China and Africa have deepened meteorological cooperation to enhance their climate change response and disaster risk reduction capabilities, achieving fruitful results in recent years, under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) frameworks.
China has implemented meteorological infrastructure projects in several African countries, including Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia. These projects include establishment of automatic observation stations, and data reception and processing systems for the Fengyun-3G, a satellite dedicated to measuring precipitation on Earth, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
The CMA has initially established an early warning service platform designed for developing countries and regions. It plans to collaborate with more African countries to jointly develop and construct meteorological early warning service platforms, utilizing services such as China's Fengyun-3G, aiming to strengthen disaster prevention and climate change response capabilities in Africa, according to the CMA.
Establishing meteorological early warning systems has been included in the 10 partnership actions for modernization proposed by China to deepen China-Africa cooperation.
Meanwhile, visiting meteorological scholars from BRI countries have recently participated in meteorological exchange and cooperation between China and Africa, according to the CMA.
Limited meteorological observation capabilities hinder effective responses to climate change and the management of weather-related disasters in Africa, said Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.
It requires improved access to data, monitoring, forecasting, and early warning systems, to strengthen the adaptation capabilities to climate change in Africa, especially given the rising frequency of extreme weather events, Ma said.
While the US "decoupling" push appears to be aimed directly at China, it is ultimately a form of trade protectionism intended to protect US domestic industries. In this light, even India, viewed as a potential alternative supplier for the US, is experiencing the strain.
Indian solar panels are facing US scrutiny for possible links to so-called "forced labor" in China, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has detained approximately $43 million in shipments of electronics equipment from India since October 2023 under the US "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)," according to agency data.
While it is unclear what specific types of electronics equipment the CBP has detained, the situation reflects the protectionist conundrums facing India as it develops its manufacturing sector.
The "forced labor" claims about Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are utter lies concocted by some politicians in the US. The move is actually aimed at impeding China's manufacturing development by excluding the region from the global supply chain.
Superficially, the detainment of India's electronics products may seem to be mainly targeting Chinese manufacturing, but in essence, it is aimed at protecting US interests by ensuring the competitiveness of American companies and the economy.
It is apparent that the current development of the Indian manufacturing sector is, to a large extent, dependent on the Chinese supply chain, as India needs Chinese raw materials, components, technologies and services.
The fact that China edged past the US and emerged as India's largest trading partner with $118.4 billion of two-way commerce in the Indian fiscal year 2023-2024 - from April 2023 to March 2024 - is sufficient to prove that Indian manufacturing cannot exclude products, technologies and services imported from China.
India's exports of electronics goods to the US have surged quickly. For instance, US trade data showed that imports of solar products from India have soared in recent years, hitting $2.3 billion last year, according to Reuters. In the second quarter of 2024, India accounted for 11 percent of US solar panel imports, more than double its share in the previous quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that Indian producers have faced setbacks, given the increasing protectionist trend in the US solar industry. This is because any foreign industry that poses a threat to US interests or competes with US industries is likely to be targeted by Washington's trade protectionism, regardless of its origin, be it China, India, the EU or any other economy.
The trend is now clear - the US is increasingly inclined to adopt trade and industrial protectionist measures in order to boost its manufacturing revival, especially in the new-energy and other strategic sectors.
There is no denying that some of India's exports to the US, such as solar panels and textiles, are seen as alternatives to Chinese products for the US, but they are likely only temporary solutions.
In the long run, if Indian industries grow to compete with their US counterparts, which is inevitable, the US is bound to resort to tougher protectionist policies using various excuses.
Amid rising global trade protectionism, India faces much greater resistance in improving its position in the global industrial chain than China did in the past, when it comes to developing the manufacturing sector.
If anything, the US-led "decoupling" push aimed at squeezing Chinese manufacturing out of the global supply chain is unlikely to give India much time or opportunity for large-scale manufacturing growth.
In this context, India needs to diversify its export markets and seek more opportunities in the Asian industrial chain by strengthening cooperation with regional countries to jointly address the challenges of trade protectionism. India needs to enhance trade cooperation with other developing countries in order to collectively uphold the smooth functioning of international trade.
Some Western media outlets and organizations never get tired of smearing the human rights situation in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. Recently, they're again spreading such disinformation, claiming that China's measures aimed at economic growth "harm the way of life and ecoculture of people in Xizang."
Nevertheless, the tangible progress in Xizang's development serves as a powerful rebuttal to these baseless Western lies.
Over the years, Xizang has seen continued and sound economic growth, social harmony and stability, the sound preservation of its cultural heritage, and significantly better lives for its people. These facts have the wholehearted recognition of people of all ethnic groups in Xizang and are acknowledged by many in the international community, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.
Xizang's economic and social development has benefited from the long-term support of the central government and the support and assistance from people across the country. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program of national pairing assistance to Xizang.
Over the past three decades, the central government has continuously stepped up support for Xizang, implementing assistance projects to help the region improve its infrastructure, which has contributed to vigorous and diversified industrial development in the region.
In 2023, Xizang's GDP reached 239.27 billion yuan ($33.74 billion), an increase of 9.5 percent year-on-year. The growth rate ranked first in the country, according to the Xizang Daily.
Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Xizang's GDP has risen from 190 billion yuan to nearly 240 billion yuan last year. Additionally, its per capita GDP has risen from 52,300 yuan to 60,000 yuan, Chinese media reports said.
Over the years, infrastructure construction has provided a solid foundation for Xizang's industrial development. In particular, with the improvement of transportation networks, the cultural and tourism industries have become important pillars of Xizang's economy, with tourism revenue reaching a record high of 65 billion yuan in 2023.
In the clean energy field, Xizang has also made notable achievements. The region is rich in hydro, wind and solar energy. Its installed power capacity, including some under construction, is 24.14 million kilowatts, with clean energy accounting for more than 95 percent of the total, according to State Grid.
Xizang has also actively seized the "digital opportunity" to accelerate the deployment of new infrastructure, such as 5G, green data centers, the Internet of Things and the industrial internet. So far, 10,067 5G base stations have been built and 5G network coverage has been extended to all counties/districts and main towns/townships in the region.
These milestones represent the potential for the future development of the digital economy. In 2023, the added value of Xizang's digital economy reached 25.1 billion yuan, up 19.3 percent year-on-year.
These numbers show that Xizang's economic and social development trends follow a sustainable path, laying a solid foundation for Xizang's long-term stability and prosperity.
It also demonstrates that the guidelines of the Communist Party of China for governing Xizang are correct, in line with our national conditions and the fundamental interests of the people in Xizang.
Xizang's development is an important part of the Chinese development story. It exemplifies how the Chinese government, while promoting economic development, can effectively protect the natural environment and cultural heritage, improve living standards, and maintain social harmony and stability. We welcome more foreigners to visit Xizang to gain first-hand experience of the region and its development.
In the face of Xizang's development, Western lies are falling apart. Xizang's development achievements are the most powerful response to those who seek to undermine China's stability and development by distorting facts.
"Hearing about something 100 times is not the same as seeing it once. I love Chongqing, and most of us have been blown away by the scenery, by the nature and by the atmosphere of the megacity," Moritz Nicolaus Lohmann, co-founder of Hamburg Welcomes You, Germany, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Lohmann said he was very impressed with the city's strong desire for pursuing high-quality development and opening-up.
Lohmann is one of the foreign journalists who participated in the 2024 Belt and Road Journalists Forum, which kicked off in Southwest China's Chongqing city on Saturday. The forum also provides the attending journalists with tours to the city's flourishing industries from advanced manufacturing plants to major tourism attractions.
During the tours, many foreign journalists hailed the development model of the mountainous city - increasingly driven by the green development and new quality productive forces. They noted that Chongqing has provided pragmatic experience for their home cities' future upgrade and high-quality development.
Sustainable growth model
"For someone like me who visited Chongqing about 10 years ago, the city is nearly unrecognizable now. There are high-rise buildings, new bridges, and a few metro lines have been built," Lohmann said.
However, things that used to look a little bit run-down were not all replaced by new high-rise buildings. Instead, they were upgraded through processes of urban revitalization, Lohmann noted.
At Beicang Cultural and Creative Street in Chongqing, worn-out warehouses were turned into public gathering places and cafes, old streets into fashionable walking alleys, and factories into galleries. This not only saves resources like cement and benefits the environment, but also creates a welcoming space that appeals to both locals and tourists, Lohmann said.
"I call for more projects like these in the cities, and suggest that other countries like Germany can learn a thing or two. We will probably not build many 30 story high-rise buildings any time soon. But we might be able to turn an industrial area into an artistic district, just like the city of Chongqing," he said.
Kirtan Bhana, director and editor of The Diplomatic Society, a media outlet in South Africa, was impressed by the automated robotic arms he saw at one of China's leading electric vehicle (EV) makers Seres Group's super factory.
Visiting the increasingly intelligent automotive manufacturing factory, people can observe that each assembly procedure is implemented smoothly and precisely, with minimal human touch. The massive factory floor has more than 3,000 robots, with major procedures already realizing 100 percent automation, while a new car rolls off the assembly line every 30 seconds, according to the Seres Group.
"What South Africa can learn from Chongqing and the rest of China is that how to develop sustainably without damaging the ecology, that is to say, a way of environment-friendly development," Bhana told the Global Times on Saturday, noting that green products such as EVs are crucial to meet the goal by cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
The green development has become a major trend in the world. Bhana noted that China and South Africa can enhance cooperation in this field under the great framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as the African continent has many of the minerals that are needed to make EV batteries.
In addition to promoting urban renewal and green transformation, Chongqing has also pursued the high-quality development of its tourism industry which fits well with its ecological protection.
Located in the southeastern part of Chongqing, along the Wujiang River, the largest tributary in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Wulong district is endowed with abundant natural resources and charming natural landscape including the Fairy Mountain.
The Three Natural Bridges, located in the Fairy Mountain, is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site renowned for its breathtaking karst landscape. While exploring the geological wonder, Elizabeth Sade, a senior reporter from the Media Association of Solomon Islands, was struck by the three massive natural stone bridges, marveling at the wonders created by nature.
"The three bridges that we visited were something that I was thrilled about. Alongside, the strong connection that I saw between locals and the environment has amazed me," Sade told the Global Times on Saturday.
He Qing, secretary of the CPC Wulong District Committee of Chongqing, told the Global Times that the local government has strengthened ecological environmental protection while developing tourism, by eliminating predatory way of resource exploitation seen in the past.
At the same time, the first real-time monitoring system for caves at a heritage site in China has been established, He Qing noted.
Ecological protection
"It is a global issue when we consider the challenges of climate change, especially for Pacific island nations like the Solomon Islands," said Sade.
"In Chongqing, I saw that the city can integrate ecological protection and tourism development at the same time. So I hope that when our media outlets come back home, they can speak to authorities or go out and do more stories that will influence them to come up with good policies that will be able to promote tourism and at the same time, keep the ecology as green as possible," Sade noted.
On August 23, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting in Beijing to review policies and measures to open up a new vista in the large-scale development of China's western regions.
Efforts should be made to "deepen reform comprehensively and blaze a path of Chinese modernization that suits the realities of the region," the meeting said, while identifying work priorities in a number of fields, including promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, advancing green and low-carbon development as well as enhancing the openness of the Chinese economy.
Chongqing is an important pivot point for the development of western part of China, as well as a crucial link between the BRI and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Boosted by policy support, unique geographical advantage and new technologies, the flourishing manufacturing sector and other industries seen in Chongqing mirror the high-quality development of China's western region in the new era and the opening-up of the country's western region.
"Through visiting Chongqing, we realize that China is sharing its development knowledge and information with us," said Bhana, adding the BRI not only increases connectivity among the world's peoples, but also creates better understanding among them. "This is where I see the idea of peace and prosperity," he noted.
China urged some politicians from the West to stop political manipulation of the judiciary under the pretext of "press freedom" after they made irresponsible remarks regarding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) court's trial of the criminal case involving two editors of "Stand News."
Being the first incitement case involving a media organization since the return of Hong Kong to the motherland 27 years ago, the case is a just move to safeguard national security and the rule of law in Hong Kong, providing important precedent for similar cases that may be tried in the future and on how media organizations exercise the right of press freedom in compliance with the law, observers said.
China deplores and opposes a handful of countries and institutions exploiting the judicial case in the Hong Kong SAR to vilify Hong Kong and interfere in China's internal affairs, Lin Jian, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Friday.
"Let me stress that the rights and freedoms Hong Kong residents enjoy in accordance with law, including freedom of press, are fully protected. This is an undeniable fact. Meanwhile, Hong Kong upholds the rule of law where to abide by the law and bring lawbreakers to justice is a basic principle. Freedom of press is by no means a shield for illegal activities," Lin said.
The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong, the Chinese Embassy in the UK, and the Chinese Mission to the EU also expressed their dissatisfaction with the irresponsible remarks regarding the case made by some Western politicians.
Stand News editors-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and Lam Shiu-tung, and Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited - the company that operated Stand News - were guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles, the Hong Kong SAR government said on Thursday, citing the District Court.
The Commissioner's Office slammed the Western politicians for having long-held double standards on so-called "press freedom" issue. They turn a blind eye to their own country's deplorable record of suppressing the news media, but have repeatedly used "press freedom" as a political tool to justify anti-China and anti-Hong Kong organizations, and wantonly smear and attack the rule of law and fair justice in the SAR.
Refuting accusations from some Western politicians, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, a solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Friday that they are merely trying to "confuse right and wrong and mislead the public."
He said that Hong Kong residents enjoy freedom of the press, the normal operation of media organizations is also protected by law, and Hong Kong laws also clearly define the provisions on "sedition." The provision will not affect or harm press freedom.
The court's decision has added a precedent to Hong Kong's judicial system, providing important reference for similar cases that may be tried in the future and provide guidance on how to exercise the right of press freedom in compliance with the law, Wong said.
"Read ten thousand books, and your pen will be guided as if by the gods" is an ancient Chinese idiom that can be seen in students' textbooks. China's Ministry of Education has published an action plan to further promote reading among students across the nation. With new and diverse book recommendations, the reading scene is expected to be revived not only at schools, but also across society. To contribute to this endeavor, the Global Times launched "My Reading Life" essay contest for middle school students.
Please pick up a pen and share your stories with us at reading@globaltimes.com.cn
Participants will be rewarded once the article has been selected. To love reading and enjoy reading is to love life and enjoy life.
When we immerse ourselves in the pages of a book, we are transported to worlds beyond our own, gaining insights into the human experience and expanding our understanding of ourselves and others.
Reading can fill our lives and purify our souls. I enjoy reading and I love life. I enjoy reading Chinese classics such as the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Exploring the mythical and wonderful stories of demons and monsters in Journey to the West and experiencing the boldness of martial arts heroes in the Water Margin.
I also like to reflect upon the wars and turmoil during the historical period in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while in Dream of the Red Chamber, I witness the prosperity and the ephemeral nature of the world.
Reading allows us to explore different perspectives, challenge our beliefs, and cultivate empathy. It is through stories that we connect with the past, envision the future, and find meaning of the present.
As we turn each page, we uncover not only the stories of others but also the deeper layers of our own identity. Books become mirrors that reflect our thoughts, fears, and desires, while serving as windows that open up to the vast world beyond our immediate surroundings.
In the quiet solitude of reading, we find a sanctuary - a place where we can confront our doubts, find comfort in shared experiences, and discover new passions.
To love reading is to embrace curiosity, to seek knowledge, and to nurture the soul with the richness of words. In this way, the act of reading becomes not just a pastime, but a vital part of living fully, with awareness and purpose.
The joy of reading is also found in the unexpected journeys it offers. A book can lead us down paths we never knew existed, introducing us to ideas that challenge our perceptions and inspire change. It is in these moments of revelation that we feel truly alive, energized by the discovery of new possibilities.
I also enjoy reading foreign classics and learning about the colorful lives portrayed by foreign writers. For example, The Chameleon by Anton Chekhov vividly satirized the shady phenomena of society at that time.
Another book called Jane Eyre tells me the life of the protagonist Jane Eyre and depicts her character. The story is written like an autobiography, making it the best self-monologue in the world. In the book, I was able to grasp the courageous character of a woman, and reflect on what empowers a woman is never the co-dependence on her family nor husband, but her own intellect and intuition.
To love reading is to continually seek growth, to feed our imagination, and to stay connected with the essence of what it means to be human.
It is an act of self-care, a way to nourish our minds and spirit, and a reminder that, in every story, there is something to be learned, savored, and cherished.
Through reading, we find companionship and a deeper connection to the world - a connection that enriches our lives.
Reading is a skill that can be continuously improved, allowing us to gain more from each book we pick up. In order to read better, I will try to consider why I am reading a particular book or text in the future.
The author is a student at Beijing National Day School
