A volunteering event that aims at raising youngsters' awareness of ancient tree conservation has recently been launched in Shantou, South China's Guangdong Province.
The event brings together young people from both China and overseas, encouraging them to protect ancient trees in the city while also learning about the importance of environmental sustainability.
To date, Shantou boasts a total of 1,216 valuable ancient trees. The most notable one is a banyan tree that has continued to grow for more than 573 years, with its branches and leaves covering a total area of 10 acres. Locals often describe it as "a tree resembling a forest."
The event is highlighted by two agendas, the first of which involves more than 100 schools in the city jointly launching a tree conservation plan. The second agenda involves 100 qiaomin to jointly launch an initiative for tree conservation.
Qiaomin, refers to local people who have long experience living abroad in countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Shantou is known for boasting a large number of Chinese people who have such life experiences, as in the 1860s the city opened a commercial port that brought in lifestyles, cultural traditions and religions from overseas.
Huang Qiang, a cultural researcher in Shantou told the Global Times that the "tree" has long been praised by Chinese people overseas as a "symbol of their home and cultural roots."
"The conservation of valuable trees is also a means to keep fostering our local culture. It is the treasure we leave to our offspring," Huang told the Global Times.
"These ancient trees, with their roots and branches tangled together, remind me of my ancestors and my family stories," said Lin Weimin, the vice president of the Association des Chinois Residant en France (ACRF). The association is dedicated to connecting Chinese people in France together.
The event was jointly launched by organizations including the Education Bureau of Shantou, the Bureau of Natural Resource of Shantou and Shantou Media Convergence Group.
During police open-day event in Weifang, Shandong Province, the reserve police dog named "Fuzai" stole the show with its iconic happy face, cute short legs, and outstanding explosive detection skills, quickly becoming an internet sensation at just six months old.
"I think it is a very promising Corgi among all Corgis," said Wang Ya'nan, head of the Weifang Public Security Bureau's police dog base.
When Fuzai was only two months old its performance surpassed many same-aged police dogs. Throughout its training, Fuzai has shown exceptional talent and is considered a "top student."
While there have been cases of Corgis excelling as police dogs abroad, Fuzai's appearance has once again shattered the stereotype that "short-legged" dogs cannot be police dogs.
In order to become a police dog, Fuzai excelled in its "heavy workload" training. As a reserve police dog, its daily training sessions were split into morning and afternoon sessions, covering various subjects including obedience, explosive detection, and scent tracking.
However, some people have questioned whether this "adorable and huggable" police dog can overcome obstacles, chase and apprehend suspects, and intimidate criminals. Wang explained that during training, Fuzai has demonstrated its unique advantages.
"It has a strong adaptability to the environment, is not sensitive, and its desire for possession of items, as well as its love for food, are all very beneficial for our training," Wang said.
Faced with skepticism, Fuzai has worked hard and delivered impressive results.
After months of training, Fuzai can use its short legs to search under cars and easily navigate narrow spaces when searching rooms. The friendly-looking Fuzai can also enhance interaction between police dogs and the public.
The Weifang police have opened a social media account for Fuzai, named "Corgi Police Fuzai," which has already attracted thousands of fans.
Videos of Fuzai online have garnered tens of thousands of views and likes, with one video featuring Fuzai made its debut as the first Corgi reserve police dog in the country, drawing a large crowd of curious onlookers.
It is Fuzai's shining qualities that have convinced the officers to choose it as a police dog. Wang emphasized that the challenges faced by Fuzai's trainers are significant, and the reason Fuzai can perform so well is because its trainers have put in a lot of effort and dedication.
"Police dogs are not just cute and adorable, behind the scenes, there is a lot of effort and dedication," Wang said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met representatives from the US business, strategic and academic communities in Beijing on Wednesday, as China hosts a series of high-level events this week, demonstrating the country's commitment to attracting more foreign investment and expanding its opening-up to the world.
Some experts believe that such a rare meeting between the top Chinese leader and the US representatives not only signals China's expectation that bilateral relations will continue to improve since the San Francisco meeting between the Chinese and US top leaders in November 2023, but also shows that China is focusing more on engaging with American people as it welcomes US investment to achieve greater intertwining interests between the industries of the two sides. It is to "make the cake bigger," experts said.
The history of China-US relations is a history of friendly exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, written by the people in the past and even more to be created by the people in the future, Xi told the US representatives.
It is hoped that people from all walks of life in both countries will increase their interactions and exchanges, continuously building consensus, Xi said.
"People differ from one another, and even members of the same family are different. Seeking common ground while preserving minor differences and establishing more consensus is the same between nations, families, and relatives," Xi said, citing ordinary examples to elaborate on China-US relations.
The success of China and the US is each other's opportunity. As long as both sides treat each other as partners with mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, China-US relations will get better, Xi said.
Some 20 US firms were invited to participate in Wednesday's meeting, Reuters said, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter. The meeting ran for around 90 minutes.
The attendees included Evan Greenberg, chairman of the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR), Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, Graham Allison, founding dean of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council.
"China's economy is healthy and sustainable," Xi said, noting that China's growth rate was one of the fastest among major economies last year.
Xi said China is planning and implementing a series of major measures to comprehensively deepen reform, foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, and provide broader development space for international businesses including US companies.
Xi urged the US to work with China in the same direction, establish a correct strategic perception, and properly handle sensitive issues to maintain the momentum for bilateral relations to stabilize from a downward spiral.
The US companies appreciated China's recent introduction of a series of important initiatives to further reform and opening-up, expressing their optimism about the prospects of the country's economic development. They said they will unswervingly continue to explore the China market, and develop a long-term close cooperative relationship with China.
The American business, strategic and academic communities support the strengthening of US-China exchanges at all levels to enhance mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation, in order to work together to address global challenges, and promote the establishment of a stable, sustainable, and productive US-China relationship.
'Make the cake bigger'
"From the perspective of the interests of the American business community, their interests are deeply intertwined with those of Chinese business community. Therefore, there is an inherent drive within the American business community to develop China-US relations," Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
It would be quite challenging for the US government to hinder such momentum, Lü said, noting that as the US presidential election heats up, American partisan strife may lead to the use of China-US relations as a negative topic for speculation.
At this moment, the message conveyed by the Chinese leader is clear: While preserving minor differences, the two sides should focus on the fundamental nature of bilateral relations, making the business community "a driving force" for them, Lü noted.
During the just-concluded China Development Forum (CDF) 2024, which was held from Sunday to Monday in Beijing, of the more than 80 business executives attending the forum, over 30 percent were from the US. This was strong evidence indicating the US business sector's unabating commitment to the Chinese market compared with the "decoupling" narrative from some US politicians.
Stephen Orlins, president of the NCUSCR, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the CDF on Sunday that "if I compare the US participation to last year's, it's probably increased two to two-and-a-half times." Orlins also attended the meeting with Xi on Wednesday.
Orlins said that since April 2023, there have been a series of high-level engagements between China and the US, and the bilateral relationship "has gotten off from the rock bottom and has improved somewhat," though there is still a huge space for further improvement.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who also visited China recently to mark the opening of a new Apple flagship store in Shanghai and attend the CDF, said earlier that "There's no supply chain in the world that's more critical to us than China."
Bilateral relations in focus
During the meeting, Xi said the greatest consensus reached at the San Francisco summit in November 2023 was that China-US relations should stabilize and improve. Over the past few months, teams from both sides have maintained communication in various fields such as diplomacy, economy and trade, finance, law enforcement and joint counternarcotics working, climate change and cultural exchanges, and have made progress, Xi said.
The common interests between China and the US have not decreased but have instead increased under the current situation, Xi said. He noted that whether it is in traditional fields like the economy, trade, and agriculture, or in emerging areas like climate change and artificial intelligence, the two countries should become facilitators of each other's development, not obstacles.
"While the meeting demonstrates China's expectations for improving and developing bilateral relations with the US and welcoming US businesses to invest in China, it also indicates that China focuses on engaging with American people amid the overall difficult situation of the bilateral relationship," Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The Biden administration is now paying more attention to the stability of US-China relations, so it does not have expectations for further developing relationship with China. However, from China's perspective, China-US relations need to be both stable and progressive, Wu said.
The crux of China-US relations is that the US has positioned China as its most important strategic competitor and most important geopolitical challenge. Such misunderstanding has led to constant problems in bilateral relations, and promises made by US leaders have failed to translate into concrete actions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with Greenberg and Orlins on Tuesday.
Moving forward, it is essential to address a series of significant and important issues that hinder the development of China-US relations, including problems at the level of the US' perception of China, as well as specific issues in areas such as economic and trade relations, Wu noted.
"There are also issues related to the Taiwan question, and problems existing within China-US cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Both sides need to sit down and discuss how to resolve them," Wu said.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Monday lodged representations with the Philippines over the recent illegal trespassing by Philippine resupply vessels into waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao.
The situation in the South China Sea will continue to escalate in the near future, especially with the US support of the Philippines' provocations, experts told the Global Times.
In disregard of China's strong opposition, the Philippines sent a supply vessel and two Coast Guard vessels on Saturday, without permission from the Chinese government, to intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao in China's Nansha Islands, in an attempt to send construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao.
On Monday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong spoke with Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro over the phone, lodging a solemn representation regarding the illegal trespassing.
The Philippines is attempting to establish a permanent military outpost on uninhabited islands and reefs in order to achieve long-term illegal occupation, which flagrantly violates the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), goes against the Philippines' own commitments, infringes upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and disrupts regional peace and stability. China firmly opposes this action, Chen said.
The Philippines has repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue of Ren'ai Jiao, stirring up trouble and causing the situation on the ground to escalate. This is the fundamental reason for the escalating tensions, Chen noted.
Recently, the Philippines has frequently sent military and law-enforcement personnel and government vessels to intrude into the waters and airspace near Huangyan Dao, illegally landing on Tiexian Jiao, infringing upon China's territorial sovereignty, and violating the DOC, he said.
On Monday, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines also lodged a solemn representation with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs regarding the illegal intrusion, noting that the China Coast Guard in response has implemented lawful regulation, interception, and expulsion in a reasonable and professional manner, successfully thwarting the Philippines' scheme.
China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Islands, including Ren'ai Jiao, and their adjacent waters. China's sovereignty and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea are established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in history and the law, said the Chinese Embassy. The so-called 2016 arbitration award is illegal, null and void. China does not accept or recognize it.
On Monday's routine news conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China has demanded the Philippine side immediately stop infringing and provoking, noting that if they continue to act recklessly, China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
The Philippine side has repeatedly gone back on its words, lacking credibility, seriously violating the commitments made to the Chinese side multiple times, and seriously violating the DOC. Faced with the Philippine vessels' forcible intrusion, the China Coast Guard had to take necessary law-enforcement measures. The on-site operations were legitimate, professional, and restrained, Lin said.
Observers pointed out that the recent series of provocations by the Philippines in the South China Sea are not independent actions by the country, but are supported by the US and its allies.
Two days before the conflict erupted, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Masataka Okano, and the Philippine's Lazaro held a consultation meeting in Tokyo to prepare for the countries' first trilateral summit. Right after the conflict, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson voiced support for the Philippines, saying that the US stands with the Philippines in opposing China's repeated "dangerous actions."
Lin stated that the US has completely disregarded the facts and distorted the truth. The US is not a party to the South China Sea issue, yet it repeatedly interferes in and provokes disputes between China and the Philippines, baselessly attacking and accusing China and attempting to disrupt the regional situation. The US also frequently threatens China with the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, openly supporting the Philippines in encroaching on China's sovereignty, seriously violating the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and seriously endangering regional peace and stability.
With the recent provocations by the Philippines in the South China Sea, completely disregarding China's opposition, tensions in the region have escalated, Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times. At the same time, as the Philippines becomes increasingly irrational, these conflicts have become normalized and internationalized, inevitably leading to long-term conflicts and tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea in the future.
The US support for the Philippines' provocations is another action in its strategy of promoting its small group alliances in the Indo-Pacific region. Currently, it appears that the US military presence in the Philippines will further increase, with the sole purpose of containing China, and the Philippines will escalate its provocations as a result. This will continue until the US learns to accept the power balance between China and the US in the Western Pacific region, Chen noted.
Chen also pointed out that, however, communication channels between China and the Philippines remain open.
"Although the Philippines often refuses to communicate, China always welcomes negotiations and consultations to manage differences, establish cooperation, and rebuild mutual trust," he said.
The US continued to strengthen its military activities on China’s doorstep in the South China Sea and surrounding areas in 2023, including deploying aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and bombers, holding intensified close-in reconnaissance operations, and holding joint exercises, which posed growing risks to China-US relations, according to a newly released think tank report.
While the US is providing support to the Philippines in the ongoing friction between Beijing and Manila in the region, it is not ready to engage China militarily, and is not willing to be exploited by the Philippines, the report said.
The report was released by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
In 2023, the US military continued to enhance its military deterrence of China, as it maintained high-intensity activities in the South China Sea and its surrounding areas, including close-in reconnaissance operations, Taiwan Straits transits, forward presence, strategic patrols, exercises and battlefield preparations, the SCSPI said, citing open-source intelligence it had gathered.
About 1,000 sorties by US large reconnaissance aircraft were featured in close-in reconnaissance operations, during which they frequently approached Chinese mainland airspace.
US carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups entered the South China Sea eight times, with significantly increased duration, training intensity and pertinence, according to the report.
At least 11 nuclear-powered attack submarines and two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines were spotted in and near the South China Sea, with obvious intentions of deterrence, it said.
US warships conducted six “freedom of navigation operations” that trespassed waters off Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and made six transits in the Taiwan Straits, according to the report. The report also stressed the US’ joint operations with allies and partners and its use of unmanned systems in the region, particularly the MQ-4C reconnaissance drone.
Citing incomplete statistics, the SCSPI said that the US military conducted 107 large-scale exercises in the South China Sea and its surrounding areas from the Philippines Sea in the east to Australia in the south, with nine of them being unilateral and 98 being bilateral or multilateral, held with ASEAN member states and countries from outside the region such as Japan, the UK, India, France, Canada and Germany.
Hu Bo, director of the SCSPI, told the Global Times on Friday that conducting highly intensified military activities in another country’s surrounding waters in peacetime, including carrying out over a thousand close-in reconnaissance operations and over a hundred military exercises, is contrary to the spirit of the UN Charter and the principles and rules of international laws, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The US has significantly ramped up the frequency and intensity of military activities targeting China in the South China Sea since 2009, and despite the current Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the US still boosted its hyping of the “China threat” and its rollout of the “Indo-Pacific” strategy, Hu said, noting that the US’ increasing military operations in the region, including those that were abnormally close to the Chinese mainland coast and those that featured unmanned platforms, significantly increased the risk of maritime and aerial frictions and conflicts between the two countries.
The report warned that the US’ increasingly aggressive military activities targeting China will inevitably lead to strong countermeasures by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and that the US forces’ over-deployment could lead to fatigue and major accidents. The increased use of drones could also result in misjudgment or faulty operation.
The think tank predicted that in 2024, the US military will continue to increase its presence and activities in the South China Sea and surrounding areas despite continued impact from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The upcoming US presidential election could bring new uncertainties that will stimulate the US to further enhance military deployment and operations in the region.
Not for Philippines
Since August 2023, the Philippines ramped up provocations on Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea including Ren’ai Jiao (also known as Ren’ai Reef) and Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island) under the instigation of the US, with the US issuing official statements and remarks in support of the Philippines.
In the most recent Philippine provocation, 34 Filipino personnel illegally landed on Tiexian Jiao (also known as Tiexian Reef) in the South China Sea on Thursday after ignoring warnings and dissuasions from the Chinese side, and the China Coast Guard’s law enforcement personnel boarded the reef to investigate and handle the situation following the law, China Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement on Thursday.
This comes after in February 2023the US gained access to four military bases in the Philippines in addition to the previous five bases. The SCSPI noted that three of the four new bases are close to the island of Taiwan, which signifies the US’ scheme of enhancing its military deployment near the Taiwan Straits taking advantage of the South China Sea dispute and the Philippines.
The US and the Philippines are scheduled to hold the 2024 edition of the Balikatan joint exercise featuring 11,000 US personnel and 5,000 Philippine personnel from April 22 to May 8, the Philippine News Agency reported on Wednesday.
However, according to the analyses in the SCSPI report, during the Ren’ai Jiao and other incidents, the US only provided diplomatic, public opinion and intelligence report to the Philippines, with no sign of the US getting directly involved in assisting the Philippines in supplying its illegally grounded warship on Ren’ai Jiao.
The US wants to take advantage of the Philippines’ geographic location to serve its “Indo-Pacific” strategy or its rollout to contain China, but it does not want to get unnecessarily involved in an armed conflict with China because of the Philippines’ agendas, the SCSPI said, noting that while the US wants to see continued China-Philippines friction, it is not ready or determined to have a military showdown with China in the South China Sea, nor does it want to be exploited by the Philippines for the interests of the Filipinos.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Friday that the US sees the Philippines as a military proxy and exploits it in containing China without getting directly involved.
The Philippines should have a clear understanding of the US’ strategy, so out of the Philippines’ own security and economic interests, it should not be a US pawn, or it will only end up suffering the consequences, Fu said, noting that China is fully capable of safeguarding its sovereignty and security.
China's widely watched annual "two sessions" kicked off on Monday this year. The "two sessions" refers to the annual sessions of National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which are known as the country's top legislature and national political advisory body respectively.
The two sessions is a grand occasion that gathers ideas and wisdom of people of all walks of life across the country. It is an important opportunity for the world to better understand China's whole-process people's democracy, in which the people engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight according to the law. Such democracy is not only shown in the votes taking place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, but also embodied in a motion submitted by a NPC deputy coming from a remote area, or a consultative meeting held among some residents living in a city suburb. It can be felt in many details of Chinese people's daily life.
During this year's two sessions, the Global Times is launching a series of stories to illustrate the whole-process people's democracy from some of such details. The first story is about an ordinary workday of a grass-roots service site of a district-level political advisory body in Shanghai suburb. There, the reporters took a closer look at this consultation site's efforts in fulfilling the Chinese democracy through solving "little things" that matter the daily life of local residents. The early morning sun shone through the windows into the room. Shanghai resident Ji Huiqi opened the window to enjoy some fresh air. But he frowned. He found his clothes hanging outside the windows covered with a thin layer of dust.
The Yingyuan residential community in Shanghai's suburban Jiading district that Ji lives in is a decades-old community which is currently under renovation. The renovation will bring this somewhat run-down community broader paths, beautiful exterior walls and better public facilitates, but months of renovating work has also caused residents inconveniences, such as noise and dust pollution.
Ji expressed the dust pollution to the Gengzhi consultation site, a grass-roots service site of the CPPCC Jiading District Committee that is responsible for collecting opinions of, and helping solve problems for, local people.
Only days later, Ji was invited to a democratic consultation meeting that specifically focused on how to bother the community residents during the renovation less.
The meeting was organized by, and held at, the Gengzhi consultation site. It kicked off a busy workday of Gengzhi, a platform of local CPPCC to practice the whole-process people's democracy at the most grass-roots level.
Ahead of the two sessions, during one-day visit to the Gengzhi consultation site, the Global Times reporters took a closer look at this consultation site's efforts in fulfilling the whole-process people's democracy through solving "little things" that matter the daily life of local residents.
9 am: a democratic consultation
Around 9 am in the morning, 74-year-old Ji arrived at the Gengzhi consultation site, ready to express his suggestions for "reducing inconveniences for residents during renovation," the topic of today's consultation meeting.
About 20 people attended the meeting. To Ji's surprise, they included almost all the parities related to this topic: resident representatives, renovation project managers, residential property managers and relevant functional departments of local government. Some members of CPPCC Jiading District Committee (also known as political advisors of the district) were also here, busy with taking notes of the residents' voices.
Every party spoke at the meeting. In Ji's small speech, he thanked the efforts the renovation project side had made in trying to bother residents less, such as the requirement of no construction work at weekends and in the early mornings. "It would be better if we could find a way to further reduce the dust pollution," he added.
The consultation meeting lasted 2.5 hours. Some of the problems were initially solved through discussions during the meeting. "We built an online chat group," Ji told the Global Times after the meeting. "From now on, we can directly report small problems from the renovation project side, like noise or dusts."
For the relatively more complicated problems, political advisors on the scene recorded them down, in preparation for further survey and discussion in the near future.
Ji praised this democratic consultation meeting as an efficient and friendly form to explore solutions. "I feel that we residents' opinions and ideas are highly valued. That's nice," he said and left Gengzhi consultation site with a smile.
The Gengzhi consultation site is located at the busy community integrated service center at Xincheng Road sub-district in Jiading. The sub-district is a township-level administrative division in China's urban areas.
Some 60,000 people live in the 5.14-square kilometer Xincheng Road sub-district. To better practice the whole-process people's democracy, the sub-district set up two services sites under guidance of the CPPCC Jiading District Committee - Gengzhi consultation site and Gengshan reading room - where local people can freely express their opinions, complaints and suggestions, especially those regarding to grass-roots governance.
Gengzhi, for instance, listens to and collects people's voices through four main ways, introduced Gengshan and Gengzhi's director Zhang Xiangqun, who is also a political advisor in Jiading district.
The democratic consultation meeting that resident Ji participated in that morning is one of the ways, Zhang said. "The other three include offline letter boxes, survey questionnaires, and a monthly project named 'room for people's voice,'" she told the Global Times. "The last Thursday of every month, local political advisors talk to the residents at this room face to face."
In recent years, the CPPCC Jiading District Committee has set up working stations for its political advisors at all Jiading's 12 sub-districts and towns, said Wang Yan, a staffer with committee who is in charge of the issues related to the working stations.
Based on the current working stations, the committee worked with the Xincheng Road sub-district management and established two front-line service sites Gengzhi and Gengshan in July 2023, so as to get closer to the grass-roots people, Wang said.
"In the past, some people may felt distant from the CPPCC," she told the Global Times at Gengzhi. "But now, we found that more and more residents are willing to go to these service sites that are so close to their homes, and they are pleased to participate in consultations and express their views." 2 pm: vote to make decision
After a lunch break, at around 2 pm , several residents at Canghai residential community waited in a line for a vote.
Witnessed by the Gengzhi staffers and local political advisors, they in turn put a piece of paper into a red box. These voters were resident representatives of the community. Before casting the vote, they had spent days collecting opinions of almost all the community's 4,532 residents in detail.
With Gengzhi's help, they were using the democratic method of voting to decide one of the biggest concerns of the community residents in the past three months: whether to put into use the community's public charging pile for electric motorcycles.
The irregular charging of the e-motorcycles used to be a headache for the community. Instead of charging in a public area, some lower-floor residents liked to charge their e-motorcycles directly through a long wire from their homes, as household electricity costs less.
"You could see many electric wires go through the windows of their homes and fall on the ground, connected with the e-motorcycles they parked downstairs," recalled resident Sun Jianming. "This was a huge fire safety hazard."
Some residents expressed their complaints to Gengzhi, which later discussed with the sub-district and community staffers to find a solution - installing public charging piles.
The community started to prepare for the charging pile installation since December 2023. Local grass-roots officials and some resident volunteers door-to-door publicized fire safety knowledge, and asked for opinions on the payment method of the charging piles.
Discussion, consultation and opinion collection have been the norm of this residential community for the past three months. As the concept of the whole-process people's democracy has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, local residents, particularly the young ones, have a willingness to participate in social and community governance, said Zhou Zhiliang, an official of Xincheng Road sub-district who co-leads Gengzhi and Gengshan.
Also, through months of exploration and practice since Gengzhi and Gengshan were established, "we found that our sub-district officials and residential community staffers have changed their working concepts," Zhou told the Global Times.
In the past, a few of the local grass-roots officials might be afraid to face complaints, Zhou said. But now, they actively listen to the residents, and they truly feel gratified and glad for helping residents solve problems, he noted.
As for the charging pile installation and payment method, at last, the residential community managers planned to spend a part of the community's public revenue (such as parking fee) in buying "charging cards." The cards, each of which contains 120 times of e-motorcycle charging per year, will be sent to the community residents for free, according to Sun.
Will the residents feel satisfied with this plan? That afternoon, some resident representatives organized a democratic vote which includes all their neighbors. They agreed that, the plan would be approved if the approval rate exceeded 50 percent.
Hours later after the vote, Sun told the Global Times that the vote results came out.
"More than 88 percent approved," he said with excitement. 7 pm: a political advisor's notebook
The sky gradually turned dark around 7 pm. Sitting by a table at Gengzhi, Xu Minghua carefully reviewed the notes he took this morning, at the consultation meeting he attended.
Residents' complaints and suggestions about the inconveniences caused by the renovation work were all on X u's notebook. "The residents' opinions were very precious and valuable. I'm thinking about to turn them into a proposal," said Xu, a political advisor of Jiading district.
This proposal will be submitted to the online platform of Jiading district's political advisory body, becoming an important reference for the work of local government and related policy makers, Xu explained.
According to Gengzhi and Gengshan's director Zhang, the two service sites have received some 140 pieces of complaints and suggestions since being established. Among them, about 100 pieces have been solved or adopted by the sub-district-level officials and functional departments. The remaining more complicated 40 pieces are sent to local political advisors, who will report them to the upper levels through proposals.
In response to some western media's smear, which defamed the two sessions as a "stage to put on a show," Xu has many to say. As a private entrepreneur, Xu has been serving as a political advisor in Jiading district for eight years. Each year, Xu writes and submits nearly 10 proposals based on the voices of grass-roots residents. He said that his proposals focus on the matters that residents concern most about, such as the fire-fighting equipment in garages and "many of my proposals have been adopted."
He mentioned a recent proposal he submitted, which was about the unreasonable double yellow lines on the road of a busy street corner. Local transport department adopted the proposal and made a change within a month.
"Very efficient," Xu praised.
Xu's proposals, as well as the people's voices that Gengzhi collects, are windows for the outside world to see how China's whole-process people's democracy is practiced in the grass-roots.
In November 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Chinese people's democracy is a type of "whole-process democracy," during his inspection tour in Shanghai. It was the first time this term was used publicly.
These years, Shanghai has made various efforts in promoting and improving democratic governance and consultation at the grass-roots level, said some local NPC deputies and CPPCC members. The city is trying hard to make it not only the place where the "whole-process people's democracy" was first proposed, but also the place where this concept is best practiced, they noted.
In Jiading district, the local political advisory body is establishing and improving more grass-roots serves sites, to enhance the people's sense of gain and satisfaction.
"We strive to transform the concept of the whole-process people's democracy into the arrangements of the CPPCC that have more complete participation, better developed mechanism and procedure, and richer platforms,"Yang Li, chairman of the CPPCC Jiading District Committee, told the Global Times.
From January 31 to February 1, 2024, the "Joyful Dragon for a Happy Chinese New Year" events, as part of the "Happy Chinese New Year" cultural program, took place successfully in San Francisco.
A variety of cultural activities including the Chinese New Year reception at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Intangible Cultural Heritage Campus Outreach, and Zodiac-themed flash-mob, conveyed the excitement of ushering in the Year of the Dragon across the ocean.
These initiatives facilitated a greater understanding of Chinese Zodiac culture among the American audience, fostering a deeper cultural exchange between China and the US. This cultural exchange event series was sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau and organized by the Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center.
On January 31, the "Celebrating the 45th Anniversary of the Establishment of China-US Diplomatic Relations and the Chinese New Year" event was successfully held at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco.
The event was attended by over two hundred guests, including China's Consul-General in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and Chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation Jeffrey Greene, as well as local dignitaries and representatives from major institutions. The reception featured a diverse array of artistic performances, including the dance "Rhythms of Youth", pipa solo "Dragon Boat," yangko dance "Welcoming Spring," and pipa & oboe ensemble "Descendants of the Dragon."
The performances were meticulously curated to highlight the Year of the Dragon theme and convey the cultural and spiritual essence of China's diverse ethnicities, as well as the rich historical legacies of the Chinese culture through various art forms including music, dance and song.
The accompanying photography exhibition "Hello, Beijing" captured the charms of Beijing as a city with a history of 3,000 years, including its more than 860 years as the capital, by showcasing images of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It also highlighted contemporary Beijing's high-level openness as a crucial hub for the "Belt and Road" initiative.
The exhibition featured award-winning designs from the Global Zodiac Design Competition throughout the years, along with relevant cultural and creative products. This visually introduced American guests to the cultural richness and significance of the Year of the Dragon.
The dragon embodies the Chinese people's long-standing pursuit of an ideal personality and conveyed the auspicious blessings of the Year of the Dragon.
Simultaneously, promotional activities for inbound tourism in Beijing allowed international friends to discover the then-current and enchanting cultural and tourist attractions in the city. During the interactive display of intangible cultural heritage, Han Bing, inheritor of Beijing shadow puppetry, presented the history and performance techniques of this art form in English, and delivered a captivating live performance.
Guo Xiaoxia, the inheritor of diabolo crafting, displayed diabolos crafted from various materials and specifications. Through a diabolo performance featuring a "dragon," she vividly demonstrated the ingenuity and agility of this traditional toy.
On February 1, Beijing's intangible cultural heritage inheritors made a visit to Convent & Stuart Hall Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco and Enlighten Chinese School.
They guided hundreds of students ranging from elementary to high school to experience the charm of Chinese intangible cultural heritage. Many children actively participated, telling their own imaginative stories through the art of Chinese shadow puppetry. Intangible cultural heritage projects such as New Year paintings, paper cutting, and diabolo allowed the students to appreciate the distinctive features of traditional Chinese aesthetics, further sparking their interest in Chinese culture. During the exchange activities in San Francisco, the international cultural exchange project "Zodiac-themed flash-mob" conducted simultaneous filming. The Zodiac-themed flash-mob special feature "Dancing with the Chinese Dragon" was filmed at various iconic landmarks throughout the city.
The feature was adorned with professional dragon dance performances, showing skilled performers engaging with local audiences and tourists from various countries.
Every year, during the Spring Festival, the "Zodiac-themed flash-mob" spans across different countries and regions, showcasing a diverse array of activities including Zodiac-themed flash-mob performances, video shoots, and cultural and tourism promotions. This tradition has persisted for eight years. This year, the event will take place in multiple countries, including the US, Mexico, and Peru. At the time of this year's "Happy Chinese New Year" events, just over a month has passed since the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly resolution designated the Spring Festival as a UN holiday. Today, the Spring Festival has evolved into a global celebration. Through the continuous international promotion of the "Happy Chinese New Year" cultural events, more and more people from different countries will come to share in the richness of Chinese culture. This fosters people-to-people bonds and facilitates mutual learning among civilizations.
Construction of the world's highest-altitude pumped-storage power station kicks off Thursday in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
With an altitude of 4,300 meters, the facility is located in Daofu county in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to the PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, the operator of the project.
The station is designed with a total installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts and an annual power generation of 2.994 billion kilowatt-hours. It is the largest pumped storage project in Sichuan and a landmark project as part of the integrated development of water and scenic resources in the Yalong River basin, according to the company.
It is the second highest pumped storage power station in China in terms of operating head with a maximum head of 760.7 meters, the company said.
Pumped-storage power stations use off-peak electricity to pump water to higher locations, where it is stored and then released to generate electricity when the power supply is strained. They can complement wind and solar power generation, which leads to bigger fluctuations across the grid.
The Daofu pumped-storage power station is equipped with six reversible units with a capacity of 350,000 kilowatts each, and consists of upper reservoir, lower reservoir, water conveyance system, underground powerhouse system, and surface switchyard.
Often compared to a "giant power bank," it can store 12.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, which can meet the daily electricity demand of two million households, according to the company.
Yu Chuntao, director of the Daofu project from the company, told the Global Times that "at present, there is a lack of experience that can be used for reference in the construction of large-scale pumped storage projects in high-altitude areas. The design, construction, and electrical equipment manufacturing of the Daofu project are highly exploratory and challenging."
Many breakthrough results achieved in the design and construction of the Daofu project will greatly advance the design and manufacturing of major equipment for pumped-storage power stations in China, according to Yu.
The construction of the Daofu project, once completed, is of great significance for enhancing the power supply guarantee capacity, promoting the scientific and efficient development and utilization of new energy, building a world-class clean energy demonstration base, and promoting high-quality economic and social development in the local area.
At present, the highest-altitude pumped-storage power station in the world is the Yamzho Yumco Lake pumped-storage power station in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, situated at an altitude of about 3,600 meters, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The end of the year and the start of a new one is a time for reflection and anticipation. Throughout 2023, the Chinese society has undergone various developments and changes, behind which manifests the exploration and practice of Chinese path to modernization.
In light of this, the Global Times is launching a series that elaborates on this unique path through the stories of ordinary people's New Year's wishes. These wishes serve as a window to the changes and achievements of Chinese society as the Chinese modernization has brought Chinese people more concrete consensus, a more vibrant countryside, more imaginative innovation, more balanced education, a more dignified old age with stronger security, and a more confident civilization. This shows that Chinese modernization is the prerequisite and driving force for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The first installment shares the story of the boat tribe from Ningde, East China's Fujian Province, who have transitioned from a life of drifting at sea to enjoying prosperity onshore. Their wish is to live fulfilling and prosperous lives on land, which reflects the concrete consensus among Chinese people brought about by Chinese modernization. "This is my treasure!"
A yellowed newspaper has been carefully preserved in a ziplock bag by Lin Caizeng, a fisherman from Xiapu county, East China's Fujian Province, for 22 years.
The six family photos in this newspaper briefly outline the first half of Lin's life. In 1984, Lin, the third child in a family of six, lived on a small boat, subsisting on fishing. In 1998, with the support of the local government, Lin's family moved from the sea into a new two-room house measuring 35 square meters. In 2001, Lin and his brother raised 1,000 yellow croakers offshore.
After bidding farewell to an unstable life on the boat and embracing a "down-to-earth" lifestyle, Lin's family welcomed a newborn in 2017.
Three years later, following the local government's policy of green development, Lin Caizeng replaced his sea farming nets with environmentally friendly materials.
"This is also my treasure!" said Lin excitedly, while holding the newly issued water and tidal flat aquaculture certificate for the year. He told the Global Times that with the government's support for the industry, "I want to earn more money, raise more fish, and live a better life." In the Houyu village where Lin lives, the cement wall still retains the slogan "Love your hometown and pay attention to hygiene" written by fishermen shortly after they moved on land. This is Lin's earliest memory of coming ashore.
What he remembers most vividly now is the phrase "Today's China is a country where dreams become reality" declared by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his 2023 New Year Address. This sentence was neatly posted by the village committee.
In southern China, regions such as Guangdong and Fujian have had a long history of generational offshore dwelling communities engaged in fishing known as the Tanka people or boat dwellers.
Usually, families shared a small wooden vessel, and the boat served as a place of residence as well as a workplace. For the Tanka people, the boat served as a place of residence as well as a workplace, with fishing activities taking place on the deck while the cabin serves as the family bedroom and storage area. In the past, the community had no property, and harbored no hopes of a decent life on land.
In front of the house, at the dock, on the fish row, Lin listened to the villagers sharing many stories about boat dwellers like him who "move and get rich" on the shore. He knew that many people had shown great concern for their once-marginalized community. Within these stories and the aspirations, countless Chinese people expressed their determination to escape absolute poverty and their hope for rural revitalization, working tirelessly to transform the vision of a beautiful Chinese modernization into reality, step by step.
"Ending life adrift at sea and settling down on land… I want to chase a better life with my diligent working and persevering spirit," Lin Caizeng made this New Year's wish - simple, pure, and full of hope.
From sea to land Despite having stepped ashore, the sea still plays an extremely important part in the life of the Lin family.
"In the past, drifting in the sea meant leaving everything to fate. Now, living off the sea means reaping what you sow," Lin said.
Boarding the "Sea Taxi" speedboat at the Houyu village pier, bound for the aquaculture site, along the way, Global Times reporters saw the endless fish farms and neatly arranged fish cages, presenting a busy and orderly scene in the vast "sea fish fields."
In the fields, Lin happily meets his elderly brother, Lin Fangcun.
At sea, Lin Fangcun and Lin Caizeng's fish farms are only a 5-minute boat ride apart. Lin Fangcun is engaged in the cultivation of seaweed, earning a monthly income of over 4,000 yuan ($560). Lin Caizeng, on the other hand, specializes in breeding yellow croakers, with a family annual income exceeding 50,000 yuan.
When the Global Times reporters met them, the broad smiles on their tanned faces speak volumes.
Fujian rarely experiences harsh winters, and even at this time of the year one brother sports flip-flops, while the other wears rubber shoes. It's part of a signature boat-era style that's followed them ashore. "In the past, our whole family of six lived on a boat that was only eight or nine meters long. We ate, drank, slept on the boat. The children didn't even have suitable clothes to wear," recalled Lin Caizeng.
In 1997, as the then deputy secretary of the Fujian provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi led the local government in initiating the overall relocation of the boat dwellers. Relevant departments made continuous efforts to address the issue, taking into account the tribe's production and living habits, exempting various land taxes and fees, providing housing construction subsidies, and allowing the community to repay housing arrears in installments. By the early 21st century, the conundrum of the boat dwellers' settlement on land had completely been resolved.
Since then, local authorities have shifted more attention to the shore. They have availed technical training to the community, solved funding issues in production and entrepreneurship, and gradually promoted targeted assistance, helping the fishermen ashore completely detach themselves from the label of absolute poverty that has lasted for thousands of years.
With the increase in income, most households in Houyu village have expanded their initial single-room houses into two or three-story buildings. Faced with the dilemma of insufficient living space due to the expanding families of some villagers, the town has invested about 1.1 million yuan to build a canteen especially designated for the elderly and a senior citizen's residence on the site of a local school. The current project is in the final settlement phase, ensuring that the elderly who are willing to move in can celebrate the New Year in their bright new homes.
After settling down on land, Lin Fangcun and Lin Caizeng live in adjacent rooms on the second floor of a jointly built three-story building. Lin Caizeng hopes to get a good price for yellow croaker this year "to [help] renovate the three floors of the house and expand aquaculture with more capital."
The four siblings of Lin's family also plan to take another group photo during the Chinese New Year, adding the "new treasures" into the sealed bag.
From poverty to prosperity Jiang Chengcai has had many wishes in his life, but he jokingly said that his current most urgent wish is to "lose weight successfully." Though not a tall man, the 56-year-old retired volunteer guide from Xiaqi village, Fu'an, which is also a coastal city 15 minutes away from Xiapu county via high-speed rail, holds himself in a straight posture. It is hard to imagine that this straight frame endured 30 years of hunched boat living on a cramped vessel.
"In the past, when the weather was good, we would go out to catch fish. But when there was a typhoon, our whole family would go hungry. Our parents were afraid that the children would fall into the water, so they tied us tightly to the boat with ropes, and when the luck was bad, the boats would capsize and our home would be lost. We would lose everything," Jiang told the Global Times.
"But now I have a carefree and comfortable life, eating more food and getting fatter and fatter," he joked.
Since he can remember, Jiang has lived on a boat. The few moments of happiness he has from the period are of calm nights, when he would lie on the edge of the boat and gaze at the moon in the sky and admire the lights on the shore.
His parents named him Chengcai in Chinese, which literally means to achieve success and wealth, hoping that he would escape the hardships of his upbringing. But before the age of 30, Jiang's only wish was to live like the people on the shore one day, and to have a house and a warm light in his home.
Jiang still remembers his first day of relocation ashore in 1999. A family of six carried their belongings, including old cotton wadding and iron pots, and moved them into Xiaqi village. Inside the house, there were spring beds and a liquefied gas stove provided by the government.
Nowadays, whenever Jiang has free time, he loves to take tourists for walks around his hometown. Here, rows of yellow-walled and red-tiled buildings are scattered, and nearby, fishing boats return fully loaded at the dock. Just a street away in the market, calls from the fishermen who have turned to seafood wholesale can be heard as they direct customers to scan QR codes to make payments. On December 14, Jiang participated in a speech competition called "The Past in the Words of the People of That Year." He shared his journey from being landless, penniless, and uneducated to making his first fortune in the aquaculture industry after coming ashore. He then led over 30 villagers in the construction of pile foundations, transforming from someone without a place to live to someone who builds houses for others.
"I want to tell more people that the boat dwellers also have dreams," Jiang said.
Jiang wanted to express his gratitude to the village and town officials. "After coming ashore, villagers would 'seek the Party chief' when they had no money or no job, and even when naming their children."
With the caring support of generations of local officials, the average annual income of fishermen in Xiaqi village increased from less than 1,000 yuan in 1997 to 30,360 yuan in 2022. The collective income of the village also grew from zero to 630,000 yuan.
They became wealthy both monetarily and mentally. Previously, 95 percent of the Tanka people in the village were illiterate, but now there are over 290 university students among them.
From struggling to thriving
Chen Ling, the 34-year-old Party chief of Xiaqi village, felt gratified that "villages that hail from the sea," like Xiaqi and Houyu, are becoming increasingly famous.
Chen is also a descendant of the boat dwellers. In 2018, Chen, who was working in Beijing, heard his hometown needed talents in the cultural arena. He resolutely quit his well-paying job and returned to the village to contribute to rural revitalization.
As a first-generation college graduate returning to his hometown, he actively led the villagers in creating a seafood street and committing to building a prosperous countryside where local people can peacefully engage in farming, fishing, and aquaculture.
"I hope to truly drive everyone to achieve the leap from 'settling down' to 'becoming prosperous,'" Chen told the Global Times.
Now, not only are young college students returning home to start their own businesses, but Xiaqi village has also attracted tourists and field research groups from all over the country. Some foreign heads of state have also paid visits to this small fishing village that was thought to be unremarkable in the past.
In September 2023, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilem visited China and went to Xiaqi village for an inspection.
"I believe this is another example of promoting national development, not serving specific groups, but for the well-being of all people, which is crucial," Hichilema said in a media interview in September in Beijing.
Hichilema said he was deeply moved by the personal involvement of the Chinese leadership in improving the plight of disadvantaged populations, finding the root cause of the problem.
I told my colleagues that I hope you can carefully understand and connect with the situation in our country, Hichilema noted.
In various communication activities, Chen has become increasingly proud of his profession. He is well aware that the practical success of the transformation of the boat dwellers, in which he participated, exemplifies China's unique path to modernization.
With this vision, the former sea of sorrow has long since been turned into a sea of prosperity and wealth. In front of this sea, the drifters who suffered from discrimination in the old era have realized a new life, shared the fruits of the country's modernization equally, and now have their own internal motivation to pursue happiness and create wealth.
Boat dwellers are now ashore, out of poverty, and pursuing better life. Their inspirational stories and aspirational journeys are just beginning.
The British Embassy in Beijing and Pageone bookstore jointly organized the "Winter Reading Night in Beijing" event on Saturday. The event featured British diplomats, leading bloggers, and literature lovers to share their favorite bits of British literature.
One of the attractions of the event was a themed book exhibition at the Pageone bookstore during the British Literature Season. The bookstore hosted the themed book exhibition at which people could not only see writers and works from the UK, but also participate in online fun interactions to "measure" how much of a particular British writer they embodied.
The winners of the competition got a set of limited edition souvenirs from the "British Literature Season: Create Literature is Timeless" collection, including a set of postcards, bookmarks, and commemorative badges featuring eight British authors.
