China has purchased more than 400 million tons of grain in 2023, meanwhile a total of 120 million tons of autumn grain has been purchased by the nation's major grain producers so far, reaching the highest level in recent years. Autumn grain purchase was faster than that of last year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday.

Walking through the bustling Huaqiangbei commercial area in Shenzhen city, South China's Guangdong Province, the largest electronics retail market in China, one is immediately impressed by its international atmosphere. Foreign faces busily pass by, and English logos adorn almost every big tower, showcasing various products from LED to mobile phones, all made in China for the world.

The scenes at Huaqiangbei are a symbol of the city's vibrant trade. Despite global headwinds, Shenzhen, an epitome of China's manufacturing and commerce, remains resilient.

Fueled by an industrial upgrade on the back of government support, Shenzhen has experienced a sustained economy-wide transformation. Notably, the city's exports have shifted from labor-intensive sectors to high-value products including electronic devices and electric vehicles (EVs).

The shift has boosted Shenzhen's economy, which remains on an upward trajectory, driven by the high-end products generated in the city, industry experts said.

Global competitiveness

Mohamed, a Yemeni businessperson who frequently visits the city to meet local business partners and place orders, kicked off a "pilgrimage" at the Huaqiangbei commercial area to restock his electronics store in Yemen.

In an interview with the Global Times, he said that he has been coming here for many years, rating the products for their cost-effectiveness and high quality.

Despite global inflation and the extension of the supply chain to neighboring Asian countries in the past several years, Mohamed is impressed with the competitiveness of Chinese products. He said that there is nowhere else to find better products than Shenzhen. Mohamed's sentiments are not isolated. Numerous high-tech enterprises, which originated and flourished in Shenzhen, are collectively bolstering the city's industrial prowess, building up the city's competitiveness.

At a local production line of the domestic mobile phone maker Honor, the production of a mobile phone takes only 28.5 seconds, with 75 percent of the work being done by automated tools, the Global Times learned from the company.

Honor's exports experienced significant growth, achieving a 200 percent increase in its overseas markets in 2023.

Attaching great importance to product innovation, the company has invested 10 percent of its revenue in research and development (R&D) every year since it was spun off in November 2020. Its R&D investment intensity now ranks among the top six in the country, Song Yiwen, president of Honor's supply chain management department, told the Global Times.

BYD, the EV manufacturing giant based in Shenzhen, also achieved notable results outside of China in 2023.

The car-maker secured the title of the top-selling new-energy vehicle in Brazil for several months in 2023 and became cumulative sales champions in Thailand, Singapore and Colombia from January to October 2023, BYD told the Global Times.

While consistently exporting high-quality products to overseas markets, BYD has built core technological advantages in new energy areas such as batteries, motors, and electronic controls.

In the warehouse of MBE International, a Shenzhen-based logistics company, workers are using forklifts to neatly arrange goods from all over the country. Most of these goods are high-value-added electromechanical products that will be shipped to overseas markets. 

Tang Lingli, general manager of the logistics company, with over 20 years of experience in the industry, has been a witness of how industry transformation has brought about changes to foreign trade.

About 20 years ago, Shenzhen's logistics facilities were not well-developed, and the volume of goods handled was so restricted that handling 1,000 tons of goods in a month was considered to be a great feat, Tang recalled.

Nowadays, MBE International's monthly shipping volume reaching 16,000 tons is the norm, and the value of transported goods has significantly increased, she said.

"From shoes, clothing, and bags to electronic products, we have witnessed high-quality development and transformation and upgrading of Shenzhen's foreign trade," Tang said.

Advanced technology

The Shenzhen Bureau of Commerce told the Global Times that the city is robustly supporting emerging sectors such as advanced technology and high-end manufacturing. 

"Shenzhen is actively accelerating its global product outreach, encouraging traditional industries to increase investments in technology," the bureau said.

The goal is to improve the quality and tech features of exported goods, boost the competitiveness of exported goods like electronic products, and increase overall export volume to strengthen Shenzhen's position in exports, according to the local commerce bureau.

Latest data the Global Times obtained from Shenzhen Customs shows that Shenzhen's import and export volume from January to November amounted to 3.51 trillion yuan ($489 billion), showing a year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent. This growth rate places Shenzhen at the forefront among the top 10 major foreign trade hubs in the country.

Specifically, the city's exports have surged by 13.6 percent during the period. It is anticipated that Shenzhen is positioned to secure its 31st consecutive first-place finish in terms of annual exports in the Chinese mainland.

The electronic information industry has remained Shenzhen's pillar industry. Exports of electromechanical products, mainly computer communications and other electronic equipment, account for over 70 percent of the total exports, according to media reports.

Looking forward, foreign trade in 2024 is expected to be better than last year because the year 2023 experienced the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter, Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told Global Times on Wednesday.

The upgrading and transformation of industries have been pivotal in boosting exports, and this year they will play an even more critical role in driving the nation's foreign trade growth, Li said.

Chinese police have offered a reward between 100,000 to 500,000 yuan ($13,958 to $69,793) for information related to each of the 10 key ringleaders from the telecom scam criminal syndicates based in the Kokang region of northern Myanmar, Capitalnews, the WeChat account run by Beijing Daily, reported on Sunday. The police have also vowed to decisively crack down on fraud targeting Chinese citizens.

In response to the grim situation of telecom fraud in northern Myanmar affecting China, Chinese public security departments have successively announced the pursuit of key figures in several telecom fraud criminal syndicate which created a strong deterrent.

Capitalnews learned from China’s Ministry of Public Security that local public security departments in localities including Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, East China’s Fujian Province and Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality have put 10 key figures including Bai Suocheng, Wei Huairen and Liu Zhengxiang from the telecom scam criminal syndicate in the Kokang region of northern Myanmar on the wanted lists.

For a long time, various criminal syndicates from the Kokang region in northern Myanmar have organized and established criminal dens targeting Chinese citizens. They openly protect these criminal activities with arms, causing extremely serious harm.

In November of this year, Chinese public security authority publicly announced cash reward for four key figures of a family criminal syndicate led by Ming Xuechang. With strong cooperation from all parties in Myanmar, the chief criminal Ming Xuechang committed suicide in fear of crime, and three other individuals including Ming Guoping, Ming Julan and Ming Zhenzhen were apprehended and are being investigated for their criminal activities. They will be severely punished according to the laws.

At the same time, public security authorities in Liaoning, Fujian, Chongqing, and other places found during their investigations that three family criminal syndicates led by Bai Suocheng, Wei Huairen and Liu Zhengxiang, and another criminal syndicate led by Xu Laofa have long been engaged in telecom fraudulent activities targeting Chinese citizens, with huge amounts involved.

Despite highly pressured crackdown by the public security authorities, they have not restrained themselves from the crimes and continued to be involved in serious violent crimes such as intentional homicide, intentional injury and illegal detention. Their criminal facts are clear and there is abundant evidence for their crimes.

To effectively crack down on the telecom fraud related to northern Myanmar and protect the safety of Chinese people’s lives and properties and their legitimate rights and interests, the Dalian City Public Security Bureau in Liaoning has decided to publicly reward anyone who brings information of the whereabouts of Bai Suocheng, Bai Yingcang (also known as Li Yunchen), and Bai Yinglan (also known as Li Mengna). The Quanzhou City Public Security Bureau in Fujian has decided to publicly reward anyone who brings information related to Wei Huairen, Wei Rong (also known as Chen Rong), and Wei Qingsong (also known as Yang Song). The Longyan City Public Security Bureau in Fujian Province has put Liu Zhengxiang, Liu Jiguang (also known as Li Huaguang), and Liu Zhengmao on the wanted list. The Chongqing Municipality Public Security Bureau has put Xu Laofa (also known as Xu Faqi) on the wanted list.

According to Capitalnews, Bai Suocheng was former director of Kokang in Shan State, Myanmar. Besides, Wei Huairen, Liu Zhengxiang and Xu Laofa are all officials in the Kokang region.

The Chinese public security authorities urge the 10 criminal suspects to recognize the situation, stop their criminal activities, and surrender voluntarily to seek lenient punishment. At the same time, Chinese police also hope that all sectors of society and the public will actively report and assist in the capture and arrest of the criminal suspects. For those who provide effective clues and assist in the arrest, the public security authorities will give rewards between 100,000 and 500,000 yuan.

China's food safety governance has made positive progress with a decrease of 11 percent in the number of foodborne disease outbreaks and a 33.9 percent reduction in the number of related deaths since the beginning of the period covered by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), officials from the National Health Commission (NHC) revealed at an event in Beijing on Tuesday during Food Safety Awareness Week.

Cao Xuetao, an official from the NHC, noted at the event that China has implemented a national food safety risk monitoring program, and conducted in-depth analysis of risk monitoring database information. This guides local authorities to release risk warning information and advises the public on rational food procurement and storage.

Li Ning, director of the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, said at the event that in recent years the NHC has established three major monitoring systems: the national foodborne disease monitoring and reporting system, the foodborne disease outbreak monitoring system and the foodborne disease molecular traceability network. These systems play a role in risk monitoring, assessment, and early warning, effectively preventing systemic risks.

In the next step, the commission will guide local authorities to strengthen risk monitoring and assessment and it plans to build a nationwide reporting network for foodborne disease cases in secondary and above public medical institutions by the end of next year, according to Li.

With the help of big data, cloud computing, and other information technologies, the network will improve the multi-point triggered monitoring and early warning model, making regional risk warnings more sensitive and efficient.

Foodborne diseases are a significant global public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 600 million people worldwide fall ill and 420,000 die each year due to consuming contaminated food. To address the challenges posed by foodborne diseases, the WHO recommends that countries strengthen monitoring and early warning systems for foodborne diseases, according to Li.

Li said that according to the foodborne disease monitoring network, from 2010 to 2022, a total of 46,430 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported nationwide (an average of 3,572 per year, among which 1,024 cases were due to mushroom poisoning), with 330,870 cases of illness (an average of 25,452 per year) and 1,679 deaths (an average of 129 per year, among which 70 were caused by mushroom poisoning).

The main places for foodborne disease outbreaks in China were households (50 percent) and catering service establishments (46.3 percent). However, catering service establishments contributed the highest number of illness cases, accounting for about 70 percent of the total, according to Li.

Li noted that people should avoid consuming or picking wild mushrooms, as the main cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in households is the consumption of wild poisonous mushrooms and contamination by pathogenic bacteria.

In terms of catering service establishments, attention should focus on preventing bacterial foodborne diseases, while school cafeterias should pay special attention to the contamination of rice with Bacillus cereus. Nearly 70 percent of Bacillus cereus outbreaks in China are caused by rice and other grain products.

The world's elite track and field competition is returning to China.

Xiamen, Southeast China's Fujian Province, will host a meeting of the 2023 World Athletics Diamond League on September 2, which will mark the world premier one-day athletics series' return to China for the first time in four years, according to a press conference held on Wednesday in Beijing.

The meeting, which will take place at Xiamen's newly built Egret Stadium, will be the only Diamond League event in China in 2023. Athletes will compete in 13 disciplines, with the men's 110m hurdle scheduled to be the finale of the day's competition.

Feng Bin, the women's discus gold medalist at the 2022 World's Athletics Championships, and Zhu Yaming, the silver medalist for the men's triple jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, are among the Chinese athletes who will participate in the Xiamen event.  

Starting from 2023, Xiamen will host the Diamond League for the next 10 years in a row, according to the press conference.

Inaugurated in 2010, the Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising 14 invitational athletics meetings across the world. The 14th edition of the Diamond League began on May 5 in Doha, Qatar. This year's Diamond League Final will take place in Eugene, the US in September.

At the recent 2023 Dalian International Marathon that was recently held in Dalian Northeast China's Liaoning Province, an atypical yet dangerous scene took place when a random pickup truck accidentally ran onto the competition's racetrack.

While no one was physically hurt, the accident had major repercussions for veteran Chinese marathon athlete Yin Shunjin. The pickup truck drove uncontrollably onto the track and blocked Yin's way just as the athlete was heading toward the finish line. 

Yin managed to beat his best personal record despite the accident, finishing with a time of 2 hours and 11 minutes and 50 seconds. Although he did not manage to win the championship, his record was merely 30 seconds behind the competition's gold medal winner. 

Taking into consideration the fact that Yin had to go an "extra mile" to avoid the truck, Xiao Bingxin, a sports expert in Shanghai, told the Global Times that the accident may lead to "a re-evaluation of Yin's record and performance." 

The organizing committee of the current Dalian International Marathon quickly made a public announcement following the incident. It revealed that an investigation found that the accident was caused by the vehicle's driver. The organizing committee also apologized to the runners and guaranteed it would work to prevent similar accidents in the future. 

Following the organizing committee's announcement, a representative of the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), also said that the CAA noticed the incident and has organized meetings aimed at "finding solutions for the accident." 

"The final resolution to the incident will be announced through the official platform of the CAA. The competition's organizing committee will also provide related information to the public," the CAA member said. 

Having its first game organized in 1987, the Dalian International Marathon is one of the most mature marathons in China. The 2023 session has attracted athletes from 25 countries and regions around the world, including Russia, Belgium and Australia. The competition embraces runners of a wide age range, with the oldest competitor 78 years old and the youngest runner just 6 years old. 

Chinese competitor Yin Shunjin is 38 years old. He has won multiple championships at marathons, including the marathon competition at the Jiayuguan Great Wall that was held merely two weeks before the Dalian competition.  

The incident has also sparked criticism from netizens concerning the "professionalism" of the marathon organizers. 

On China's X-like Sina Weibo, some netizens expressed their concern for the runners' safety and more people have said that they 'felt sorry for Yin.'

"The whole thing wasn't a mere accident; it speaks a lot about how professionalism and a good attitude are critical to sports competitions. Athlete don't get a second chance," a netizen posted on Sina Weibo. 

There is a saying that a history of Zhejiang's literature is half a history of Chinese literature.

In Beijing's National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature (NMMCL), the permanent exhibition about the contemporary Chinese literature is dominated by writers and works from East China's Zhejiang Province.

Now Zhejiang has its own venue to showcase its profuse literary resources.

On September 25, 2023, two important events in the history of Chinese literature were celebrated: the birthday of Lu Xun, a 20th century literary giant from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and the establishment of Zhejiang Literary Center (ZLC) in Hangzhou. It was the 142nd anniversary of Lu Xun's birthday. 

Opening to the public in late October, ZLC is the second largest literature museum in China with a total of nine exhibition halls, only surpassed by the capital's NMMCL.

As a new landmark of Zhejiang, the museum is the brainchild of generations of people in Zhejiang's literary sector as it carries the responsibility of cultural inheritance and promotion of Zhejiang literature, whose writers takes up over 60 percent of the exhibitions at the NMMCL.

More importantly, the museum is designed to meet the public's needs for literature. Its big data platform and use of digital technologies brought classic literature scenes to life and added new dimensions to literature appreciation. 

Cheng Shiqing, curator of ZLC, told the Global Times that the museum is committed to creating a year-round literature-sharing platform that caters to individuals of all ages.

"We will try to host themed lectures every week and curate featured exhibitions every quarter of the year to foster a love for literature among the public, and deepen their understanding and appreciation of the literary world," said Cheng. 

On the one hand, the museum will bring together excellent literary resources from home and abroad. On the other hand, it will promote more outstanding Zhejiang writers to the national and international stage. These are the two missions of the museum. 

In a bid to bring the development of literature to a new height, the museum is on course to build three research centers, one dedicated to Chinese literature big data, one to contemporary children's literature research, and one to China's international collaborative translation.

"The translation center is dedicated to promoting exchanges with foreign writers and we welcome foreign counterparts to Hangzhou to experience the rich history of Chinese literature," Cheng said.  

Three-dimensional exhibits

In addition to the conventional way of displaying exhibits, one of the highlights of the museum is to present classic scenes of literary works by means of digital technology, giving readers an immersive experience into the process of creation.

Having refined 129 photos from Lu Xun's life, the modern literature hall of the museum pulled together a dynamic view of the literary giant's journey in writing.

A towering 14-meter-high space is meticulously designed to connect the four distinct landscapes of Zhejiang with their corresponding poems and poets. This provides visitors with a poetic perspective of how the region's breathtaking natural beauty inspired a series of classic rhymes. 

Paintings in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) were used as symbols to show the boldness and gracefulness of the poems written in that period.

Scenes from some classic works such as Lu Xun's Hometown, Mao Dun's Spring Silkworms, and Dai Wangshu's Alley in the Rain, were reproduced and presented at the museum.

"Leveraging the massive amount of data, we have applied digital technology in presenting a Chinese literary geography and various informational graphs. The smart devices added a new dimension to the conventional exhibits," said Cheng.

"Taking a big step in the application of digital innovations, we are trailblazers in digitizing Chinese literature. We hope to set an example for the industry," the curator said. 

Interactive space

Since its official opening on October 28, the museum has received about 3,000 daily reservations, and some well-designed events and exhibitions have drawn floods of visitors on weekends. 

One of the most popular exhibitions pays tribute to Louis Cha (Cha Leung-yung), also known as Jin Yong, another literary legend from Zhejiang. 

The show is dedicated to commemorating Jin's 100th birthday in 2024. Born in Haining in 1924, Jin was regarded as one of the greatest and most popular martial arts writers.

Xu Jing, an official with ZLC's publicity department, told the Global Times that the exhibition sheds light on Jin's life and works, and it's also the first time that some manuscripts of the writer has been presented to the public.

Swords, bows and arrows, which are featured in Jin's novel, were replicated and installed in the hall to give visitors an interactive experience of Jin's "martial arts world," and a digital reading space was set up to allow people to read or listen to his novels. 

Various versions of Jin's novels are on display, including the earliest versions originally serialized in newspapers, which were widely circulated in the Chinese mainland, as well as abroad through versions in English, French and Japanese.

Younger readers have been captivated by a space dedicated to children's literature. 

"We wish to make the children's literature space into a parenting space, where adults and children can interact and develop a love for reading and writing. It will also evoke adult readers' childhood memories," said Cheng. 

"We want to have relics find their home in our museum. Most importantly, we want literature lovers to find their home in the museum," Cheng said. 

Three scientists, Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier, won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics "for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday.

South Africa's mining production, one of the country's pillar industries, decreased by 2.5 percent year on year in August, with diamonds, manganese ore and other metallic minerals being the main contributors, data have shown.

In August, the production of diamonds dropped by 54.6 percent, becoming the largest negative contributor to the country's mining sector, while the production of manganese ore and other metallic minerals went down 7.9 percent and 17.6 percent in August, respectively, according to data released by Statistics South Africa Thursday.

In the three months ended August, seasonally adjusted mining production in South Africa decreased by 2 percent compared with the previous three months, with the largest negative contributors being gold, coal and manganese ore.

Gold production went down 6.5 percent in the three months ended August, and the production of coal and manganese ore dropped by 2.8 percent and 6 percent, respectively, Statistics South Africa said.

The UAE Ambassador to China Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi met with the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang, on July 19, to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science, technological development and innovation.
The ambassador gave a positive evaluation of the effectiveness of China-Arab cooperation in science and technology. He affirmed his willingness to work together with the Chinese side to further deepen cooperation in the field of science and technology innovation.

Wang said that China and the UAE have a long history of relations and technical that are constantly being strengthened. 

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the UAE in 2018, the two countries announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership, which opened a new chapter in China-Arab relations.

Wang said that scientific and technological progress is the key driving force of human progress, noting that China-Arab scientific and technological cooperation benefits both countries and peoples, and he is willing to work together with the UAE Ambassador to continue to deepen China-Arab scientific and technological innovation cooperation.