

Whenever the summer sun of South Africa's Western Cape shines on the Cederberg Mountains, a fine green carpet spreads out among the slopes, wildlands, and rocks—that is where South Africa's "national treasure tea," rooibos, grows. In fact, this beverage contains no caffeine and has low tannin content, so it is not "tea" in the strict sense, but the way it is drunk achieves similar effects through different means (异曲同工, yi qu tong gong - "different tune, same work"): the rooibos branches are slender, the leaves needle-shaped; after processing, hot water is poured over them, and the liquor gradually turns reddish-brown, giving off a faint woody fragrance.

The Cederberg has hot, dry summers and cold, wet winters, with barren soil mostly formed by weathered sandstone, through which rainwater readily seeps—an environment less than ideal for most crops, yet it has become the home on which rooibos depends for growth. Several hundred years ago, the Khoisan, the traditional peoples living in the Cape region, already knew how to consume wild rooibos. They went into the mountains to gather branches and leaves, chopped and pounded them, piled them to ferment, then laid them in the sun to dry, and finally boiled them in water to drink.

In the 1770s, the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg traveled to the Cape region to conduct research; he recorded the way local people drank rooibos, leaving important research clues for later generations. Compared with the expensive imported tea leaves of the time, rooibos was easier to obtain and tasted good as well, and so was gradually accepted and loved by the European settlers of the Cape region. In the early 20th century, a Russian immigrant with a background in the tea trade, Benjamin Ginsberg, came to the Clanwilliam area of the Western Cape; he noticed the commercial potential of rooibos and promptly purchased, processed, and promoted this plant. In 1907, rooibos appeared as a South African native product at an exhibition in London, England.

As demand grew, overharvesting of wild rooibos and insufficient supply began to constrain the industry's development. In the 1920s, the South African doctor and plant enthusiast Pieter Le Fras Nortier worked with local farmers and, after repeated experiments, discovered that by treating the hard outer shell of rooibos seeds, their germination could be markedly improved, thereby greatly raising the success rate of artificial cultivation. In the 1930s, the earliest rooibos plantations were established in Clanwilliam. From then on, the processing and production of rooibos gradually shifted from reliance on wild gathering to commercial cultivation.

Local people came to know it from the mountains and wilds, botanists recorded it, merchants carried it out of the valleys, and researchers then helped it move toward large-scale cultivation… Rooibos has undergone a "rediscovery" lasting several hundred years. In the museum in Clanwilliam, this history has physical footnotes: displayed here are processing machines and hand tools used in the early 20th century, the sample box of rooibos that Ginsberg first kept, and packaging from different eras. The exhibition also presents the process of this plant from seed germination and seedling cultivation to picking and processing.

Today, rooibos can be seen everywhere in the lives of South Africans. A cup of hot drink in the morning, a chat in the afternoon, the teapot on the family dining table—it is present in all of them (see photo, file photo). Rooibos can be brewed plain, or with milk, honey, lemon, and various spices added. Beyond the traditional ways of drinking it, it is also constantly entering new life scenarios: local companies put specially treated rooibos into espresso machines to extract, developing "rooibos espresso," and then use steamed milk to prepare a caffeine-free "red cappuccino." In many South African cafés, rooibos is no longer available in only one form in the teapot; it can also become fancy drinks and various desserts.

Brett Ladds, who once served as executive chef of the South African government and manager of the presidential residence, wrote in his memoir "The Madiba Appreciation Club" that he had once served Mandela "cup after cup" of rooibos. Beyond meeting guests and handling state affairs, the head of state also had such ordinary dietary habits: the reddish-brown beverage in a teacup was no different from that in an ordinary South African household. In the British bestselling novel "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," the heroine Precious Ramotswe runs a small detective agency in Botswana; when receiving clients, conversing with her assistant, or thinking alone, she often has a steaming cup of rooibos at hand.

While enjoying the mellow fragrance in the cup, South Africans have not forgotten where rooibos comes from. When this plant from the Cederberg Mountains became a commodity, how should commercial returns give back to the Khoisan, who first accumulated knowledge of it? After several years of consultation, representatives of the Khoisan and South African rooibos enterprises signed an agreement in 2019: processing enterprises pay a fee each year equal to 1.5% of the farm purchase price, to assist the Khoisan in protecting traditional knowledge and cultural heritage and to promote community education and development. The wisdom left by traditional tribal society has gained new forms of expression in modern life, and the development of modern industry has also begun to give back to the transmission of traditional knowledge.

Over the long years, rooibos has connected different regions and groups of people in South Africa, and has also gradually reached the cups of consumers around the world. People constantly change the ways they consume this plant, and also come to know anew its relationship with the land and with the people who first became familiar with it. A cup of "tea" from the mountains and wilds of South Africa has acquired a longer, more lingering aftertaste.

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Salt Mine Town

By: 徐鹏辉

In the Salzkammergut region of northern Austria lies a small town that rests its head on the mountains and cradles lakes in its arms—Hallstatt. For many years, it has drawn tourists who come attracted by its fame, with its ancient history, pleasant climate, tranquil environment, and breathtaking lake and mountain scenery.

Hallstatt's beauty lies in its harmonious integration of mountains and waters (山水相融, shan shui xiang rong - "mountain, water, mutually, blend"). Looking down from the viewing platform, the lake water seems like a green silk ribbon fluttering between the high mountains and gorges, and also like a smooth bright mirror, reflecting the steep cliffs and the colorful wooden houses. Residents get straight to the point (开门见山, kai men jian shan - "open, door, see, mountain") with mountains before their doors and enjoy the lake by pushing open their windows; terraces are a profusion of beautiful flowers (花团锦簇, hua tuan jin cu - "flower, cluster, brocade, cluster"), and the wood carvings beside the doors are exquisite, adding much fairy-tale atmosphere to the small town. Fish swimming in the lake are clearly visible, swans glide in flocks on the water's surface, and birds flit past on outstretched wings among the mountains—within the tranquility it is full of vitality (生机盎然, sheng ji ang ran - "life, energy, overflowing").

As the four seasons turn, the town's scenery has its own charm in each, whether shrouded in misty morning fog like one being coy or partially concealed (犹抱琵琶半遮面, you bao pi pa ban she mian - "still, hold, pipa, half, hide, face"), or immersed in gentle warm breezes where "spring comes and the river water is green as blue." What is even more attractive is the steadfastness and purity in the town's very bones—that is the unchanging peace and self-possession of the mountains and the water.

The small town holds a deeply buried rich mine of history and culture—the "Hallstatt culture" of Europe's early Iron Age takes its name precisely from this small town. Around 800 BC, iron had already become an important material for the residents here to forge weapons and tools. Bronze and iron weapons, bronze vessels, and Greek wine containers and other artifacts have been unearthed in large quantities in the small town, confirming Hallstatt's prosperity and also reconstructing the close trade exchanges and cultural interactions between the town and the Mediterranean region at that time.

In ancient Celtic, Hallstatt is closely tied to "salt"; the high-purity salt mines buried deep in the Alps endowed the small town with enormous wealth. The Celts discovered salt mines here as early as before the Common Era and accumulated wealth by mining rock salt. In an era without refrigerators or chemical agents, salt—which could preserve freshness and prevent spoilage—was regarded as "white gold." After the Age of Discovery, sea salt became widespread and salt prices fell, but until the mid-20th century, the salt industry remained the foundation of local prosperity.

Today, touring the ancient salt mine is one stop on a trip to the small town. Visitors take a cable car up the mountain, and upon reaching the salt pit change into miners' clothing to go deep into the caves, take a narrow-gauge mini-train to reach more than 400 meters underground, listen to guides explain the miners' daily labor, and visit the underground salt lake and ancient wooden ladders. Salt crystals on the rock walls of the mine glimmer faintly, the lamp shadows in the passages flicker dimly yellow, and together with the underground chill they remind people of the hardship and toil of salt mining in those years.

People who come from a very long distance (千里迢迢, qian li tiao tiao - "thousand, li, far, far") are intoxicated by Hallstatt's mountains, lake, and history. In the hearts of travelers full of anticipation, it is not only a mountain town in Austria, but also a peaceful utopia away from the world (世外桃源, shi wai tao yuan - "world, outside, peach, garden") where restlessness can be laid to rest and the soul healed. The mountain wind brushes across the lake surface, the saltiness of salt mingles with the fresh fragrance of vegetation and spreads—that is the unique breath belonging to Hallstatt, spanning a thousand years.

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Page editors: Wang Jiake, Zhuang Xueya, Li Xinyi

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Wuliangye Embarked on a New Journey, Conveying Strong Aroma to the World

Great-Nation Rich Aroma, Harmonious Wuliang

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Inner Mongolia: Brocade Spread Across the Ridges, Autumn Fills the Greater Khingan

In the north, autumn runs deep, and mountains and rivers are dyed gold. Every year in September and October, the Greater Khingan forest region of Inner Mongolia sheds its summer verdure and welcomes a riot of autumn color. The vast sea of forest over a thousand li changes its garb in turn, spreading out a magnificent and grand, richly layered long scroll of autumn scenery; "Autumn in the Greater Khingan" has already become a cultural tourism calling card renowned throughout the country.

Autumn wind threads through the ridges, dyeing all the mountains. The endless, boundless sea of Khingan forest advances in color layer upon layer: larch trees are studded with dazzling gilded gold, birch forests gather frost and turn yellow, clear and elegantly refined, evergreen Scotch pines stand tall in verdant green shadows, and shrubs across the hills are dotted with cinnabar and frost marks. Gold, yellow, green, and red interweave and blend, layer upon layer filling valleys and hill ridges; as far as the eye can see (目之所及, mu zhi suo ji - "eye, that which, reaches"), all is a splendid scene that heals the heart.

With clear waters as companion, the autumn charm runs long. River valleys wind their way among the colorful forests, morning mist curls over wetlands and meadows, the tranquil Tianchi lies quietly atop the mountain peaks, and limpid autumn waters mirror the autumn light across the sky. A gentle breeze comes slowly through the forest, fallen leaves rustle and swirl, the vast sea of forest sheds its clamor, and the vastness, ethereal emptiness, and gentleness of the mountain wilds are intoxicating.

The sea of forest harbors poetic feeling; the smoke and fire of daily life moisten the mountains and rivers. At the Aoluguya Reindeer Herding Tribe scenic area, reindeer tread slowly through the leaves, and the simple, ancient ethnic customs blend into the mountain autumn scenery, adding tender and gentle warmth (脉脉温情, mai mai wen qing - "pulsating, warm, affection") to the magnificent mountains and rivers. The vast Greater Khingan possesses both the magnificent and grand (雄浑壮阔, xiong hun zhuang kuo - "grand and powerful, magnificent and vast") spirit of the northern land's mountains and rivers and the delicate gentleness of the forest sea's autumn light.

Brocade spread across the ridges, autumn filling the Khingan — this is nature's proudest work as it sets brush to the northern frontier. Inner Mongolia's grand autumn realm, with each mountain and each river, each forest and each scene, has engraved a moving poem.

Data source: Department of Culture and Tourism of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

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Green Legend (In-Depth Observation)

By: 本报记者 李红梅 吴 勇 董丝雨 蒋雪鸿

During his inspection in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that green development is an inherent requirement of high-quality development, that it is necessary to coordinate high-quality development and high-level protection, uphold integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, coordinate the promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, and unswervingly follow the path of prioritizing ecology and green development.

Ulanqab was once characterized by fierce wind and sand (风沙肆虐, feng sha si nue - "wind, sand, act violently"). After decades of governance, greenery has advanced and sand has retreated, fish have reappeared and birds have returned, and the ecological environment has continued to improve. Relying on its deeply accumulated green foundation, Ulanqab has transformed its green advantages into development advantages; its green computing power industry has developed rapidly, and a desolate land has been transformed into the "Token Capital."

From "when the wind blows, the grass bends low and cattle and sheep appear" to "when the wind blows, the grass bends low and Tokens appear," how did Ulanqab achieve its green transformation? Our reporter came to Ulanqab's mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts to seek the code of the green transformation.

—Editor

In the Sumu Mountain Nature Reserve in Xinghe County, Ulanqab City, sunlight passes through the larch forest, a small fox pads quietly through the woods, a stream babbles and flows, and all is clear and tranquil, refreshing to the heart.

"I started planting trees at 16, and later became a forest ranger; I have long had an inseparable bond with these trees." Li Zhen, a 69-year-old villager from Lujiaying Village, Dianzi Town, Xinghe County, devoted most of his life to this forest farm. He quietly recounted the wind and frost along the road of forest protection: wearing out two pairs of shoes a year, patrolling the mountains in torrential rain, and once unexpectedly encountering wild beasts.

From Dong Hongru, nominee for the National Moral Model award and a National Model Worker, to ordinary forest ranger Li Zhen, generation after generation of forest farm workers have continued to cultivate this land, turning this barren mountain and bald ridge into the largest artificial forest farm in central and western Inner Mongolia and a national 4A-level tourist attraction.

From the Sumu Mountain Nature Reserve to the "Three-North" project area in Siziwang Banner, from Huangqi Lake and Daihai Lake to the computing power park, Ulanqab has firmly established and practiced the concept that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver, coordinated integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, coordinated the promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, and blazed a new path of prioritizing ecology and green development.

Trees, dyeing the desert green —

The preserved area of caragana reaches 12 million mu, making it the "main force" in the city's sand prevention and control

Who would have thought that the inconspicuous caragana is Ulanqab's "sharp weapon" for controlling sand and fixing soil.

In Dingji Gacha, Naomugeng Sumu, Siziwang Banner, a strong wind sweeps across the grassland, and the perceived temperature drops below zero.

Looking as far as the eye can see, the Gobi is vast and desolate. Yet upon entering the grassland, patches of green strike the eye, revealing vigorous vitality. These stubbornly upright low shrubs are caragana.

"Don't look at the caragana as only about 40 centimeters tall; its underground root system has long penetrated more than two meters deep." Herder Biligong pointed at the caragana and spoke. The 2,000 mu of desertified land beneath their feet was once part of his family's grassland. Now it has been enclosed with fencing and become an important position of the sixth phase of the "Three-North" project — the ecological comprehensive governance project of the northern foothills of the Yinshan Mountains (Hetao Plain—Zhangcheng Bashang area).

Why use the "weak and small" caragana to control sand?

"Caragana is a native tree species we carefully selected through a rigorous process (千挑万选, qian tiao wan xuan - "thousand, pick; ten thousand, choose"); it is drought-tolerant, cold-tolerant, and salt-alkali tolerant, and its main and lateral roots intertwine and coil, making it a natural sharp weapon for fixing sand and locking in water." said Guo Peng, director of the Siziwang Banner Forestry and Grassland Bureau.

Siziwang Banner's average annual precipitation is less than 120 millimeters. "The core of selecting tree species is to 'determine greenery by water,' and caragana is very suitable for this sandy land." Guo Peng said that caragana also has extremely high ecological and economic value. "Caragana must be periodically cut back to rejuvenate, and the harvested branches and leaves are excellent raw materials for processing pellet feed for cattle and sheep." Guo Peng said.

In Ulanqab, the preserved area of caragana reaches 12 million mu, making it the "main force" in the city's sand prevention and control.

Zhang Jiangong, deputy director of the Ulanqab City Forestry and Grassland Bureau, introduced that Siziwang Banner is located in the battle area of the Yellow River "Jizi Bend" and the Hunshandake Sandy Land annihilation battle area, and is one of the main battlefields of the "Three-North" project battle, together forming Ulanqab's two major main positions for sand prevention and control. Ulanqab is located at the northwest upwind mouth of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; building a firm green defense line in Ulanqab is both protecting the ecology of the northern frontier and safeguarding the blue skies of Beijing and Tianjin.

Caragana plants with deep roots are locking down the shifting sand and soil, while greenery is gradually dyeing the desert.

The growth of caragana also delivers ecological dividends to herders. After caragana is planted in concentrated areas, subsequent daily care and watering to keep it alive are handed over to local herders, with management and protection lasting three years. "For 2,000 mu of caragana, one watering takes seven or eight days, and watering is done five or six times a year." Biligong calculated for the reporter: "After passing the assessment at the end of the three-year management and protection period, there can be an income of 80,000 yuan."

Entering Biligong's new home, the rooms are clean and tidy, and the bathroom even has a flush toilet. "With caragana planted, the wind and sand have visibly decreased, and even the windowsill has a thinner layer of sand and dust." Biligong said with a smile.

Birds, settling at Daihai Lake —

The Oriental stork appearing at Daihai Lake for the first time and settling there is a fruitful result of Daihai's ecological governance

The arrival of a bird cast a "vote of confidence" for the improvement of Daihai's ecological environment.

"In March this year, I saw from a distance that there were four large birds on the lake surface, with long red legs, snow-white feathers, and a touch of black at the wingtips; I had never seen them in the reserve before." Chen Yu, director of the scientific research and publicity office of the Daihai Nature Reserve, took photos and after repeated comparison determined that these were Oriental storks, wildlife under first-class national key protection.

This discovery thrilled Chen Yu. "The Oriental stork is a globally endangered species, known as the 'giant panda among birds,' and is extremely strict in choosing its habitat. The arrival of the Oriental stork shows that Daihai's ecological environment is very good!" Chen Yu said.

What surprised him even more was that the Oriental storks did not hurry away, but instead carried twigs to build a nest on an iron tower by the lake, preparing to incubate.

With the arrival of the "distinguished guests," patrol protection naturally had to be "stepped up." "I go to see the Oriental storks at least three times a day, and walking 10,000 to 20,000 steps is routine. I also have to prevent vehicles from approaching so as not to affect incubation." Chen Yu said.

Soon, there was activity in the nest. On May 13, the first clutch hatched three chicks; on May 20, the second clutch hatched another three. The six fluffy chicks became the reserve's "stars," and many people rushed to watch the birds.

"Hatching, growing feathers, learning to fly... I witnessed the entire process of the chicks' growth." Chen Yu said that in order not to disturb them, he mainly used drones to film, combined with the bird monitoring platform to record them "from a distance."

At the end of September, as the weather turned cold, the Oriental storks flew away from Daihai Lake and set out on their southward migration.

The Oriental stork appearing at Daihai Lake for the first time and settling there is a fruitful result of the local launch of the Daihai ecological comprehensive governance battle.

Daihai Lake, together with Hulun Lake and Ulansuhai Lake, are known as Inner Mongolia's "one lake and two seas," and bear the function of an important ecological barrier on the northern frontier of the motherland. In earlier years, Daihai's water level declined year after year, the lake surface shrank, and water quality deteriorated.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has mentioned the issue of pollution prevention and control of the "one lake and two seas" many times, pointing out the direction and providing guidance for the comprehensive ecological governance of Daihai.

Wei Lei, deputy director of the Daihai Nature Reserve Service Center, introduced that the local area has launched a set of systematic governance "combined punches": natural restoration, implementing mesh fencing enclosure of the Daihai wetland; controlling sources and intercepting pollution, building multiple township sewage treatment plants and a rural domestic waste collection and treatment system, and eliminating direct discharge of production and domestic sewage into the lake; replenishing and conserving water, with the Daihai ecological emergency water replenishment project officially supplying water in 2022, and 260,000 mu of farmland in the basin converted from "water irrigation to dry farming"...

With systematic governance, the ecology of the Daihai basin has continued to improve —

Li Bo, section chief of the river and lake management and flood and drought disaster prevention section of the Ulanqab City Water Resources Bureau, introduced that as of September this year, the water surface area of Daihai had recovered to 65.8 square kilometers, the largest in nearly 10 years, and the water level had risen overall by 3.82 meters.

Daihai carp and crucian carp, which had disappeared for many years, reappeared; fish species increased to 11, and bird species increased to 113. Since 2020, the great bustard, wildlife under first-class national key protection, has inhabited Daihai every year, reaching nearly 100 at most.

Today's Daihai Nature Reserve has blue skies and clear waters, flying birds and leaping fish, and surrounding villagers have also taken up the ecological "golden rice bowl."

"There are more tourists every year, many are repeat customers, and the restaurant's business is getting better and better; this year we have already earned 160,000 to 170,000 yuan." Song Dong, a villager from Yihe Village, runs a restaurant near the reserve.

Fish, returning to Huangqi Lake —

The surface of Huangqi Lake has expanded and the ecology has improved, and the Guancun crucian carp that disappeared for 27 years has returned

At Huangqi Lake, there is a story that circulates about a fish — the Guancun crucian carp.

In the 1950s, people found that the crucian carp of Huangqi Lake had delicate, firm flesh and a mellow, fresh flavor. As the railway set up a station at Guancun (today's Tuguiwula Town, Chahar Right Front Banner), crucian carp were continuously transported to Beijing and Tianjin, and the "Guancun crucian carp" thus became widely known.

At that time, the surface of Huangqi Lake reached its historical maximum on record. By the 1990s, sustained drought, soil erosion, and pollution combined, and the lake continued to shrink. After that, Huangqi Lake was on the verge of drying up, saline-alkali flats were exposed, flying birds went far away, and the Guancun crucian carp gradually remained only in the oral accounts of old fishermen; once it disappeared, it was gone for 27 years.

Huangqi Lake must be protected, and the Guancun crucian carp must be brought back. In 2003, Huangqi Lake was upgraded to an autonomous-region-level nature reserve. In 2012, the local area launched systematic governance and restoration of Huangqi Lake: controlling sources and treating pollution, basin governance, and returning farmland to forest and grassland. Since 2021, Chahar Right Front Banner has implemented eight measures — "optimize, demolish, enclose, prohibit, collect, dredge, replenish, and manage" — with cumulative investment of 356 million yuan, step by step reducing the lake water's salinity and alkalinity.

Hard work pays off in the end (功夫不负有心人, gong fu bu fu you xin ren - "effort, not, fail, have, heart, person"). In May 2025, reserve staff once again detected the Guancun crucian carp through sonar system monitoring, and the fish population that had disappeared for 27 years reappeared in Huangqi Lake! Returning together with the crucian carp were 168 species of protected birds including the great bustard, tundra swan, pied avocet, demoiselle crane, and Eurasian spoonbill. The ecological chain of the Huangqi Lake wetland has continued to be filled in, and the water area has expanded to 85.22 square kilometers.

The good news quickly spread throughout Shoujia Village by the lakeside. "I heard about it right away and was especially happy; the Huangqi Lake in my memory has come back." said villager Tian Shengyun.

It is now the migratory bird season, and looking across the lake surface, birds gather in clouds. "At present, more than 30,000 migratory birds have been monitored at Huangqi Lake." said Wang Shaojun, director of the Huangqi Lake Nature Reserve Service Center.

Every day, Wang Shaojun brings binoculars to patrol and observe, and also keeps watch through the smart regulatory platform. On the large screen, images from various points in the lake area are transmitted back in real time; the rising and landing of flying birds and the vegetation and mudflats are seen clearly at a single glance (一览无余, yi lan wu yu - "one, look; surplus, remain"), and newly arriving bird species can be automatically identified and recorded in archives.

Drone intelligent patrols, online platform monitoring, and ground patrols by management and protection personnel together weave Huangqi Lake's "sky—ground—people" three-dimensional management and protection network. "In the future, we will persist in taking natural restoration as the main approach and artificial intervention as supplementary, and carry out restoration in a scientific and reasonable way." Wang Shaojun said.

Wind, delivering green energy —

Turning the wind that blows from spring to winter into green electricity, surging green momentum

Ulanqab has an old saying: "One wind a year, blowing from spring to winter."

Ulanqab is located in the eastern section of the Yinshan Mountains, right on the main wind channel through which the Siberian cold high pressure and Mongolian cyclones move south into North China; cold air drives straight in along the open plateau corridor, creating strong, stable, and sustained high winds here.

For a long time, strong winds and wilderness made Ulanqab known as a desolate land. But today, this wind has become a valuable wind energy resource: the average annual wind speed at 70 meters can reach 7.2–8.8 meters per second, and the wind direction is concentrated with little turbulence; the equivalent annual utilization hours reach about 3,600 hours, and its wind power endowment ranks among the top in the country.

The long wind delivers coolness; Ulanqab's average annual temperature is 4.3 degrees Celsius, and natural cold sources can be used for nearly 10 months each year. Combined with the locational advantage of being "one step west of Beijing" and a measured one-way network latency of only 2.1 milliseconds, numerous computing power projects have landed one after another.

Toward evening, the reporter came to the Envision Galaxy Base, where the park was brightly lit.

The Envision Galaxy Base announced official production in August this year, among which the world's largest AI (artificial intelligence) computing power super unit has already been built. Some computing power enterprises have already moved in, and the park is bustling.

Yang Wenlong, project director of the Envision AI Intelligent Computing Center, introduced that 80% of the park's electricity is produced and directly supplied by Envision's own wind farms. In the future, the computing power cluster will expand to a scale of one million P (1P is approximately equal to 1 quadrillion calculations per second), and is expected to become the AI data center with the strongest Token output capacity in the world.

Why is the world's largest AI computing power super unit located in what was once a desolate land? Yang Wenlong said frankly that Ulanqab's geographical location, wind and solar resources, computing power cluster, and other advantages attracted Envision.

"The end of AI is electricity." Large intelligent computing clusters require sufficient, stable, and sustained energy supply. In Ulanqab, computing power and energy achieve perfect coordination within the super unit. Ulanqab has more than 100 computing power projects citywide, with signed rack scale exceeding 7 million racks, computing power operation scale of 190,000 P, rich application scenarios, and a complete industrial chain supporting system. Envision has its own green electricity and has developed an AI power dispatch system that can predict new energy output and dynamically match power generation, energy storage, and computing power loads, achieving computing-power-electricity coordination.

"From green electricity production and supply, to intelligent computing dispatch and output, to the implementation and application of artificial intelligence, Ulanqab has formed a complete computing power industry chain." said Feng Lei, deputy director of the Ulanqab City Big Data Administration. Last year, Ulanqab launched the three-year action plan for the "Token Capital," striving to build an industrial closed loop of "wind and solar power generation—green computing power—Token value output."

Ulanqab is turning this wind that blows from spring to winter into green electricity, upgrading it to "Tokens," and converting it into surging green momentum.

"Ecological protection must calculate the big account and the long-term account. When the environment improves, development has staying power; high-quality development and high-level protection advance together in coordination, walking the path of prioritizing ecology and green development." said Xue Yangyiqun, deputy director of the Ulanqab City Ecology and Environment Bureau.

It is already late autumn, and the unchanging northwest wind still blows, but Ulanqab has already "upgraded to green." From a desolate land to the "Token Capital," Ulanqab's winds, birds, and fish are all witnesses, quietly telling the story of this northern frontier city's green transformation.

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Every Tree, Every Blade of Grass, Every Whisper of the Wind

By: 李红梅

Ulanqab, once known for "a wind every year, blowing from spring to winter," now has spinning wind turbines and flickering servers, and is stunning the world with a new identity as the "Capital of Tokens." From raging sandstorms to lush and full of greenery (绿意盎然, lv yi ang ran - "green, intention, overflowing"), from a fragile ecology to a hotbed of computing power, Ulanqab's transformation has let us witness the surging power of ecological priority and green development.

Ulanqab is located at the northern foot of the Yinshan Mountains and is a key section of the ecological security shield of the motherland's north. The whole city has a vast area of difficult-to-treat desertified land and severe grassland degradation, and is one of the important battlegrounds of the "Three-North" project. In the past, this place suffered from raging sandstorms, shrinking lakes, and degraded grasslands, and the ecological situation was very grim. However, through the relayed efforts of generation after generation, Ulanqab has achieved a historic transformation of green advancing and sand retreating — the water area of Daihai Lake has reached a new high in nearly 10 years, the water area of Huangqihai has gradually recovered and expanded, the number of windy days in the whole city has decreased, and the area of desertified and sandy land has achieved a "double reduction." This city, once a "city of wind and sand," has now become a vibrant and ecologically livable place, a city of green development.

Behind Ulanqab's green transformation are moving stories of ecological governance. There are stories of people: the tree planter Dong Hongru, who took root in the Sumushan Forest Farm and struggled hard with consistent dedication for decades (几十年如一日, ji shi nian ru yi ri - "several, ten, years, like, one, day"), turning barren hills and bare ridges into dense forests; there are stories of trees: in Ulanqab, the caragana, a shrub tolerant of cold, drought, and barren soil, with a well-developed root system, locks down and fixes sand, and has become a "magic weapon" for sand control. Even better, after the caragana is periodically cut back and harvested, it can be processed into high-quality forage for developing animal husbandry, allowing herders to increase their incomes while controlling sand.

Improving the ecological environment is developing the productive forces. The beauty of the ecology thickens the green foundation and supports Ulanqab's magnificent turnaround. Once the ecological foundation was polished bright, the abundant wind and solar resources, the cool climate environment, and the locational advantage of being "one step west of Beijing" endowed this city with unique natural advantages (得天独厚, de tian du hou - "obtain, heaven, uniquely, thick") for development, and the green electricity and computing power industries are developing vigorously: the country's first green-power direct-connection source-grid-load-storage integrated project for a data center was put into operation here, providing 848 million kilowatt-hours of self-generated and self-used green electricity annually; the city has signed more than 100 computing power projects and has ranked among the core nodes of the national integrated computing power network. Green electricity, transformed through Tokens, can have its value amplified dozens or even hundreds of times; from "selling electricity" to "selling Tokens," Ulanqab has completed its advance from an energy-exporting place to an AI productivity-exporting place.

From a desolate land of yellow sand filling the sky to today's closely watched "Capital of Tokens," Ulanqab's transformation is a vivid practice of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and a vivid annotation of high-quality development and high-level protection reinforcing each other. When the wind turbines on the grasslands convert clean energy into "digital crude oil" that drives artificial intelligence, what we see is not only the miracle of industrial transformation, but also a model of advancing Chinese modernization in which humanity and nature coexist in harmony.

Why can the greenery here become "Tokens"? Every tree, every patch of grass, every wisp of wind is telling the same truth — if people do not fail the green mountains, the green mountains will certainly not fail the people. Ulanqab's practice proves that adhering to ecological priority and green development can write a splendid answer sheet of high-quality development in the new era and lead to a broader and better future.

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Page editors: Kou Jiangze

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Silver-Haired Service Innovation Seen Through "One-Day Gatherings" (Prism)

By: 陆凡冰

The popularity of "one-day gatherings" has drawn more attention to the social and recreational needs of older people. Service innovation can start from customers' everyday inconveniences, taking care of needs that are scattered across different stages.

Around a hundred yuan per person, two meals, singing, chatting, taking photos, and a whole day of gathering with relatives and friends. Recently, "one-day gatherings" for older people in some places in the Yangtze River Delta have attracted attention. An older person who took part in the activity said, "Being able to get together often and chat makes me very happy." Making it more convenient for older people to gather and enriching their lives — such services are worth encouraging.

The popularity of "one-day gatherings" has drawn more attention to the social and recreational needs of older people. The quality of life in old age is also reflected in whether an ordinary day holds a gathering worth looking forward to, and whether one can do something one enjoys. Catching up with old friends, and making new friends through shared hobbies — these ordinary interactions can add a great deal of pleasure to life. Older people's pursuit of a fulfilling spiritual life likewise needs suitable services to satisfy it. "One-day gatherings" give them more opportunities to arrange their lives independently and take part in cultural and recreational activities, providing concrete places for enjoying life in old age.

For this pleasure to be shared by more people, affordability and convenience are key. Gathering a group of relatives and friends, wanting to sit a while longer after a meal, wanting to chat more after singing — several changes of venue are inevitably a hassle. Linking dining and leisure together saves the back-and-forth travel, and with relatively affordable prices, a gathering easily comes together. "One-day gatherings" recombine everyday needs with existing services, giving older people one more option for getting together. This also offers a lesson to operators: service innovation can start from customers' everyday inconveniences, taking care of needs that are scattered across different stages, and even ordinary dining and entertainment venues can attract new customer groups.

To let older people gather comfortably, effort must go into the details. Some venues use slip-resistant flooring and equip private rooms with emergency call bells; others arrange dining and singing within the same venue to reduce older people's back-and-forth travel. These improvements may seem small, yet they bear on whether older people find things convenient to use and comfortable after staying a while. For older people, whether a full day of activities can be easily taken part in depends on their physical strength and habits, and also on whether the service arrangements are considerate. With fewer inconveniences in walking and appropriate space left for rest, older people can enjoy the gathering more unhurriedly.

Enriching the activities also means respecting older people's different choices. Some venues offer interest courses such as dance and vocal music in their "one-day gatherings," giving older people more to experience. Such explorations can continue in light of local conditions, but whether a program is suitable must ultimately be decided by listening to older people's opinions. At the same age, hobbies may differ; at the same gathering, some like liveliness while others prefer quiet. Making activity arrangements more flexible, letting customers take part according to their interests, and leaving room for quiet conversation and free rest — only then can services better suit people's wishes. Operators improving steadily on this basis also helps direct investment to where it is truly needed, so that affordability and quality can be sustained.

It should also be noted that some venues still have shortcomings in service. When media visited, they noticed that problems reported by customers included strong smoke smells in the venue, slippery bathroom floors, cold food, and inadequate service. Affordable prices are the attraction of "one-day gatherings," but affordability should be built on reliable service. Older people are willing to go out and gather because they seek happiness, and they also need peace of mind. If hygiene, safety, and service commitments lack guarantees, a burst of popularity will be hard to turn into lasting trust.

In this regard, operators should promptly verify and address the problems customers report, explain in advance the contents of packages and separately charged items, and make service commitments verifiable. Relevant departments should combine complaints with routine inspections, focus on issues such as food hygiene and venue safety, and urge venues with problems to rectify and implement changes. When services extend into areas such as tourism and shopping, the service providers and corresponding responsibilities should also be made clear, so that older people can understand the situation and make choices, and so that they can protect their rights and interests if disputes arise.

The popularity of "one-day gatherings" reminds us to keep older people's social and recreational needs at heart. Caring for older people is also reflected in providing space for their interests and creating convenience for their gatherings. By making these services solid and good, so that more older people have the interest to go out and pleasures to find, enjoying life in old age can become part of more ordinary days.

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"Dormant" Wallets Turn into Housing Benefits (Big Country, Small Home)

By: 证券时报记者 吴家明 黄 翔 聂英好 刘 茜

In Shenzhen, Guangdong, old residential communities are seeing their homes renewed; in Jinan, Shandong, second-hand homes are undergoing whole-house renovation; in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, employees are withdrawing funds for property management fees... On September 20, the Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations on the Administration of Housing Provident Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Decision) officially came into effect, marking that the use scenarios of China's housing provident fund have officially extended comprehensively from the traditional "dedicated for home purchase" to the "full chain of residence." Subsequently, many places across the country intensively introduced supporting implementation rules.Reporters conducted on-site visits in Shenzhen, Jinan and other places and found that this livelihood fund, which had long "slept" in accounts in the past, is now streaming continuously without end (源源不断, yuan yuan bu duan - "source, source, not, continuous") into turning into tangible housing benefits for residents.

"The new housing provident fund policy gave me solid and substantial (实实在在, shi shi zai zai - "real, real, exist, exist") confidence"

Walking into Songquan Community in Luohu District, Shenzhen, the multi-story buildings built in the 1990s carry the texture of accumulated time, the daily calls of shops along the street rise and fall in succession (此起彼伏, ci qi bi fu - "this, rise; that, fall"), and the community is filled with vivid everyday life. Zhang Kai, who has worked in Shenzhen for nearly 8 years, bought a three-bedroom apartment in this old community full of life, and has just completed all the renovation. "The main reason I made up my mind to choose this place was that the new housing provident fund policy gave me solid and substantial confidence," Zhang Kai said. Previously, he and colleagues who also planned to buy homes went together to the service hall of the Shenzhen Housing Provident Fund Management Center for consultation, and staff calculated the policy benefits for them in detail: for young first-home families like theirs, the final approved housing provident fund loan amount was significantly higher than before. After carefully calculating at home, Zhang Kai found that, apart from the down payment he had prepared, a pure housing provident fund loan could cover the remaining home price, and he could also sign a monthly repayment withdrawal agreement to directly use the housing provident fund balance to offset monthly payments, immediately reducing the family's monthly repayment pressure.

Zhang Kai renovated the home according to his own design ideas: he built a casual small bar counter on the balcony and converted the originally idle small room into a dedicated studio, giving the home's living comfort a qualitative improvement. What surprised him even more was that Shenzhen's current housing provident fund policy can also support their subsequent participation in public renewal and renovation of the community. It is reported that Shenzhen's housing provident fund withdrawal rules have increased support for employees participating in old housing renewal and renovation projects, including withdrawals for renewing and renovating old housing with self-raised funds, and withdrawals for installing or replacing old elevators in existing residential buildings, among various withdrawal businesses. On October 10, the Shenzhen Housing Provident Fund Management Center issued the Notice on Supporting Withdrawal of Housing Provident Fund for Housing Renovation and Other Related Matters (Draft for Comments), proposing to add two types of withdrawal situations: housing renovation and payment of housing property management fees, which gave Zhang Kai many new expectations for further housing upgrades.

Speaking of renovating self-occupied housing, Gao Jun, who lives in Jinan, has just completed the withdrawal business for renovating self-occupied housing, withdrawing 136,500 yuan in a lump sum from the housing provident fund for renovating self-occupied housing. She told reporters, "Buying a home before almost used up the family's savings. After taking possession, faced with aging kitchen and bathroom facilities and peeling walls, we originally planned to do a simple renovation and make do. Now it's better: once this money arrived, the budget for whole-house renovation and replacing doors and windows was enough." On September 20, the Jinan Housing Provident Fund Center issued a notice that eligible depositors may apply to withdraw housing provident fund for renovating self-occupied housing. When depositors handle the business themselves, they only need to submit their ID card, real estate ownership certificate and a personal Class I bank savings card, with no need to provide renovation invoices, truly achieving "reducing certificates and facilitating the people."

Unlike Gao Jun, Liu Lei, who also lives in Jinan, represents another group of beneficiaries: the old house his family has lived in for 15 years has recently had constant problems—leaking kitchen pipes and a failed waterproof layer in the bathroom. After seeing the new housing provident fund policy, he immediately checked the terms against his own property conditions. After calculation, Liu Lei could withdraw more than 100,000 yuan for this house. Once the funds were in place, he upgraded his original plan of only partial repairs to a whole-house renovation. "This way, the family's cash flow is much more comfortable," Liu Lei said.

For a long time, the safeguard function of housing provident funds was mainly concentrated in the housing transaction stage. As China's real estate market development enters a new stage, residents' housing needs have shifted from "having a place to live" to "living in a good home," and families' demand for residence-related expenditures such as renovation, payment of property management fees, and old community renovation continues to rise. The Decision precisely responds to this livelihood change, expanding withdrawal situations from the original 6 to 9, truly achieving coverage of the entire housing life cycle. The opening of housing provident fund withdrawals for renovation happens to fill the funding channel for the link "after home purchase, during residence." Withdrawn funds are directly injected into the home decoration, building materials, and home furnishing consumption chains, which will also create sustained momentum for stabilizing and boosting housing-related consumption.

"I also have my own account now, and I'm more motivated to save money to buy a home"

If buying a home and renovating are large expenditures, then property management fees are a "long-term household expense" to be continuously borne in the future. Recently, Xiang Hui, who works at an internet company in Hangzhou, received a property fee payment reminder. He opened his mobile banking, prepared to set aside 8,500 yuan from his newly paid salary, and transfer it to the community property management as a year's expense. However, just before entering the transfer password, he exited the interface and opened the "Zheli Ban" APP, entered the housing provident fund withdrawal page, filled in the amount, and completed facial recognition authentication. In less than half a day, 8,500 yuan was directly deposited into his bank card.

"I used to think housing provident fund could only be used for buying a home. Now it directly covers my family's property management fees for a year at the maximum level, as if I had unexpectedly received an extra year-end bonus." Xiang Hui calculated his fixed monthly expenses for the reporter: "Property management fees plus parking space management fees and public energy consumption fees come to about 8,500 yuan a year. Although this money does not account for a high proportion of household expenses, because of the mortgage, after deducting more than 10,000 yuan in monthly payments, having to take out several thousand yuan in one go still hurts." As early as the first half of this year, the Hangzhou Housing Provident Fund Management Center took the lead and officially implemented a new round of optimization policies, comprehensively broadening housing provident fund withdrawal and use scenarios, allowing depositing employee families to withdraw up to 10,000 yuan per year to pay for property management fees, public energy consumption fees and parking space management fees for self-occupied housing.

It can be seen that housing provident funds have extended residents' housing safeguard chain from the transaction end to the holding end, so that residents can feel solid and substantial policy support at every stage of stable living.

In addition, the Decision clearly stipulates that flexible employment personnel may voluntarily make deposits, a measure that precisely responds to the profound changes in the current employment structure. Today, new business forms such as the digital economy, platform economy and sharing economy are developing rapidly, workers have more diverse career choices, and the scale of flexible employment groups such as food delivery riders, ride-hailing drivers, online streamers and freelance designers continues to grow. They can finally join the "housing provident fund family" and obtain more policy support.

"I used to think housing provident fund was exclusive to office workers. Now I also have my own account, and I'm more motivated to save money to buy a home." In early October, Li Xianhua, who had worked as a food delivery rider in Wuhan, Hubei for 3 years, completed the first deposit into his housing provident fund account as a flexible employment person. His goal is very specific: apply for a housing provident fund loan one year later and buy a home of his own.

In June this year, Li Xianhua came to a branch of a entrusted bank for housing provident funds for consultation. Staff told him that the core of the new version of the Measures for the Administration of Housing Provident Fund Deposits and Use for Flexible Employment Personnel in Wuhan is to promote "equal rights in safeguards" between flexible employment personnel and unit employees in loan rights. The multiplier in the loan amount calculation formula was raised from 10 times to 20 times, and the deposit coefficient was aligned with that of unit employees. What also attracted Li Xianhua was the freer and more flexible deposit account management model. The new policy canceled the original "one-time deposit method" and unified it into two models: "independent deposit" and "monthly deduction deposit," which can be switched monthly—deposit more when you have money and less when things are tight—exactly suitable for rider groups like Li Xianhua whose income fluctuates with order volume.

Therefore, after the Decision officially came into effect, Li Xianhua no longer hesitated. He opened a housing provident fund flexible employment account and completed the first deposit, and he also received a one-time account opening subsidy of 200 yuan.

"Getting closer and closer to a stable home"

"Among friends around me who drive ride-hailing cars, work as riders or start their own businesses, some are tempted, and some have already gone to open accounts," Li Xianhua said. "We ordinary people rushing about in the city are getting closer and closer to a stable home."

"This is equivalent to covering next year's housing costs in advance. The cash flow saved can be used to take the family out for a nice meal on the weekend, or conveniently clear the shopping cart. The overall environment is all about boosting consumption. In fact, if this kind of fixed rigid expenditure is reduced, we naturally have the confidence to spend money on other things. Housing provident fund is not only for buying a home; it should be used to maintain a home and to live life," Xiang Hui said.

"In my view, in the past many young people, in order to meet a lower threshold for buying a home, could only choose to live in peripheral areas of the city, and commuting time kept lengthening. Now, through housing provident funds and targeted policy support related to urban renewal, a large number of old communities in urban areas with mature supporting facilities are being activated. This not only provides young families with more cost-effective stable living options, but also allows the city's existing housing resources to be more fully utilized," Zhang Kai also said from experience.

And in Jinan, Gao Jun's new home has already entered renovation and construction. She said with great expectation, "Before the Spring Festival, we will be able to move into a completely renewed home."

Behind the "small incision" is a big livelihood.These simple words and experiences from residents, full of confidence, intuitively reflect the comprehensive implementation of the new housing provident fund policy. It is not a simple adjustment of policy provisions, but a return to the original intention of the system: to make this money truly used for the people's most urgent housing needs. From supporting young people in buying homes and renovating them into warm residences, to helping residents renovate housing and providing real-money "burden reduction," to enabling flexible employment groups to also enjoy institutional dividends, the housing provident fund's "small wallet" is becoming a "big safeguard" supporting the stable housing dreams of tens of millions of families.

In the future, as various supporting rules continue to be implemented and service efficiency continues to improve, the housing provident fund system will further release its livelihood safeguard effectiveness and light a warm lamp on the path to stable living for more ordinary people.

(All interviewees in this article are pseudonyms)

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How to Prevent Public Rental Housing from Becoming "Favoritism Housing" (Care for the People's Livelihood)

By: 主讲人：新疆阿图什市城镇保障性住房服务中心主任 曹 华

Public rental housing was originally intended to be provided to groups such as families with housing difficulties and newly employed workers without homes, carrying the people's yearning for "a place to live and a place of peace," and serving as a "window into the people's heart" that conveys the warmth of the Party's heart and demonstrates the original aspiration of governance, as well as a "touchstone" for testing cadres' view of political achievements. Yet such a heart-warming project once at one point showed real problems such as absent management, lax review, lagging supporting facilities, and unfair allocation, like a "roadblock" lying across the people's road to happiness.

How can public rental housing be prevented from degenerating into "favoritism housing"? Many residents care about this question.

My name is Cao Hua, and I work in public rental housing management and services in Artux City, Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. I hope to bring this work of enhancing people's livelihood and well-being to the hearts of the people. We focused on the prominent problems strongly reflected by the people in the field of public rental housing, broke the chronic ailments of "valuing face over substance" and "valuing construction over operation and maintenance," and launched a special rectification campaign.

Since March last year, we set up a special work group to carry out a dragnet-style thorough verification of public rental housing sources, tenants, rent payments, and supporting facilities. Some residents worked during the day, so we waited downstairs until late at night; some elderly people could not remember their documents clearly, so we ran back and forth three or four times to help them look for them together; when we encountered people who did not understand the policies or did not understand, we patiently explained again and again...

Public rental housing tenant Wumair Siyiti, because he had purchased commercial housing, caused his per capita housing area to exceed the standard and faced being cleared out. To defuse his resistance, we could not just settle it with a written notice; instead, we visited him at home to communicate and patiently explain the policy. In the end, Wumair Siyiti willingly and wholeheartedly (心甘情愿, xin gan qing yuan - "heart,甘,willing,content") returned the rental.

Some tenants, after applying for public rental housing, left the local area to work elsewhere, and we found ways to contact them through their communities and villages; there were also people who were unwilling to be cleared out and hid from us, and we tried every means to work on them through their work units, relatives, and friends. I remember one household: we made more than a dozen trips back and forth before we got through to them.

We would rather run a few more trips ourselves than let those who should be guaranteed be missed or those who should not live there occupy the housing. Up to now, we have established "one file per household, one account per unit," cleared out a cumulative 558 households that did not meet the guarantee conditions, and recovered 1.54 million yuan in owed rent.

In this process we did not apply a "one-size-fits-all" approach. For people who truly had difficulties and could not afford the fees, we joined with civil affairs departments to provide practical help through reductions, halving, installment payments, and other methods, and have so far reduced a total of 43,000 yuan in rent for 10 households. For people who had already purchased commercial housing but had not yet taken delivery, we gave a three-month buffer period.

A batch of housing units that had been illegally occupied were "emptied out and replaced," thoroughly returning to their "guarantee nature," truly realizing that "good steel is used on the blade."

Gulnur Taiwaikuli, a villager of Aqike Village, Ahu Township, Artux City, and her husband work in the urban area. If they rented in the urban area, it would cost about 15,000 yuan a year, which made the couple shrink back. Over the 20-kilometer road, they rode electric bikes back and forth day after day.

Through the housing units cleared out by the special rectification, in early March this year the couple successfully applied for a public rental housing unit in Anju Community, with an area of 40 square meters and an annual rent of just over 2,000 yuan. When we visited, we saw that the couple had made the home neat and comfortable, and Gulnur Taiwaikuli insisted on pulling us down to sit and drink milk tea, saying that public rental housing had finally given them a sense of belonging rooted in the city.

Through our visits, we also discovered some situations, for example, some tenants were gradually growing older yet lived on relatively high floors; some households had increased in population because of new births, schooling, medical care, and other reasons, and their housing area was rather small... We adjusted all of these according to the actual situation: older tenants were moved to lower floors or communities with elevators, and households whose population had increased were adjusted to larger housing according to regulations.

The special rectification is not a "gust of wind," and serving the people has no "rest stop." We established a set of mechanisms, for example, joining with communities to conduct household surveys every three months, confirming through visits to neighbors whether the occupant is the applicant himself or herself; for housing sources in new urban areas that people are less willing to choose, we lowered the application threshold, realizing dynamic investigation and revitalization of resources; and we successively installed smart locks in public rental housing, using fingerprints and facial recognition so that non-applicants cannot unlock the doors, realizing management upgrading through smart means and avoiding the problem of subletting and lending.

Artux City has more than 2,000 public rental housing units in total. Through the special rectification, what were once "pain points" of livelihood have become "bright spots" that the people praise; what was once "favoritism housing" has become "fair housing." Seeing the plain and sincere happiness on the people's faces, we felt at ease in our hearts.

(Interviewed and compiled by our reporters He Yong and Li Yanan)

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Page editors: Kou Jiangze

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Promoting Deep Integration of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation: Kingenta Helps Send 1,000 People to Germany for Agricultural Study Program

On October 20, the China-Germany Agricultural Science and Technology and Industry Integration Exchange Conference and the Launch Ceremony of the Germany Agricultural In-Depth Study Program were held in Beijing. As the organizer of this exchange conference, Kingenta Ecological Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Kingenta"), grounded in its main agricultural business, explores through cross-national collaborative innovation the practical path for the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation in the agricultural field, delivering a practical answer sheet of high-quality development for an agricultural enterprise.

Building a platform to strengthen cross-national industry-university-research collaborative innovation

This China-Germany Agricultural Science and Technology and Industry Integration Exchange Conference was hosted by the National Engineering Research Center for Slow/Controlled Release Fertilizers and the Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and New Fertilizer Creation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, organized by Kingenta, and co-organized by the German Schnorr Research Institute, gathering more than 150 people including domestic scientific research experts as well as representatives of industry organizations, planting and operating entities, and German scientific research institutions, building an innovation exchange platform for dialogue and collaboration among enterprises taking the lead, research institutes, overseas institutions, and operating entities.

As a global leader in the slow/controlled release fertilizer industry, Kingenta insists on strengthening the principal position of enterprises in innovation, relies on national-level research and development platforms to continuously tackle key fertilizer technologies, holds 112 invention patents for slow/controlled release fertilizers, has presided over or participated in the formulation of 26 international, national, and industry standards, and has won national science and technology awards 3 times; at the same time, it has established overseas research and development centers in Germany, the United States, and other places, opening up channels for domestic and international innovation resources, promoting two-way docking between domestic industrial needs and global cutting-edge technologies, and carrying out systematic innovation.

Connecting the two chains to clear the blockages in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements

For a long time, the agricultural field has faced the real-world dilemma that laboratory results are difficult to move into field production. Kingenta insists on having industrial realities and needs drive technological research and development. In 2006, Kingenta's first industrialized production line for slow/controlled release fertilizers was put into operation, completing domestic substitution, promoting slow/controlled release fertilizers from a niche new product into a large industry of tens of millions of tons, and realizing the transformation from following the pack in scale to leading comprehensively in technology, standards, and services.

Kingenta insists on deploying the innovation chain around the industrial chain and laying out the industrial chain around the innovation chain, striving to improve the integrated achievement transformation mechanism of industry, academia, research, and application. In China-Germany technical cooperation, Kingenta abandons the simple technology introduction model, promotes the deep integration of its own bio-based coated slow/controlled release fertilizer technology with Germany's Schnorr synergist technology 2.0, and completes localized adaptation in light of China's soil endowments and crop characteristics, forming a complete set of grain planting solutions. Kingenta innovatively promotes the "seed and fertilizer co-sowing" model, with global demonstration and promotion area exceeding 200 million mu, turning laboratory patented technology into yield-increasing benefits that farmers can see and touch, and completing the full-chain achievement transformation closed loop of "technological tackling—integrated innovation—product production—field verification."

Study programs empowering and forging a team of practical talent on the industrial front line

Collaborative talent cultivation is an important support for promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Centering on topics such as improving the multi-party collaborative education mechanism, broadening talent exchange channels, and cultivating practical talent urgently needed by industry, and targeting the capacity-improvement needs of frontline practitioners such as agricultural means of production operators, agricultural leaders, and large-scale growers, Kingenta officially launched the Germany Agricultural In-Depth Study Program at the event site.

The program aims to face the industrial front line, promote the exchange and mutual learning between advanced European agricultural technological concepts and experience and domestic practices, and help consolidate the talent foundation of industrial innovation. The program will organize the first batch of 1,278 industry practitioners to go to Germany for study programs, and in the next 3 years plans to organize a cumulative 5,000 people to study in European agricultural developed countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The study teams will enter overseas research institutes, benchmark agricultural means of production service providers, and large-scale demonstration farms, to observe on site the entire process of farm operations, agricultural machinery and agronomy matching, soil testing and formula fertilization, and field trial demonstrations, realizing "learning technology, examining models, broadening thinking, promoting transformation, and building ecosystems."

Two-way opening up, making coordinated use of global agricultural innovation resources

Safeguarding food security and advancing the green transformation of agriculture are common issues facing global agriculture. China and Germany each have distinctive agricultural resource endowments and possess broad space for complementary cooperation, and international agricultural cooperation is also moving from the past simple introduction of technology and products toward deep interaction in scientific research concepts, technical methods, and industrial experience.

Kingenta, grounded in its own advantages, makes coordinated use of both domestic and international innovation resources and insists on placing equal emphasis on "bringing in" and "going out." On the one hand, it absorbs Germany's advanced scientific research accumulation in the fields of soil health and fertilizer synergism; on the other hand, grounded in China's ultra-large-scale agricultural application scenarios, it exports Chinese technological solutions, innovatively creating the overseas expansion model of "technology licensing + localized production + service export," with technology implementation covering more than 50 countries and regions, building demonstration fields and jointly building joint laboratories overseas. As a partner of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Kingenta shares the green agricultural solutions of slow/controlled release fertilizers to all parts of the world, realizing technology interconnection and experience mutual learning, and helping the sustainable development of global agriculture.

Technology empowerment, cultivating new quality productive forces in the agricultural field

Fertilizer is a foundational industry for safeguarding grain production. Kingenta practices the strategy of storing grain in the land and through technological advancement (藏粮于地,藏粮于技, cang liang yu di, cang liang yu ji - "hide grain in land, hide grain in technology"), uses scientific and technological innovation to drive the transformation and upgrading of the traditional fertilizer industry, vigorously promotes bio-based coated slow/controlled release fertilizer technology, and advances fertilizer reduction and efficiency enhancement and the reduction of agricultural non-point source pollution.

Kingenta has built a new-type fertilizer innovation system of "scientific and technological innovation leading, industrial transformation landing, and global open sharing," which both builds a solid technological foundation for the stable and increased production of domestic grain and also drives the traditional fertilizer industry to iterate and upgrade toward green and high efficiency, walking out a practical path for agricultural enterprises to develop new quality productive forces.

Operating entities are an important carrier for the implementation of policies. In the future, Kingenta will thoroughly implement the Opinions of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Deep Integration of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation, deepen industry-university-research and international collaborative tackling of key problems, amplify the benefits of China-Germany cooperative technological achievements, solidly advance the Germany Agricultural In-Depth Study Program, continuously improve the global technology sharing system, and contribute more scientific and technological strength to advancing comprehensive rural revitalization and accelerating the building of an agricultural powerhouse.

Data source: Kingenta Ecological Engineering Group Co., Ltd.

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Incomparable Suffering, Unprecedented Victory

By: 金一南

In his important speech at the meeting commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We review history in order to draw wisdom and strength for forging ahead. Today, 90 years later, looking back once again at that period of suffering and glory, we understand even more profoundly that the victory of the Long March was inevitable, and that within it lies the way to victory by which the Party and the people's army advanced resolutely."

The Red Army officers and soldiers who endured such extraordinary hardship and perseverance (艰苦卓绝, jian ku zhuo jue - "hard, bitter, outstanding, excellent") back then surely never imagined that their footsteps would leave such a deep mark on history.

The Long March originated from a severe setback to the Chinese revolution, a strategic transfer undertaken as a last resort. The original plan was to go to western Hunan; no one could have imagined that the first step would turn into twenty-five thousand li, climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands, traversing countless rivers and mountains; no one could have imagined that after this would come the founding of New China. History was thus created, inadvertently, by these Red Army officers and soldiers—breaking out of encirclement in hardship to survive, charging barefoot in ragged clothes, climbing iron chains in a narrow escape from death (九死一生, jiu si yi sheng - "nine, deaths, one, life"), boiling belts and eating grass roots—with their blood and their lives.

This group of people who accomplished such a feat had, in modern times, been mocked as the "sick men of East Asia," regarded as fearing war and closing the country off, inferior to others not only in material and mechanical matters, not only in political systems, but even in physique. And the Long March, this heroic epic like a rebirth through suffering or trial (凤凰涅槃, feng huang nie pan - "phoenix, nirvana"), with the victor's heroism of "the Red Army fears not the trials of the Long March, counting ten thousand rivers and a thousand mountains as nothing," became the spiritual redemption of the Chinese nation at the moment its fate had fallen to the bottom, described on every side as lacking spirit, lacking faith, unwilling to struggle, with national self-respect and self-confidence completely vanished or wiped out (荡然无存, dang ran wu cun - "completely, nothing, exist").

From then on, China could record: we have had such people, bearing ideals and faith, fearing neither ten thousand rivers and a thousand mountains, nor encirclement, pursuit, interception and blocking, nor snow-capped mountains and grasslands, nor shedding blood and sacrifice, forging ahead without hesitation (一往无前, yi wang wu qian - "one, go, no, front") solely to pursue the light in their hearts. The Long March not only rewrote the history of the Chinese nation, but also left all humanity a spiritual wealth that will leave a lasting and glorious legacy (彪炳千秋, biao bing qian qiu - "brilliant, shining, thousand, autumns").

In late autumn of 1935, the Central Red Army that victoriously reached northern Shaanxi numbered about 7,000. On the vast land of China, they were but a sparse glimmer of starlight in the dark night. The geologist Ding Wenjiang said: "So long as the few among the few, the outstanding among the outstanding, are unwilling to wait idly for death or failure (坐以待毙, zuo yi dai bi - "sit, by, await, die"), this nation will always have hope." It was precisely these forebears—who did not let fate manipulate them, who were not content to be governed by laws of inevitability, who acted positively amid the great tide of history, who struggled in bloody battle, stunning the world and moving the gods (惊天地,泣鬼神, jing tian di, qi gui shen - "shock, heaven, earth, weep, ghosts, gods") and awakening the masses—who ultimately fulfilled Comrade Mao Zedong's promise: "A single spark can start a prairie fire."

They began in the deepest suffering and ended in the most dazzling glory.

To truly stand independently among the nations of the world requires both material and spiritual strength. The strategist Clausewitz attributed the sources of spiritual strength to two major elements: suffering and victory. Accumulate in suffering, be baptized by victory. A nation that has never tasted the fine wine of victory will forever have a bitter and dispirited spirit. In modern times the Chinese nation experienced too much suffering, too many setbacks, too many failures; what it lacked most was victory.

It is precisely in this sense that the series of earth-shaking victories the Chinese Communists won through extraordinary hardship and perseverance not only raised the Chinese nation to an unprecedented historical height and explored an unprecedented breadth of the era, but also cultivated a large number of Communists who fear neither heaven nor earth, neither gods nor ghosts, bidding farewell to the long-accumulated air of dejection and dispiritedness, and completing the spiritual baptism of the Chinese nation.

History has never been severed, nor can it be severed. We, generation after generation, are all, for one goal, doing what our predecessors never did. China's development is recognized by all the world, and the challenges it faces are also unprecedentedly severe. How to maintain our steadfastness and fulfill our responsibilities in a complex and intricate world requires nourishment drawn from many aspects. If we can stand not only on the shoulders of the material wealth created by our predecessors, but also on the shoulders of the spiritual wealth created by our predecessors, then what we will accomplish in the future will truly be the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

As for how to understand and treat this history full of twists and turns and hardships (千曲百折, qian qu bai zhe - "thousand, bends, hundred, turns"), what we lack is not thought, but the force of thought. Thought without force cannot penetrate the intricate smoke and clouds of history and reality. The fate of the Chinese nation in these 200 years has undergone, and will undergo, what grand and magnificent (波澜壮阔, bo lan zhuang kuo - "wave, ripple, magnificent, vast") changes—and this great change is the accumulated fruit of the bloodshed, striving and sacrificial struggle of how many generations. Our thinking, our cognition, our theory must keep pace with this grand and magnificent practice. We possess enormous and precious historical wealth. If we are truly good at understanding, good at summarizing, and good at accumulating, we will certainly be able to stand on the shoulders of giants, avoid naivety, impetuousness and shallowness, and move toward steadiness, depth and maturity.

(The author is the former director of the Strategic Research Institute of the National Defense University and author of "Suffering and Glory")

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The Code of Civilization in the Depths of Time

By: 李 拯

A book that sorts through Chinese civilization and imagines the civilization of all under heaven—within its unrestrained and grand in scope (大开大合, da kai da he - "great, open; great, close") sweep across several thousand years and tens of thousands of li, there is one detail that moves the heart.

The author, Teacher Xie Maosong, recalls an old xiucai from his childhood hometown; when the village wrote door-god couplets for the New Year, or wrote invitation cards for happy occasions, they all sought the old xiucai's help. This stirred my own memories: when I was small, at New Year, neighbors would all ask the schoolteacher to write spring couplets, and early on the first day of the first lunar month the whole village would go around wishing one another a happy New Year. The tradition of Chinese civilization has never been words lying inert in piles of old paper, but steaming-hot real life—it is the civilization of rites and music internalized into the ordinary smoke-and-fire daily life of the common people.

The continuity of civilization finds a profound footnote in the living habits of "the common people use it daily without knowing it." The book's distinctive quality lies precisely in understanding the Two Integrations (两个结合) from the perspective of civilizational transmission, and in recognizing the significance of the Party's hundred years of struggle within the history of the development of Chinese civilization.

When Confucius answered his disciple's question "Can the ten generations be known?" with "Even a hundred generations, they can be known," what he had in view was not concrete objects and implements, but the cultural values and cultural spirit of "my Way is threaded together by one principle." Chinese civilization is the only civilization in the world that has been continuous and unbroken; even when it encountered the predicaments of modern times, it was able to recover after reaching the lowest point (剥极而复, bo ji er fu - "strip to the extreme, then return") and turn crisis into safety (转危为安, zhuan wei wei an - "turn, danger, for, peace"). Its tenacious continuity and vitality cannot but make one ask: Why China? Why can it be great and long-lasting? This book attempts to find the code deep within time.

Chinese culture stresses virtuous politics, the gentleman's character, and the spirit of sages and worthies; it reveres "the scholar cannot but be broad and resolute, carrying a heavy responsibility on a long journey (任重而道远, ren zhong er dao yuan - "burden, heavy; road, far")" and "though there be a thousand or ten thousand men, I go forward." Our Party emphasizes Party member cultivation and vanguard consciousness, and has an inner inheritance and continuation with this;

Chinese culture pursues the Great Harmony ideal that "when the Great Way is practiced, the world belongs to the public (天下为公, tian xia wei gong - "under heaven, is, for, public")"; it seeks not only that oneself be fed and warmed without worry, but further seeks "to plan eternal happiness for all under heaven." Our Party carries forward this value pursuit, and through the "nothing" of "having no special interests of its own" produces the "something" of "representing the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people";

Chinese culture extends from cultivating oneself and regulating one's family (修身齐家, xiu shen qi jia - "cultivate, self; regulate, family") to governing the country and bringing peace to the world (治国平天下, zhi guo ping tian xia - "govern, state; pacify, all under heaven"), and from "loving one's kin" and benevolence and righteousness to "all within the four seas are brothers." Our Party advances the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and promotes exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, which is closely interconnected with the grand vision of Chinese culture…

Viewed from the perspective of civilizational history, Chinese modernization both reactivates an ancient civilization with the new destiny of an old nation, and pushes the continuous and unending (延绵不绝, yan mian bu jue - "extend, continuous; not, break") Chinese civilization into the modern world—inheriting the torch of history, opening a new chapter of civilization, and starting a new journey in time.

Civilization extends from the past toward the future, and it is not an "abstract inheritance" but an understanding that each person can touch. At the tomb of Yue Fei in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the stone tablets in the stele corridor are engraved with Yue Fei's own calligraphy of the "Memorial on Dispatching the Army" and the "Later Memorial on Dispatching the Army." One imagines that in his day Yue Fei too was moved by the spirit of Zhuge Liang, and only then possessed the grand resolve of "return my rivers and mountains" and the grief and indignation of being filled with righteous indignation (怒发冲冠, nu fa chong guan - "angry, hair, rush, hat"); today's students continue to recite the famous lines of "Manjianghong," moved by Yue Fei's spirit. People today are moved by the moving spirit of those before them, and those after will likewise be stirred by people today—this is civilizational transmission, the weight of five thousand years of history.

Confucius once used "time flows on like this river (逝者如斯夫, shi zhe ru si fu - "pass, one; like, this, particle"), not ceasing day or night" to describe the flow of time; in fact, Chinese civilization does not grow old with heaven, and just like flowing water it forever surges forward. Flowing water does not stagnate precisely because past, present, and future are joined as one—the past ceaselessly empowers the future, and the future iterates and upgrades amid the echoes of history.

Mencius said, "To be full and substantial is called beautiful; to be full and substantial and to have radiance is called great." The continuity of civilization itself generates an endogenous driving force of self-reinforcement; whenever there is a major juncture, a profound civilization can always awaken the historical sense of mission of people of benevolence and resolve, propel the renewal of the life of Chinese civilization, and form a civilizational image "full and substantial and radiant" on the coordinate of time. In the transmission and continuation of civilization, the Communist Party of China forever preserves its youthful vitality, and Chinese civilization shines ever new day by day.

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Taking Up Fabre's Magnifying Glass

By: 黄大卫

Fabre's Souvenirs Entomologiques: A Scientific Illustrated Guide (see image. By Fabre, edited by Chen Rui; published by China Textile Press) is a weighty work. To call it heavy is not only because of the thickness of its pages and the texture of its paper, but even more because it carries the scientific weight of three centuries—from Fabre's harmas to today's molecular biology laboratories; from a quill pen to today's extremely detailed and meticulous (精细入微, jing xi ru wei - "exquisite, enter, tiny, subtle") hand-painted color illustrations.

As a biology researcher who has spent a lifetime working on insect taxonomy and evolution, I deal year in and year out with tens of thousands of insect specimens. In our discipline, Fabre is a name one cannot avoid. In the eyes of many, he is a literary figure, the "Homer of the insect world," who wrote the poetic Souvenirs Entomologiques. But in our eyes, Fabre was an insect taxonomist—more than 90 percent of the species in the book are given accurate Latin names; he was an insect biologist—many of the observational records in Souvenirs Entomologiques remain to this day the only observations of the insects concerned; and he was a genius at designing experiments—to verify his hypotheses, under the limited conditions of his time, he designed exquisitely ingenious experiments, some of whose apparatus is still in use today. What is astonishing is that despite the crudeness of the equipment of the time—no high-power microscopes, no cameras, and certainly no molecular sequencing technology—Fabre, relying solely on a pair of naked eyes and extraordinary patience, achieved an accuracy of observation that reaches an astonishing degree. His sequential description of the limb movements of the sacred scarab as it makes its dung ball, his geometric analysis of spider webs, and his anatomical records of the sound-producing organs of the cicada would, even by today's scientific research standards, be called rigorous.

Yet Fabre also had some confusions he never resolved, and even occasionally fell into the myth of "teleology." For example, he firmly believed that insect instinct was a perfect design bestowed by God, yet could not explain why the same species of bee would exhibit differentiated nest-building behavior under different environmental conditions; he marveled endlessly at the "wisdom" of certain parasitic insects, yet failed to foresee that these behaviors were in fact adaptive strategies shaped by natural selection, rather than conscious planning. These are not Fabre's failings, but the boundaries of his era.

This Fabre's Souvenirs Entomologiques: A Scientific Illustrated Guide has done something of great value: it has checked, item by item, the scientific descriptions and species scientific names in Fabre's original work, and through the two sections "New Scientific Discoveries" and "Entomologists' Cross-Time Dialogue," it uses modern scientific research—from behavioral ecology to chemical ecology, from neurobiology to molecular systematics—to expand, supplement, respond to, corroborate, or correct Fabre's conjectures of that year. For example, Fabre observed and recorded the behavioral phenomenon of dung beetles walking in a straight line, and in the "New Scientific Discoveries" section, the potential mechanism behind their straight-line navigation is revealed; Fabre once marveled at the very powerful digestive capacity of the sacred scarab's gut, and today's scientists have revealed its secrets through electron microscopes.

Science is great because it is forever self-iterating and self-correcting. Fabre left us an observational notebook full of genius intuition, and this book takes up his magnifying glass and tells him: the confusions you had then, we now have some answers to.

In addition, the exquisite hand-drawn illustrations in the book made me examine them again and again. Today, with photographic technology and artificial intelligence technology so developed, why do we still use hand drawing? I have said to students on many occasions: because hand drawing is not merely to reproduce form, but even more to "highlight" features. A photograph records accidental light and shadow and posture, whereas an excellent scientific hand drawing is, through the joint efforts of entomologists and illustrators, the result of distilling, generalizing, and strengthening key taxonomic features. Leafing through these plates, I can see the effort the creative team put into the details of insect structure; it possesses both specimen-grade teaching value and museum-grade collectible value.

As a veteran who has engaged in entomological research for more than 40 years, I am delighted to see a new generation of popular-science creators treating the classics with devout craftsmanship. I hope that readers, as they leaf through it, can both enjoy Fabre's beautiful writing and feel the charm of scientific exploration that knows no end.

(The author is a researcher and former director of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and former editor-in-chief of Acta Entomologica Sinica)

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If There's a Secret to Writing, It's to Write More

By: 叶兆言

When it comes to writing, nothing anyone says is of any use — you just have to write, and write a lot. The vast majority of writers become writers not because they knew how to write, and not because they read some classic, but because they wrote, wrote, and kept writing. Not writing, and not writing a lot, is the real reason many young people who love literature ultimately fail to become writers — it may even be the only reason.

Shen Congwen himself claimed that he struggled his way up from being a third-rate writer. The so-called "struggling through" refers to progressing step by step in writing, and its deeper meaning is probably not just the word "modesty." He once said something like this: as long as a person writes, writes a lot, and writes earnestly, then in the end writing well is a very normal thing, and it is writing badly that is abnormal. For many years, I have taken this passage from Shen Congwen as my motto, especially when I encounter difficulties in writing, when my articles cannot get published.

There is a popular word on the internet now called "appearance anxiety," which is almost the same as a writer's anxiety about talent. When you first start writing, no matter how arrogant a person you are, you will lack confidence, you will suspect you have no talent, you will feel you lack inspiration. The greatest help my father gave me in literature was to tell me that if the sparks of thought are not fixed in words, they are nothing at all; if you do not dig, you simply do not know, and not writing equals zero.

Many truths are only finally understood through writing. Whether there is inspiration, whether there is talent — this too is known only after experiencing writing, after experiencing arduous labor. Inspiration and talent easily deceive people, and easily delay people. If a person wants to walk the path of literature, then without 300,000 characters as a foundation, there is nothing to discuss.

When you first start writing, because you are a blank sheet of paper, talent is easily brought into play, and inspiration flies about overhead like swarms of bees. But these good feelings cannot guarantee that you are a good writer. Anyone with actual writing experience will have this understanding: the first 300,000 characters are not too difficult to complete; usually it is only after writing 300,000 characters that the real bottleneck in writing just begins to appear. How to push further onward, how to write better still — this is the truly thorny problem.

There is a view that literary creation is like gambling — if you are going to play, play for big stakes. Someone once took the Tang dynasty poet Wang Zhihuan as an example, saying that Wang Zhihuan, in his whole life, relied on just two poems, "On the Stork Tower" and "Song of Liangzhou," to be widely known and celebrated through the ages (传唱千古, chuan chang qian gu - "spread, sing, thousand, ages"). In fact, in the Complete Tang Poems, Wang Zhihuan has a total of six poems; the ones everyone is familiar with are just these two. Anyone with writing experience knows that in his whole life Wang Zhihuan could not possibly have written only six poems — having written only six poems, I am afraid he could not have become much of a poet. It is simply that we have not seen the poems beyond these six. Writing poetry is like this, and writing fiction follows the same principle. If a person has written only six short stories, even if they are well written, I am afraid it would still be hard to become a truly good writer.

Future good writers and great writers will very likely emerge from among internet writers, for the reason is simple: excellent writers are certainly produced through a great amount of labor. What internet writers lack least is a great amount of labor. However, the defect of internet fiction is that it is overly formulaic; without solving the problem of being too vulgar and too repetitive, it is hard to have room for progress. There are many authors on the internet who write column articles, and their level is quite good. It can be said that much of the best prose and essays today is on the internet. One advantage of internet writers — or one strong point — we must acknowledge, is that through a great amount of writing they have shortened the distance from brain to fingertips. Much of what we ordinarily call writing training is precisely about using every possible means (千方百计, qian fang bai ji - "thousand, ways, hundred, schemes") to shorten this distance. Internet writing has requirements for writing speed; you need to constantly update, and you need to consider attracting and gripping readers. Because you are constantly writing, ceaselessly writing, this is a very good kind of training, and the act of writing may become very smooth, no longer so labored.

Literature has always been shared by those who love literature. We should neither be trapped by so-called inspiration and talent, lifting literature up to the heavens, nor excessively belittle it and use literature for speculation; rather, we should maintain a calm state of mind and write in a calm and composed manner (心平气和, xin ping qi he - "heart, level, breath, harmonious"). A thousand words and ten thousand phrases come down to one sentence: sit down and start writing.

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New Bookshelf

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How to Recognize What Makes a Person Themselves

By: 谢有顺

In what posture, exactly, does a person spend his or her life? On this question, biography offers a kind of retrospective wisdom — often looking back from a life stage already completed toward the time when it was still unfolding, and from a life posture already established toward the time when it was still taking shape.

In biographical writing, one must be alert to two tendencies. One is the a priori moralization of moral categories: the author first decides what kind of moral exemplar the protagonist is, and then treats everything the person did throughout life as a footnote to that moral norm. The other is the teleologization of the life course: because the author knows the protagonist's later thought and achievements, it is easy to go back into the past looking for omens, explaining away the contingencies, hesitations, and even wrong turns of early years as foreshadowing, and writing every change as always having been so. Retrospection is an indispensable gaze for biography; how to look back without presupposing, and to write a person's growth and the formation of character, tests the biographer's capacity to understand life.

Zhong Zhaoyun's "The Noble Crawling: Huang Lingyi, 'Mother of the Loongson'" (hereinafter "The Noble Crawling") is a biography that understands life through life. The subject, Huang Lingyi, harbored a dream of being a writer in her girlhood, and in her later years also wanted to leave words behind about her own life, wanting to "write out what I saw and thought in my life, and leave it to later generations," to leave behind a kind of "historical testimony," to "freeze a period of years in its utter sincerity." Yet the dream of youth and the wish of old age gave way again and again to the national mission and scientific research work, and until the end of her life this autobiography was never completed.

"The Noble Crawling" takes up an unfinished telling of a life. Following Huang Lingyi's nearly 90 years of life's footprints, the author writes from her childhood amid war to her studies in youth, from her devotion to China's semiconductor cause to her joining the Loongson team over sixty years old (年逾花甲, nian yu hua jia - "age, exceeds, flower, sixty"), and from the research site enters her family, kinship, and later life, seeking, amid the interweaving of life choices and the changes of the times, how a person becomes herself. Huang Lingyi said: "The greatest wish of my life is to crawl on the ground and wipe away the shame from the motherland's body!" The "crawling" in the book's title is the life posture Huang Lingyi chose for herself when looking back on the past, and also the spiritual posture the author discerned, through nearly 90 years of life experience, from one concrete life choice after another.

The philosopher Kierkegaard said that life can only be understood backwards, yet it must be lived forwards. The biographer's gaze is a backward-looking gaze; understanding backwards allows the biographer to discern the thread of a life from a welter of experiences. But it must not be forgotten that life lived forwards is full of contingency, with many possibilities not yet closed; the biographer needs to write the openness of "back then," rather than covering it over with the certainty of "later." As a girl, Huang Lingyi once fantasized about becoming a writer, and also thought of being a civil engineer or a geological worker. On one visit to a teacher, Liang Huiquan asked her: "Then — electricity, have you thought about it?" She "was stunned for a moment, and shook her head." This is a meaningful moment of life: a person who later devoted her whole life to China's chip cause had, at this moment, not yet thought about "electricity." Many moments later marked as turning points, at the time they occur, are often just an unremarkable instant in daily life. The author brings us back to such moments of life, and also leads us into the subject's subsequent emergence of interests, establishment of aspirations, turning points of path, and the advances and retreats, rises and falls of a long scientific research career, letting a completed life once again present the way "back then" was happening.

Biography is the continuation of life. "Some people have died, yet they still live." As Zang Kejia wrote, a person's life always has its end, but the life path he once chose and the life posture he formed can, through memory and writing, continue to remain in the world. And what this biography continues is far more than one person's story. Through the author's retrospection, one confusion and choice, one gain and loss belonging to back then are brought into the present, and the life explorations of one forerunner after another over long years are opened up to those who come after.

The reason biography still has vitality to this day perhaps lies precisely in its ability to look back on those lives that belong to "back then" yet still illuminate "the present," letting the experience accumulated by one life cross over limited time and reach other lives. It inherits the spirit of life, and also transmits the power to create character and renew life. When a biography writes to the endpoint of a life, the question returns once again to every person who is living: in what posture, exactly, should a person spend his or her life?

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Page editors: Ren Feifan

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