The original children's play Black Eyes on the Plateau successfully premiered recently at the Nanluo Theater in Beijing.
Set in the black-necked crane nature reserve in the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the play follows the touching story of a Beijing boy named Xia Tian and his young companions from the region getting to know each other while forming deep bonds of friendship. Yushu is the home of Sanjiangyuan, or Source of the Three Rivers, which contains the headwaters of the Yellow, Yangtze and Lancang rivers.
"Sanjiangyuan is truly a treasure, I had no idea that the water I drink every day comes from there. The scenery is so beautiful, and I want to help protect Sanjiangyuan in the future," one excited child in the audience said.
Chinese Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) on Sunday blasted the US' sanctions on Chinese companies over their alleged involvement in Russia-Ukraine conflict as a typical example of long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions, vowing "necessary measures" to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
On Friday (US time), the US imposed sanctions on more than 400 entities and individuals for allegedly supporting Russia in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including Chinese companies, Reuters reported, citing the US State Department.
It said the Biden administration's sanctions include measures against companies in China allegedly involved in shipping machine tools and microelectronics to Russia. Meanwhile, the US also added 42 companies in China on its Entity List, forcing suppliers to obtain licenses before shipping to targeted companies, according to the report.
China firmly opposes the sanctions, a MOFCOM spokesperson said in a statement published on the ministry's website.
The practice is a typical example of long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions, which disrupts international trade norms and rules, impedes normal trade between countries, and impacts the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, said the spokesperson.
"We urge the US to immediately halt these misguided actions, and will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," the spokesperson said.
To strengthen the supervision and management of soccer activities, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has appointed 41 individuals as social soccer supervisors, an initiative that aims to enhance transparency and promote healthy development of the soccer industry.
The first batch of supervisors consist of 21 social representatives, 10 fan representatives, and 10 media representatives, who are drawn from national media, fan organizations and representatives from disciplinary inspection and supervision departments.
Wang Dazhao, a soccer commentator from Beijing, told Global Times that while the intention behind establishing supervisors is good, its effectiveness remains uncertain. He said that the development of Chinese soccer largely depends on high-level directives and instructions, which are not easily influenced by social supervision.
The primary duties of these supervisors include attending briefings by the CFA on key soccer tasks, providing feedback and suggestions, and participating in the supervision of professional leagues, youth matches and referee assignments.
Their supervision work focuses on ensuring that soccer industry professionals abide by the law, maintain integrity and fulfill their responsibilities. Social supervisors are expected to report their findings to the CFA, highlight issues and suggest improvements.
Many fans have expressed a positive attitude toward the establishment of supervisors, seeing it as a crucial step toward the healthy development of Chinese soccer.
"As ordinary fans who love soccer, we are well aware of the problems and shortcomings in the current domestic soccer industry. Having more channels for supervision and feedback through the supervisor system to make the industry more transparent and fairer is a good thing," Zhao Yuting, a soccer fan, told Global Times.
During the selection process, media personnel had to obtain the approval from their organizations, while fan representatives were chosen from officially registered fan organizations approved by local soccer associations and sports administrative departments.
Despite the relatively cumbersome selection process, Wang said it is unlikely to reverse the decline in Chinese soccer.
"In recent years, the overall level of Chinese soccer has declined, including the quality and behavior of fans. It will likely require additional measures to improve the situation," Wang said.
"Drafting standards and regulations is relatively easy; the challenge lies in whether the implementation mechanisms are strict, reasonable, effective and fair," Wang said.
"In the CFA's appointment of supervisors and the handling of 'fake gambling and match-fixing' issues, while the regulations are detailed and clear, the key is practical implementation."
Soccer commentator Fu Yayu also posted on social media that the role of social supervisors is more symbolic than practical, as it lacks effective mechanisms and channels.
Despite many questioning voices, many fans like Zhao still choose to support this measure.
"For a long time, we have witnessed some opaque and unfair practices in the soccer industry, which have affected the enjoyment and credibility of the games. I hope supervisors can play a role in advocating for civilized behavior, creating a healthy and positive soccer culture," Zhao said.
"Good supervisors will help build a positive soccer culture. When that culture is in place, the level of Chinese soccer will naturally improve," Zhao added.
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."
