Nigeria Times

By Ardak, People’s Daily

Horgos, situated within the Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture of China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, stands as a pivotal gateway for China’s westward opening-up. 

Once a key staging post along ancient trade routes where camel bells echoed across the Gobi Desert,  today the city has become a vibrant business magnet, drawing investors and entrepreneurs from Central Asia and Europe. 

For an increasing number of foreign businesspeople, Horgos is no longer just a destination for trade trips — it  has become a second home they keep returning to.

As dawn approaches, cross-border trucks queue efficiently at the Horgos highway port, navigating customs procedures.

Kazakh businessman Ilyas, with 14 years of experience in the Horgos fruit and vegetable trade, has witnessed this transformation firsthand. 

Fresh produce trade depends heavily on swift clearance; delays lead to significant losses as perishable goods spoil quickly. Previously, Ilyas would arrive before daybreak just to secure precious delivery time.

To address sluggish customs procedures and high spoilage rates for fresh agricultural products, Horgos Customs established a China-Kazakhstan “green channel” for agricultural products, offering priority inspections and immediate release upon arrival. 

The new arrangements have created a fresh rhythm for cross-border produce trade: goods picked in the morning can clear customs the same day and reach markets that very night, allowing high-quality Chinese agricultural products to reach overseas consumers while still fresh.

Recent years have seen new energy vehicle (NEV) exports emerge as a major growth driver for Horgos trade. Recognising the strong demand for Chinese electric vehicles across Central Asia, Kazakh businessman Khambati seized the opportunity, registered a company in Horgos, and entered the vehicle export logistics business.

To facilitate NEV exports, Horgos Customs introduced a fast-track clearance scheme for self-driven export commercial vehicles, significantly streamlining offline procedures and moving the entire process online. 

The average customs processing time has been reduced from more than 30 hours to less than five. Standardized workflows, intelligent services and around-the-clock operational support have made Khambati’s logistics operations highly predictable and significantly improved delivery efficiency.

Horgos has also pioneered a new multilingual cross-border livestreaming business model, the first of its kind in Xinjiang. The local government provides free exclusive live-stream venues, builds professional livestream bases, and runs regular training courses for new streamers, offering hands-on guidance on product sourcing and account operation.

Today, over 20 livestreaming studios in the commercial building of the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center stay busy with nonstop broadcasts, selling Chinese cosmetics, clothing and daily necessities to consumers in Central Asia and Europe.

Kazakh livestreamer Alten Asenbek moved into the Horgos cross-border e-commerce livestreaming base last December. Starting with barely any orders, he has now built a social media following of over 26,000, with peak hourly sales hitting 14,500 yuan (about $2,134).

At the Dastarkhan restaurant inside the Center, visiting merchants and local residents often gather around tables to chat. 

Locals fondly call this little diner the “Sisters Restaurant.”It is a successful cross-border business jointly founded by Kazakh entrepreneur Toktabayeva Almira Sansiba and her Chinese partner Guli.

Recently, thanks to supportive policies, more than 80 percent of the restaurants, retail stores and accommodation providers inside the cooperation center have completed upgrades to their point-of-sale terminals. The new system supports dual-currency settlement in Chinese yuan and Kazakh tenge, and accepts international credit cards alongside mainstream domestic and overseas mobile payment methods.

 “The process is fast and secure,” Sansiba explained. “Customers simply scan a code to pay. Tenge amounts are automatically converted, and yuan funds arrive directly in our accounts.”

Booming business has turned Horgos into her second home. “I’ve made friends from all over the world. Diners stay for tea and long conversations after meals, just like family. We are no longer mere travelers; we have become part of one big family.”

Beyond creating a business-friendly environment, Horgos has continued to improve public services for foreign residents by leveraging talent policies associated with the pilot free trade zone and its broader opening-up initiatives.

In January last year, Uzbek businessman Bekzati relocated his family to Horgos to start a local business. Unfamiliar with both the language and local policies, he became deeply worried about finding schools for his three children. Community staff proactively reached out and eventually helped resolve his children’s schooling issue.

Catering to the large flow of foreign truck drivers and merchants passing through the port, the Yingtar community in the Horgos Industrial Park subdistrict has launched regular consultation sessions for international residents, targeting and addressing  their practical concerns.

With maturing public services and attentive, inclusive governance, Horgos is becoming a place that overseas merchants not only want to visit, but are also eager to return to, and, for many, a place they now call home.

By Qin Ruijie, People’s Daily

In Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, a group of seventh graders from Ningxia No. 15 Middle School have developed a smart bird-repelling system to protect goji berry fields. 

The system automatically detects birds approaching the fields and plays pre-recorded raptor calls to deter them. Powered by AI image recognition, it protects crops without harming wildlife.

This is exactly one example of the school’s efforts to build a distinctive curriculum that integrates general education with AI.

“Several companies have already contacted us about turning the students’ idea into a real product,” said Xie Wei, principal of the school. He summarized the school’s goals in simple terms: “We want to lighten teachers’ workloads and give our students more room to grow.”

The transformation brought by smart education can be felt throughout the campus.

For Chinese teacher Bao Ling, lesson preparation used to be a time-consuming process. “I used to spend several evenings preparing audio and video materials for a single class,” she recalled.

Now, she routinely uses AI tools to turn textbook content into animated lessons. While teaching the essay Pear Blossoms Along the Post Road, she transformed the text into an immersive visual experience, with pear blossoms blooming across the screen and the story unfolding in vivid detail.

“A single video can help students grasp the entire text,” Bao said. “Students are more engaged and spend more time looking up and participating, while lesson preparation has become much more efficient.”

AI has also made literature feel more personal. Through AI-generated characters, students can “talk” with famous Chinese writers such as Lu Xun and Lao She, turning authors into interactive companions rather than distant historical figures.

The changes are equally evident outside the classroom.

For English teacher Ma Yan, oral practice used to be a major challenge. With classes of 50 or 60 students, it was impossible to give everyone enough speaking time during lessons. Homework assignments that required reading aloud often left some students as little more than “silent spectators.”

Now, students record their speaking exercises simultaneously on tablets, and an AI system provides instant evaluations. The system can identify whether pronunciation is accurate, whether intonation is natural, and even whether vowel sounds are being swallowed.

“AI has also greatly accelerated grading,” Ma explained. “After assignments are submitted, the system first identifies common problems, allowing teachers to focus on individual difficulties. It’s like having several teaching assistants in the classroom.”

Across the campus, a dynamic learning-profile system continuously tracks students’ academic progress and pinpoints their weaknesses.

“For example, if a student performs well on reading comprehension but struggles with grammar questions, the system automatically creates a targeted learning group and recommends customized exercises,” Xie said.

Seventh grader Wang Yinuo knows firsthand how much of a difference this can make. He used to avoid speaking English because he lacked confidence in his pronunciation. Today, the intelligent scoring and annotation system on his tablet has changed that.

“Now I’m willing to speak, and I actually enjoy it,” he said.

In a makerspace classroom, Wang demonstrated a smart-home system he designed himself, which can control lights and curtains through voice commands.

“I think learning isn’t just about passing exams,” he said. “It’s about using technology to create something new.”

Yinchuan’s journey toward smart education began years ago. 

In 2018, the education department of Ningxia Hui autonomous region invested 10 million yuan ($1.47 million) and designated Ningxia No. 15 Middle School as a regional model school for an internet-assisted education initiative. Since then, the school has established 17 smart classrooms and equipped students with more than 900 learning devices.

Today, the school has achieved interconnection between the Smart Education of China platform, Ningxia’s smart education platform and its school-based platform. Teachers can access lesson preparation, classroom teaching and teaching research services with a single account.

The platform not only brings together high-quality educational resources from across the autonomous region but also hosts more than 6,000 QR codes linked to key knowledge points, allowing students to learn independently with just one scan.

The digital transformation extends well beyond a single school. Across Ningxia, internet access now reaches 100 percent of schools. Ningxia’s smart education platform has more than 1.6 million registered users and updates over 25 million pieces of high-quality teaching resources every year, covering all educational stages and subjects. The platform supports the entire educational process, from content creation and learning assistance to assessment, monitoring, and management, through cloud-based services.

“Technology must be applied smartly and flexibly to meet each student’s personalized needs,” Xie noted. “At its core, education aims to sustain long-term development. Sound educational practices will light up classrooms far and wide.”

By Li Rui, People’s Daily

As summer planting begins in Ningjin county in Dezhou, east China’s Shandong province, fields hum with activity — but beneath this timeless agrarian rhythm lies a technological revolution transforming irrigation, crop management, and cultivation practices.

For Ye Jitao, director of a farming cooperative in Hupizhangxi village, the shift has been radical. “Irrigation was once a logistical nightmare,” he recalled beside a new pipeline. “Several households had to share a single well, and we often waited three or four days just for one round of irrigation. Watering land could cost a lot in electricity alone.”

“Now the government has built a pipeline network that delivers water from the Yellow River directly to our fields. We simply turn on the irrigation system and the water starts flowing. There’s no waiting and no competition for water anymore.”

Located at the tail end of Dezhou’s Yellow River irrigation system, Ningjin has long struggled with water shortages and the overexploitation of groundwater, problems that once severely constrained agricultural development.

To tackle these challenges, the county has undertaken a major water conservancy project, dredging 114 kilometers of key waterways, building or upgrading 14 culverts and pumping stations, constructing 12 water storage ponds, and increasing the region’s river water storage capacity by 5 million cubic meters. The improvements have significantly strengthened the area’s irrigation capacity.

But having enough water is only part of the solution; using it efficiently is equally important.

At the Yicang planting cooperative in Ningjin’s Shiji township, farmer Wang Yuchi no longer needs to spend hours standing by the fields during irrigation. With a smartphone, he can check real-time data on soil moisture levels and water usage.

In the past, he had to stay beside the fields during irrigation, worried about wasting even a drop of water. But now he can control everything with his phone.

Traditional flood irrigation has given way to drip irrigation and integrated water-and-fertilizer management, enabling farmers to use resources with far greater precision.

The shift from “competing for water” to “precise water management” in Ningjin reflects a broader transformation taking place across Shandong, where technology is redefining field management.

In Wuzhuang village of Kenli subdistrict, Dongying, Shandong province 107 hectares of wheat fields are now lush and green. Few would guess that just four years ago, the area was severely salinized farmland with an average salt content of 16 parts per thousand, where almost nothing could grow.

The turnaround has been driven by a locally developed technology known as the “enclosed dual-layer subsurface drainage system.”

The method involves vertically installing plastic barriers to prevent saline water from seeping into the area while laying two underground drainage pipes: the upper layer flushes salt from the soil, and the lower layer blocks the upward movement of saline groundwater. The result is a solution that, according to local experts, can prevent the return of salinity for as long as 50 years after a single treatment.

Within one to two years of applying the technology, soil salinity dropped from 16 to 3 parts per thousand, the pH level returned to near-neutral conditions, and corn yields reached as high as 600 kilograms per mu, turning once-barren land into productive farmland.

Technology is also changing everyday farm management.

In a field in Linshu county, Linyi, Shandong, plant-protection drones fly low over the crops, evenly spraying water and nutrients onto wheat seedlings.

“In the past, fertilizing and irrigation were based largely on experience,” said Yu Leyi, a 45-year-old grain grower from Diantou township. “Now, with just a tap on my phone, I can see temperature, humidity, and crop conditions in real time. Precision management just makes it easier and more efficient.”

This transformation stems from the county’s smart agriculture monitoring system.

Since last year, Linshu has established 200 field monitoring stations throughout the county to collect real-time data on soil moisture, temperature, humidity, wind conditions, and other key agricultural indicators. The data are uploaded to a smart agriculture big-data platform that provides farmers and agricultural service providers with precise decision-making support.

“In the past, checking soil moisture meant going out to the fields, and fertilization required repeated inspections to get it right,” said Wan Lei, a farm machinery operator with a local agricultural cooperative, as he conducted aerial crop protection operations with a drone.

Using the mobile platform, he can clearly monitor drone flight paths, soil data, and crop growth. Precision fertilization and scientific irrigation have become standard practice. “And the efficiency is remarkable,” he said. “A single drone can cover between 53 and 67 hectares in one day.”

Similar scenes can be found in an unmanned smart farm in Wali village, Anjiazhuang township, Tai’an of Shandong province.

There, technician Wang Xinwen used a tablet computer to control a robotic pesticide-spraying machine.

“Once you set the route, it moves on its own,” he explained. “The screen shows soil moisture levels and even insect damage on the leaves, and it is easy to adjust the spraying angle.”

According to Chen Guoqing, an associate professor at Shandong Agricultural University, the robot uses centimeter-level navigation powered by the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, while a digital management platform processes image data in real time.

The robot delivers a 95 percent targeting precision for pesticide application and cuts chemical usage by 40 percent. It can easily cover over 13 hectares per day, boasting efficiency 10 times higher than experienced farm workers.

“If farmers choose to rent this type of robot, operating costs can be reduced by 60 percent per hectare and labor costs by 40 percent,” Chen said.

“Each unit is sold at around 20,000 yuan. Our goal is to develop affordable, reliable, and accessible intelligent farm machinery that ordinary farmers can actually use,” he added.

From labor-intensive farming to smart agriculture, a technology-driven transformation is unfolding across the fields of Shandong, fundamentally changing the way farmers cultivate the land.

By Liu Juanxi, People’s Daily

“Digital and intelligent transformation” is a frequently quoted term in the outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for National Economic and Social Development.

What exactly does this term mean?

As the term suggests, it represents the deep integration of digitalization and intelligent technologies. Building on the foundations of digitalization, it incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including intelligent decision-making and deep perception, to analyze, predict, and address complex problems and support practical applications.

The shift in wording, from “digitalization” in the 14th Five-Year Plan to “digital and intelligent transformation” in the 15th, reflects China’s efforts to embrace the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation. Driven by the rapid development of AI, the country is steadily moving toward a new stage of high-quality development.

In the past, China’s digital industry was large in size but not sufficiently developed, and the country’s computing-power infrastructure needed significant improvement. 

In recent years, however, construction and investment have accelerated. In 2025, China’s core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($176.52 billion). By the end of March this year, the country had built 4.958 million 5G base stations. The eight national computing hubs under the “East Data, West Computing” initiative have developed into major computing clusters, and China’s total computing capacity now ranks second in the world. These advances have laid the foundations for the country’s digital and intelligent transformation.

Why, then, is China placing such emphasis on this transformation?

Digital and intelligent transformation represents an evolution in the development philosophy of enterprises.

To address challenges in mining operations, Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. has developed a smart mining solution. Guided by an intelligent dispatch system, unmanned excavators can perform precision operations while autonomous mining trucks automatically plan their routes.

In the past, mining relied heavily on manual labor, involving high risks and significant margins of error. With the smart mining solution, the entire process can be operated without human intervention, reducing safety risks while significantly improving efficiency.

An increasing number of companies are using digital and intelligent innovation to develop new equipment, build smart workshops and intelligent factories, and improve efficiency and productivity. The transformation is injecting fresh vitality into industrial development.

Digital and intelligent transformation is empowering a wide range of sectors, creating new business models and opening up fresh sources of economic growth.

The intelligent robotics industry provides a vivid example.

At the School of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics of Hunan University, researchers have developed a bionic dual-arm robot capable of grasping glass bottles and placing them onto pharmaceutical spectrometers for sample testing. The robot is able to think and analyze like humans and perform complex experimental tasks.

“We’ve created a ‘physical feedback learning’ mechanism, enabling the robot to become smarter through continuous practice,” said Zhang Hui, dean of the school.

Digital and intelligent transformation requires industrial equipment to possess adaptive and self-learning capabilities, driving strong market demand for intelligent robots. In turn, this demand is creating new business opportunities throughout the industrial chain, including sensing systems, decision-making systems, execution systems, and systems integration, generating new engines of economic growth.

Digital and intelligent transformation will also provide powerful momentum for developing new quality productive forces.

At the end of last year, China successfully tested the world’s first 35,000-ton heavy-haul train convoy system. Seven 5,000-ton freight trains operated in coordination without being mechanically coupled in the traditional way. Instead, they relied on a domestically developed intelligent system that enabled them to accelerate and brake simultaneously.

This transition in railway freight transport, from “mechanical coupling” to “intelligent connectivity,” offers a model for developing new quality productive forces across industries.

What more efforts are needed to complete the shift from “digitalization” to “digital and intelligent transformation?”

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan provides a clear roadmap.

The country will coordinate the development of computing infrastructure, model algorithms, and high-quality data resources to strengthen the foundations for digital and intelligent development. 

It will fully implement the “AI Plus” initiative, integrating AI with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural advancement, public services, and social governance, while striving to seize the commanding heights of AI applications and comprehensively empower all sectors of the economy.

At the same time, China will pursue development and regulation in tandem, improve the basic institutions and rules governing data, strengthen AI governance, and foster a development environment that is beneficial, secure, and fair.

By making effective use of cutting-edge technologies, enhancing productivity and social governance capabilities, and helping build a society that is more resilient, dynamic, and efficient, China is embracing digital and intelligent transformation across all industries and sectors.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), also known as the 2026 Summer Davos forum, wrapped up in Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning province on June 25 after three days of discussions on the future of technology, industry and global innovation cooperation. 

Against a backdrop of slowing global growth, geopolitical tensions and mounting uncertainty, the forum sent a positive message of seeking new solutions and advancing together through cooperation. 

Inside and outside the conference venue, one consensus has grown increasingly solid: driven by innovation, China is elevating its development opportunities. As it delivers greater market dividends, the country is also sharing a rising stream of innovation dividends with the globe.

Innovation has consistently been central to Summer Davos themes. This year’s “Innovating at Scale” discussions emphasized the crucial shift from technological breakthroughs to widespread application, transforming new ideas into tangible productivity that drives economic growth and improves lives.

Discussions on advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics generated significant interest. A focal point became the rapid emergence and adoption within China of new technologies, products, and business models.

In recent years, China has demonstrated swift uptake across large AI models, new energy, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, humanoid robots, and the burgeoning low-altitude economy. This transition, moving specific innovations into broad industrial applications, has yielded replicable models and valuable experience.

Stephan Mergenthaler, WEF managing director and chief technology officer, highlighted this by noting AI technology’s shift towards industrial use. He suggested many developing countries could leverage China’s experience to identify their own competitive advantages and effectively integrate into the global AI value chain.

Given the complex international landscape marked by slowing economic growth and turbulence, innovation stands out as a vital path to counter downward pressures and unlock new momentum. Addressing challenges like shifts in global trade patterns, accelerating the energy transition, and maximizing AI investment benefits requires intensified international cooperation.

China’s sustained openness serves as a critical enabler in this equation. Increasing numbers of multinationals are expanding their research and development activities such as building R&D centers and regional headquarters in China, not simply to manufacture products but to participate in local innovation and industrial chains.

Their focus increasingly moves from tapping into “Made in China” manufacturing capacity to participating in “Created in China” innovation. Building on this trend, foreign-invested enterprises in China’s scientific and technical services sector surged by 27.2 percent year-on-year in 2025, adding 14,000 new businesses.

For global enterprises, this represents “China Opportunity 2.0”: deep innovation integration and rewarding investment prospects. For worldwide development, it signifies broader access to advanced technologies and more inclusive sharing of its outcomes.

The forum also devoted considerable attention to China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, helping participants gain a clearer understanding of the vast opportunities generated by China’s innovation-driven development. 

Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese economy has continued to demonstrate new vitality and renewed dynamism. The demand potential of its enormous market has been further unleashed, with service consumption, green consumption and new forms of consumption emerging as particular bright spots.

This demonstration of resilience is contributing needed stability to an uncertain global environment. A prevailing view among attendees was that the 15th Five-Year Plan’s strategies for developing “new quality productive forces” and nurturing emerging industries present significant “historic opportunities” for international development partners.

Ultimately, innovation delivers its greatest value when it is shared across the globe. As China’s innovations go global and are deployed on a larger scale, more countries, especially developing ones, are gaining access to affordable new technologies and products, injecting fresh momentum into modernization worldwide.

China stands ready to work with all parties to tear down walls and build bridges, stimulate innovation through exchanges and mutual learning, and achieve common growth through mutual success. By enlarging the pie of the global economy through innovation, China seeks to ensure that the dividends of innovation benefit all and provide a continuous source of Chinese strength for the recovery of the world economy.

By Cao Wenxuan, People’s Daily

On Dec. 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched island-wide special customs operations. Since then, many businesses have shifted from a wait-and-see stance to strategic layout, and from tentative trials to in-depth development.

Statistics show that between the launch of island-wide special customs operations and May 31, 2026, a total of 172,100 new market entities were registered in Hainan, a year-on-year increase of 61.07 percent. Among them, 139,500 were newly established enterprises, up 123.04 percent.

What underpins this magnet effect? How do policy advantages translate into developmental thrust? Three illustrative cases provide insights:

Global Repair Hub Redefining Value Chains

On the first day of island-wide special customs operations, the Haikou branch of SonoScape Medical Corp fulfilled the first order of bonded maintenance services for both-ends-abroad clients for endoscopes. The company, headquartered in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, sells independently developed products to more than 170 countries and regions.

A July 2025 Hainan policy revision classified endoscopes among 38 approved items eligible for internationally oriented bonded maintenance. As general manager Li Xiaoxi explains, offshore service centers often lack advanced repair capabilities, while some replaced components historically faced import restrictions. The Free Trade Port now enables comprehensive refurbishment, reuse, and value-chain upgrading.

“This facilitates the repatriation of high-value industrial segments previously anchored overseas,” Li emphasized.

Six Hainan enterprises now hold bonded maintenance licenses, with three activating operational frameworks. Fifteen international maintenance batches exceeding 3.5 million yuan ($516,620) have been processed under the updated regulatory regime.

Advanced Manufacturing Anchor Ignites Development

At the Yangpu Economic Development Zone in Danzhou, Hainan, construction is in full swing on the Siemens Energy Hainan Gas Turbine Assembly Base and Service Center, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2027.

“This is a comprehensive facility integrating manufacturing, final assembly, engineering services, and research and innovation,” said Li Rui, deputy general manager of the energy development department at Yangpu International Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. “It is also the first landmark foreign-invested manufacturing project to be established in Hainan after island-wide special customs operations were launched.”

The relationship between Yangpu Economic Development Zone and Siemens Energy dates back more than three decades.

“In 1994, just two years after the Yangpu Economic Development Zone was established, development was still in its early stages. We introduced two Siemens gas turbines to address power shortages,” recalled Hu Cheng, chief engineer of Yangpu Power Plant. 

At the time, the turbines were among the most advanced in the world and played a crucial role in supporting the development zone’s early growth. Over the years, Siemens Energy regularly dispatched specialists for maintenance work, and engineers from both countries forged lasting friendships.

Siemens Energy conducted inspection tours for potential cooperation in 2023, set up its Hainan innovation center in 2024, and has now launched a brand-new facility here. The company keeps ramping up investment out of not only long-standing ties but also full confidence in the Hainan Free Trade Port’s long-term growth, an executive of Siemens Energy Greater China explained.

While serving Hainan, the facility will also be developed into a regional center for high-end clean-energy equipment manufacturing and services covering Southeast Asia.

“Hainan enjoys clear geographical advantages and is building itself into a clean-energy island. Yangpu has a deep-water port located close to major international shipping routes. Combined with free trade port policies such as zero tariffs and visa-free access, the conditions for development are highly favorable, ” the executive added.

Longtime partners are expanding their presence, while new investors continue to arrive. Between the launch of island-wide special customs operations and May 31 this year, Hainan registered 1,240 new foreign-invested enterprises, representing year-on-year growth of 37.62 percent.

A New Exploration

Before island-wide special customs operations, the Hainan Free Trade Port’s hallmark policies, characterized by zero tariffs, low tax rates, and a simplified tax system, were primarily designed to support industrial development and businesses.

How can these benefits more directly reach everyday consumers?

In February this year, Hainan introduced a new policy granting zero-tariff treatment to imported goods purchased by residents within the Hainan Free Trade Port. The first five duty-free stores for daily consumer goods opened in Haikou, Sanya, and Danzhou.

 The initiative spans 202 categories of high-turnover consumer goods, including foods, personal care items, household essentials, and maternal & infant products. Eligibility extends to Hainan-registered residents, local residence permit holders, and qualifying foreign permanent residents, each entitled to shop duty-free with an annual cap of 10,000 yuan. This enables island residents to globally source premium goods locally — without leaving Hainan.

The new policy quickly attracted widespread attention. Shao Yuanyuan, manager of a duty-free daily consumer goods store operated by China Duty Free Group, recalled that hundreds of shoppers packed the store on the opening day, eager to explore the new shopping experience.

According to Haikou Customs, between the launch of island-wide special customs operations and May 31 this year, sales for offshore duty-free shopping reached 20.34 billion yuan, up 20.5 percent year on year.

“I believe the duty-free policy for Hainan residents will continue to be refined, just as the offshore duty-free policy has evolved over time,” said Hao Zhiqiang, deputy general manager of Haikou International Duty Free City. “It will enhance the quality of life for local residents while creating even greater opportunities for businesses.”

By Xian Gan, People’s Daily

On June 25, 2021, the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway, the first electrified railway in southwest China’s Xizang autonomous region, officially entered service. 

Stretching more than 400 kilometers, the “steel dragon” links the cities of Lhasa, Shannan and Nyingchi, introducing rail service to southeastern Xizang for the first time.

As of June this year, the railway has transported 6.25 million passengers and delivered more than 2 million tons of cargo over five years of safe and stable operation. This latest “heavenly road” across the snowy plateau has boosted the high-quality development of industries such as agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism, while bringing a better life to people living along the route.

With the summer vacation approaching, Galsang Tsom, a student at the Xizang Middle School in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, has already begun checking train ticket information on her phone.

Before attending junior high school and later moving to Wuhan for studies, she lived in Nyingchi. The train is now her preferred mode of travel between Wuhan, Lhasa, and Nyingchi.

Comparing her experience to her aunt’s (the first university graduate in their family) who recalled arduous journeys starting long before dawn from Motuo County just to reach Lhasa, Galsang notes the contrast: her train journeys are filled with fellow students sharing campus stories and parents discussing home, making the carriages lively and connected.

Prior to the railway, residents relied heavily on long-distance buses or private vehicles. Now, as noted by Han Chunwang, stationmaster of Shannan Railway Station, travel time between Nyingchi and Lhasa has been dramatically reduced from seven to eight hours by road to just over three hours. Commuting between Shannan and Lhasa takes roughly one hour, making rail the preferred choice, with regular travel between Lhasa and Nyingchi becoming commonplace. The railway now serves an area of over 200,000 square kilometers, directly benefiting more than 1.3 million people.

The freight yard on the western outskirts of Lhasa is a hive of activity. Cases of natural mineral water produced in Shannan are being loaded into train wagons by forklifts, awaiting shipment.

In the past, transportation constraints made it difficult for products such as mineral water to be shipped outside the region on a large scale. In recent years, however, the opening of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway and other lines, together with the upgrading of the entire Qinghai-Xizang Railway, has brought Xizang into much closer contact with the rest of the country.

“More than 40,000 tons of feed are transported here by rail every year. Once the Shannan freight yard comes into operation, our costs will fall even further,” said Zhang Honglin, head of a local agricultural development company. The company’s modern poultry farm now produces 1.5 million eggs a day.

“We don’t just supply the Xizang market,” Zhang said. “We also aim to sell our high-quality eggs to other parts of the country by rail.”

The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway has built a fast track for local goods to be shipped out of Xizang. Unique local products including Tibetan pigs, yak meat and matsutake, once plagued by high transport costs and poor preservation conditions, now travel efficiently from the snowy highlands straight to dining tables across the country. This provides sustained impetus for all-around rural revitalization.

At the same time, building materials, grain, fertilizers and other essential supplies are flowing steadily into southeastern Xizang, providing stronger support for prosperity and development in the region.

It is reported that the railway’s average daily freight volume in 2026 is 35.7 times higher than in 2021.

“Since the train started running, the rail service has put Gala village firmly on the map,” said villager Bianpa while strolling hand-in-hand with his mother under a peach tree at the village gate in Bayi district, Nyingchi.

The wild peach trees on the surrounding hills once attracted little attention, but they have now become one of the area’s most beautiful attractions, drawing large numbers of visitors every year.

In recent years during the annual peach blossom festival, local authorities have launched free shuttle buses with newly added stops at Gala village and the railway station. The routes connect scenic spots across downtown Nyingchi, offering convenient public transportation and seamless transfers for visitors and local residents.

Since the beginning of this year, Gala village has received more than 100,000 visitors and generated tourism revenue of over 3 million yuan ($442,188). The once-remote mountain village has become a shining example of a “happy village” on the snowy plateau.

Not far from Nyingchi Railway Station lies the Yani National Wetland Park, the first stop for many visitors arriving by train. Located at the confluence of the Nyang River and the Yarlung Zangbo River, the park is known for its shimmering waters and lush forests.

The area once saw very few visitors because of inconvenient travel conditions. The launch of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway and supporting road networks has boosted the integration of rail and tourism, bringing about remarkable progress.

To cater to growing tourism demand, local authorities have introduced activities like rafting and boat tours through submerged forests, encouraging longer stays and richer experiences.

“I was worried that, at my age, I might struggle to adapt to the high altitude,” said a 66-year-old tourist surnamed Wang from Shanghai. “But seeing that the trains are equipped with oxygen-supply facilities really put my mind at ease.”

Statistics indicate that monthly passenger volume on the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway has climbed from an initial 59,000 to a peak of 153,800. In the recent five years, more than 8,000 passenger trains have run on the line, alongside over 100 special tourist trains heading into the region.

By Chang Qin, Li Hongmei, People’s Daily

Farmland constitutes the cornerstone of food security in China. With approximately 124 million hectares of arable land, including 124 million hectares designated as permanent basic farmland, the integrity of every watershed and stretch of soil directly impacts food security for over 1.4 billion people.

As China advances its high-quality development agenda, nationwide initiatives are exploring innovative approaches to land conservation. Since 2012, China has implemented unprecedented measures for farmland protection, soil pollution prevention, and soil quality enhancement, simultaneously advancing three critical objectives: safeguarding the quantity of farmland, improving its quality, and enhancing its ecological sustainability.

China has achieved declines in three key indicators related to the risk of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils. More than 80,000 potential sources of soil pollution have been eliminated, 1,406 contaminated sites have been removed from official remediation and control lists, and many historically polluted areas have been restored and brought back to life.

China continues its drive to keep farmland soil free from pollution. In November 2024, seven government departments, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, jointly issued an action plan on strengthening the prevention and control of sources of soil pollution, outlining 82 specific tasks and establishing a comprehensive, whole-process framework for preventing pollution at its source.

According to Zhao Shixin, head of the department of soil ecology and environment at the Ministry, relevant authorities are working together to optimize industrial layouts, promote green transformation among enterprises, strengthen oversight of key polluting entities, and continue reducing emissions in industries such as steel, coking, cement, and coal-fired power generation. Efforts are also underway to trace and address heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils.

“Risks associated with soil pollution nationwide have been effectively controlled, and overall soil environmental quality has remained stable, with conditions improving in some areas,” said Guo Guanlin, an official with the department.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), China will prioritize source pollution prevention and end-to-end risk control. The country will integrate treatment, utilization, and conservation measures. Efforts will be made to steadily lift the environmental quality of farmland and fully safeguard the safety of agricultural produce.

China maintains some of the world’s strictest farmland protection regulations. August 2025 saw the implementation of “red line” protection measures for permanent basic farmland, introducing a dynamic management mechanism that permits quality-based land exchange.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of China’s Land Administration Law. A draft law on farmland protection and quality improvement has completed its second review by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Meanwhile, China’s Environmental Code, which will take effect on Aug. 15 this year, incorporates the basic national policy of “cherishing and rationally utilizing land and effectively protecting farmland.”

Integrated measures covering farmland quantity, quality and ecology are already yielding solid results. Barren land is being turned into new-grain-producing areas.

In Dongying, east China’s Shandong province, local authorities have rolled out an innovative, phased approach to rehabilitating saline-alkali land. More than 6,667 hectares of such land have been improved, reducing soil salinity from 16 to 3 parts per thousand. The National Center of Technology Innovation for Comprehensive Utilization of Saline-Alkali Land has developed 87 new varieties and strains of salt-tolerant crops, turning increasing areas of formerly unproductive land into fertile fields.

In Lishu county, northeast China’s Jilin province, farmer Tao Yong has farmed the land for decades and seen dramatic changes. In the past, strong winds could easily blow away the nutrient-rich topsoil. Today, conservation farming practices such as straw mulching and no-till planting have been widely adopted, making the land increasingly fertile.

Years of monitoring data indicate that over nearly two decades, trial plots following the Lishu model have boosted soil water retention by 20 percent and raised deep soil water storage capacity by 40 percent. Wind and water erosion have been effectively curbed, cutting soil loss by 80 percent.

From pollution control and risk management to quality improvement and ecological restoration, and from black-soil conservation to the rehabilitation of saline-alkali land, China has introduced a broad range of measures to reinforce both food security and overall development security.

Land connects mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts. It also underpins a future of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

China’s approach to land management is no longer confined to restoring individual fields or plots of land. Instead, it seeks to coordinate ecological conservation, industrial development, and spatial planning on a much broader scale, pursuing systematic, integrated, and source-based governance.

In Shishou, central China’s Hubei province, one of the demonstration sites for ecological restoration projects along the Jingjiang stretch of the Yangtze River, ducks paddle through rice paddies while frogs croak among the fields.

The area has pioneered an ecological farming model that combines ducks, frogs, and rice cultivation. Ducks help control weeds and pests, while frogs continue the natural pest-control process. As a result, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has fallen by more than 70 percent, grain output has increased by 7 percent, and average earnings per mu have risen by 20 percent.

More than 3,000 hectares have now adopted this farming model, which has also spawned a range of regional brands, including rice, rice wine, and traditional rice cakes, generating annual profits of 9.6 million yuan ($1.41 million). A single field now produces not only grain, but also healthier ecosystems and greater prosperity for local communities.

Across China, integrated ecological restoration projects covering mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts are moving forward smoothly. According to Lu Lihua, deputy director-general of the land space ecological restoration department at the Ministry of Natural Resources, China had launched 52 such projects across 29 provincial-level regions as of 2025, restoring more than 8 million hectares of land with central government funding totaling 103 billion yuan.

By Zhou Shuyun

China’s pet care market continues its impressive expansion. According to a report on the Chinese pet industry, the number of pet dogs and cats in urban areas surpassed 126 million in 2025, propelling the overall market size to reach 312.6 billion yuan ($46.03 billion).

A new wave of pet owners, primarily from the post-90s and post-00s generations, is reshaping conventional pet care practices. The convergence of increased consumer demand and significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) is driving the emergence of intelligent and highly personalized pet care solutions as a major industry trend.

The recently concluded sixth ONE Pet Show showcased a growing range of AI-enhanced products, encompassing everything from smart feeders and water dispensers to collars and specialized health-monitoring devices.

Pet owners like Ms. Wang highlight specific priorities when choosing automated feeders, such as precise portion control and reliable resistance to jamming. The smart feeder she currently uses features facial recognition technology. Once each cat’s information is registered into the system, food is dispensed automatically whenever a particular cat approaches the machine, essentially giving every pet its own “meal card.”

“It handles larger treats like freeze-dried food without issue,” Wang explained. “Being able to check feeding times and quantities remotely via an app while traveling is incredibly reassuring.”

Others, such as Ms. Li, emphasize the value of health monitoring. Facing the challenge of managing two cats with distinct dietary needs, she found traditional monitoring time-consuming. Her smart feeder uses feline facial recognition to enforce separate feeding schedules and portion sizes. Data syncing to her phone allows real-time dietary tracking, significantly simplifying pet care. “It eliminates the guesswork,” Li stated.

Health monitoring technology is also advancing rapidly. Smart pet collars, for instance, can continuously track activity levels, sleep duration, and heart rate. AI algorithms analyze this data, facilitating early health assessments. Alerts for anomalies like sudden drops in activity or irregular sleep patterns enable proactive intervention, shifting monitoring from reactive to preventative.

Pet product company Petkit has integrated its AI-powered visual water dispenser, AI wet-food feeder, and AI smart litter box into an interconnected smart-pet suite, accompanied by a large health-monitoring display.

The water dispenser can recognize individual pets and keep separate hydration records for multiple animals. The feeder records eating habits, provides abnormality alerts, and supports scheduled and portion-controlled feeding. The smart litter box offers facial recognition, monitors urine pH levels, and uploads health data, creating a comprehensive AI-powered ecosystem for pet care.

Venturing beyond automated feeding and health tracking, AI applications are increasingly exploring companionship and remote interaction, unlocking further possibilities within intelligent pet care.

At the smart pet technology exhibition area of this year’s ONE Pet Show, a range of new products made their debut, including AI pet phones and intelligent travel harnesses.

The brand Letapet, owned by innovative mobile technology company Ucloudlink, showcased two flagship products: PetPhone and PetCam.

According to the company, PetPhone functions as a smartphone for pets, integrating communication, safety, and health-management features. It allows owners to interact remotely with their pets through the device.

PetCam, meanwhile, features a lightweight design and can capture first-person footage from the pet’s perspective as it goes about its daily activities.

As AI rapidly penetrates a wide range of industries, local governments across China are also actively encouraging the pet economy to become a new application scenario for AI technologies.

For example, Zhejiang province in east China has issued a guideline on promoting the development of the pet economy, encouraging companies to develop smart pet products such as intelligent feeders, water dispensers, litter boxes, and drying machines.

The policy also focuses on the emerging field of pet wearables, promoting the use of sensors, communication modules, and positioning chips to analyze pets’ behavioral patterns and health conditions, while supporting the development of smart collars, harnesses, and leg bands.

Industry insiders, however, caution that AI applications in the pet sector are still at an early stage.

At present, most AI capabilities are concentrated in areas such as data recording and behavior recognition. Considerable progress is still needed before systems can accurately understand animals’ physical and emotional states and make autonomous decisions.

At the same time, challenges including high computing costs, fragmented industry data, relatively limited application scenarios, and insufficient interoperability among different devices remain obstacles that the industry must overcome to achieve its next stage of development.