China's first high-energy synchrotron radiation facility to be lit in 2024: chief engineer

As the last magnet of China's High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) was successfully installed in the Huairou Science City in Beijing on December 11, 2023, the first step of the HEPS storage ring installation was officially completed. The HEPS, after completion, will stand as one of the brightest synchrotron radiation (SR) sources in the world and the first high-energy synchrotron radiation facility in China.

Pan Weimin, the chief manager of the HEPS project, along with the audience, toured the HEPS project via video footage at a New Year's Eve event hosted by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, demonstrating an important development in China's high-tech fields.

"The HEPS, once completed, will become one of the brightest synchrotron radiation light sources in the world. This will underline that China has become one of the frontrunners in the field of X-ray-based forms of research," Pan told the Global Times.

The HEPS is designed with the capacity to emit X-ray beams that are a trillion times brighter than those of the sun. From an aerial view, the HEPS consists of three main buildings, with an overall shape resembling a magnifying glass, symbolizing "a tool for exploring the microscopic world."

Pan introduced that the HEPS has the characteristics of high energy, high brightness, and high repetition frequency, which means scientists can observe the deep internal structures of microscopic substances more clearly and characterize the microscopic structures in multiple dimensions, real-time, and in-situ.

The photon source is scheduled to accelerate the storage ring in July 2024, and emit its first SR light by the end of the year. The quality of the SR X-ray will be continuously improved to reach its design specifications from then on, according to Pan.

Once completed, HEPS will be one of the world's top five high-energy SR light sources and one of the few fourth-generation SR light sources. "This would greatly enhance China's scientific and technological status and promote technological innovation in fields related to people's livelihoods such as life sciences and energy," Pan said.

At the same time, as an open user facility, the HEPS will also attract more scientists from all over the world to conduct SR-based research projects, and pave the way for ground-breaking research, Pan noted.

The brighter light source requires more advanced technologies. The HEPS is mainly comprised of an electron accelerator complex and beamlines. The electron accelerator complex includes a linear accelerator, booster, and storage ring. Among them, the storage ring is the core part of the light source, producing a bright SR beam and requiring greater advancements in technologies.

With a circumference of approximately 1,360 meters, the storage ring contains more than 1,700 high-precision magnets and other important accelerator elements. It is required that the alignment errors of most of these elements must be controlled within 50 micrometers, which is less than the diameter of the human hair over such a large scale, according to Pan.

More than 500 researchers have been involved in the HEPS project, which consists of multiple disciplines such as magnets, vacuum, power supply, mechanics, and X-ray optics and detection. How to integrate various technologies and let talents from various disciplines collaborate with each other are the keys to realizing a large-scale scientific project such as HEPS, Pan noted.

"It is the golden age of science. Participating in the construction of such a large-scale scientific facility is not only an honor for a scientist, but also an opportunity to exercise, improve, and showcase oneself, especially for young scientists," he said.

Night school boom reflects Chinese youth's pursuit of personal fulfillment, defying 'lying flat' narrative

Working during the day and acquiring new skills at night is becoming a new way of life for young people in China. From dancing to vocal training, from traditional handicrafts, beauty, and fitness classes, to wine tasting and vlog filming, the list of possibilities for new learning experiences is seemingly limitless.

These diverse options, cost-effectiveness, and highly qualified teachers have made "night school," a concept that used to carry a sense of nostalgia in China, popular once more, especially among China's younger generation.

This trend first started in Shanghai. During the enrollment of the Citizen Night School for Arts for the autumn semester in September, more than 650,000 people competed for 10,000 course spots, causing the enrollment platform to crash. Then, in a short period of time, the night school trend spread across China.

Night schools hold a special place in the memories of many Chinese people. From literacy classes after the establishment of the People's Republic of China to evening lectures at universities in the 1980s, generations of young people have, for decades, attended night school to supplement their cultural and technical knowledge.

However, the current wave of young people enrolling in night schools is driven more by their interests, with the aim of enriching their personal, spiritual, and cultural fulfillment.

Observers have pointed out that the night school boom is in line with the current economic situation and young people's living conditions.

Unlike the Western media's portrayal of Chinese young people's "lying flat" mindset under work pressure, attending night schools reflects the diversified growth needs of Chinese youth.

"In a stable economic and social situation, the popularity of night classes is a very common situation as many young people can afford them and have leisure time to attend classes they like, and more importantly, seek to improve their cultural knowledge and mental outlook," Zhang Yiwu, a Chinese language and literature professor at Peking University, told the Global Times.

A new nightlife

"Like light, full of anticipation, night school may be the first time our generation has actively developed interests that are non-utilitarian," said Xu Lili, a 27-year-old advertisement planner in Beijing.

Xu told the Global Times that she spent an entire weekend carefully selecting night school institutions and courses on Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu), a popular lifestyle sharing social media platform in China, before actually attending classes. Finally, she chose a street dance class that was close to her workplace, taught by a graduate from the Beijing Dance Academy. The course cost 700 yuan ($98) for 10 classes and was transferable to friends.

"After experiencing the course, I felt it was really good. The atmosphere was great, and I've made many new friends here," Xu said. "We are also discussing taking Chinese pastry baking and drama appreciation classes together next."

Far from the relatively arduous matriculation process during school days, Xu said that for her, learning about art allows her to temporarily escape from the stresses of her job.

Xu said she did not have any specific expectations for her learning outcomes, but rather wants to try a wide range of courses and find a hobby that can provide her with personal satisfaction.

"Night school allows me to find my passion with minimal cost and also helps me realize that there are more interesting friends and a life beyond work," Xu said.

Chinese people have always had a strong thirst for knowledge. But currently, attending night school now is very different from the nationwide night school craze in the early 1980s. Nowadays, attending night school reflects the diversified growth needs of the contemporary youth.

"It is completely driven by interests, with the aim of enriching our spiritual and cultural lives," Xu said.

In Professor Zhang Yiwu's views, the popularity of night class is one of the best examples, which can dispel the notion that young people in China are "lying flat" for a purposeless life, as portrayed by some Western media outlets.

He noted that in Chinese society, a large portion of young people have enough income to meet basic survival needs and have enough left over to focus on their interests. They don't necessarily have to work extremely hard to earn a stable income, which allows them to easily afford night school or other forms of self-improvement.

In China, there are diverse lifestyle choices that can support both personal growth and a fulfilling leisure life, Zhang pointed out.

"The desire for self-improvement and enrichment is strong among the younger generation, and it extends beyond work. There is a significant proportion of young people who are able to maintain a good living in society and still have time to pursue interests. This phenomenon of enhancing personal development is not surprising and is a natural result of social progress," he said.

A communication channel

"From the beginning, I was worried that the night school courses in a second-tier city would not attract enough people and might not be able to run. But the reality proved that I was overly concerned," Zheng Lifu, who transformed his art training center into a night school in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, told the Global Times.

Just three days after Zheng posted enrollment information for courses at the night school on Xiaohongshu, he received over 300 private messages inquiring about the courses. Within a week, he had successfully opened classes for Guqin and jazz dance, attracting more than 100 participants.

"The demand for young people today to reconstruct their cultural lives and cultivate their interests after work is real," Zheng said.

Currently, Zheng is expanding his night school business further. "The courses are in high demand overall, and we are further assessing the intentions of the students and planning to recruit new qualified teachers to launch more popular courses," he said, noting that his institution aims to provide inclusive entry-level courses while also creating advanced courses to meet the needs of students who want to further enhance their skills.

The Global Times has found that there are roughly three types of night school operation modes currently available on the market. The first type is night schools with official backgrounds, which are established through the coordination of local governments, community organizations, village committees, and training institutions. The second is night schools initiated by training institutions, similar to Zheng's, which offer affordable introductory courses and target long-term course applicants. The third is night schools run by individuals or teams who act as intermediaries, connecting students with institutions and earning a portion of the enrollment fee. All of these operating models are striving to achieve precise alignment with the knowledge demands of young people.

"There are two types of content that easily attract attention on social platforms: 'Where to go after work' and 'Where to go at weekends'" Kevin Wang, a 32-year-old finance industry worker in Shanghai, has devoted all his free time to operating his self-developed community platform Weekend Charging. This young offline social platform, which has been in operation for over a year, started to focus on night school management a month ago.

Wang noted that the night school operation model of Weekend Charging involves cooperation with training institutions to offer interesting courses that young people may not easily come across, such as ukulele, horse riding, and woodwork and leather goods production, in order to lower the learning threshold and cultivate interests and friendships, thus recharging their energies.

Currently, there are over 1,000 active young people in the Weekend Charging community, participating in more than 20 different courses.
"Young people in big cities live in scattered locations and have diverse interests. We play a role in bridging the information gap between training institutions and colleges, and ensuring the cost-effectiveness of night school, a new learning and communication model for young people," Wang said.

A career opportunity

"The new form of night schools is currently thriving, but still in the early stages of development," said Wang. "Everyone is exploring uncharted territory, hoping to establish a comprehensive and smooth operational system that covers courses, pricing, faculty, and after-sales support, in order to foster positive growth and attract and retain the enthusiasm of young learners."

Wang pointed out that the operation of Weekend Charging night school is still in its infancy, and as all members are part-time, they have not yet achieved substantial profits.

"Our core team consists of only 5-6 people, who have come together out of interest and are truly proud to be involved in the night school industry as a career opportunity," he stressed. Wang added that many people find their work meaningful during the classes and continue to sign up. "Although there is uncertainty; we are full of hope for the future of night schools," he said.

The upgraded night schools are also striving to keep up with the times and maintain their appeal to young people.

As the number of students continues to grow, operational challenges also increase. Wang hopes that in the future, the government and private forces will join forces. "Only when this trend passes can high-quality night schools with unified standards be better sustained."

"For some people, attending night school may be a temporary phase, but overall, this social trend includes enhancing self-cultivation and self-improvement in the fields of aesthetics, art, and culture, among others, and also helps create a new industry that benefits social and economic development," Zhang said. "The trend will not change."

Austria: Cultural performance event in Beijing raises food waste awareness

The Austrian Cultural Center in Beijing recently invited artists Honey and Bunny to organize the performance art exhibition "Diets, resources, and aesthetics" at the Markor Cave Museum. This exciting event was organized to commemorate the International Day of Food Loss and Waste Awareness. 

Food waste, environmental protection, food distribution, and sustainable use of resources are global issues that have attracted the attention of all sectors of society, and can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, including ethics, science, and art. This theme was deeply explored through "eating" art performances and food design, which were rich, revelatory experiences for audiences.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relationships between China and Austria in 1971, cultural exchanges between the two countries have been very active, and this performance art exhibition is a witness to the friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

A series of photographic artworks created by the artists Honey and Bunny on the subject of food are on display at the exhibition, complimenting wonderful performances through conversation sessions and performance art pieces, inspiring a deep understanding among audience and their reflections on "Diets, resources, and aesthetics." This exhibition is not only a friendly international art and culture exchange feast, but also deepens cultural cooperation between China and Europe.

A ‘tree trimming story’ vividly embodies grassroots-level practice of China’s whole-process people’s democracy

Trees cast shadows on the alamedas in a residential community in Shanghai's Minhang district. Close to Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community's main gate, are three fragrant camphor trees marked by somewhat special signs, which read: "receding trimming," "deep trimming," and "regular trimming," indicating the trimming degree of each tree.

Tree trimming, a seemingly trivial matter, used to be the community's long-unsolved problem due to different preferences and demands by local residents. Those who enjoy the shade beneath trees tend to trim the trees less, while those who prefer natural brightness employ heavy-handed trimming, two contradictory opinions often resulting in numerous quarrels in the community over the last decade.

Recently, an in-depth report published by Shanghai-based newspaper Jiefang Daily highlighted the story of "tree trimming," providing a detailed account of how the community found a solution to a seemingly mundane problem, thanks to the joint efforts of the community residents, managers, as well as related urban planning and greening departments.

The three trees, along with their signs, are hailed as a microcosm of whole-process people's democracy, as well as a vivid embodiment of the wisdom of grassroots management in Chinese cities. The "tree trimming" story laid out in the Jiefang Daily report has also played out in other residential communities across Shanghai, which experts said demonstrated the country's great progress in improving whole process people's democracy and strengthening governance at the grassroots level.

Whole-process people's democracy, the defining feature of a socialist democracy, is best reflected in people's participation in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight in accordance with the law. As a major summary of the theory and practice of Chinese democracy, whole-process people's democracy is also China's answer to the chaos of the West and the confusion of Western democracy.

From attraction to 'obstacles'

One day after dinner, some Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community residents gathered in the community's park for a chat. An elderly man in the crowd seemed somewhat displeased, saying, "They stopped trimming the trees. I wonder what the issue is this time?"

Trimming trees, more than a decade ago, was a source of anger in the community, according to the article published by Jiefang Daily.

Back then, the lush trees in the neighborhood provided shade, a significant attraction for newcomers to settle in this area. However, after more than a decade since the community was established, the camphor trees grew so tall that they blocked the sunlight for residents in lower-level apartments. An overwhelmingly successful greening project therefore became an "obstacle" for some residents.

"We can hardly see sunlight all year round, and it's so dark inside," said one resident, a sentiment echoed by almost all those who suggested tree trimming.

In 2018, a "conflict" erupted in the community over tree trimming. At that time, the Shanghai government issued a three-year action plan for building beautiful homes in Shanghai residential communities. Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community then received project funding, and the community owners' committee took this opportunity to propose tree trimming.

But after trimming fewer than 10 trees, the project was halted and later abandoned due to residents' complaints. Some people said the primary reason was "haphazard trimming."

"For some trees, they directly cut off lower branches, which certainly deviated from the standards for trimming," assessed Wang Lanhua who participated in the tree trimming project.

Consequently, when the tree trimming project was paused during the summer due to high temperatures this year, residents became especially incensed. Wang explained that in early 2022, Shanghai issued a notice which stipulated that the trimming of residential area trees should take place before spring budding or after autumn tree growth stops to avoid extreme cold and hot weather.

"The workers sweat a lot up there and can get dehydrated. Besides, the trees can't endure it; they lose moisture too quickly," he explained to the residents.

Zhang Chao, a member of the community owners' committee, pointed out that "the issue of tree trimming in this community is particularly sensitive, and a small problem can trigger larger issues."

Previously, most residents' attitude has been an eagerness for tree trimming coupled with a distrust of the community owners' committee.

Liu Junli, who lived in the community for a long time, is now the director of the owners' committee. She said that the previous owners' committee had a poor reputation among residents. "So whenever they undertook a project, people would say they were just trying to make money."

Zhu Fang, a member of the committee, standing nearby, chuckled, indicating that she had grown used to hearing such comments.

Back on agenda

In 2020, the election of the new owners' committee began and it took over a year to successfully form the new committee.

Restoring trust between the residents and the committee was just the first step. Liu decided to start small, initially addressing issues like unruly parking at the entrance and problems with garbage disposal in the community, "To at least make residents feel that the community committee is taking action," she told Jiefang Daily.

After successfully handling those issues, the members of the committee felt that this was the time to reintroduce tree trimming into the agenda. With a large number of trees in the community and a substantial amount of money involved, a public bidding process was necessary. Drafting a proposal was the first step. At the time, the committee requested that the bidding companies provide detailed plans before the owners' meeting, enabling residents to vote on the refined proposals.

Communicating with the residents was done through real-time updates on the community's WeChat account, and the tree-trimming plan was a crucial topic during offline resident reception days.

During these reception days, there were occasions when residents voiced their opposition to tree trimming. Then the committee arranged for residents who supported and opposed the tree trimming to exchange views face-to-face in the meeting room, dispelling residents' preconceptions about the committee profiting from these decisions. Often, residents who were initially opposed to tree trimming would be convinced after hearing comprehensive reasons in favor of the trimming from others.

To prevent a repeat of what happened in 2018, Zhang sought help from friends working in related fields and invited experts to conduct an on-site inspection to determine "which trees need trimming and how they should be trimmed."

Based on the experts' advice, three demonstration trees appeared at the entrance of the committee. These three trees, pruned to varying degrees, were accompanied with printed explanations on receding trimming, deep trimming, and regular trimming.

Open-eared

During two resident reception days, the registration form of the owners' committee spanned 14 pages, filled with detailed notes.

After summarizing, it was discovered that residents' tree-trimming needs primarily fell into two categories. Trimming was requested due to lack of sunlight, branches extending to balconies, or potential window breakages. However, some residents wished for shade on the main road and requested there be no trimming.

"If a tree is situated both on the main road and extends to residents' balconies, we trim the balcony-facing branches and try to preserve the road-facing branches as much as possible," Zhang said.
On April 2, 2023, the vote result from the owners' meeting agenda was announced: 1,273 votes were in favor of the proposal, accounting for 67.68 percent, while 150 votes were opposed, at 7.97 percent, making it one of the most highly approved proposals during the owners' meeting.

Gradually, community cooperation around tree-trimming increased. Zhang sought the advice of experts and found a site-specific solution - deep pruning, which is essentially still a form of receding trimming, but it involves leaving more branches compared to receding trimming. This method strikes a balance between meeting regulatory requirements and addressing residents' demands.

Wang, with years of tree-trimming experience, noted that in recent years, newly constructed communities began to avoid the problems encountered in older communities during their landscaping planning. Meanwhile, government recommendations are becoming increasingly standardized, with clearer numerical regulations in landscaping ordinances.

Template practice

Similar tree trimming stories have also been seen in other residential communities across Shanghai, Global Times reporters found.

In the city's downtown Hongkou district, there is a residential community named Tianshui, where many residents are senior citizens. For the elderly, reasonable tree trimming is not only about sunlight and visibility, but also about personal safety.

It's not easy to satisfy every resident. Usually, those who live on higher floors don't want the trees trimmed nearly as much as those living on lower floors do, according to local community managers.

Cui Fenglin, the then community Party branch secretary, decided to address the main security concerns first. He invited landscapers to prune the tree branches near the community's anti-theft electric fence, so as to eliminate the security risks.

"Then, we went doors to doors, collecting various suggestions from people living on different floors," Cui told the Global Times. Thanks to Cui and his coworkers' effort, "the vast majority of the residents no longer had a problem with that [tree trimming]."

The tree trimming issue is a very typical example that reflects the whole-process people's democracy, which is the broadest, truest, and most effective form of democracy, commented public policy expert Peng Xizhe, the executive vice dean of the Shanghai-based Fudan Development Institute.

"Some people may think of significant national affairs when they think of democracy. Actually, democracy has been reflected in all aspects of people's daily lives," Peng told the Global Times. "Like the tree trimming, it is a community affair that eventually reaches a consensus, after going through a democratic process that allows everyone to express their views. During the process, people's democratic awareness is naturally built and increased."

Also, various forms of grass-roots governance, such as owners' and neighborhood committees, have blossomed in recent years along with China's development. They have provided a practical way for the general public to participate in social governance at the grassroots level, Peng noted.

Echoing Peng, Shanghai-based lawyer Wu Xinhui said that the neighborhood committee is a self-governing organization by the residents, and the owners' committee is the self-governing organization of the property owners. The tree trimming issue illustrates how these two grassroots self-governing organizations in China practice whole-process people's democracy.

Wu also serves as an expert and a "legislative coordinator" at a national grassroots-level legislation contact stations in Shanghai's Hongqiao subdistrict. The subdistrict is a township-level administrative division in China's urban areas.

As one of China's first set of four national grassroots-level legislation contact stations in use by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the Hongqiao neighborhood, as of early September, had solicited opinions from residents on 84 draft laws over the last eight years.

Including Wu, the several hundred "legislative coordinators" who voluntarily collect and sort through these grassroots opinions, the station in Hongqiao has submitted more than 2,600 suggestions on the country's various draft laws to the NPC, 180 of which have been adopted.

"We serve as a bridge that directly links China's top legislature to the general public," Wu told the Global Times.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets London mayor, emphasizing China’s commitment to opening-up

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met and held discussions with London mayor William Russell in Beijing on Wednesday, saying that China welcomes bilateral exchanges and expanding cooperation on trade and economy between China and the UK, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Economic and trade cooperation between China and the UK is deep and extensive," Han said, adding that China is willing to work with British financial institutions to expand cooperation in various fields, promote cultural exchanges, and build a stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relationship.

Currently, China is advancing Chinese-style modernization on the back of high-quality development, Han said, adding that the nation is firmly committed to further promoting two-way opening-up of the financial market, providing broader investment and development opportunities for financial institutions and investors from around the world, Han said. 

By reiterating the nation's commitment to widening its opening-up to the world, Han expressed his hope that London, a world-renowned financial center, will play a more important role in promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation on economy and trade between China and the UK.

Noting that the prospects for cooperation in the financial field between the UK and China are broad, Russell said the UK appreciates China's achievements in economic and social development. The UK is willing to actively participate in China's high-level opening-up, strengthen bilateral cooperation in green finance and promote economic and trade ties with China, said Russell.

On Tuesday, Chinese authorities issued a broad plan to attract foreign investment, with targeted measures, in an effort to advance high-level opening-up and attract and utilize foreign investment. The action plan has demonstrated the Chinese government's determination and efforts in attracting foreign investment, which plays a positive role in promoting high-level opening-up, Chinese experts said.

China has always been open to global free trade and is willing to provide opportunities in the Chinese market for foreign-invested enterprises, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Wednesday, adding that the country continues to act as an important market for international investors.

HK trade undergoes diversification; ASEAN becomes No.2 export market

The export markets of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are undergoing a diversification process, with more focus shifting toward emerging markets amid a decrease in exports to traditional markets such as the US and Europe, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in a post on his blog over the weekend. 

He highlighted expanding trade ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose share of exports by value reached 7.9 percent in 2023, compared with 6.1 percent in 2022, making it Hong Kong's second-largest export market after the Chinese mainland.

As the global trade landscape evolves, the city's exports to the US dropped from 18.6 percent of the total in 2003 to just 6.5 percent last year, while exports to the EU decreased from 10.5 percent to 6.6 percent in the same period, according to Chan. 

The changes in Hong Kong's trade structure reflect the changes of the global economic landscape and an adjustment in Hong Kong's role, Liang Haiming, an expert on the Hong Kong economy and chairman of the China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The prospects of Hong Kong's industrial and export development are promising, Liang said, while taking note of Hong Kong's unchanged status as an international financial and commercial hub, which will continue to attract multinational corporations.  

Hong Kong's active participation in regional cooperation also opens up more trade opportunities. By actively participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and trade cooperation with ASEAN member countries, Hong Kong explores broader markets and investment opportunities for local businesses, Liang stated.

Amid the rapid shifts in exports, Hong Kong's trade has seen a quick recovery, with exports in January seeing a year-on-year increase of 33.6 percent, the largest rise since February 2021, to HK$388.7 billion ($49.7 billion). Its imports grew by 21.7 percent, reaching HK$385.1 billion, according to the Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR government.

"As global economies transform and the importance of services trade increases, Hong Kong is well-positioned to expand its share in the services sector, leveraging its strengths in finance, law, logistics and professional services." Liang said.

The city is ramping up efforts to create new economic growth opportunities. The 2024-2025 Hong Kong Budget proposed building the HKSAR into a multinational supply chain management center, offering one-stop services for supply chain management, trade finance, consulting and talent training.

The initiative also aims to attract Chinese mainland manufacturers to establish offshore trading regional headquarters in Hong Kong, taking advantage of the city's rich management experience and favorable market conditions, said Chan.

Hong Kong has been actively moving to attract foreign investment. On February 2, Invest Hong Kong, a department of the HKSAR government responsible for foreign direct investment, announced that in 2023, it assisted 382 companies from 45 economies to establish operations in Hong Kong, bringing in investment of HK$61.6 billion and creating more than 4,100 new jobs, news website 21jingji.com reported.

Alpha Lau, director-general of Invest Hong Kong, was quoted as saying in the report that efforts will continue in exploring emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

GT Voice: Blaming China ‘self-deception’ for US industries, not a solution

It seems that the US can't come up with a solution to improve its manufacturing sector without scapegoating China. This has become a disease spreading from US politicians to industries.

The US Steelworkers and other unions on Tuesday filed a petition with the US Trade Representative (USTR) office calling for an investigation into what they allege as China's "unreasonable and discriminatory" practices in the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

The petition, which was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, even asks the USTR to impose docking fees on Chinese vessels in US ports.

The unions appear to be seeking measures and support to help the American shipbuilding industry and its workers, but they are actually deceiving themselves in targeting China. This only reflects their own anxiety and frustration over the lack of a solution to boost US manufacturing.

Amid the distorted atmosphere toward China in the US, blaming China is the easiest and cheapest way to gain support, but this will only further lead the US astray, instead of addressing its real problems.

For instance, the idea of imposing docking fees, which is another form of tariffs, is ridiculous, as its potential effect is nothing but increased international shipping costs for US imported goods and a heavier burden on American consumers. Wouldn't it put the US economy, which is still struggling with inflation, into another hole?

Chinese shipbuilding companies have maintained the leading position in global market competition. In 2023, China's shipyards accounted for 50.2 percent of the world's completed volume, 66.6 percent of new orders, and 55 percent of order backlogs, pushing the nation's market share to a record high. 

The booming performance of Chinese shipbuilders reflects the country's many skilled workers, manufacturing strengths and advanced technologies, as well as the close cooperation with other global suppliers in the shipbuilding industrial chain. 

It's blind and arrogant for some to claim that these competitive advantages are due to "unreasonable and discriminatory" practices.

The US seems to be trapped in a strange logic. It presumes that as long as Chinese manufacturing goes down, American manufacturing will rise. From the former Trump administration to the incumbent Biden administration, Washington has used this logic to justify the imposition of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports worth billions of dollars and take various measures to suppress Chinese manufacturing. 

US politicians have created many labels to smear Chinese manufacturing, such as "unfair subsidies," "national security threats" and "forced labor." For instance, anti-China US politicians have claimed that heavy-duty cranes produced by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co can act as a "Trojan horse," making a fuss over common sensors installed for the maintenance of equipment and operational safety.

But it is impossible for anyone with a rational mind to fail to see the obvious fact that there is no way to boost American manufacturing by cracking down on Chinese manufacturing. Focusing their efforts on China is a lame cover for their inability to find a real solution to the decline of American manufacturing, while protectionism is self-deception.

Numerous examples have proven that the more an industry is protected, the less likely it is to become strong and competitive in the market. Take the US steel industry.

When the US steel industry turned to the US government for help, Washington often imposed high tariffs to protect the industry. In March 2018, former US president Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on the import of virtually all steel products. This did not alter the fate of the US steel industry but instead accelerated its decline. 

In December 2023, Japan's Nippon Steel announced plans to reach a deal to buy US Steel for $14.9 billion in cash, Reuters reported. While there may be some controversy over the deal, the lack of competitiveness of the US steel industry is undeniable. 

In this sense, protectionism seems to be hurting others, but it is actually at the expense of America's own industries.

Chinese officials vow to tackle financial risks, boost development after two sessions

Chinese officials on Monday vowed to make concrete efforts to mitigate financial and other risks and boost high-quality development following the two sessions, which concluded on the day in Beijing, where a slew of social and economic development targets were determined for the year.

As the Government Work Report approved by the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, called for greater efforts to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, officials in various economic and financial fields stressed that they are rolling out a slew of measures to help tackle risks and will be able to ensure security and stability.

With the two sessions successfully concluded, the top priority for officials at all levels is to carry out policy measures to make sure that various development goals outlined in the Government Work Report will be met, economists said, as officials have plenty of tools at their disposal to do so thanks to the country's solid economic foundation.

"As the two sessions have concluded, the next step is to focus on implementation," Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), told reporters on Monday afternoon, after the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC. He remarked that China's financial risks are generally controllable.

Noting that China's long-term positive development trend has remained unchanged and the NFRA has more tools to prevent and resolve financial risks, Li said that "China has the confidence, conditions and capabilities to maintain financial security," according to a Xinhua report.

Tackling financial and other risks has become a top priority, as the Government Work Report called to better coordinate development and security, and to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas. Specifically, the report urged to address both the symptoms and root causes to resolve risks in areas such as real estate, local debt, and small and medium-sized financial institutions, so as to maintain overall economic and financial stability.

Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, said China has been focused on tackling risks in various areas, including in real estate and local government debts, and has achieved "quite good" results. Though further efforts are still needed, "generally speaking, the risks are controllable," Cong told the Global Times on Monday, noting that the Government Work Report also contained various major measures to tackle risks.

This year's Government Work Report, budget report, and the economic and social development plan report approved by the NPC have all laid out comprehensive strategies to prevent and resolve local debt risks. Among various measures, the central government plans to issue ultra-long special treasury bonds starting this year and over each of the next several years, which analysts said could help ease local government debt pressures.

"Thanks to efforts to tackle financial risks in recent years, our risk-fighting tools are advanced and there are also more tools in our tool box," Li Chang'an, a professor with the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday.

Li said on Monday that the NFRA is working with local authorities to implement precise measures to effectively resolve risks in an orderly manner. The financial regulator will also step up financial support for major projects and further implement the financing coordination mechanism for the real estate sector.

The NFRA will also fully support scientific and technological innovation to help develop new quality productive forces and expand effective consumption, Li said.

Boosting growth

Accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, which focuses on sci-tech innovation and breakthroughs, and expanding effective consumption have also become a key theme at the just-concluded two sessions and the top priorities for China's economic agenda for 2024 and beyond, as the country aims to boost high-quality development.

In order to speed up the development of new quality productive forces, Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), said on Monday that the CNIPA will further bolster the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and treat all state-owned enterprises, private businesses and foreign companies equally in terms of IPR protection.

Shen said China will also step up the transformation and application of patents and cultivate more specialized small and medium-sized enterprises in the high-tech sector. At the end of 2023, China owned more than 4 million domestic valid invention patents, up 22.4 percent year-on-year, according to the CNIPA.

Chinese officials have also vowed to step up efforts to support various aspects of the Chinese economy, from tourism to exports, as China has set a GDP growth target of around 5 percent this year.

Yu Jianhua, head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said on Monday that China's trade sector has got off to a solid start in 2024, and imports and exports are expected to remain on a growth trend in the first half of the year.

Also speaking to reporters after the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC, Yu said that in order to achieve the full-year development goals laid out in the Government Work Report, the GAC will roll out targeted policy measures to boost cross-border trade and improve services to support businesses' operations.

According to the GAC, China's imports and exports of goods in the first two months of 2024 hit a record high of 6.61 trillion yuan ($918.3 billion), up 8.7 percent year-on-year, beating forecasts and singling a positive start to the new year.

Also, in a bid to boost domestic tourism, Sun Yeli, minister of culture and tourism, said on Monday that China's tourism industry has seen a robust recovery over the past year, particularly since the beginning of 2024, and given Chinese consumer's enthusiasm to travel, "the tourism boom" will continue.

Beyond the support measures for specific areas, China also has plenty of macro-policy tools to support the economic recovery and ensure that the growth target will be met at the end of 2024, economists said.

For example, given the low inflation, "we still have plenty of room for monetary policy," during this phase of economic recovery, Cong said.

During a press conference on Wednesday on the sidelines of the two sessions, China's monetary policymakers said they have a rich toolbox and ample options, and there is still further room to slash the reserve requirement ratio.

Shanghai-based ZPMC says cargo cranes don't pose cybersecurity risk at US ports

Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), a major global maker of ship-to-shore cargo cranes, said in a statement on Sunday that its cranes do not pose a cybersecurity risk to any port, responding to the US government's reported plan to invest billions in its own cargo cranes to replace ZPMC cranes.

The company said that it takes the concerns of the US into serious consideration, while the US government allegations about its products, not supported by the facts, could easily mislead the general public. ZPMC has strictly abided by the laws and regulations of relevant countries and regions and is operating in compliance with local laws.

Industry observers said that the so-called cybersecurity threat was categorically groundless, and it will be difficult to replace China-made cranes across ports in the US due to the high cost of localization.

The Biden administration plans to invest billions of dollars in America's own manufacturing of cargo cranes, amid the government's narrative that the prevalent use of China-built cranes with advanced software at many US ports could pose a potential "national security risk," the Wall Street Journal reported on February 21.

US wages have been increasing, so the cost of human labor has been rising fast, especially for American manufacturing enterprises planning to build plants there, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Hu said that the US ports can hardly find products with comparable prices and performances as the high-quality and inexpensive cranes that are manufactured by Chinese companies like ZPMC.

Hu said that the US allegation was just political hype. "US port data is usually publicized by the US customs authority, and there is no point for China to monitor those data," he said.

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US is struggling to rebuild its manufacturing sector but it always blames the difficulty on China.

"China has the world's largest shipping industry, most powerful capacity for shipbuilding  and related equipment, and is the major trade partner of more than 140 countries and regions, so it will be very difficult and costly to move away from Chinese supplies," said Wang.

Chinese officials have firmly rejected the "China threat" hype by the US. 

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said in January that some US politicians have been blowing up a bubble of the "China threat," while exposing their real aim of suppressing China's development in the name of national security. 

Two US congressional committees have looked into Swiss engineering group ABB's operations in China, regarding the installation of ABB equipment by ZPMC on ship-to-shore cranes bound for the US.

"If China-made cranes are alleged to have national security risks for the US, it means US-made Tesla electric cars and iPhones are also transmitting Chinese users'data back to the US," Hu noted.

EU mandate for customs registration of Chinese EVs disappointing: China chamber

Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) were subject to a special customs registration process starting from Thursday by the European Commission (EC), as the EU is moving closer to adopting new protectionist measures such as punitive tariffs targeting Chinese EVs in the bloc.

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) on Wednesday evening voiced its disappointment with this move, according to a statement the chamber sent to the Global Times.

The mandate may have some impact on EV exports to Europe, as it may possibly be followed by punitive tariffs, according to experts and media reports. However, the impact will be short-term and limited, as the EU still needs Chinese EVs for its green transformation, a Chinese industry expert said Thursday.

The EU issued on Wednesday the Official Journal of the EU regarding its commission's implementation regulation that makes imports of battery EVs designed for passenger use originating in China subject to registration.

This regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, according to the Official Journal of the EU.

The CCCEU said that the chamber has observed that a new implementation regulation was issued on Wednesday, concerning the registration of EV imports from China by the EU. The purpose of the registration requirement is to address Chinese imports and potential retrospective measures, the chamber said.

Both the chamber and its members expressed concern over potential retroactive measures in the future, the CCCEU said.

According to EC data, between October 2023 and January 2024, the EU imported 177,839 Chinese EVs. Compared with the coverage period of the "countervailing investigation" (from October 2022 to September 2023), the average monthly import volume increased by 11 percent.

The chamber highlighted that the recent surge in Chinese EV imports reflected increasing demand for EVs in Europe and underscored Chinese car companies' commitment to fostering the European market.

"We earnestly hope that the European side will effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and establish a fair, impartial and non-discriminatory business environment for them," the China chamber said.

"This, in turn, will facilitate our joint contribution to the global low-carbon and green transformation," the chamber further noted.

In February, China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that China is highly concerned about the trade remedy investigation targeting Chinese EVs and other products, and he also expressed strong dissatisfaction regarding the investigation, which he said lacked a factual basis.

The EU's latest move came in response to alleged subsidies for EVs by the Chinese government, even though China has largely ended early-stage NEV subsidies.

Subsidies for both public buses and private passenger cars stopped in 2022, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times. "When there were subsidies in China, they were on a much smaller scale than those in European countries."

The EU's action aimed at Chinese EVs was much as expected as part of its trade protectionism measures against China, Cui said.

The customs registration targeting Chinese EVs could be an initial step, and it's likely to be followed by further measures such as punitive tariffs, he warned.

Despite the foreseeable impact on Chinese EVs exported to Europe, Cui said that it will only be temporary and won't undermine the competitiveness of Chinese EVs in the global market.

China is the world's largest car exporter, having surpassed Germany and outpacing Japan. By destination, the EU held the majority share, accounting for 47 percent of China's EV exports in value last year, according to a report by Citi Research in January.

As the EU is in great need of more cost-effective and high-quality products for its green transformation, demand will only grow stronger in the long run, Cui said.