China's private Caixin Service Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 52.1 in July, up 0.9 points from June, reflecting faster expansion in the services sector, according to data released on Monday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading beneath 50 points to contraction.
The services industry is experiencing a rapid increase in new orders, leading to a rise in employment. This has resulted in a resurgence of optimism among enterprises, according to the Caixin survey.
According to the sub-index, the expansion speed of both supply and demand in the services sector accelerated in July, with both sub-indexes rebounding into the expansion zone.
The employment situation in the services sector also improved in July to the highest level since September 2023. Surveyed companies said they have increased manpower, mainly to cope with new businesses.
Business optimism also rebounded in the month, with companies in the services sector hoping for improvements in market conditions and business development to drive growth in their operations.
The Caixin Service PMI reading followed the Caixin Manufacturing PMI, which dropped to 49.8 in July, down 2 points from a month earlier.
China's official manufacturing PMI came in at 49.4 in July, slightly down 0.1 point from June, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The business activity index for the services sector dropped by 0.2 points to 50.0 in July.
Wang Zhe, a senior economist at Caixin, said in a statement on Monday that the business climate in the services sector improved in July, while the manufacturing sector remained under pressure.
In order to boost market confidence and address insufficient domestic demand, it is crucial to implement policy stimulus measures and ensure that existing policies are effectively in place, Wang said.
Stimulating consumption is a key focus for maintaining stable growth in the second half of the year. Two main directions to consider are increasing personal incomes through various channels and expanding services consumption, Wu Chaoming, a deputy head of the Chasing Research Institute, told the Global Times.
"We anticipate that policies supporting sectors including culture and tourism, elderly care, childcare and domestic services will be strengthened, and there is the potential for increased government spending on public services consumption," Wu said.
China will work hard to further develop consumer services to support high-quality economic development and meet people's demand for personalized, diversified and quality services, according to a guideline made public on Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The US Congress has found a new method to save US manufacturing: making the lineage of the US flag pure. This has turned the flag into a focal point for trade protectionism. However, this idea of using a "pure-blood" US flag will not necessarily revive US manufacturing, nor can it enhance American patriotism; instead, it only exposes the illusions and weakness of US nationalism and highlights the ugly side of US politicians.
According to US media reports, the All-American Flag Act has been passed by Congress, requiring the federal government to purchase only American flags that have been completely manufactured in the US. Advocates of the measure argue that in 2017, the US imported some 10 million American flags, and 99.5 percent of them came from China. It's time for US flags to originate in the country they represent, said the sponsors of the proposal.
If the flag must originate from the US, should other symbols of the US, such as statuettes of the Statue of Liberty, also be manufactured domestically? The extremism of US trade protectionism has reached the level of nonsense. What's next? Will American lawmakers hype up China's "overcapacity of flags," or will they require that every stitch on the Stars and Stripes be hand-sewn by "pure-blood" Americans?
Supporters of the proposal said the change is more than just symbolic - they believe it will support US jobs and manufacturers. Politicians have a rosy view: They believe they can revive US manufacturing while simultaneously running a patriotic education campaign. However, in 2015 the value of US flag imports was only $4.4 million, according to federal data. Rather than enacting substantial economic policies to truly revive US manufacturing, politicians are wasting energy on a matter worth only a few million dollars. This is clearly not a fundamental solution to US' manufacturing problems but merely a façade project.
"This is a typical case of the US' pursuit of 'decoupling' with China in a form of psychological warfare and political grandstanding," Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times. Some US politicians, lacking an understanding of the practical issues involved in producing flags, such as labor and production costs, blindly manipulate politics for political gain based solely on their imaginations.
In the face of numerous crises such as domestic social division and political polarization, the US Congress chooses to prioritize the issue of the flag. The reason is simple: Some politicians lack the ability to address truly important matters but need to appear capable, so they focus on high-profile topics related to "national symbols" to gain political influence. As some netizens sarcastically pointed out, there are many significant events occurring in the world, yet the US chooses to spend time on trivial matters.
The proposal reflects US politicians' concerns about US manufacturing being overshadowed by "Made in China" products. They seem obsessed with bringing manufacturing back to the US. The All-American Flag Act is just the tip of the iceberg of the US' dual strategy: closing doors to Chinese imports while attempting to promote domestic factory development through reindustrialization.
However, what the US is doing is essentially an upgraded version of protectionism and a generalization of national and economic security concepts, aimed at keeping industries and jobs in the US. Ironically, this may backfire. The All-American Flag Act risks causing US consumers to incur additional costs for purchasing flags, as the US may not be able to produce goods as cheaply and efficiently as China.
The US has always positioned itself as an advocate of free trade, but now it seems that the core principle of US-style free trade is "American interest first." After all, not even the flag can be bought from the global market - this is truly a joke on globalization.
Currently, the bill is awaiting President Joe Biden's signature to become law. In the future, when the "pure-blood American flag" rises high, what people may see behind it is not the so-called symbol of identity, resolve and values as one people, but rather US nationalism and political anxiety. When US' dignity and values are so fragile that they need to be ensured by the place of origin of the flag they wave, it in itself reflects the decline of the US empire.
Local authorities in Chenzhou, Central China's Hunan Province, have been working all out to restore roads, electricity, and communication systems, after heavy rainfall brought enormous damage to Zixing, which is administrated by the city of Chenzhou, and left 30 people dead and 35 missing, according to local officials at a press briefing on Friday.
All attendees at the press briefing stood and observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the disaster on Friday.
The heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi temporarily caused power outages in 149 villages and communication disruptions in 78 villages in Zixing, one of the most severely affected regions. Communication and power supply have been resumed basically in all 183 villages in Zixing, said the authorities.
A total of 118,000 people were affected by the disaster, with 1,345 road collapses, 1,641 house collapses, and 208,000 mu (13,866.7 hectares) of crops affected, said Kan Baoyong, the mayor of Chenzhou, at the press briefing.
Local authorities have mobilized 1,792 personnel to restore roads, electricity, and communication systems in Zixing. As of 8 pm on Thursday, 46,798 out of 66,793 households have had their power restored, said the mayor.
From July 26 to Thursday, Zixing experienced heavy rainfall with an average precipitation of 410.4 millimeters. Some stations recorded 24-hour rainfall exceeding historical records in Hunan Province. Multiple areas experienced flash floods, mudslides, and landslides, causing varying degrees of damage, according to the local authorities.
A total of 986 sets of large equipment, five helicopters, and over 80 drones have been deployed to rescue and evacuate stranded residents. More than 13,000 people have been urgently relocated, and 695 people have been rescued and evacuated, said the authorities.
China's National Disaster Reduction Commission on Thursday raised the emergency response to Level II, the second-highest, for the region, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Chinese authorities have allocated 378 million yuan ($53 million) to flood relief efforts in the country's southern and northern regions including Hunan Province, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
"Xiling Academy" was inaugurated at the China Cultural Center in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday. The establishment of Japan's "Xiling Academy" marks an important progress in international cultural exchanges. "Xiling Academy" in Japan will roll out training sessions and exchange activities on creative artforms such as seal cutting, calligraphy and painting. It will also hold various cultural activities such as exhibitions and competitions.
Blessed with its branding influence as well as the prestigious members of the Xiling Seal Society, "Xiling Academy" in Japan is expected to further boost the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. This new establishment is injecting new impetus in the traditional culture of both countries, aiming to achieve new progress in international cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, Chen Zhenlian, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, gave a lecture to the delegates on China-Japan exchanges in seal making studies and the development of "Xiling Seal Art Society." The Xiling Seal Art Society, a Chinese arts organization based in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, was founded in 1904. This is the earliest Chinese society formed by specialists in seal engraving, calligraphy and painting.
The "Xiling Academy" was established in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2017. A public welfare project dedicated to inheriting and promoting traditional Chinese culture, "Xiling Academy" has been showcasing the charm of traditional Chinese culture through calligraphy, painting and seal cutting. It has carried out a series of cultural events in many countries and regions, becoming an important link in cultural exchanges with foreign countries.
The Xiling Seal Art Society, is one of China's most important traditional stone seal engraving associations, a key National Relics Preservation Unit and its engraving a national intangible cultural heritage.
In 2009, UNESCO added the Xiling Seal Art Society to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Due to its great achievements in seal engraving, calligraphy, and painting and an impressive collection of art, the prestigious Xiling Seal Art Society has won itself the honor of being considered the best society of its kind.
China's Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) jointly issued a notice on Friday to crack down on cross-border telecommunications fraud. The notice emphasized that providing venues for cross-border telecommunications fraud under the guise of "industrial parks" and controlling criminal gangs should be treated as criminal groups.
According to the MPS, current cross-border telecommunications network fraud presents new challenges, including highly organized and clearly divided fraud groups. Moreover, there are fewer scattered fraud groups overseas, replaced by large-scale gambling fraud parks, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
Fraudulent groups also use new technologies and formats such as virtual currency and artificial intelligence to continuously update their criminal tools. Additionally, their fraudulent methods are rapidly innovating, possessing strong deceptive characteristics. These developments present fresh obstacles to the judicial prosecution and prevention of transnational telecommunications fraud.
Therefore, the notice explicitly outlined four crucial areas of punishment, with the primary focus being on holding accountable the criminal groups' organizers, planners, leaders, and key members in accordance with the law. Additionally, groups that offer refuge to those involved in cross-border telecommunications fraud will also be specifically targeted for enforcement actions.
Furthermore, the notice specified that criminal organizations engaging in heinous acts such as intentional homicide, intentional injury, kidnapping, rape, forced prostitution, and illegal detention will face severe punishment. According to the notice, the crackdown will also target those involved in organizing and facilitating illegal border crossings for individuals participating in cross-border telecommunications fraud.
The notice also proposed approaches in relation to judicial cases. For example, regarding transnational telecommunications fraud and other criminal organizations operating under the guise of "industrial parks" or "development zones" in overseas areas, the notice clearly stipulated that managing and controlling criminal groups through providing criminal venues to carry out transnational telecommunications fraud, extortion, and other criminal activities should be identified as criminal groups and be punished.
The notice emphasized the comprehensive strengthening of asset recovery. Relevant departments should conduct comprehensive investigations and reviews of the financial status of criminal groups and their members involved in cross-border telecommunications fraud, extortion, and other crimes, and lawfully seize and freeze funds, real estate, vehicles, precious metals, and other assets involved in the case.
Since last year, the MPS, together with a host of other departments, have carried out special operations, focusing on capturing and repatriating tens of thousands of overseas fraudsters, forming a strong deterrent, said the CCTV report. The public security organs will continue to vigorously combat overseas telecommunications fraud and other illicit activities, as well as prosecute domestic collaborators in strict accordance with the law, so as to protect the public's fundamental rights and interests.
Recently, our reporter learned from the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company that the Henan Energy Big Data Center "1+18" (an operation system incorporating one provincial-level company and 18 prefecture-level city companies) has been fully established. The center's 11 standard functions and 50 optional functions are all open to provincial and municipal units. Based on this, the data service scenarios and products will support the scientific, precise and efficient development of power supply, energy transformation, and economic development in the province.
In 2020, according to the entrustment construction agreement signed with Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company took the lead in building and operating the provincial-level energy big data center in the State Grid Corporation of China, and also actively promoted the cooperation of city-power supply companies with the local government. Over the past two years, all 18 city-power supply companies have obtained authorization from local government departments for the construction of energy big data centers.
To continuously release the value of data and meet the needs of data application services for users of all levels, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company actively promoted the construction and operation of the "prefecture-level standard application" of the Henan Energy Big Data Center. Adopting a unified technical route, it has successively completed the launch of core functions such as "electric power overview, new energy monitoring and analysis, carbon emission monitoring and analysis, economic analysis, rural revitalization" and other core functions in 18 prefecture-level city-energy big data centers. This was also standardized and unified at the provincial and municipal levels, meeting the daily development, construction and application needs of power big data in various cities.
"This low-cost input and high-efficiency output energy big data center construction, operation and promotion model has reduced the input of local platform construction by more than 90%," said a relevant person in charge of the Digital Department of the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company.
With the goal of further improving the efficiency and quality of the integrated construction and operation of the Henan Energy Big Data Center, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company has reconstructed the "prefecture-level standard application". This provides a more powerful foundation platform for the development and construction of customized functions and applications for prefecture-level city power supply companies, that better utilizes power data products to serve social scientific governance,promote energy supply security and low-carbon development. (Chenhao Songdawei)
China on Tuesday set a growth target of around 5 percent for its economy in 2024, a "forward-looking and pragmatic" goal which deputies and economists said sends strong signals that the world's second-largest economy will sustain its firm recovery momentum this year despite rising headwinds, while putting more emphasis on ensuring economic stability and transforming growth models.
Although achieving the growth target will not be an easy task given the sheer size of the Chinese economy and a grim global environment, Chinese officials have voiced strong confidence that the economy will likely meet or even hit over the target, underpinned by the country's indigenous economic vigor as well as Chinese top policymakers' strategic focus and rich toolbox at hands.
The highly anticipated economic agenda also offers a timely rebuttal to Western doomsayers who have recently been sparing no efforts to disparage the Chinese economy. A 5-percent GDP expansion this year would make China still one of the fastest-growing major economies, raising global expectation that the country would continue serving as both a stabilizer and a locomotive for the world.
Strong confidence
The around 5-percent GDP target, along with a series of other key economic goals, was released in the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday to the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC).
The GDP goal is similar to last year's and is in line with market expectation, which observers said mirrors the country's work priority to maintain policy consistence and economic stability.
In setting the growth rate, Chinese policymakers have taken into account the need to boost employment and income, and prevent and defuse risks. This growth rate is well aligned with the objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the goal of basically realizing modernization. It also takes account of the potential for growth and the conditions supporting growth and reflects the requirement to pursue progress and strive to deliver, according to Government Work Report.
While acknowledging that achieving this year's targets will not be easy, Li pledged that the country will "maintain policy focus, work harder, and mobilize the concerted efforts of all sides."
"The GDP goal is very forward-looking and inspiring. In the Government Work Report, Chinese policymakers do not refrain from walking through this year's challenges and downward pressures, and they showed strong confidence and capacity to tackling with them head on," Pan Biling, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the president of Xiangtan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the target also underscores Chinese authorities' "bottom-line" thinking strategy, based on a sober assessment of a worst-case scenario.
"Without a certain modest level of GDP expansion, it would be very difficult to shore up the real economy, maintain the sound development of capital market, and lift up social expectation," he explained. "And an abrupt slowdown could fuel social uncertainties and financial risks."
Observers said a 5-percent GDP growth aligns with the long-term development goals laid out by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the Long-Range Objectives through 2035, which stated that the country's GDP should double by 2035, compared with its 2020 level. It also provides a necessary condition for China to achieve its goal of "creating over 12 million new urban jobs" in 2024 listed in the Government Work Report.
According to Tian, if the Chinese economy grows by 5 percent or above this year, it will still be one of the fastest among major economies.
A growth rate of around 5 percent would also be faster than IMF's projected global growth rate of 3.1 percent or the forecast of 1.5 percent for advanced economies and 4.1 percent for emerging market and developing economies. The IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook report released in January, projected that China's GDP will grow by 4.6 percent in 2024
"China's net contribution to the global economy is poised to be larger than previous decades, taking account of the high base," Tian said. Observers estimated that the Chinese economy will contribute around 30 percent to 35 percent to global growth this year.
Han Baojiang, a member of the National Committee of CPPCC and a professor at Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, told the Global Times that setting GDP goal is also a "timely, clear" response to certain pessimistic voices on Chinese economy, especially from the international society.
"The positivity released by the economic work is clearly in contrast with Western smears against the Chinese economy. And those doomsayers don't understand the vigor and potential of an economy whose modernization involves 1.4 billion people," Han said.
Transforming growth model
Deputies and political advisors told the Global Times that there is a slew of new policy insights from this year's Government Work Report. "I could see a spirit of reform and innovation in the economic roadmap," Pan said.
According to the report, China will move faster to create a new pattern of development, and promote high-quality development. The report highlighted 10 major tasks this year and "striving to modernize the industrial system and developing new quality productive forces at a faster pace" was listed at the foremost.
"New quality productive forces are a pioneering concept proposed by Chinese top leaders last year. As the Chinese economy is undergoing a period of structure transition, the creation of such drives will play an outsized impact not only in guiding economic progress, but also in shaping the global tech landscape," Han said, while highlighting China's whole-nation systematic advantage in gearing up such new drives.
Chen Fengying, an economist and former director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday that drawing upon the wording from the Government Work Report, she expects to see Chinese government's "broader efforts" in innovation, reform and opening-up.
"The international environment remains complex amid a year fraught with presidential elections. Meanwhile, the US has been taking aim at China's tech industry with its so-called 'small yard, high fence' approach. Internally, the Chinese economy also faces an array of hindrances, including weak market confidence and property market downturn that could weigh on the development prospect," Chen said. She noted that it is crucial that China deepens reforms, especially in driving internal demands, to sustain a full-fledged economic recovery.
The Government Work Report also presaged more fiscal stimulus to shore up the economy this year, according to economists.
China's deficit-to-GDP ratio is set at 3 percent this year, and the government deficit is set at 4.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 180 billion yuan over the 2023 budget figure.
"We should appropriately enhance the intensity of our proactive fiscal policy and improve its quality and effectiveness," Li said. He also proposed that 1 trillion yuan ultra-long special treasury bonds will likely be issued in 2024, and such bonds will also be issued over each of the next several years.
"It is a good time to scale up the issuance of special treasury bonds, as the borrowing cost will inch lower in the coming months, and as China's inflation is relatively low," Tian said, adding that China still has sufficient room for more fiscal and monetary policy maneuver this year.
Observers said if the potential of all available resources and other elements are fully utilized, China could realize a GDP growth rate of between 5 percent and 6 percent this year, landing well above the 5-percent goal.
China's overall economic recovery and growth were boosted in 2023, according to Li. Its GDP surpassed 126 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 5.2 percent, ranking China among the fastest-growing major economies in the world.
At 3:50 pm on Wednesday, an inclined shaft runaway incident occurred at the Kunyuan Coal Mine in the city of Jixi, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, killing 12 people and injuring 13 others. All the injured have been transported to nearby hospitals for treatment, according to media reports.
Currently, rescue efforts are underway, and an investigation team has been formed to probe the cause of the accident, reports said.
According to Tianyancha, an online data base of companies, the Jixi Kunyuan Coal Industry Co Ltd was established in April 2010 and its business scope mainly includes coal mining and washing.
Yet it is worth noting that the Kunyuan Coal Mine has received multiple notifications of administrative penalties imposed by the Jixi City Coal Production Safety Administration Bureau for violations of relevant laws and regulations.
An official from Jixi City Emergency Management Bureau told Jiemian.com that the tragedy occurred underground.
When answering the query why the incident was reported one day after it occurred, the official said that rescuers were in the process of responding to the situation on Wednesday and had learned of 13 injuries. The number of fatalities was only confirmed on Thursday, hence the recent update.
An inclined shaft runaway accident refers to an incident where a mine cart loses control and falls along the inclined shaft during the lifting or lowering of vehicles. In such accidents, the out-of-control vehicles pose a threat mine workers. Additionally, if the mine's air contains flammable gases or materials, the collision or damage to electrical equipment caused by the runaway cart could potentially spark an explosion, endangering life safety of the workers.
On May 8, 2016, the Kunyuan Coal Mine experienced a collision accident involving coal cars, resulting in one fatality and a direct economic loss of 702,000 yuan ($98,252).
According to the official website of the Jixi government, in October 2023, the Hengshan district, where the colliery locates, emphasized coal mine safety production for coal mining enterprises, focusing on "risk prevention and safety assurance."
It also stressed the importance of strengthening major risk assessment, adhering to the regulatory and supervisory work mechanism of "analyzing and judging, regular consultations, timely warnings, and ensuring implementation" for major risk control in coal mines. The government aims to promptly issue warning information, supervise and guide coal mines in implementing preventive measures and prevent the occurrence of major incidents.
This year's 41st Beijing Marathon was held on October 29, and Greece, the cradle of the Marathon run, took part in the Beijing Marathon for the first time.
Greek Ambassador to China, Eugenios Kalpyris, was among the seven dignitaries who gave the signal for the start of the race at 7:30 am, at the Tiananmen Square.
Later, after the finish of the race, the Greek Embassy awarded medals from the Athens Authentic Marathon to the volunteers, the medical services, the referees and the official pacer teams for their contribution to upholding the "Marathon Spirit."
"It is a pleasure to be here today, for the Beijing Marathon. I am deeply impressed with the athletic spirit and the massive participation of such a big number of runners in today's Beijing Marathon. Congratulations!
The high regard the Chinese people have for the Athens Authentic Marathon is truly overwhelming. In the last 20 years sports has been a strong connecting link between Greece and China and we are looking forward to more cooperation in such big events in the future," said the ambassador. Earlier, the Greek Embassy had participated with a booth in the Beijing Marathon Expo from October 26 to 28, showcasing the Athens Authentic Marathon and the official medals for the 42,195 km run.
Apart from the 15 elite athletes that were invited, over 130,000 runners signed up for the race and about 30,000 were selected after a lucky draw, the organizing committee said.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the initiative of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013, it was framed as a broad vision to expand regional cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries. By visiting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia in July, Global Times reporters followed Xi's footsteps and visions to find out how BRI projects have enhanced regional connectivity, deepened trade and economic relations, promoted political trust and expanded people-to-people exchanges among member countries.
Just like Xi's vision for "a global community of shared future," like-minded countries in Southeast Asia - united by geography and bonded by mutual interests - are coming together to form a more cohesive bloc.
At a time when the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, the international community has strong expectations for China's voice, role and wisdom.
One ordinary morning 10 years ago, young Indonesian girl Grace Jessica casually flipped through the newspaper and came across news about visiting
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his speech at the Indonesian parliament. She knew little about international relations, but her intuition told her that Xi's visit could bring some "valuable benefits to both countries."
Time proved the young Indonesian's intuition true.
One decade later, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) has helped Jessica realize her dream of participating in the development and innovation of her motherland. The railway has been a brand-new Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) "calling card" as Indonesia can now boast that it has the first fully operational high-speed railway line in Southeast Asia.
In 2019, Jessica, as a fresh graduate, took a job as an assistant director at the Tegalluar station of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. It has become a point of pride for her family to see her participate in such an important national infrastructure project.
"Every time when I think back, I feel like my dream started from the moment when Xi delivered a speech at the Indonesia parliament in 2013," she told the Global Times during an interview in Bandung, Indonesia, in July.
On October 3, 2013, President Xi became the first foreign head of state to address the Indonesian House of Representatives upon invitation. Then speaker of the house of representatives Marzuki Alie extended his welcome and vowed to push forward the relations between the two countries to a new high.
In a recent interview with the Global Times, Marzuki recalled that Xi's address was "very significant not only for Indonesia-China relations, but also for international cooperation." He said he believed the BRI was "the most ambitious foreign and economic policy of the Chinese government at the time."
"In his speech, President Xi highlighted the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as a path of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusivity, mutual learning and mutual benefit. I believe it is essential for the [Indonesian] government to respond to Xi's offer, which, in the next term when President Joko Widodo led it, envisioned Indonesia becoming a 'world maritime axis,'" Marzuki said.
Marzuki highlighted that since the initiative's introduction in 2013, Indonesia's cooperation with China under the BRI has undergone significant development in a variety of disciplines such as infrastructure, trade, investment, tourism and maritime partnerships.
Li Zhuohui, the 85-year-old chief editor of Sin Po, a Peranakan Chinese-language newspaper founded in Indonesia, can still clearly remember the enthusiastic applauses that erupted during Xi's speech at the parliament on the day.
In the view of Li, who listened to the speech at the parliament, the BRI, the concept of a global community of shared future, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative are contemporary versions of Datong, or "a world of great harmony," a philosophy that the Chinese people have carried forward for thousands of years.
The vision of "a world of great harmony" was inherited and reflected in Xi's speeches at the G20 in Indonesia and APEC in Thailand in November 2022, when Xi outlined a blueprint for global development with the principles of being "more inclusive," "beneficial to all" and "more resilient."
During Xi's visit to Indonesia in 2022, Xi and Widodo inspected via video link the inauguration of the trial operation of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. It marked a milestone achievement for the Jakarta-Bandung HSR and was a remarkable embodiment of the China-Indonesia community of shared future, capable of significantly driving the integration of Indonesia's regional economy.
As the first high-speed railway in the history of Indonesia, also the first in Southeast Asia, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR was a dream that many local Indonesians like Jessica could not have dared to hope for just 10 years ago.
Footsteps kick off trade
In 2023, in the context of a global slowdown and the risk of increasing fragmentation of globalization, Asia is anticipated to accelerate its pace of overall economic growth, and will continue to advance regional production, trade, investment and financial integration and cohesion, and seize the "Asian moment" for global economic governance.
Such positive hopes shed a light on what Xi claimed at the APEC CEO Summit in Indonesia on October 7, 2013 that "China cannot develop without the Asia-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific cannot prosper without China."
What Xi said in 2013 has been confirmed over the following decade, as the core development concepts of some Southeast Asian countries are blending with China's.
In January 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim unveiled a new policy direction for his country called the "Madani Way," the Malay acronym for "Sustainability, Care & Compassion, Respect, Innovation, Prosperity, and Trust," which seeks to address the country's inequalities in terms of ethnicity, religion, regions and other issues.
"The concept of the 'Madani Way' resonates with Xi's idea of 'a global community of shared future.' Both aim to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development that benefits all people, regardless of race, class, or belief," Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's former ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005, said in an interview with the Global Times in Malaysia.
Under the guidance of President Xi's development philosophy centered on the people, China actively participates in projects such as the East Coast Rail Link and the Kuantan Industrial Park in Malaysia, helping Malaysia achieve a more equitable and balanced development.
This strategic cooperation undoubtedly promotes mutual benefit between Malaysia and China, Majid noted.
In 2014, Xi called for the two countries to build industrial parks in China's Qinzhou and Malaysia's Kuantan as flagship projects for China-Malaysia cooperation and models for China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) cooperation.
And as of April 2023, the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park has signed 12 projects with an agreed investment of 46 billion yuan ($6.3 billion).
In July, when a team of Global Times reporters visited the Kuantan Industrial Park and Kuantan Port, they witnessed readily the vitality behind the trade of goods. The cranes stood tall, the containers were neatly arranged, and newly arrived materials such as iron ore and coke were stacked in an orderly manner. With the joint efforts of China and Malaysia, the Kuantan Port with a history of more than 40 years was ushering in a new phase of vitality.
The booming trade seems to echo Xi's appeal at the G20 Summit in Indonesia in 2022 that "No one should engage in beggar-thy-neighbor practices, building 'a small yard with high fences'."
Heightened exchanges boost closer ties
For many young people in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, each and every one of Xi's visits is an important window for them to understand China's culture and development philosophy, and a chance to further eliminate misunderstandings.
The people-to-people friendship between China and Southeast Asian countries has been further enhanced after each visit by the Chinese leader, as tourism, scholars and student exchanges and art exchanges have continued to intensify over the past decade.
On December 24, 2011, as China's vice president at that time, Xi visited the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and stressed that China and Thailand are close neighbors with a history of more than 1,000 years of friendly contact.
It is the common aspiration of the Chinese and Thai people that "China and Thailand are kith and kin" and their common desire to carry on the friendship from generation to generation, Xi said.
Xi pointed out that cultural exchanges are the important link to enhance the mutual understanding among people. He hoped that the Confucius Institutes at Chulalongkorn and other Thai universities make full use of the role of Confucius Institute as the platform of comprehensive cultural exchanges to make new contributions to increasing the understanding and friendship between the Chinese and Thai people, promoting the equal cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Thailand and advancing learning among human civilization, the Xinhua News Agency reported in 2011.
In July, the Global Times visited the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University. It was clear that Xi's earnest request had been fulfilled amid the "Chinese fever" of young Thai people.
As the first country in the world to incorporate Chinese into its national education system, Thailand currently has more than 2,000 primary and secondary schools offering Chinese courses and more than 1 million students learning Chinese in schools, accounting for about 60 percent of the total number of students learning Chinese in schools in Southeast Asia, ranking it first in the world.
The Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, established in 2007, promotes understanding of Chinese languages and Chinese culture in Thai society through various activities such as Chinese language teaching, Chinese culture research and local teacher training.
Han Shenglong, the Chinese head of the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, told the Global Times that in Thailand Chinese has gradually replaced Japanese as the second largest foreign language after English.
Currently, there are 17 Confucius Institutes in Thailand. At its peak, there were over 2,000 Chinese teachers and volunteers teaching Chinese in Thailand. In fact, the Thai government has increasingly realized the importance of promoting Chinese education, according to Han.
In recent years, with the deepening integration of China's and Thailand's economic strategies, educational exchanges between the two countries have entered a new phase.
Han said that Chinese language teaching in Thailand has become more practical nowadays, aiming to cultivate Chinese language talents who can work in industries such as high-speed rail, logistics, tourism, and e-commerce.
Majid told the Global Times that more opportunities for exchanges are expected to allow more individuals, especially youngsters, to witness an objective and authentic China in order to eliminate misunderstandings.
The Malaysia-China Friendship Association chaired by Majid has also translated some of President Xi's speeches into the Malay language, and it intends to work on a production of a special film about the Silk Road in Northwest China. The veteran Malaysian diplomat expects the cultural exchanges amid the strong political and diplomatic foundation between the two sides will be heightened.
