The Yangtze River Cultural and Artistic Season officially commenced in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei Province, with a spectacular opening ceremony on Saturday night, featuring a dazzling fireworks display, a heart-stirring drone performance, and a vibrant light show along the Yangtze River banks. The event committee stated on Sunday that a series of cultural events are scheduled to take place during the season to better promote the culture and history of the Yangtze River.

During the opening ceremony, thousands of drones fluidly changed formations in the sky, showcasing landmarks from China's thirteen provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities along the Yangtze River, including the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei and Hongya Cave in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

Fireworks lit up the night sky, creating a poetic and picturesque scene, prompting locals to capture the moment with their smartphones.

"I could deeply feel the profound cultural heritage of the Yangtze River basin, and I'm proud to live by the Yangtze River," said a 70-year-old resident surnamed Zhang, according to the report of people.cn.

On Sunday, the organizing committee of the Yangtze River Cultural and Artistic Season published a "Thank you" letter to the citizens of Wuhan on a local WeChat public account. The letter emphasized the season's goal of preserving the Yangtze River's cultural legacy and creating a platform for exchange, highlighting its millennia-old cultural heritage.

The committee expressed gratitude to the people of Wuhan for their enthusiastic participation, which has made the city "more vibrant and charming." The letter praised the local community for their "civility, hospitality, and orderly conduct," which have enhanced Wuhan's image as a civilized city.

According to the letter, the Yangtze River Cultural and Artistic Season will last for two months, featuring themed art exhibitions, film weeks, stage art exhibitions, choir weeks, reading weeks, literature weeks, and intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, showcasing the essence and charm of the Yangtze River culture.

Pan Junjie, the person in charge of the film week, told the Global Times on Sunday that over 100 films, including blockbusters like The Wandering Earth series and The Battle at Lake Changjin, and documentaries related to Yangtze River culture, have been aired at more than 400 locations across Hubei Province.

He add that a 3D documentary, New Three Gorges, will be launched on Thursday to further promote the culture of the Yangtze River.

One of the highlights during the event is that the Yangtze River Culture Institute was inaugurated on Saturday. The institute aims to promote the creation and dissemination of cultural products and symbols that embody the values of Yangtze River culture. 

Huang Taiyan, a research fellow from Wuhan University, pointed out at a seminar that the Yangtze River culture is one of the most representative and influential cultures of Chinese civilization, containing the civilization genes of the Chinese nation and irrigating the common spiritual homeland of the Chinese nation. 

He expressed hope that the institute could become "a key international communication base for Chinese culture," according to a document the local publicity department sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

"The work of aiding Xinjiang and Xizang serves as a crucial means to enhance interactions, exchanges and integration among various Chinese ethnic groups, thereby reinforcing the development of a community with a shared future and building a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation," Pan Yue, director of China's National Ethnic Affairs Commission, remarked at a conference on the current progress achieved in supporting the development of the ­Xinjiang and Xizang autonomous regions on Thursday.

Pan also stressed the critical role of cultural works, noting that local authorities should enhance the charm of the fine traditional culture of the two regions through diverse cultural products and methods, and concentrate on telling stories regarding the Chinese national community.

At the conference held in Beijing, deputies of local ethnic affairs commissions of different places around China such as Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, South China's Guangdong Province and Central China's Hubei Province addressed the endeavors and achievements of ethnic affairs in the two regions under the support of the whole country.

Thanks to abundant cultural resources from other places and joint efforts, more than 1,000 cultural projects and almost 900 exhibitions on specific subjects have been launched in Xinjiang, providing millions of ­local residents with plenty of quality cultural products, according to the local ethnic affairs commissions.

Behind the data is a wealth of diverse and compelling stories that foster cultural and artistic exchanges among various ethnic groups.

During the folk-art season themed "Play the tambourine and sing a song" that kicked off in August, 53 teams of more than 1,700 folk artists from different regions and ethnic groups gathered in Xinjiang and presented a string of parade performances. Professional opera troupes also brightened the event by virtue of an artistic feast involving some classic operas such as the Kunqu Opera The Peony Pavilion.

Other activities, including exhibitions regarding cultural creative products and fairs teeming with booths featuring diverse intangible cultural heritages, have also been carried out.

Supportive cultural projects have also been launched in Xizang. A branch of the Guangzhou Library was opened to the public in September 2023 in Bomi county through collaboration between the Guangzhou Library and the county library. 

A selection of 10,000 books from Guangzhou served as the basic collection for the branch library, which is the first one built by the Guangzhou Library outside of Guangdong Province. The library provides free book lending service to the public and is open for at least 63 hours a week, according to the Guangzhou Daily.

An exhibition of imperial court ceremonies and life during the Qing ­Dynasty (1644-1911) has been presented by the Palace Museum in Beijing for Xinjiang residents since November 2021. It prominently showcases over 120 exquisite gold and jade artifacts from the collection of the Palace ­Museum used by the Qing Dynasty imperial family. 

These items include various types of artifacts such as ceremonial vessels, ritual implements, decorative items, and daily necessity items. These cultural relics bear witness to the process of integration and development among various ethnic groups in the country, and fully demonstrate the close connections throughout the history of the Chinese nation, including the diverse ethnic groups in ­Xinjiang, as well as China's shared culture and intertwined roots, the Guangming Daily reported. 

To promote bright film works and talented filmmakers in Xinjiang and Xizang, the Beijing International Film Festival has made films about the stories of these two areas one of its important sections.

"Compared to economic support such as infrastructure construction and investment, cultural support can make an impact similar to how the spring wind turns clouds into rain, nourishing the spiritual life of local residents in Xinjiang and Xizang," Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Minzu University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Xiong noted that besides enhancing exchanges among various ethnic groups, the cultural aid projects such as world heritage applications can also better conserve ethnic groups' unique culture and boost people's confidence in their ethnic heritage.

To address challenges in other sectors that affect residents of Xinjiang and Xizang, several aid projects have been launched, including training preschool teachers and enhancing medical techniques, all of which have significantly improved the quality of life for local residents.

The dragon-scale bookbinding is a traditional Chinese way of bookbinding with a history of over 1,000 years. Passed down from generation to generation, the completed artworks are known to resemble dragons as each page looking like a scale. 

The art form, which showcases the art and wisdom of ancient Chinese people, will be on display at a new exhibition featuring new works by inheritor Zhang Xiaodong at Shanghai's UOB Art Gallery. 

Zhang's new exhibition Rise, which is set to open to the public in mid-September, reveals his innovation and exploration as the traditional art meets modern life. 

His paintings explore the ­concept of breathing in Chinese art. 

A highlight of the exhibition will be his dragon-scale bookbinding version of the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, a recreation of 230 images of scholar Sun Wen from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Editor's Note:

Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time proposed the principles of "zhen shi qin cheng" for China's Africa policy in a speech in 2013 at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Tanzania.

Eleven years have passed since that momentous day in the history of China-Africa ties, but the principles endure. They have not only underpinned China's engagement with Africa in numerous fruitful cooperation projects, but also helped people get closer through exchanges and deepening friendships.

In areas of cultural heritage conservation and archaeology, China and Africa are working together to boost cooperation among Global South countries and contribute to the world with their example. In this issue of the special coverage of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa ­Cooperation (FOCAC), Global Times reporters Li Yuche and Xu Liuliu share more details about the latest updates in this cooperation.
A total of 1,223 natural and cultural sites across 168 countries are currently documented in the UNESCO World Heritage List. These sites are diverse, but one category that remains rare among them is hydrological heritage. Such a heritage epitomizes ancient human wisdom for managing waters to develop agricultural civilizations.

The picture of such a rare heritage is expected to be made clearer in the coming years, as the sites of the Rawda Island Nilometer in Egypt and the Baiheliang Ancient Hydrological Inscription in China are applying for a joint World Heritage title in 2026.

'Close inner bond'

Located in Cairo and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality respectively, one similarity shared between the Rawda Island Nilometer and the Baiheliang Ancient Hydrological Inscription is 1,200-year-old well-preserved history.

The hydrological inscription Baiheliang, also known as the White Crane Ridge, was a 1,600-meter-long stone ridge in the Yangtze River. The stone ridge was dubbed an "underwater wonder" by UNESCO due to its coverage of 160 ancient inscriptions that document the river's water level records dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The heritage represents how ancient Chinese people infused art into water engineering, since such inscriptions have been done in multiple Chinese calligraphic styles. Fish patterns are also engraved on stone tablets, to which the distance between the fishes' eyes and the water surface was an indicator of the river's lower flow.

When visiting the site in Chong­qing, Ahmed Rehema, Associate Minister of Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said that he was "deeply impressed by the inscriptions and stone fish carvings that were created by Chinese people in more than 1,000 years ago."

While noting the site marks one of the "world's oldest hydrological works of research," underwater archaeologist He Qiyi told the Global Times that human being's ingenuity in water management often dwells in the oldest civilizations in the world with developed agricultural traditions.

Around AD700, Egyptians had also harnessed managing river resources as represented by the Nilometer in Cairo. The Nilometer was used to measure flood levels, and the one on the Rawda Island is iconic because it was a marble octagonal column that was still functional in the 1950s to 1960s.

Ancient texts documenting vegetation growth and water parameters were engraved on the hydrological heritage. Recalling his visit to the site, Jiang Rui, director of the Baiheliang Underwater Museum, told the Global Times that he has seen a "close inner bond" between the two hydrological heritages.

Giving explanations on the two sites' modern value has been a focal issue ever since 2021 when a "feasibility study" of the two sites' application was carried out. In 2023, a Baiheliang-themed academic forum was launched to tackle the major issue of "discovering the two sites' similarities," he told the Global Times.

"We aim to finish the compilation of our joint ­application in 2025, and make an official application to the UNESCO in 2026," Jiang revealed to the Global Times.

Only a beginning

Years of preparation for the joint project have deepened exchanges between heritage experts in China and Egypt. In his experience of visiting the Baiheliang Underwater Museum, Rehema said that he was able to grasp China's "advanced technologies and mind-sets" for cultural relic conservation.

"Such experiences can inspire us to manage our underwater heritages in Egypt," Rehema emphasized.

In 2009, the Baiheliang Underwater Museum was built as the world's only dive-free museum under the water. It allows visitors to take 90-meter-long escalators in a glass tunnel that goes 40 meters under the Yangtze River.

"Our collaboration with Egypt enhances the developing countries' discourse power in interpreting their importance in protecting cultural heritages worldwide," Jiang said.

Sharing the exchange spirits encouraged by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, apart from Egypt, China has become a partner to African countries in heritage conservation, arts exchange, and archaeology.

Focusing on Paleolithic archeological sites, China and Kenya recently signed a six-year plan starting from 2024 onward to support multiple excavations to be carried out in the two countries.

In 2022, China, for the first time, became the guest country of honor for the Biennale of Contemporary African Art in Dakar, Senegal.

That occasion marked how China and Senegal's long-standing civilizations are still a source of "cultural pride" for contemporary artists, while "making new dialogues regardless of territorial limitations," Yue Jieqiong, the Chinese pavilion's curator at the event told the Global Times.

Delivering performances in several Chinese cities like Beijing and Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, Spanish jazz pianist Marco Mezquida recently made his debut in China featuring a solo piano concert in Beijing on September 9. 

At the Beijing show, the Spanish artist has delivered a music repertoire which included an improvisation piece featuring multiple instruments and a reinterpreted piano piece of John Lennon's "Imagine." 

A jazzy interpretation on a 1970s Chinese song, "I Love Beijing Tian'anmen," was performed by the artist as a special gift engaging on-site audiences to hum along with his piano flow. 

Mezquida told the Global Times that he learned the song in only a few hours after arriving in Beijing. He noted that approaching Chinese songs with a new twist helps him "to connect deeply to the indigenous cultures he experiences." 

"When I finished the show, I will go taste some nice Beijing food and visit museums that have nice textile pieces," he told the Global Times. While noting the difference existing between music traditions of Spain and China, the artistic observance of Mezquida has made him able to grasp inspirations, such as the sounds in temples, from Beijing. 

"I know the music culture here has thousands of years of histories. I felt something really special about the city when I arrived here," Mezquida told the Global Times. He has also revealed that how his unique music was created starting from "hearing the sounds, and recording it and then transcribing it into the language of music."  

Before his Beijing performance, Mezquida played at the JZ Club in Shanghai, a renowned venue with over 20 years of history, serving as a key gathering place for Chinese jazz enthusiasts and professionals from across the country.

"I can feel the passion of audiences in China and I think in 20 and 30 years of time, there will be more great Chinese musicians in Jazz for sure," Mezquida told the Global Times. He added that he is looking forward to collaborating with classic and jazz musicians across the country. 

Born in 1987, Mezquida is a prolific artist who has taken part in the recording of more than 50 albums. He is known for his talent in giving original music expressions through fusing different genres.

If you asked people about artificial intelligence (AI) 10 years ago, most wouldn't have understood its meaning. Today, however, AI has been gradually integrated into all aspects of daily life in China, such as travel, retail, medical care, entertainment, logistics and many other fields. 

Analysts noted that the acceleration of digitalization and expanded AI applications in the services sector has become a new trend, driven largely by advancements in AI innovations.

In the near future, a more extensive and faster digital transformation of the services sector is essential to ensure broader benefits for the public. Progressively, thousands of industrial lines will be empowered by AI, which could reduce the cost of manufactured products and service charges. 

Recently, several AI-powered service examples were showcased at the just-concluded 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing.

Deep AI integration

For example, AI has already assisted many people to land a job in China. At the 2024 CIFTIS, Alipay unveiled an AI-powered public employment robot named Xiaogu, designed to support the smart transformation of employment-related services. 

According to data, assisted by AI, the matching rate of people and job vacancies has been increased by at least 10 times, Alipay said. 

While AI-powered services like this may go unnoticed by many, the application of AI innovations in sectors like tourism and online gaming is more visible. 

The integration of AI with specific scenic spots in China is providing significantly improved travel experience. 

For instance, in the scenic area of Mount Huangshan in East China's Anhui Province, an AI escort service has been introduced -- showcased at the 2024 CIFTIS. The AI-powered application can recommend services throughout the entire journey, assisting tour guides, taxi bookings and food options, based on tourists' spatial positioning, the Global Times has learned. 

"AI can facilitate very creative content production, and the digital content can be combined with the natural scenes in the scenic spots, using augmented reality (AR) technology carriers, like AR glasses," Chen Xi, a vice president of Rokid, a Hangzhou-based AR tech startup, told the Global Times on Friday.

AR is a technology that enhances or provides additional information about what people can see in physical reality through digital images, sounds and text. AI enhances AR by enabling it to recognize and augment the real world more effectively.

"In addition to immersive travel experience realized by tapping the AR technology, we could also create some treasure-hunting games with the help of AI in the context of local culture to better fit in to the needs of the sightseers," Chen said.

AI technologies have been applied in museums too. Foreign tourists visit exhibitions using AR tools in Chinese museums, enhancing the quality of their experience, as AI could help remove barriers such as language, Tian Feng, dean of SenseTime's Intelligence Industry Research Institute, told the Global Times on Friday.

OUTPUT, a Shanghai-based leading digital content technology company aiming for the creation of an ecosystem for digital culture, has recently created digital content and new scenario-based experience works in collaboration with Beijing's Palace Museum and Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden.

"We have helped showcase the treasures of the Palace Museum digitally in Singapore and participated in the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival in Paris and Shanghai to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France," said Liu Yinmeng, founder and CEO of OUTPUT.

'AI Plus' initiative

"The development of AI technologies will bring great changes and opportunities to many sectors, such as tourism, sport and gaming," Tian said.

"AI Plus" was mentioned in the State Council's Government Work Report for the first time in 2024, saying that China will launch an AI Plus initiative, and build digital industry clusters with international competitiveness, and will also promote the digitalization of the service sector.

"AI Plus" will serve as a key driving force of the economy, integrating with a wide range of sectors such as healthcare, education, while helping promote the transformation and upgrading of many traditional industries, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

In 2023, China unveiled a plan to ramp up the country's comprehensive digitalization process, including support for in-depth integration of digital technology and the real economy, and the application of AI technology in agriculture, manufacturing, finance, education, medical services, transport and energy.

China has experienced rapid development in the creative industry, also known as the "orange industry", industry observers said on Friday at the Orange Industry and Sustainable Investment Forum, a sub-forum of the 2024 CIFTIS.

The UN defines the creative economy as cycles of creating, producing, and distributing goods and services  that use creative intellectual capital as primary inputs.

According to UN Trade and Development, by 2020, China was the largest exporter of creative goods and services, at a reported value of $169 billion. The export value of China's creative industry has grown from $59 billion in 2020 to $67 billion in 2022.

With the rapid advancement of information technologies, such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, and AI in the country, China's "orange industry" is developing quickly globally, Liu noted. 

Industry analysts said that the "orange industry" exemplifies creativity and innovation, aligning closely with China's pursuit of an innovation-driven development strategy and the cultivation of high-quality new productive forces.

"In the coming years, China's 'orange industry' is expected to see significant growth. Technological innovation, market demand and government policy support will promote the industry to become an important force in China's economic diversification," Liu said.

Editor's Note:

Over 700 years ago, Italian traveler Marco Polo journeyed through China, documenting his experiences and introducing the splendor of ancient China to Europe in his book. Fast forward to the present day, when people discover China through online videos. With China's visa-free policies and the introduction of 144-hour visa-free transit, a wave of international YouTubers and vloggers has flocked to China.

After exploring gateway cities, where they gain initial insights into China's modern cityscapes and rich cultural heritage, these YouTubers and vloggers soon turn their attention to localized regions, delving into frontier areas, revolutionary sites, and public infrastructure to find the answers to the questions: "What is modern China like, why is it the way it is, and how does it function?" Through their cameras, they present a real, friendly, and vibrant China to the world. They are affectionately referred to by the Chinese as the "Marco Polos" in the New Era.

Therefore, the Global Times presents this "Marco Polo" Trilogy. In the first story, we shared the story of those young travelers who have ventured into China's border regions. Their videos and posts showcase the vast grasslands and bustling markets of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the majestic mountains and mysterious temples of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, displaying to the world a diverse and peaceful China.
"I am in Xinjiang… the most controversial region of the country." This is the first sentence uttered by German travel content creator "Ken Abroad," in a video he shared on YouTube in February.

"In this video, we will get impressions of this Uygur Autonomous Region, which is over Western media for not-so-good reasons," he says, while walking on a snowy street in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. "Let's see what life is really like here."

Ken Abroad is among an increasing number of international vloggers who have visited Xinjiang with great curiosity. A somewhat remote and mysterious region in China, Xinjiang is nonetheless a name constantly spotlighted in many Western media stories, which are usually filled with misinformation.

Many travel vloggers including Ken Abroad and their audiences are eager to get a closer look at Xinjiang in person. "I am curious to see things with my own eyes. So, I booked a flight to Urumqi," Ken Abroad wrote in the video caption, which garnered over 800,000 views as of the end of February.

"According to some comments on my channel, I would not be allowed to enter, as the region is apparently closed to foreigners. Well, I was able to enter without any problems and soon after I found myself exploring the city center of Urumqi," wrote the vlogger with 356,000 YouTube subscribers.

The first time Ken Abroad visited China was at the end of 2023, when he only visited Shanghai. "I had a Chinese friend at university, and I also made a Chinese friend on other travels. Both of them told me so many great things about China," he told the Global Times. "That made me curious to visit the country."

Ken Abroad's vlogs about his visits to China have amassed millions of views thus far. "I am happy to see that so many people watched my China-related videos, and the responses I got were overall mostly positive," he said.

In the Urumqi tour video, Ken Abroad said that he understood Xinjiang from some Western media reports which claimed that "Uygur Muslim here are being oppressed, and they can't practice Islam."

"[Let's] see if we can find any mosques," he said.

Then the video cuts to views of different mosques across the city. In the vlog, Ken Abroad also tasted local snacks and talked to locals. He asked about the opening times of the nearby mosques and received friendly responses.

"[An] interesting fact about the mosques here, as I read before, is that Xinjiang, this region of China, has more mosques than the US or any Western countries in Europe do," Ken Abroad said in the video while walking on the street.

"And, …do you have the impression so far that the majority of people that we spoke to today, we interacted with, we saw, were Muslims?" he asked. "Yet the Western media are trying to tell us that the Muslims are being oppressed here by the Chinese government; that they don't live a normal life. I don't want to judge now, but just asking you, what is your impression of the people that we have seen so far?"

'Is that real?'

Compared with Xinjiang, Xizang region might appear even more mysterious.

Due to Xizang's high altitude and harsh climate, as well as the challenging rescue and medical conditions in some inaccessible areas, there are certain precautions in place, according to local authorities.

To prevent such incidents, authorities implemented the Entry Permit requirement. This permit allows them to confirm the traveler's itinerary and provide appropriate services, including medical support if needed.

However, some of the most daring travelers have made Xizang the ultimate destination on their bucket lists when exploring China.

Birat Aanupam, a young journalist and writer from Nepal, remarked "For me, Lhasa felt like home."

He noted that the sweet tea served in Lhasa is a familiar drink enjoyed daily across Nepal, and he found it easy to pronounce Tibetan names and understand Tibetan culture, as Nepal shares aspects of this Himalayan culture, tradition, and lifestyle.

Lhasa's Barkhor Street, where Nepali traders have maintained a presence for centuries, was another unforgettable sight for him. The presence of Nepal's Consulate General, Lhasa's only diplomatic mission, also held significant meaning.
Aanupam was amazed by Xizang's development. His 435-kilometer-long journey aboard a bullet train from Nyingchi to Lhasa provided a striking example of Xizang's rapid progress.

He saw no conflict between development and traditional practices, observing road signs in English, Putonghua, and Tibetan, as well as monks using smartphones.

Aanupam told the Global Times that the Xizang he imagined was both similar to and different from reality. The similarities lay in the friendly locals and well developed infrastructure, while the differences were in the deference shown for the local language, culture, and traditions.

Aanupam observed that foreign perceptions of Xizang have begun to shift slightly, with people starting to see the region differently.

After sharing videos of rail travel and conversations with locals in Xizang on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Reel, X, and Facebook, many of Aanupam's friends began asking, "Is Xizang really like this?"

Safe and comfortable

"Xinjiang is not what you think!" "Unbelievable impression in Lhasa!" Alongside thumbnails featuring exaggerated expressions, such videos have been emerging on YouTube in recent months.

In the past year alone, at least five YouTubers with over 100,000 subscribers have posted travel vlogs about their journeys to Xinjiang, amassing millions of views.

Whether in Xinjiang or Xizang, in the videos, these vloggers encountered kind and friendly locals, felt comfortable and safe, and discovered that these regions, while preserving their unique cultures and cuisines, are just as convenient as other parts of China.

One viewer's comment under a latest Lhasa vlog on YouTube channel "Josie lifts things" reads, "I don't think there is a country that cares for its people as much as China. Just knowing the geographical location of Xizang, you can see how much the Chinese government loves Tibet. There's even a 5G network at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, and the hydropower facilities are perfect. These projects are very challenging."

British budget travel blogger Mike Okay recently hitchhiked to Kashi, the cultural center of the Uygur people in Xinjiang. He documented his journey, including being picked up by a friendly truck driver from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

While on his travels, Mike Okay recorded at least three instances of being stopped by Xinjiang police for passport checks. Although the officers were friendly - one even bought him traditional Xinjiang naan bread to try - Mike Okay still found the frequent checks puzzling.

His confusion was cleared up at the end of his recent video. While staying overnight at a camping park in Aksu Prefecture, which had well equipped facilities including bathrooms and water, he was approached by a few police officers who recorded his information before leaving.

A manager at the camping park, who later sat down to have tea with Mike Okay, used a translation app to explain that the checks were not a sign of any problem.

On the contrary, since foreign tourists are rare in the area, the police needed to document his presence to ensure no incidents occurred.

"This is for your safety," the manager said.

An increasing number of people have come to understand that the intensified efforts on enhancing security in Xinjiang is not an overreaction.

From 1990 to the end of 2016, ethnic separatist forces, religious extremist forces, and violent terrorist groups plotted and carried out thousands of violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, resulting in a large number of innocent civilian casualties. Since 2014, authorities have dismantled 1,588 terrorist groups, arrested 12,995 terrorist suspects, and seized 2,052 explosive devices. The infiltration of extremism has been effectively curbed, and public security has significantly improved, greatly protecting the basic rights of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the right to life, health, and development.

With several consecutive years free from violent incidents, local residents have come to deeply cherish this sense of security. According to China Youth Daily, the public safety index in Xinjiang increased from 87.58 percent in 2012 to 99.14 percent in 2021. Xinjiang has achieved lasting stability and prosperity.

A farmer picks grapes at a planting base in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi Province on September 13, 2024. Farmers are ramping up efforts to send fresh grapes to the market to meet surging demand during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holidays. Photo: VCG

The 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) commenced on Thursday, showcasing China's determination to further open up to the world and its willingness to share the dividends of its growth. The event witnessed enthusiastic attendance from countries around the world, offering a strong rebuttal to the decoupling efforts by some politicians in the West, analysts said. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2024 CIFTIS. Xi pointed out that CIFTIS, having been successfully held for 10 years, is a vivid portrayal of the high-quality development of China's services industry and services trade, making positive contributions to the building of an open world economy.

On Thursday, the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park in Beijing were crowded with exhibitors and visitors from around the world, with displays featuring exhibits ranging from artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surgical robots and passenger drones to hydrogen fuel motorbikes, giving the event a tech-driven, futuristic feel, the Global Times observed.

Together with the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Import Expo, which will be held later this year, the CIFTIS underlined China's commitment to opening up its services sector and sharing its vast market potential with the world, Chinese analysts said.

Paulo Jorge Nascimento, Portuguese Ambassador to China, told the Global Times on Thursday that Portugal, having a keen interest in expanding the services trade, has been following CIFTIS for a long time and "now we think it is the right time to set up our first independent booth as the two countries celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations."

The ambassador said that with trade in goods dominating bilateral trade currently, "there is a huge space to increase trade in services between the two countries."

Companies and exhibitors expressed optimism about leveraging China's rapidly growing services sector and benefiting from the country's innovation-driven growth. 

A long list of Global 500 firms, including Tesla, Siemens and Amazon, attended the event, which runs from September 12 to 16.

A resolution adopted by the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in July called for adopting innovative measures to boost trade in services, and fully apply the "negative list" for cross-border trade in services.

China's determination to further open up its services sector has resonated well with global companies. 

"The world is quite complicated today, and we see stability in China. The recent string of Chinese government policies aimed at further opening up add predictability for us. As a result, we are making plans to further increase our reach in the Chinese market," Wu Haifeng, general manager of Greater China with Norway-based industrial software company Kongsberg Digital AS, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"CIFTIS has significant global influence, as it is currently the world's only national-level, international, and comprehensive platform for services trade. With China recently introducing new measures to further open up its services sector, this year's event is expected to be a key highlight," Huo Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Unlike certain Western politicians pushing for "decoupling" with China in some areas, multinational corporations prioritize investment opportunities and returns, Huo said.

With China's economy still growing at around 5 percent and its emerging industries showing strong vitality, companies won't be passing up investment opportunities in China. "In fact, they're rushing in, worried that other countries might snap up opportunities first. While US-led decoupling efforts may cause some external disturbances, the key lies in the resilience of China's own economic growth and its promising prospects," Huo noted.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Sunday that it will work with other government agencies to further advance the opening-up of the services sector.

Former European Central Bank chief and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi presented a report at a news conference in Brussels on Monday, titled "The Future of European Competitiveness." In the report, he calls for EU to "radically change." However, is the "prescription," offered by Draghi amid the EU's extreme anxiety over declining competitiveness, really what Europe needs?

The report's main concern is Europe's declining competitiveness. Europe is facing an unprecedented dilemma now, with sluggish economic growth, declining industrial competitiveness, high unemployment, and low business confidence. As a result, Europe has begun to explore various "prescriptions" for its challenges.

In the 69-page "Draghi's Report," China is mentioned in 25 pages. The report points out that "the EU's competitiveness is currently being squeezed from two sides. On the one side, EU companies are facing weaker foreign demand - especially from China - and rising competitive pressures from Chinese companies." In April, Draghi specifically condemned China for "threatening to undercut" Europe's industrial base by "attempting to capture and internalize all parts of the supply chain in green and advanced technologies."

"Draghi's Report" reflects Europe's overall anxiety. Understandably, Europe is seeking a way out of its current predicament. However, this solution should not involve position China as a target obstructing European development, nor should it come at the expense of China-EU relations. If the EU resorts to such an approach, it would not only fail to help Europe overcome its challenges but could even exacerbate its problems.

Europe's current economic difficulties reveal deep-seated structural defects. In the face of intense market competition, European companies are struggling to transform and adapt to new economic and technological developments, putting them at a distinct disadvantage in the global market. In this context, as China has made significant strides in emerging fields like renewable energy, some European viewpoints, with added pressure from the US, perceive the normal market relationship with China as excessive dependency and risk.

However, this perspective not only obscures Europe's own problems but also conflates competitiveness issues with complex geopolitical games, deepening Europe's economic predicament.

As a matter of fact, China and Europe share deep mutual interests in economic and trade relations, global governance, and politics. Despite their differences, the China-EU relationship enjoys strong endogenous driving force and bright prospects of development. The essence of China-EU cooperation lies in complementary advantages and mutual benefits. China can support Europe in the development of new energy, helping address the bottlenecks Europe faces. 

The decline in competitiveness acts like an invisible net, making it difficult for Europe to compete globally. The more anxious Europe becomes, the more clear-minded it should strive to maintain. A simplistic pursuit of protectionism, as the US and EU are currently doing, cannot address the fundamental, deep-seated issues facing Europe. The EU should resolve trade frictions with China through dialogue and consultation, taking into account each other's legitimate concerns, while avoiding retaliatory trade conflicts and preventing a lose-lose situation. Only by doing so can the EU enhance its competitiveness. Europe's "prescription" should not focus on exaggerating how China has "squeezed" Europe's survival space; instead, it should concentrate on fixing its own structural defects.