China recently submitted a working paper, "No-first-use of Nuclear Weapons Initiative," to the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that opened in Geneva. The initiative encourages the five Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear-weapon states, namely the US, the UK, France, Russia and China, to negotiate and conclude a treaty on "mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons" or issue a political statement in this regard. It is of great significance for avoiding a nuclear arms race, reducing strategic risks and promoting global strategic stability.

It has always been China's position that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons. At the same time, China has been encouraging nuclear-weapon states to commit to no-first-use of nuclear weapons and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states and nuclear weapon free zones. 

China's efforts have achieved positive results. In September 1994, China and Russia mutually agreed not to use nuclear weapons against each other or to target each other with strategic nuclear weapons. Also, in 1999, China and the US announced their decision not to target nuclear weapons at each other. Unilaterally, the five NPT nuclear-weapon countries have made several pledges regarding negative security assurances. Yet, except for China, the other four countries all have reservations about not using, or threatening to use, nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states and nuclear weapon free zones. This time, China's proposal for the no-first-use of nuclear weapons initiative builds upon its traditional policy stance while introducing innovative elements. The initiative outlines four key elements for a "mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons" or a political statement in this regard. 

It reaffirms that nuclear weapons cannot be used and nuclear war must not be fought; it reiterates China's commitment to work for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of all types of weapons of mass destruction; it encourages the five NPT nuclear-weapon states to negotiate and conclude a treaty on "mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons" or issue a political statement in this regard; it notes each state party shall in exercising its national sovereignty have the right to withdraw from the treaty if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country; and it makes clear this treaty shall be of unlimited duration, and the articles of this treaty shall not be subject to any reservation.

These concise elements cover crucial content of the initiative, including its purpose, applicability, withdrawal conditions and duration, providing a solid foundation for international discussions on future treaties or declarations.

So far, other nuclear-weapon states have refused to commit to no-first-use of nuclear weapons mainly for the following reasons. 

First, they believe that such commitments are untrustworthy. Second, they think committing to no-first-use of nuclear weapons may stimulate nuclear proliferation. Some argued that nuclear weapons have a deterrent effect on conventional conflict. 

From my perspective, these reasons and excuses hold no water. 

First, commitments by nuclear-weapon states to mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons, as a confidence-building measure, is of great significance to reduce the risk of nuclear escalation during crises. If no-first-use is truly worthless, why did the Obama administrations once consider adopting this policy? In current regional conflicts, where the specter of nuclear war looms, mutual commitment to no-first-use of nuclear weapons is realistic and meaningful.

Second, the concept of "extended deterrence" itself is a major contributor to nuclear proliferation. It spread nuclear weapons geographically, posing a nuclear threat to countries outside the US nuclear umbrella, impeding the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones. 

Therefore, China suggests that relevant nuclear-weapon states abolish arrangements for "nuclear sharing" and "extended deterrence." China also advocates withdrawing all nuclear weapons deployed overseas. 

Based on practical considerations, international negotiations on a treaty on mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons can proceed step-by-step. The first step should be negotiating a legally binding treaty on "negative security assurances," committing to not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states and nuclear weapon free zones. The second would be a political statement pledging not to use the threat of nuclear weapons. Finally, the negotiation and conclusion on a treaty on "mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons" or the issuing of a political statement in this regard.

China vows to promote the high-quality development of its services sector, in a bid to tap the potential of consumption, which will be realized through multiple measures, including the extension of the visa-free policy to more countries and the further expanded opening-up of the services industry.

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Saturday released guidelines on boosting high-quality development of service consumption to unleash consumption potential. 

Analysts said domestic consumption will be boosted by attracting foreign investors and tourists. Also, China will optimize the overall quality of its services sector to better serve the demand of domestic and foreign consumers. More importantly, China's opening-up policy will let the world share the opportunities and dividends of the country's development.

The guidelines include 20 specific targeted sectors in six categories, calling for improving the service quality of the catering industry and encouraging world-renowned catering brands to open their first or flagship store in China. The quality of accommodation services and foreign-related services should also be improved.

An array of measures will be taken to boost the vitality of life-enhancing consumption, including expanding visa-free policy to more countries, read the guidance.

The signal is clear, and the direction of future economic work has been further clarified, Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"China has begun to enter a mature economy, and it is imperative to increase the proportion of the tertiary industry - services sector - in China's economy," said Pan.

Making service consumption a major driver in the expansion and upgrading of consumption was among the arrangements for economic work in the second half of 2024, which was outlined at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held on July 30 to analyze the current economic situation. 

Analysts said China is in the stage where its service consumption growth rate is faster than commodity consumption, which means that service consumption has become the main source of increase in household consumption. 

However, compared with the average level of high-income economies at the same stage of development, the proportion of service consumption in household consumption in China is still low, and there is huge potential for development, they stressed.

The current domestic effective demand is insufficient. Promoting high-quality development of service consumption is a powerful measure to expand domestic demand, Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the Digital-Real Economies Integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The consumption of foreign tourists will have a spillover effect on domestic industries, especially on services industries such as catering, accommodation, entertainment and tourism-related industries," Hu said.

Hu also said the fact that China has been the world's largest goods trader means there is little space for growth in goods trade. The new drive for growth will lean on the trade of services.

"The services industry has a strong ability to accommodate the labor force. Boosting service consumption is conducive to solving the current employment problem in China and will create more jobs in the future," said Hu.

Analysts pointed out that inbound tourists have created and will continue to create more jobs in the tourism sector.

"In the future, China's visa-free policy will be extended to almost all countries with a stable political and socioeconomic situation, including developed countries and some middle-income countries," said Pan.

Currently, the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy has been implemented for tourists from 54 countries. China's visa-free policy covers tourists from more than 15 countries.

"Based on China's current technical capabilities, it is completely feasible to allow the vast majority of applicants to obtain e-visas online and greatly improve the convenience of visa applications," Qin Jing, vice president of Trip.com, a Chinese online tourism agency, said in a report the company sent to the Global Times in July.

The number of inbound entries in China continued to increase with China's extension of visa-free policy. In the first half of 2024, 14.635 million foreigners entered China, up 152.7 percent year-on-year, of which 8.542 million enjoyed visa-free policy, up 190.1 percent year-on-year.

The recent threat by US lawmakers to cut funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over its investigation into alleged doping cases involving Chinese swimmers is a blatant attempt to hijack international organizations. This politicization of sports not only exposes the arrogance and prejudice of US politicians but also underscores their hegemonic mindset, analysts said.

On Tuesday, US Republican and Democratic lawmakers introduced the "Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2024," which would grant the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) permanent authority to reduce or revoke US funding for WADA, Reuters reported.

This is the US' latest move to intensify its hype and accusations against Chinese swimmers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and WADA.

The US and WADA have been locked in a fight over how to handle doping cases after the US was unhappy with how WADA handled the Russian doping case. In 2020, the US passed a law giving federal authorities power to investigate sports doping. IOC recently awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City but inserted language in the contract demanding its leaders pressure the US government to lobby against the 2020 law, media reported.

The farce made by the US around the cases of Chinese swimmers fully exposes its long-arm jurisdiction which not only violates international law but also attempts to hijack international organizations and such move fully exposed its hegemony and politicization of sports events, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Since April, the US began sensationalizing the incident of 23 Chinese athletes testing positive in a 2021 contamination case. Moreover, earlier this month, the US Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the 2021 contamination case.

Li said that the US is now using every possible issue for geopolitical competition with China and what they are doing is using sports as a weapon and a tool, which reveals a loss of basic rationality among American political elites in their China policies.

WADA on Tuesday also released a statement regarding the contamination cases in China, saying that it and the relevant International Federations had all had the opportunity to review the cases. And it "thoroughly reviewed" the cases with all due skepticism, and concluded that there was no evidence to challenge contaminated meat as the source of the positive tests.

WADA also highlighted the recurring issue of contamination, particularly food contamination. Numerous cases worldwide, including several intricate scenarios in the US recently, indicate a significant contamination problem.

"The politicization of anti-doping continues with this latest attempt by the media in the United States to imply wrongdoing on the part of WADA and the broader anti-doping community. As we have seen over recent months, WADA has been unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers but has no mandate to participate in that," said the statement.

According to statistics from World Aquatics on July 23, Chinese swimmers are now the most tested Olympians ahead of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. Analysts said that it is in stark contrast between the Chinese athletes' cooperation with doping tests to prove their innocence and the US' politicization of international sports events for selfish reasons.

Blaming Russia, Iran and China for "shaping" US elections serves as Washington's tactic to divert attention from the chaos of its presidential election to outside imaginary enemies, said Chinese experts, after US officials accused the three countries of recruiting Americans to spread propaganda to advance their interests ahead of the US presidential election.

Some US citizens have been knowingly helping foreign governments "seed, promote and add credibility to narratives that serve the foreign actors' interests," the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday in its latest update on election security. 

Others in the US have been duped into aiding the foreign actors, according to the report.
The report claimed that Russia has been making efforts to build and use networks of US and Western "personalities" to create and disseminate Russian-friendly narratives."

Similarly, the Chinese government has collaborated with a China-based technology company to enhance its "covert influence operations, including to more efficiently create content that connects with local audiences," anonymous officials at the Office of US National Director of Intelligence were quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

They declined to name the company involved.

In response, Lin Jian, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that China has never and will never interfere with US elections. "We firmly oppose US disseminating false information to smear China and make China an issue in US elections."

The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed as absurd US intelligence assertions that Russia is seeking to meddle in the presidential election and said that US spies were intent on casting Russia as an enemy, Reuters reported. 

"As for these accusations, they are absurd, and we strongly reject them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the reports from Washington.

"There will be a lot of such statements as the US elections approach because Russia and the head of the Russian state personally are essentially significant factors that both Republicans and Democrats exploit during their political struggle, especially in the election campaign," said Peskov.

The recent smear campaigns against China, Russia and Iran for allegedly interfering with the US election are tactics used by Washington to treat internal problems by blaming external forces, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

By shifting the blame for the chaos in its own elections onto external parties, it implies that US political elites have no genuine intention of addressing their domestic issues. Instead, they hope to divert attention by creating animosity toward other countries, Li said. 

"We will definitely not interfere with the internal affairs of this country [US]," Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev told Russian news agency Tass on Sunday. 

Bloomberg cited US officials as saying that although China does not seek to influence the outcome of the presidential election, there is the possibility that Beijing-related actors may try to denigrate down-ballot candidates seen as threatening to China's core interests. 
China has made it clear that no matter which candidate sits in the Oval Office, its policy regarding China will continue to be unfriendly and antagonistic, said Li, noting that overhyping the China factor during the US election is an attempt by American officials to provoke an unfriendly consensus among the public toward China.

Continually recklessly smearing China will only make US policy toward China less rational and more emotional, ideological and extreme, posing obstacles to broader China-US cooperation on various issues, Li noted. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni kicked off her five-day visit to China on Saturday, with multiple business participants as well as observers of the two countries expressing their high expectations for the visit, highlighting the importance of enhancing bilateral cooperation, especially in areas such as new energy products, new energy vehicles and other green technologies.

This marks Meloni's first visit to China since she took office, and she is the first European leader to visit China since the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a welcome ceremony for Meloni on Sunday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Central Television reported, and the two sides held talks after the welcome ceremony.

The two sides also witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents covering industry, education and environmental protection. 

Amid a volatile political landscape in Europe and the US, Meloni's visit serves a good opportunity to inject stability, promote cooperation and resolve differences, not only between China and Italy, but China and Europe as a whole, experts said. 

However, the experts caution that the Italian government needs to demonstrate enough sincerity in cooperating with China after Italy's withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and effectively manage differences, particularly in tariff talks on China-made electric vehicles (EVs).

Experts noted that during this trip, Meloni aims to enhance Italy's cooperation with China and clear away misunderstandings over its withdrawal from the BRI last year.

Expectations for the visit

Premier Li attended the opening ceremony of the 7th meeting of the China-Italy entrepreneurs committee with Meloni on Sunday, calling for enhanced economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, Xinhua reported. Li called on China and Italy to tap new opportunities for cooperation in line with the general trend and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.

Meloni said Italy and China should strengthen comprehensive strategic partnership, give full play to complementary advantages and strengthen economic and trade cooperation, per Xinhua.

Italy had expressed its intention to strengthen cooperation with China despite not renewing the BRI agreement, and had proposed some alternative plans. Cui Hongjian, a professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance with Beijing Foreign Studies University, believes Meloni will discuss those alternative plans during the visit.

"We are pleased to participate in various activities organized during the prime minister's mission to China. These include, among the many, meetings with high-level government representatives, locally based Italian business associations, and a video conference with the Italian industry association to connect Italian companies not yet in China," Massimo Bagnasco, CEO of China Europe Carbon Neutral Technology, told the Global Times on Sunday.

This visit follows several high-level missions from Italy. Just a few weeks ago, the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso visited China. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani also visited China in September 2023. Those visits are the evidence of the close ties and deep attention both countries pay to their bilateral relations, Bagnasco noted.

Bagnasco said he hopes the visit will confirm the guidelines for framework cooperation in certain sectors and establish a roadmap for further implementation by relevant companies. These expectations pertain to both investment and trade, he said, noting that green technologies, related to climate change, will be a sector where the two countries can achieve great synergies.

Irene Pivetti, former president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, told the Global Times on Sunday that [the visit will see a] restart of a planned global cooperation. "This cooperation will be probably developed in further steps, but will essentially be summarized in industrial, technological and cultural cooperation," Pivetti said.

"What will be new in this planned global cooperation between China and Italy is that it will be accompanied by a much more constant and deep dialogue than before, and a mutual research of common goals to reach," Pivetti noted.

Fan Xianwei, secretary-general of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Italy, said that Meloni's visit to China will also bring new opportunities for China-Italy cooperation, which is the common expectation of the two peoples. Chinese enterprises expect that the Prime Minister's visit will advocate economic globalization and create a good, fair and just business environment and investment environment.

These industry players also highlighted the importance of enhancing cooperation with China, refuting the allegations of "overcapacity" and EU's recent protectionist move including its decision to impose provisional additional tariffs on Chinese EVs.

"The Chinese market is very important, not just for its size but also because it serves as a unique testing ground for the latest go-to-market solutions. Italian innovative strategies and solutions, combined with China's strong development in technology and supply chains, can be mutually beneficial if developed under the correct frameworks and fair principles," Bagnasco said.

Italy has never used barbaric terms such as "decoupling" from China, like other countries, as if we should keep distance from a millennial friend… Italian entrepreneurs want to do business with China, even big business, if possible, Pivetti noted.

"Accusing China of 'overcapacity' when the country makes use of more EVs than its internal production is nonsense," Pivetti said, adding that tariff policies are deemed to fail when instrumentally used to unbalance a competitive market when talking about EU's decision on China-made EVs.

While initial voting results among EU members indicate that Italy is more inclined to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs, Meloni's trip could work on finding a reasonable solution that is acceptable to both sides. If so, it would send a crucial positive signal for the silent majority within the EU who have not yet cast their votes, Cui said.  

"Meloni's visit is also expected to stabilize and promote China-Europe relations," Cui noted, as relations between China and the EU have become tense due to issues such as the imposition of tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Coming ahead of the US presidential election, Meloni's China trip is also seen as bracing for a "worst-case scenario" - that a November change in US president could upend Washington's diplomatic and trade ties with Europe.

"They must get ready, minimize losses and impacts in the event of such an outcome," Cui noted. This includes enhancing resilience against the US and strengthening unity within the EU to avoid possible "divisive tactics" used by former US president Donald Trump during his first term, and boosting cooperation with China.

The British asset management conglomerate Schroders vowed on Monday to conduct a comprehensive investigation following an online allegation regarding one of its senior executives in China.

News of a female industry professional confessing to multiple extramarital affairs with male counterparts has spread widely on Chinese social media platforms. Among those implicated are several public fund professionals, including Yu Tao, deputy general manager of Schroder Fund Management (China) Company Limited (Schroders Fund Management).

In responding to the online allegations, an employee with Schroders told the Global Times on Monday that the company is investigating the situation, and declined to make further comment on the issue.

Public information indicates that Yu, aged 46, holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Manchester in the UK. He has previously served as assistant general manager at Franklin Templeton Fund Management Limited. Yu joined Schroders in 2022 and was appointed deputy general manager of Schroders Fund Management in November 2023, according to media reports.

Founded in 1804, Schroders is one of the oldest British asset management companies with a global presence across equities, fixed income and multi-asset. In 1994, Schroders established its representative office in Shanghai, becoming one of the earliest foreign asset management companies to enter the Chinese mainland market.

In a twist worthy of a Hollywood screenplay, the US team recently edged out Chinese team by a mere two points in the 2024 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), ending China's decade reign. 

Each team has six representatives, and there are six problems, each worth 7 points, with a total of 252 points. The US and China are ahead of third-place South Korea by 20 points, reflecting the competitive edge of the two countries, as well as their consistent performance in math.

But here's the kicker: A quick glance at the US roster reveals a plot twist - at least four of the six team members are highly likely of Chinese descent as they have Chinese surnames.

This unexpected "Chinese vs Chinese-American" showdown adds a layer of intrigue to the competition. 

Visit any top US high school, and you'll find honor rolls peppered with many Asian surnames, a testament to the academic prowess of immigrant families.

This reflects the traditional cultural background that emphasizes education, especially among immigrant families like those in the Chinese community.

This is why China rose so quickly after its reform and opening-up began at the end of 1970s. The reforms unleashed a traditional spirit among Chinese people that values education, hard work and commitment to study.

The IMO, a cerebral gladiatorial arena where nations pit their brightest young minds against fiendishly tricky math problems, has impressively grown from seven countries to over 100 countries and regions. The IMO has become a significant proxy battlefield for global talent potential and primary education.

This mathematical tug-of-war mirrors the broader US-China rivalry. 

China's educational system, turbo-charged by the country's economic reforms, has produced a formidable talent pipeline. 

The US, meanwhile, relies on its ability to attract global brainpower, with Chinese-Americans often leading the charge.

A friend recently joked after visiting Silicon Valley, "The fierce competition that politicians talk about between the US and China is really between Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans."

The US is the largest importer and beneficiary of global talent. A central aspect of its international talent strategy is an open approach that attracts individuals worldwide. Consequently, incorporating diverse global talent is now a fundamental principle of US immigration law.

About one-third of the researchers and engineers working in Silicon Valley are international immigrants. Since the first Nobel Prize was presented in 1901, 34 percent of all winners from the US were immigrants.

This talent tussle offers a crucial lesson for China: While it boasts world-class primary education and cutting-edge technologies, its next challenge is to become a talent magnet, attracting international brains - including overseas Chinese - to fuel its future growth. 

American companies leverage global talent to secure top positions in high technology, while Chinese companies often rely on local talent to push forward. The difference now is that many Chinese companies that have gone international have gained the strength to attract global talent. They are establishing talent hubs one after another and are resiliently advancing their layout of worldwide talent and R&D centers despite the constraints imposed by the US.

Leveraging global talent to enhance China's development and openness through cooperative mutual benefit is another challenge for the country, especially for Chinese companies stepping on the world stage.

Abstract: Before the flood season of this year approaches, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company has readied itself through a comprehensive digital transformation, upgrading its equipment and improving service to ensure an effective response to extreme weather events.

On the morning of July 10, a 3,000 KW medium-voltage generator truck was running at full power at the intersection of Jingnan 14th Road and Mingli Road in the Economic and Technological Development Zone in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, supplying electricity to nearby residential communities. Accompanying it were supporting vehicles like a mobile box-type transformer truck, a low-voltage generator truck and a fuel transport truck. This was part of an emergency drill organized by the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company, aimed at ensuring the power supply for the residents by improving the company’s capability through simulating a variety of power supply scenarios likely to occur during the flood season.

Due to global warming, China has seen an increase in extreme weather in recent years, with heavy rains, floods, droughts, snow and natural disasters hitting the country on multiple occasions. To truly implement the requirements of "people first, life first," and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters on the power grid, the company has taken multiple measures to strengthen the line of defense against flood control.

Accelerating the digital transformation of flood control of the power grid: The State Grid Henan has developed an integrated “Flood Control Map” platform that combines six different layers, including maps of flood storage areas and detention basins, hydrologic maps, power grid network charts and maps showing heavy rainfall distribution. This multi-layered approach meets the diverse needs of decision-making and dispatching, enabling precise and strategic flood control. 

Furthermore, the company has established a “Meteorological Data Service Center for Individual Enterprises.” This platform devises tailored emergency response plans for eight types of extreme weather events, reducing the time needed for emergency repair and power restoration by 40 percent, significantly enhancing the power grid’s resilience against disasters and improving the efficiency in restoring power after natural disaster-induced outages.

Increasing investment for flood control equipment

Taking lessons from the catastrophic flood disaster occurred on July 20, 2021 in Zhengzhou, the State Grid Henan has significantly upgraded its flood control equipment across the province, with the deployment of 96 water-discharging cabins, 7 mobile substations, 20 large beacons, 15 high-capacity water-discharging trucks, and 25 medium-voltage generator trucks. 

Additionally, the company has established “three lines of defense” for 372 key flood control substations and created “safety dikes” for 384 critical transmission lines. It  has also implemented measures to construct protective structures for 897 essential distribution substations. What is most important, however, is that it has set up a project benchmark, a Zhengzhou Railway Bureau's project that allows to relocate a distribution substation from underground to aboveground.

These initiatives have bolstered the company's capacity to manage severe flooding, significantly enhancing its flood response capabilities.

Enhancing customer service

The State Grid Henan has shifted from the traditional equipment-centered management approach to a new power supply service model centered on residential communities. Thanks partly to data verification and record-keeping for 35,000 residential communities, this model has led to the integration of equipment, communities and customers.
The company has also developed an innovative “Digital Command Platform for Emergency Repair and Power Restoration” designed for residential areas, providing visual representations of outages, repair efforts, and power restoration activities, along with their locations and impact. This ensures clear visibility of the number and locations of residential communities, accurate reporting of outages, and easy identification of emergency repair sites, which has led to the reinforcement of the company’s commitment to delivering reliable public services.

As a result, these measures have greatly enhanced the flood control and power supply capabilities of the power grid in Henan. During the super typhoon Doksuri in 2023 and the severe storms in early July this year, the State Grid Henan ensured the safe and reliable operation of the power grid, providing robust support for social and economic development and people’s lives.

At this critical moment of flood control this year, the State Grid Henan remains on high alert. It has set up an emergency repair team of 20,000 members in 1,233 units, which are fully equipped with flood control vehicles and materials. This team remains on 24-hour standby, ready to respond to emergencies and ensure safe and reliable power supply to the public.

Pakistan this month will ask Chinese power plants operating in the country to shift to using coal from Pakistan's Thar region rather than imported coal, which would significantly reduce costs, Pakistan's power minister Awais Leghari said on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Pakistan's proactive efforts to enhance power supply and promote sustainable development are commendable. The shift toward utilizing local coal is expected to decrease electricity costs in Pakistan, and the move is also crucial to ensuring that domestic coal meets technical and environmental standards. 

Energy cooperation between China and Pakistan has already shown progress in optimizing local resources and cutting costs.

For example, the coal-fired power plant of the Thar Coal Block-I Coal Electricity Integration project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), officially began commercial operation last February. The plant is using local coal resources that were previously deemed unusable for quality problems.

The project, which includes an open-pit coal mine with an annual output of 7.8 million tons of lignite and a coal-fired power station with a total installed capacity of 1,320 megawatts, can provide about 9 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity per year to Pakistan's national grid, meeting the energy demand of nearly 4 million local households, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

Bilateral energy cooperation will continue to expand, further enhancing the utilization of Pakistan's domestic coal resources in power generation, contributing to reducing energy costs, improving resource utilization and strengthening Pakistan's energy security.

In the bigger picture, under the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the CPEC, China and Pakistan have long established close cooperation in energy supply, and they have been focusing on green energy and localization issues. Diversified electricity projects have been implemented using advanced technology to address local shortfalls in power generation and transmission.

Since 2013, the completion and operation of coal power projects including Sahiwal, Port Qasim and Hub have reversed the local power shortage dilemma; clean energy projects such as the Karot hydropower project, the Dawood wind power project and the Bahawalpur solar power project have significantly optimized the local energy structure.

Energy cooperation between China and Pakistan is a successful example of mutually beneficial cooperation that has contributed to regional prosperity. However, some Western media reports are attempting to discredit these achievements from a geopolitical perspective. VOA on Monday claimed in an article that "China is fully occupying Pakistan's solar energy market."

By tarnishing this cooperation from a geopolitical perspective, hyping the so-called "excess green production capacity" in China, and sensationalizing Pakistan's debt and energy supply shortage issues, this is a typical smear campaign that slanders China-Pakistan cooperation and distorts the facts.

Undoubtedly, Chinese investments can help Pakistan reduce its dependence on imported fuel while supporting its vision of increasing green energy in the power mix. Smearing by Western media outlets cannot stop the energy cooperation between the two sides from increasing supply, reducing costs and making progress toward a greener direction.

By investing in new-energy projects such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power, China can help Pakistan reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and improve its energy security. This will help Pakistan meet its growing energy demand while reducing its carbon emissions and bringing unprecedented opportunities to its economy.

Bilateral cooperation under the BRI and CPEC framework is entering a new stage of development opportunity. The improvement of the power infrastructure has laid a solid foundation for industrialization and economic development in Pakistan. 

With projects moving through and beyond the planning stage, China-Pakistan energy cooperation will more effectively drive economic development in Pakistan and the region.

The US' reported move to tighten export controls on semiconductors targeting China by taking stricter measures to pressure companies in countries such as Japan and the Netherlands severely deviates from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules and severely impacts the stability of global industrial and supply chains, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Friday, in the latest remarks over US export controls targeting China.

The US attempt to push for "decoupling" with China will only drive Chinese companies to enhance their innovation capabilities and seek broader cooperation beyond the US, leaving American companies to bear the consequences of not being part of the vast and booming Chinese market, one Chinese expert said.

The Biden administration, facing pushback to its chip crackdown on China, has told allies that it's considering using the most severe trade restrictions available if companies such as Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML Holding NV continue giving the country access to advanced semiconductor technology, a report published by Bloomberg claimed.

Seeking leverage with allies, the US is mulling whether to impose a measure called the foreign direct product rule, or FDPR, the report said, citing people familiar with recent discussions.

The semiconductor industry is highly globalized. After decades of development, it has formed an interconnected industrial pattern as a result of market forces and choices of businesses, the MOFCOM spokesperson said on Friday, responding to recent US reports on the matter.

For some time now, the US has frequently overstretched the concept of national security, abused export control measures, and wantonly interfered in the normal economic and trade exchanges between companies in other countries, the spokesperson said.

"This move severely deviates from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules and severely impacts the stability of global industrial and supply chains," the spokesperson said, noting that China has consistently and firmly opposed this.

The rapid development of the semiconductor industry today is the result of global cooperation, not separation, and it is not something the US can achieve alone, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

The US is abusing its hegemony by attempting to impose stricter controls on a wider range of chip exports, a move that will backfire on foreign companies "being held hostage" by cutting them off from the large Chinese chip market, Zhou noted.

In January, ASML warned that US export controls would affect its sales in China by 10-15 percent in 2024 while announcing better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023.

The Dutch company has been caught in the broader technology battle between the US and China. Exports of NXT:2050i and NXT:2100i lithography systems in 2023 to China were both affected.

"However, such attempts by the US may ultimately fail and instead push Chinese companies to strengthen their innovation capabilities and open their arms wider for global cooperation, while leaving the US not being able to fully take part in the vast and booming Chinese market," Zhou said.

The MOFCOM spokesperson added that "We hope that relevant countries will adhere to market principles and the spirit of contracts, resist US economic coercion, and work together to maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains."