Local favorite Zhang Zhizhen beat Japan's Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 7-6(7) at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Saturday to capture China's first men's singles gold medal in nearly three decades.

Pan Bing won the men's title for China at 1990 and 1994 Asian Games.

Another Chinese player Wu Yibing, silver medalist at Jakarta 2018, suffered an early exit after a shock third-round defeat on Tuesday.

Tan Lingling’s motto is to never give up on dreams and  her first professional win at the Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge proved it on Friday. 
 
The 40-year-old held off all challengers card a two-under 70 at the China LPGA Tour event for a 54-hole score of five-under 211, winning a prize worth 75,000 yuan ($10,272.2) .
 
“I have played golf for a long time. Unexpectedly, I got my first win just before I am about to retire. I have no regrets any more,” said Tan, who turned pro in 2012, after working as a golf coach. “I don’t think I have the edge when compared with the young generations, be it stamina or technical aspects, but my strength lies in my mindset.” 
 
Chinese veteran Sui Xiang (70) finished runner-up, while Thailand’s Ornnicha Konsunthea (70) was third at three shots back. Pan Yanhong, the first-round leader, closed with a 73 to sit equal fourth with Wang Xinying (70) and Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ching (72) one shot further back. 
 
Playing under overcast skies, Tan held steady through the front nine with a series of pars and a birdie coming at the 499-yard fifth hole to make the turn at four-under. After dropping her only stroke of the day at the 163-yard, par-three 12th, she rebounded with birdies at the 13th and 14th holes, enough to secure the victory. 
 
“I made only one bogey today. At hole 12, I played well the past two days. But today I hit short and chipped a little bit hard, then made two putts,” said Tan who was equal sixth at the CTBC Ladies Classic in September.  
 
Sui, who started the day one stroke back of Tan, found trouble at the 402-yard, par-four third hole where she made her only bogey to drop to one-under. The Guangdong native then picked up birdies at the fifth and seventh holes. After making the turn at three-under, she could only muster a string of pars with her lone birdie on the back nine coming at the 13th hole to get close. 
 
“I was actually satisfied with my play today, but sadly my putts were not so good on the last several holes,” said the 24-year-old Sui, winner of the Zhuhai Challenge last December. “I already tried my best today. The course is still hard and I felt rather tired. I was quite satisfied with my two-under-par score.” 
 
Ornnicha, a fifth-year pro, put together her best result on the CLPGA Tour on the strength of a strong final round where she carded three birdies and a lone bogey. 
 
“I am very happy and satisfied with my play today. I played more relaxedly and the atmosphere was not so tense,” said the 26-year-old. “At the 10th, I made a long putt from around 15 yards. At the 11th, I played my approach shot well. The ball ended very close to the pin.” 

The head coach of China's speed skating team said that she has been trying to instill a champion mentality among the young athletes, as the team held an open training session at the Capital Skating Oval in Beijing on Monday.

The team has been gearing up for the 2023-2024 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, an international tournament consisting of six events. The season begins on Friday in Obihiro, Japan and will end on February 4 in Quebec City, Canada. The skater with the most points in a given distance at the end of the series is the World Cup winner in that distance.

Chinese skaters will leave for Japan on Tuesday for the first leg of the world cup series and they are excited to make their mark in the second leg which will take place at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, or "Ice Ribbon," from November 17-19.

Li Yan, the head coach, told the Global Times that she expects more young players will make breakthroughs in the new season.

"We've been working hard to improve the overall strength of the team in the past year. We want to develop the champion mindset within our team in practice and competition," said Li.

The team is led by Gao Tingyu, who broke the Olympic record to win the men's 500m in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. It was also China's first gold medal in men's speed skating in the Winter Olympic Games. 

In addition to the short distance, China has made up ground in the medium- and long-distance races. In the 2023-24 season, four Chinese skaters have qualified for each of the women's 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m events. In the men's 500m, 1000m and 1500m, four skaters have also secured their spots respectively. 

Meanwhile, two skaters will compete in the men's 5,000m and 10,000m, the events for which China failed to qualify in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. 

"We have realized our primary goals of having more male skaters participating in international long-distance events and improving women's long-distance results. Our objective is to forge ahead and change the status quo and we will take it one step at a time," Li noted. "We are also enhancing the athletes' capability of competing in multiple events, which is a trend of speed skating development."

Foreign coaches Jan Bos from the Netherlands and Alexander Rumyantsev from Russia also joined the team to help the skaters.

Li Qishi, who took her first world cup victory in 2014, told the Global Times after training that the participation of more young skaters has given fresh impetus to the team. 

"I think this is good for the development of speed skating in China. With more young skaters to compete in international events, there will be opportunities to create better results," said Li, adding that she has improved her starting recently. 

Young skater Liu Bin told the Global Times that Gao has set a good example of self-discipline and he will try to find his feet in the coming event. 

The world cup in Beijing is the first major international tournament held at the "Ice Ribbon" since the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. 

As one of the legacies of Beijing 2022, the "Ice Ribbon" has opened to the public after the Games.  

"I look forward to our skaters achieving better results on the home ice and we're excited to revisit the fast and furious atmosphere created by the cutting-edge venue," Li said. 

Taking advantage of the legacy of Beijing 2022, more international winter sports events have come to China and provided young skaters with opportunities to progress. 

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final will take place in Beijing from December 7 to 10. Currently, the Chinese figure skating team is gearing up for the fourth leg of the figure skating series, which will be held in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from November 10 to 12. 

Meanwhile, the third leg of the 2023-24 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup will take place in Beijing from December 8 to 10. China's short track speed skaters wrapped up the first two legs with four golds, one silver and one bronze. 

Olympic champion Su Yiming will take part in the second leg of the 2023/2024 FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard Big Air World Cup, which will be held at Shougang Big Air in Beijing from November 30 to December 2.

The 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships will take place in Shanghai from January 30 to February 4, 2024.

The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World kicked off on Monday, with the aim to promote exquisite Italian cooking, the Mediterranean diet, Italian agri-food products and wine. In the 2023 edition, as in past years, the week will be further enhanced by activities organized by the Italian Embassy in China together with the Italian business community operating in China. 

Several Italian restaurants in Beijing, Tianjin, and Qingdao have been preparing special menus and typical dishes for Chinese friends and expatriates residing in China to enjoy throughout the Italian cuisine week that is set to run until November 19. Beijing's ABBOCCA restaurant, for instance, has provided a special selection for homemade fresh cheeses called "TRILOGY," which includes mozzarella, stracciatella, and ricotta, and has been dubbed a tasty journey through salty and sweet to stimulate all senses complete with fresh basil leaves, cherry tomatoes.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) allows countries of Global South to connect with each other, a Pakistani economist told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"We have seen that China itself has come out of years and decades of poverty, and it has transitioned into a country that is fast developing. So for them to tailor a program for the developing countries is much easier than for the Global North," said Vaqar Ahmed, joint executive director at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank.

This is what China has been trying to do under the BRI, he added.

The BRI is a very decent model for cooperation, particularly for the developing countries, because many programs are led or participated in by developing countries, and by some of the poorest countries of the world, Ahmed said.

"So it's not like traditional development programs, for example, a model having bilateral, multilateral donors involved that will come in and do a diagnostic of their own, and then they will offer you a platter or a choice set, that this is what we can do for you, would you sign up for it," he said.

But it's not the way that the BRI, or its flagship project of the Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has operated, he said.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.

"In BRI or like in the case of CPEC, you were asked to come up with a priority of choices. What do you want? Where do you want Chinese investment to go? You prioritize that," the economist added.

Most of the BRI's technical assistance projects, in the case of infrastructure, are backed by a financial model, which is easier for developing countries to participate in, as most of them are in investment mode, Ahmed said.

Even if they are loan projects, he noted that they are loans for longer time periods with repayments not around the corner, which is really helping the developing countries to come on board and has allowed more and more of these countries to become part of the BRI umbrella.

Highlighting the upcoming third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October, the economist said that one of its objectives is that the countries of the Global South, who are beneficiaries of the BRI should actually come together to share those experiences and knowledge.

It's not just the responsibility of China, but in fact, all those countries who are participating in the BRI should utilize this opportunity to share their experiences, he said.

"So without naming any multilateral institution from the Global North, if they were delivering you a project in let's say, five years or 10 years, BRI was able to cut short that time," said Ahmed, adding a BRI project would have been delivered in one or two years maybe and "there are countless examples within Pakistan."

Elaborating on the importance of understanding the global trade architecture, the economist noted that the way the BRI stands at the moment would potentially create more opportunities and productive capacities for developing countries in the future.

"Once those productive capacities are created, for example, in my large-scale manufacturing sector, I would like to trade more. But this is the time when Global North should not change the rules of the trade," said the economist.

"If you don't like multilateralism now, that's going to send a very negative signal to the Global South, to the developing countries, who have added productive capacities due to BRI, due to CPEC," he pointed out.

The COP28 Presidency has co-hosted the second Global Dialogue series with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Abu Dhabi, gathering policymakers, representatives, and experts from 140 governments, as well as participants from the private sector.

The Global Dialogue, held in Abu Dhabi Global Market from 15-17 October, is the largest UNFCCC mandated event held in the emirate to date, and focused on accelerating the energy transition and decarbonization of the transportation sector.

Those attending, including COP28 Chief Executive Officer Adnan Z Amin, drove technical alignment and produced a report that will help jumpstart upcoming discussions at Pre-COP from 30-31 October, where up to 100 ministers will discuss key priorities in Abu Dhabi for COP28.

Attendees agreed that decarbonizing the transportation system will make a significant contribution to a just and equitable energy transition, and will boost economic diversification by creating green jobs and invigorating industries in developing countries.

Solutions discussed for decarbonizing transportation included the deployment and shift to collective and non-motorized transportation models, energy and resource efficiency in the transportation sector, vehicle electrification, and the adoption of low- or zero-carbon fuels.

A sustainable transport sector is central to our shared success in keeping 1.5°C within reach,” Mr. Amin said at the event. According to the IPCC’s sixth assessment report, the transport sector emits 8.7Gt per year, representing roughly 23 percent of global emissions, he said, so “transport would need an accelerated electrification and associated deployment of charging infrastructure in the coming decades.”

Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque inaugurated the Pakistan National Pavilion and attended the opening ceremony of the 9th Sichuan Agricultural Expo in Chengdu on October 28. Hu Yun, vice governor of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, presided over the opening ceremony.

The exhibition hall introduced famous tourist attractions in Pakistan and more than 10 Pakistani companies showcased some agricultural products. The exhibition hall attracted great interest from participants.

Pakistan is the guest of honor of this expo. The ambassador emphasized in his speech that Pakistan and China have established a solid bilateral relationship based on political mutual trust, strategic communication and practical cooperation. He also stressed the close cooperation between Pakistan and Sichuan, including through their sister cities.

Pakistan's participation in the 2023 CIIE will inject new impetus into the ongoing agricultural cooperation between Pakistan and China. Recently, the two sides reached five important agricultural agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, granting Pakistan access to the $30 billion market for cooked beef, dairy products, chili peppers, cherries and other livestock products, which will help Pakistan expand its exports to China.

While Papua New Guinea has recently signed a security pact with the US, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that his country will not be used by other countries to attack China.

"We should not be used by other countries to advance their own issues, and we are not in conflict with China. We have no problems with China. We should be able to maintain our strong, very good, friendly relationship that we have established since our independence 48 years ago," he told the Global Times. 

According to media reports, the US signed a defense agreement with the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea in May, allowing US military access to the country's waters and ports. Some analysts expressed concern that this agreement will strengthen Washington's presence in the Western Pacific, and that the provisions of the defense agreement will play a crucial role for Washington if a conflict erupts in the Taiwan Straits. 

During the interview, the former Prime Minister stressed that Papua New Guinea should not be involved in the China-US game, and the country has no conflict with China. Adding that Papua New Guinea should develop ties with China.

"China is a very important business partner, economic partner and a friend, and has strong people-to-people relationship with our country. That is something that we need to continue," he said.

He also stressed that "We've always said that there is one-China policy. We've always believed in one-China policy. Papua New Guinea is maintaining that policy and we will stand by that policy."

O'Neill sat down for an exclusive interview with the Global Times during an event hosted by the think tank Center for China and Globalization on Wednesday. 

In recent years, relations between China and South Pacific Island nations have developed rapidly. However, this win-win cooperation has attracted attention from countries including the US and Australia who have sought to strengthen their presence in the region as a way to "counter" China's influence. Some Western media outlets even hyped up the vicious rhetoric that China is a "destroyer" of peace and stability in the region. 

Regarding these accusations, O'Neill told the Global Times that China has a great opportunity to silence those critics, who certainly are not doing as well or as much as China in the Pacific. 

"China is doing more than these critics in the Pacific. China is building roads, China is building hospitals, China is building schools. This is sort of a development partner that the Pacific and Papua New Guinea need. We don't need people just talking. I think China has been a great friend and I think we can do more," he said.

The former prime minister pointed out that China is doing a great job in the Pacific. "Don't let some of the critics tell you otherwise. I believe very strongly that China has more to do and to work with the Pacific in terms of bringing up more economic opportunities."

O'Neil also noted that China's experience in development over the past decades is important for them to learn from.

"China has got a great opportunity to share some of the experience. China has gone through in the past 40 or 50 years in development. We have the same challenges in the Pacific. We are very small countries, we've got large population, we have got difficulties in developing our people's standard of living to improve, just like China has done in the past. 

"China has experience in making sure that its population has got better standard of living, better health, better education, better infrastructure, access to IT. All those are challenges that we face and I think we can learn a lot from China."

In 2018, then Prime Minister O'Neill, led a delegation to visit China and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), making Papua New Guinea the first Pacific Island nation to join the BRI.

Reflecting the changes that the BRI has brought to the country over the past five years, O'Neill said "My feeling is that the BRI has helped Papua New Guinea build better infrastructure. We have an access to finance and we've never had funding for this type of  infrastructure before. The terms of the finances are very, very concessional, meaning that it is cheap and it is affordable for a country to build roads that will add economic value to the nation."

"I think you will find that China has done a lot for Papua New Guinea and we want to continue to improve on our trade. We want to export more to China and buy more from China. It's a win-win situation for both countries," he said. 

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in China held a ceremony to launch the "Belt and Road Ambassador Scholarship," on July 26. The ceremony unveiled scholarships for Sino-Sri Lankan student exchanges in 2023, an evaluation work plan, timeframes of awarding recipients and details of  financial support, and elected Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona as the chairman of the Evaluation Committee. This activity aims to expand the humanistic exchanges and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka. 

Kohona stressed at the ceremony that, "The Belt and Road Ambassador Scholarship aims to adapt to the globalization of travel, to respond to the great initiative of the Global Community of Destiny, and to promote educational and cultural exchanges among Belt and Road developing countries." He expressed hopes to influence more peace-loving and common development-minded enterprises and people in various fields around the world to actively participate in this project, and to make contributions toward friendly mutual assistance, synergetic development among all countries, and for the civilization and progress of the peoples of the world.

The event marks an important step in the China-Sri Lanka friendship in the field of Belt and Road educational exchanges. It injects new vitality into the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and helps more students realize their dreams of globalization and development.

Editor's Note:

Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), following the guiding principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, has grown into a global platform where countries along the routes work together to promote people's wellbeing and give a further boost to global development. Infrastructure facilities built under the BRI connect countries in the Southeast Asia region to the global supply chain, whether through maritime or overland transportation. 

As the BRI celebrates its 10th anniversary, Global Times reporters Hu Yuwei, Li Xuanmin and Hao Shuangyan interviewed diplomats and politicians from China and ASEAN countries to learn about the highlights of the cooperation achievements over the past decade and their expectations for high-quality BRI construction in the next decade.

Kao Kim Hourn,

Secretary-General of ASEAN 

ASEAN and China have been working closely together over the past 32 years, from 1991 until 2023, and the partnership has consistently been elevating. ASEAN and China share close geographical proximity, cultural ties and historic connections. There are extensive mechanisms in place between China and ASEAN at all levels, from political, security, economic to social culture. This is quite important for us.

China-ASEAN relations are now at their highest level. Since 2009, China has been the largest trading partner of ASEAN. ASEAN is a very large trading partner for China as well. China has been a strong supporter of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, a very important instrument for resolving our differences and promoting friendly relations between us. 

ASEAN has a huge plan on connectivity, so we have been able to take advantage of the opportunities and the cooperation with China on the BRI. These projects are certainly supporting the ASEAN integration as we work to increase our finance, and increase connectivity between our region and China.

Hou Yanqi,

Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN

ASEAN, as the priority direction and important partner in the joint construction of the BRI, has achieved fruitful cooperation results with China in the past 10 years. I believe there are several important reasons for this. Firstly, China and ASEAN are connected by mountains and rivers, and have a close relationship. They are also comprehensive strategic partners, with solid political and public support for cooperation in various fields. 

Secondly, we have always adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. We have also promoted development through openness and achieved win-win outcomes through cooperation. We have achieved complementary advantages in high-quality construction of the BRI. 

Thirdly, China and ASEAN are both determined actors with visions. We prioritize commitments and implementation, ensuring that the achievements of the BRI are tangible and substantial. 

ASEAN has a superior geographical location and plays an important role in the process of regional economic cooperation. 

However, it also faces development bottlenecks, such as insufficient infrastructure investment and relatively lagging regional connectivity. The implementation of the BRI has played an important role in breaking these bottlenecks and fully unleashing the development potential of ASEAN.

Ouyang Yujing,

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the earliest countries to support and participate in the BRI. With the  support of the leaders of both countries, the high-quality construction of the BRI between China and Malaysia has achieved fruitful results. 

According to Malaysian data, China's direct investment in Malaysia reached $12.5 billion in 2022, accounting for one-third of Malaysia's foreign direct investment. 

Flagship projects such as the "Two countries, Twin Parks" and the East Coast Rail Link are progressing solidly, providing strong impetus for China-Malaysia economic and trade cooperation. 

China and Malaysia should continuously enhance the level of high-quality construction of the BRI, focusing on cultivating cooperation growth points in areas such as electronics and electrical, digital economy, green development, new energy, high-end manufacturing, and modern agriculture. 

We hope both sides can upgrade cooperation toward innovation, intelligence, digitalization and green development. It is believed that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, we will see more achievements and better benefits for the people of both countries.

Marzuki Alie, 

former speaker of the House of Representative of Republic of Indonesia

I believe that President Xi Jinping's address to the Indonesian parliament in 2013 was very significant, not only for Indonesia-China relations, but also for international cooperation. China demonstrated a cooperative disposition that will yield mutual benefits. I believe it is essential for the Indonesian government to respond to the China-proposed initiative at that time.

In 2023, it will have been exactly 10 years since I presided over the Indonesian parliament during Xi's visit. 

That year was definitely an important year, and over the past 10 years, the cooperation between China and Indonesia has increased in a variety of areas. China and Indonesia's inclusive economic cooperation, transfer of technology and knowledge, infrastructure and connectivity, as well as cultural and educational exchanges can serve as a model for mutually beneficial cooperation and joint development among other developing countries.