भारतीय महासागर समाचार – Page 23 – भारतीय महासागर समाचार भारत की सबसे अधिकारी और विश्वसनीय वास्तविक समाचार सलाहकार वेबसाइट है।

Yellen’s visit will stabilize Sino-U.S. relations when risks in place

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walks to a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sunday, April 7, 2024. /CFP

Editor’s note: Gao Zhijun is an assistant research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen has almost wrapped up her second visit to China since July 2023. During this trip, Yellen had extensive, frank, and productive meetings with China’s key officials. Yellen stressed that the U.S. is not seeking to decouple from China and a healthy economic relationship will be beneficial to both countries and the world.

However, it is noteworthy that Yellen raised particular concerns with respect to “overcapacity” in addition to other issues. She argued that China’s “overcapacity” resulting from government support has undermined the economic interests of the U.S. and its allies. Under the backdrop of the U.S. and European Union’s intensifying allegations of China’s “overcapacity”, this issue will continue to be a main flashpoint of bilateral relations in the months to come.

Beijing Financial Street, or BFS. /CFP

New China-U.S. Initiatives

The bilateral meetings have achieved concrete outcomes. Two significant new initiatives have been launched: one is the Exchange on Balanced Growth in the Domestic and Global Economies; the other is the Joint Treasury-People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Cooperation and Exchange on Anti-Money Laundering. The two initiatives are expected to facilitate the exchange of ideas on related issues and work together to enhance shared interests.

The first initiative will be co-led by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and China’s Ministry of Finance under the framework of the Economic Working Group, which was established last September and has held three formal meetings so far. The two sides will utilize this initiative to strengthen exchanges on issues including domestic demand, investment policies, aging populations and other related policies. The issue of “overcapacity” that Yellen has repeatedly raised is expected to be the focus on the initiative’s agenda.

The second initiative will be operated under the framework of the Financial Working Group, which was established alongside the Economic Working Group. The first exchange is scheduled to be held during the fourth Financial Working Group Meeting. The efforts on this front will include (but not limited to) sharing best practices and closing regulatory gaps, aiming to block financial avenues for drug and human traffickers, fraudsters, and other criminal organizations.

The container terminal of Qingdao Port, Shandong Province, saw frequent entry and exit of container ships on April 4, 2024. /CFP

Moving forward amid looming risks

At this crucial stage of the bilateral relationship, Yellen’s extensive engagement with Chinese officials demonstrated the White House’s willingness to stabilize the bilateral relationship and commitment to maintaining open communications. The launch of two new initiatives will facilitate the progress of working together on the common good and resolving differences in a pragmatic manner. The advantage of such exchanges is that they help foster creative ideas and feasible solutions, for they value input from policy practitioners and experts. Its technical nature will also mitigate political and ideological influences, ensuring both teams concentrate on the practical issues.

A large number of domestically produced cars were assembled at Yantai Port, Shandong Province, waiting to be loaded for export on April 5, 2024. /CFP

Meanwhile, it is critical to be fully aware of the structural differences still persist in the bilateral economic relationship. In her meeting with He Lifeng, Chinese vice premier and Chinese lead person for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs, Yellen repeatedly raised concerns with respect to “overcapacity”, and “unfair trade practices”, among others. Compared to her last visit, Yellen paid much more attention to the issue of “overcapacity”. She argued that China’s huge amount of production output in new sectors is caused by direct and indirect government support, leading to artificially depressed prices and harming the interests of foreign companies. She urged her Chinese counterparts to take action to address the concerns, which seems to be the U.S. primary consideration behind the launch of the first new initiative. China has responded to Yellen’s accusation as unfounded, highlighting the country’s rapid development in sectors such as electronic vehicles which is fuelled by innovation, well-established supply chains, and market competition, rather than subsidies. Given the two sides’ discrepancies on this issue, it is foreseeable that the exchange through the initiative would be intensive and heated.

Amid the year of a U.S. presidential election, it is possible that the White House will deploy new sanctions to pressure the Chinese side to garner political support. This will hold back the progress of stabilizing the bilateral relationship. However, past experiences have shown that sanctions are never an effective solution to the dispute; dialogue based on economic laws and facts should continue to be the right approach.

GT investigates: How anti-China forces launch a cognitive warfare against Hong Kong, demonize Article 23 legislation

Editor’s Note:

“Cognitive Warfare” has become a new form of confrontation between states, and a new security threat. With new technological means, it sets agendas and spreads disinformation, to change people’s perceptions and thus alter their self-identity. Launching cognitive warfare against China is an important means for Western anti-China forces to attack and discredit the country.

Some politicians and media outlets have publicly smeared China’s image by propagating false narratives in an attempt to incite and provoke dissatisfaction with China among people in certain countries. These means all serve the seemingly peaceful evolution of the US strategy to contain China’s rise and maintain its hegemony. The Global Times is publishing a series of articles to reveal the intrigues of the US-led West’s China-targeted cognitive warfare, and expose its lies and vicious intentions.

In the 12th installment in the series, the Global Times looks into the tricks that some external forces and anti-China elements used to launch a cognitive warfare against Hong Kong and how the newly passed Safeguarding National Security Ordinance can punish and deter them.

Hong Kong, China Photo: VCG

The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a piece of legislation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law Article 23 that took effect recently after being unanimously passed by local lawmakers, is another solid legal basis for maintaining stability and prosperity in the city after the implementation of national security law for Hong Kong. The bill is expected to play an essential role in preventing the US-led West’s subversion, infiltration, incitement, and espionage activities in Hong Kong.

Days before the bill was passed on March 19, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) strongly condemned a joint statement by anti-China group “Hong Kong Watch” and 16 signatories that smeared the Basic Law Article 23 legislation.

“Not only is ‘Hong Kong Watch’ an anti-China organization, but also many of its members are anti-China forces in the front line,” said a spokesman for the regional government.

A main subversion target of foreign forces that attempt to undermine China’s national security and social stability, Hong Kong has been plagued by Western-led cognitive warfare. Colluding with a few local secessionists, anti-China forces in the West have been hyping up false narratives to demonize the management of the central government and the HKSAR government.

Experts in Hong Kong affairs pointed out that from the “China collapse theory” to the “Hong Kong collapse theory,” these clichés are nothing, but some “deluded clown scripts” with the aim of misleading Hong Kong residents and whitewashing the former British colony’s rule.

A view of the Legislative Council chamber as the 2nd reading of the Article 23 of the Basic Law continues, in Hong Kong, on March 19, 2024. Photo: VCG

Tumors to Hong Kong’s stability

Anti-China organization “Hong Kong Watch,” together with 16 co-signatories, released a statement last month, which deliberately smeared the requirement of “disclosure of commission by others of the offense of treason” in the Basic Law Article 23 legislation of targeting religions, in an attempt to provoke discontent among religious leaders and followers.

Responding to this statement full of loopholes, the HKSAR government expressed strong condemnation in a press release it published online on March 14.

The offenses of treason and misprision of treason, whether in Hong Kong or other common law jurisdictions, have existed for a long time; they do not target religious leaders or followers, and have nothing to do with freedom of religion, said a government spokesperson in the press release.

“‘Hong Kong Watch’ and the co-signatories have not mentioned the relevant provisions in the countries concerned before groundlessly attacking the HKSAR Government’s legislative work on safeguarding national security under the guise of religious freedom. It is a blatant, shameless, and barbaric intervention, and is also a typical example of double standards,” the spokesperson noted.

Based in London, “Hong Kong Watch” was founded by Benedict Rogers, deputy chairman of the British Conservative Party’s human rights commission who had participated in drafting the so-called “Hong Kong Autonomy Act” and pressed the US to pass the bill.

In 2017, Rogers was denied entry by the HKSAR government when he planned to visit imprisoned separatists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Nathan Law Kwun-chung, reported Hong Kong media outlet Ta Kung Pao.

“Hong Kong Watch” is an unmitigated “concentration camp” for overseas forces and anti-China elements disrupting Hong Kong. One of its sponsors, Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten, is an infamous anti-China politician who had attempted to disrupt the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, and had even tried to turn Hong Kong into a semi-independent political entity.

Along with other secessionist groups, “Hong Kong Watch” is a tumor that threatens Hong Kong’s social stability. As early as March 2022, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force issued a warning to the group, pointing out that it had violated Article 29 of the national security law for Hong Kong
– “collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security” and demanded the removal of the group’s website content within 72 hours.

Scanning the “Hong Kong Watch” statement, the 16 co-signatories displayed at the bottom are also notorious overseas anti-China organizations and individuals.

Co-signatory Freedom House, for instance, was initially created in the 1940s to oppose communism in Europe. It later worked as a think tank for the US Department of Defense. With a long-term habit of interfering in China’s internal affairs, Freedom House was sanctioned by China in December 2019 for its role in that year’s unrest in Hong Kong.

Another co-signatory ChinaAid is a so-called nonprofit group that tries to infiltrate China through smearing the country’s religious policies. On its website, ChinaAid lists the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the US government’s main “white gloves” and the mastermind behind many separatist riots globally, as its major partner.

Hong Kong residents and tourists visit the Golden Bauhinia Square on March 23, 2024. Photo: VCG

Major cognitive warfare tricks

Looking into the cognitive warfare tricks by external forces and anti-China elements disrupting Hong Kong, they attack the management of the central government and the HKSAR government mainly by using the excuse of “human rights, religious freedom violation” and badmouthing Hong Kong’s economy, the Global Times found.

ChinaAid, as mentioned above, is a US-based group established in 2002 by anti-China pastor “Bob” Fu Xiqiu. The group has long supported underground Christian churches within China and their illegal activities, according to several Chinese scholars and government officials reached by the Global Times.

In previous years, ChinaAid has fostered and trained its Chinese members outside the Chinese mainland, said Zhou Shan (pseudonym), a former grassroots-level official in East China’s Zhejiang Province who had been participating in religion management in rural areas in Zhejiang for years.

A usual trick employed by ChinaAid in interfering with and smearing China’s religious policies is opening unregistered religious venues and organizing illegal activities. They would hype up “religious persecution” if the local government prohibits these activities in accordance with the law, Zhou told the Global Times.

In short, ChinaAid usually intentionally misrepresented China’s ban on unlawful activities as a crackdown on religious freedom or human rights.

Badmouthing Hong Kong’s economic performance is another main trick of their cognitive warfare against the city.

Hong Kong lawmaker Stanley Ng Chau-pei cited three examples. The first is the claim that Hong Kong’s economic status would be “replaced” by another country or city, such as Shanghai, Macao, or its main “competitor” Singapore. The second is hyping up disinformation that “the central government ‘mainlandized’ Hong Kong,” trying to create panic by spreading the rumor that Hong Kong will no longer enjoy SAR “special treatment” in trade and finance. The third is amplifying a pessimistic outlook with eye-grabbing claims, such as calling Hong Kong the “ruins of the international financial center.”

“Behind these claims is their purposes to undermine Hong Kong’s confidence in its own development, and the confidence of global investors and talents in Hong Kong,” Ng noted.

And these claims are laughably ridiculous in the face of Hong Kong’s robust economic performance.

A survey released by the HKSAR government in December 2023 showed that, the city saw the opening of 9,039 companies with parent companies outside Hong Kong in 2023, a recovery to pre-pandemic high levels.

Start-ups in Hong Kong also continued to flourish with the number of start-ups reaching a record high of 4,257, up 272 from 2023.

These data are undoubtedly a powerful counter-narrative against these stigmatization, and fully prove that Hong Kong’s investment attractiveness remains, Ng said.

Hong Kong residents gather on June 30, 2020, to express support to the decision of Chinese lawmakers to adopt the national security law for Hong Kong. Photo: VCG

The will of the people in Hong Kong

There was a great round of applause at the Legislative Council of the HKSAR on March 19, when the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was unanimously passed.

The day was a historic moment for Hong Kong, a proud moment when the HKSAR jointly wrote a glorious history, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said after the vote.

The bill is the will of the people in Hong Kong. Public consultation results showed that, about 99 percent of the 13,147 submissions had spoken in support of the legislation, said local authorities in March.

Legal experts based in Hong Kong pointed out that the ordinance and the national security law for Hong Kong can, together, pose effective penalties, restrictions, and deterrence to the infiltration activities of anti-China forces and separatists, including their dirty cognitive warfare tricks.

The two are organically linked and complement each other. They can regulate criminals who engage in activities and acts that endanger national security outside the territory of Hong Kong, Willy Fu, a law professor who is also the director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times.

The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance came into force in Hong Kong on March 23. The law listed a series of offences and penalties including offences such as treason, insurrection, acts with seditious intention, external interference and theft of state secrets and espionage.

The heads of website platforms that published seditious content have legal and social responsibilities to immediately remove propaganda or illegal information that endangers national security, Fu said.

He explained that, if the Commissioner of Police has reasonable grounds to suspect that electronic information published on an electronic platform is likely to constitute an offense endangering national security, or is likely to lead to the occurrence of such an offense, they may, with the approval of the Secretary for Security, authorize designated police personnel to require the relevant publishers, platform service providers, hosting service providers, and (or) network service providers to remove the information that endangers national security; restrict or halt anyone from accessing that information; or restrict or halt anyone from accessing that platform or relevant parts thereof.

“Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law, where laws must be followed and violators will be prosecuted,” Fu remarked.

NATO members likely to be more divided on supporting Ukraine as crisis drags on: expert

Europe deeply split on warmongering NATO Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on, NATO members appear to be more and more divided over military aid to Ukraine, as Chinese analysts said on Sunday that since the beginning of April, more and more European countries are calling for negotiations to solve the crisis.

Extending support and aid to Ukraine was a contentious topic among NATO member countries during a two-day meeting on Wednesday and Thursday at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. One day earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had proposed a 100-billion-euro, five-year package of military aid to Ukraine, which was supported by only the UK, Poland and Latvia, media reported on Friday.

Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has changed his condition for negotiation with Russia, as he has indicated that a return to Ukraine’s 1991 borders is no longer a precondition for holding peace talks with Moscow, while he continues to push forward with his own “peace formula” which has been dismissed by Moscow, media reported on March 30.

This makes many NATO and EU members dare to be more outspoken on the sensitive topic about Ukraine, experts noted.

The Hungarian foreign ministry on Wednesday cited Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto as telling a press conference during a break in a NATO foreign ministers’ council meeting that the government’s main goal was to protect Hungary from the war in Ukraine, as reported by The Budapest Times. As a result, it considers NATO’s former decision very important under which the organization is not part of the armed conflict and would do everything to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, he noted.

The top Hungarian diplomat welcomed the fact that all previous proposals within NATO had respected these red lines and warned that the latest proposal would bring the organization closer to war. When the proposal was discussed, Hungary asked the other member states to consider that coordination of military support had been done so far without the involvement of the alliance he said.

Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday that Hungary has always opposed NATO and the EU’s approaches to deal with Russia. “Hungary heavily relies on Russia’s cheap energy supplies, and Hungary also has disputes and competition on agricultural products with Ukraine.”

In the future, more NATO and EU members will choose similar policies as Hungary. If Russia achieves more military breakthroughs and Ukraine keeps losing territory and cannot achieve a meaningful victory, more and more of them will stand closer to Budapest’s stance, experts noted.

Many NATO and EU members rely on Russia’s energy supplies, such as Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey and Greece, and major European countries like France and Italy who have nuclear power plants that rely on uranium enrichment from Russia and Kazakhstan, are also sharing similar views to engage Russia more pragmatically and stop the loss of supplying Ukraine with money and weapons, Cui noted.

And countries like Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria, which have competition with Ukraine on agricultural products, are also likely to join the group to oppose NATO’s policy that could extend the conflict, experts said.

“These countries used to be silent when supporting Ukraine was absolute political correctness, but now, Washington and Kiev are all showing the intention to seek a way out, and then these other countries dare to express their opposition more frankly,” Cui said.

Rare birds spotted in north China’s wetland

Baer’s pochard is a critically endangered duck species. /CFP

Six Baer’s pochards, a critically endangered diving duck, were recently spotted in Dengkou County, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, for the first time.

The ducks, which are under first-class state protection in China, were spotted during a police patrol at a wetland in the Dengkou section of the Yellow River.

Baer’s pochard is now under first-class state protection in China. /CFP

The Baer’s pochards mainly live in China, Mongolia and Bangladesh.

The duck sighting indicates remarkable improvements to the wetland eco-environment in the region, said local authorities.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

Eight remain missing after ship collision in south China

A helicopter and a ship are pictured at the scene of a fishing boat collision off the southwestern coast of south China’s Hainan Province. /CMG

Eight people remain missing following a collision between their fishing boat and a Panamanian container ship off the southwestern coast of south China’s Hainan Province on Wednesday, resulting in the sinking of the fishing vessel, the provincial maritime search and rescue center said on Sunday.

Thanks to ongoing search and rescue efforts aided by advanced technologies such as underwater robots and remotely operated submersibles, the location of the sunken fishing boat was determined on Saturday. However, due to the rapid flow of water at the site and the presence of fishing nets around the sunken ship, divers have not been able to enter the cabin.

As of 5 p.m. on Saturday, rescue boats, airplanes and rescue personnel had been dispatched to search for the missing people in an area exceeding 5,700 square nautical miles.

The fishing boat named “Yuenan Aoyu 36062” collided with the Panamanian container ship “SITC DANANG” at 22 nautical miles southwest of Yinggehai Town in Ledong County around midnight on Wednesday.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

Tech, industrial upgrades create new career choices for China’s young

An aerial view of a job fair at Yantai Institute of Technology in Yantai, east China’s Shandong Province, March 30, 2024. /CFP

In China, spring is a hot season for job-hunting, so many universities in China are carrying out special recruitment campaigns for their graduates.

According to the job positions provided by employers, the number of opportunities in emerging sectors, such as new energy vehicles (NEVs), smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence and big data, has been increasing.

A job fair held at Shanghai Maritime University recently attracted nearly 500 companies and offered about 110,000 jobs. About one-third of those openings came from emerging industries.

Zhang Feng, deputy head of the job introduction section of Shanghai Pudong New Area Employment Promotion Center, told China Media Group (CMG) that the number of emerging industry enterprises participated in these recruitment campaigns and the number and types of jobs that they provide are all increasing year by year.

Data from job-seeking service provider Liepin showed that job postings requiring expertise in artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) increased 179 percent during the first 10 months of 2023, compared with the same period in the previous year.

Job seekers at a job fair at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, capital of China, March 30, 2024. /CFP

Tang Tianyi is a fresh masters degree graduate of Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China. So far, he has got about ten offers.

“Now the job market is in urgent need of AI talent. My research direction is natural language processing, which studies, for example, the better application of AI models in the Chinese context,” Tang told CMG.

China’s progress in technological innovation and industrial upgrading is driving a boom in job opportunities in emerging sectors, highlighting the country’s growing demand for skilled hi-tech professionals.

Professor Zhao Zhong, dean of the School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, told CMG that new quality productive forces are essentially technological revolution driven by innovations in technology.

“The demand for college graduates majoring in big data, AI, and information technology will increase,” said Zhao, adding that humanities and social science professionals are also needed in building a social policy system and social security system suitable for the development of new quality productive forces, such as ethics in the AI development.

Chinese firm iFlytek publicly demonstrated its generative artificial intelligence platform at its headquarters in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, March 28, 2024. /CFP

The Xi’an University of Science and Technology first launched the major of smart manufacturing engineering in 2020. Graduates of this major have been recognized by enterprises in this year’s spring recruitment.

Yang Manzhi, director of the major, told CMG that it is a new interdisciplinary discipline of machinery, computer and automation, and more new courses have been added to their syllabus, such as AI, industrial Internet and big data.

The university’s majors have been updated year by year based on the industrial development trends, demand in the market, and the employment rate. Currently, a major is classified as obsolete if the employment rate of its graduates is below 50 percent for three consecutive years. In the past five years, the university has canceled five majors and opened eight new majors.

Professor Zhao said multi-party cooperation between schools, enterprises and the government can optimize the design of curriculum and talent training, better meeting the demand of the labor market.

A view of a job fair for 2024 graduates at Tianjin Medical University, March 31, 2024. /CFP

China is expected to see nearly 11.8 million college graduates in 2024, and the number of young job-seekers has continued to grow, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS).

In 2024, China will maintain employment as its top priority by increasing fiscal subsidies and tax incentives, providing greater financial assistance, and reducing social insurance burden, said Yun Donglai, a MHRSS official, at a press conference in January.

To meet the surging market demand for skilled professionals, China provided government-subsidized vocational training to 18 million people in 2023, with a special focus on key sectors such as advanced manufacturing and modern services, according to the MHRSS.

The country has set aside 66.7 billion yuan (about $9.39 billion) for employment subsidies this year, with a particular focus on the employment and entrepreneurship of college graduates, rural migrant workers and other key populations.

Yun said China will also encourage advanced manufacturing, along with the digital, eco-friendly and elderly care sectors, to play a greater role in creating jobs, while intensifying support for major employment drivers such as private, small- and medium-sized companies.

China’s forex reserves rise to $3.2457 trillion in March

A merchant is stacking coins. /CFP

China’s forex reserves totaled $3.2457 trillion as of the end of March, rising by $19.8 billion, or 0.62 percent, from the end of February, according to data released on Sunday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

‪The increase was driven by factors including exchange rate fluctuations and rising asset prices, according to the SAFE.‬

One kilogram pure gold bar. /CFP

‪In a statement, the SAFE said that‬ China’s economy continues to show signs of recovery and steady progress, providing support for maintaining the country’s stable foreign exchange reserves.

‪On the same day, the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, also released data showing that China’s gold reserves‬ at the end of March reached 72.74 million ounces, up from 72.58 million ounces at the end of February, marking the 17th consecutive month with increasing gold reserves.

(With input from Xinhua)

Qingming holiday sparks travel and consumption boom

Tourists at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, April 7, 2024. /CFP

China reported a significant surge in travel and consumption during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, which concluded on Saturday, according to official data.

Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. Many also spend the three-day holiday on leisure travel.

China saw about 119 million domestic passenger trips during the three-day holiday, up 11.5 percent from the same period in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The data also showed domestic revenue during the period totaled 53.95 billion yuan (around $7.6 billion), up 12.7 percent from the same period in 2019.

Inbound and outbound tourism also saw a remarkable increase during the holiday as many residents in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia returned to their hometowns to worship ancestors, visit relatives and friends and go sightseeing.

Figures from the ministry showed that the Chinese mainland saw 1.04 million inbound trips and 992,000 heading to overseas destinations.

Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Kunming were among the most popular destinations for inbound tickets, according to data from the travel platform LY.com. Meanwhile, data from another travel portal, Tuniu, said Thailand, Japan and the Maldives were the top three popular overseas tourist destinations.

Short-distance journeys favored

short-distance journeys stood out among the domestic tourist trips, as many families prefer nearby cities or the surrounding countryside to enjoy a leisurely and relaxing holiday.

Data from Chinese online travel agency Ctrip showed that, during the holiday, local travel orders increased by 211 percent, rural travel orders increased by 239 percent, and bookings for travel to nearby places as destinations increased by 350 percent.

Data from another travel portal, Tuniu, also showed more taking short-distance journeys. According to its figures, the number of trips taking one to two days accounted for nearly 71 percent, and the number of trips bound for nearby places made up 50 percent.

Another thing worth noting is that some lesser-known tourist places, such as Zibo in the eastern province of Shandong, famous for its barbecue, and Tianshui in northwest China’s Gansu Province, famous for its malatang, have become viral destinations over the holiday because of their delicious cuisines, cultural charm and entertaining events.

The destination cities with a growth in tourist volume of more than 50 percent are Taian, Zibo, Tianshui, Kaifeng, and Jingdezhen, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Among them, the number of travel orders to Tianshui increased by more than 21-fold year on year, according to data from Qunar, a Chinese online travel agency.

Tourists enjoy spring in Wuhan City, central China’s Hubei Province, April 6, 2024. /CFP

Consumption potential unleashed

The boom in tourism boosts local consumption. Data from Tujia, a homestay booking platform, indicated that homestay bookings in Tianshui have increased by 18.8-fold year on year as of April 6, which also drove up the bookings in nearby cities, including Lanzhou and Longnan.

Overall, data from e-commerce platform Meituan said the average daily consumption during the holiday increased by 39 percent year on year, with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu among the top cities in China in terms of consumption scale.

Meanwhile, China’s box office revenue during the holiday reached a record 834 million yuan as of 9 p.m. on April 6, surpassing the previous highest earning of 822 million yuan recorded in 2021, according to film data platform Beacon.

Multiple measures have been taken to ensure a smooth and convenient travel experience. In scenic spots in Kaifeng City, central China’s Henan Province, local authorities announced 44 free parking lots and increased the number of berths by more than 7,000 for tourists.

Also, to facilitate the travel of electric vehicle owners, who made up part of the around 277 million self-driving trips during the holiday, the power departments in provinces, including Hebei and Jiangsu, added charging piles in highway service areas to alleviate charging pressure during peak hours.

SHI JIE launches seasonal collection in Hangzhou

Fashion brand SHI JIE releases its 2024 A/W collection “The Child of Nature—Rough Jade” in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province on March 30, 2024. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

SHI JIE, the eponymous fashion brand by Chinese designer Shi Jie, released its 2024 A/W collection “The Child of Nature—Rough Jade” on Saturday in the E-Fashion Town of Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province.

Compassion and care make the impossible possible in China

Editor’s note: We have asked expats living in China to share their stories about the cities they work and live in. Janaka Jayawickrama is from Sri Lanka and he is now professor of social anthropology at Shanghai University.

Janaka Jayawickrama from Sri Lanka is now professor of social anthropology at Shanghai University. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Moving from the United Kingdom after 20 years to China is an exciting decision our family had to make. However, we did not know what to expect. We kept our minds open.

We are a family of three. My wife is a designer, my son is an artist, and I am an academic.

We were thrilled when I received the opportunity to join the College of Liberal Arts of Shanghai University. We wanted to learn from new experiences, culture and society.

My campus story is also a collective story of my wife, my son and I.

If I had to pick three words to describe this story, they would be: compassion, care, and collaboration.

Based on my experiences of traveling across many continents over the past 30 years, moving to a new country always comes with challenges.

Language, social structures and expectations are the most difficult ones. When we first arrived in China in November 2022, everything seemed difficult. We did not understand the language. We were not familiar with social structures. We did not know what to expect and what was expected of us.

It soon became clear that what we thought was difficult could be overcome with compassion and the care we received from everyone.

My colleagues at all levels of the Shanghai University were compassionate and caring towards me and my family.

Difficulties of language, social structures and expectations became less difficult as through compassion and care.

I remember a young student once took time to explain to me how to use a new application on the phone. A colleague also took time to accompany me to the bank to open an account. A security guard also once helped me to access the QR code to enter into the campus. An old woman once spoke to us even though we did not understand the language. These are all examples of comfort and the warmth we have experienced in Shanghai.