Nigeria Times

During the recent May Day holiday, bustling crowds filled destinations across China, from the snow-covered landscapes of the north to the waterways of the south, from ancient capitals steeped in history to fast-rising “internet-famous” cities.

Surging consumer demand and vibrant travel activities illustrated the dynamism of China’s economy. Three key datasets reveal a nation growing in confidence and openness.

The first set of figures reflects mobility, revealing the vitality pulsing through Chinese society.

According to China’s Ministry of Transport, China recorded about 1.52 billion cross-regional passenger trips during the five-day holiday, up 3.49 percent from the same period in 2025.

Transportation served as a key pillar of the holiday economy and an essential driver of consumption. Data from major travel platforms showed that the number of cross-provincial travelers rose 7.6 percent year on year, while that of long-distance travelers covering more than 800 kilometers increased by 20 percent, driving an 18 percent rise in hotel spending.

Along the coastlines of Yantai in east China’s Shandong province, amid the scenic landscapes of Wuxi in Jiangsu province in east China, and at the historical ruins of Luoyang in Henan province, central China, travelers immersed themselves in China’s natural beauty and cultural heritage.

Behind the streams of people and traffic lay not only the continued improvement of transportation infrastructure, but also steadily rising consumer confidence and willingness to spend.

The second set of figures centers on consumption, highlighting the sustained expansion of domestic demand.

According to big-data monitoring by China’s Ministry of Commerce, service consumption emerged as the primary engine of the holiday economy. Spending on live performances rose 17.6 percent year on year during the holiday, while box office revenue for the May Day movie season surpassed 700 million yuan ($102.86 million).

During a national culture and tourism consumption week campaign, local governments across China organized around 13,700 cultural and tourism promotional events and distributed more than 284 million yuan in consumer vouchers and subsidies, offering travelers a wider range of leisure and tourism options.

The continued upgrading of service consumption, improved quality and scale of goods consumption, and growing vitality of the experience economy became defining features of the holiday period.

The U.S.-based Travel and Tour World website noted that the strong momentum in China’s tourism sector during the May Day holiday not only reflected rising consumer confidence among domestic travelers, but also demonstrated the resilience of the Chinese economy amid global uncertainty.

The third set of figures underscores openness, reflecting the growing global appeal of “China travel” and “shopping in China.”

Data from China’s National Immigration Administration showed that border crossings nationwide during the May Day holiday totaled nearly 11.28 million trips, averaging 2.256 million per day, up 3.5 percent year on year.

Among them, foreign nationals accounted for 1.255 million entries and exits, an increase of 12.5 percent. Of inbound foreign travelers, 436,000 entered China under visa-free policies, up 14.7 percent year on year, highlighting China’s growing attractiveness in the global tourism market.

Improved visa services, payment systems, and flight connectivity are transforming visitor behavior: foreigners increasingly seek authentic local experiences — embracing China’s renowned safety and daily rhythms over mere landmark tourism.

Travel platform data showed particularly strong growth in inbound tourism to nontraditional destinations such as Heilongjiang, Guizhou, Hunan, Xinjiang, and Shanxi, all of which recorded increases exceeding 60 percent during the holiday.

On the ancient city wall of Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, Australian visitors marveled at the city’s thousands of years of cultural legacy. At Meilan International Airport in Haikou, Hainan province in south China, travelers from Singapore praised the efficient and convenient customs procedures. On the streets of Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province, Russian tourists attended sporting events, explored the city, and tasted local cuisine.

From quick sightseeing tours to immersive cultural experiences, more and more foreign visitors are gaining a fuller and more authentic understanding of a vibrant and energetic China through their own firsthand experiences.

The robust holiday economy reflects people’s aspirations for a better life while also demonstrating the resilience and long-term strength of the Chinese economy.

Looking ahead, China will continue to uphold the principles of openness, inclusiveness, cooperation, and mutual benefit. It will work to transform short-term consumption momentum into long-term development potential, steadily expand high-level opening up, advance high-quality development, and share broader opportunities with the world while contributing more Chinese energy to the global economic recovery.

By Gu Yekai, People’s Daily

From autonomous tractors in northeastern China to drone-powered crop management in the Yangtze River Delta, China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is revolutionizing agriculture through precision farming and intelligent operations. 

Integrated across every agricultural stage, from plowing and planting to field management, harvesting, and transportation, BeiDou technology enhances boosting operational efficiency, reduces labor costs, and accelerates the modernization of China’s farming sector.

According to an expert from the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location Based Services Association of China (GLAC), BeiDou’s agricultural applications are evolving beyond basic navigation to full industrial-chain intelligence, significantly improving both productivity and resource efficiency.

At a family farm in Hai’an, east China’s Jiangsu province, plant-protection drones equipped with the BDS manage thousands of mu (about 667 square meters) of wheat fields. Operators simply tap smartphone commands to activate pre-programmed spraying routes.

In Dandong, east China’s Liaoning province, farmers input field coordinates into tablets to guide self-navigating agricultural machinery.

Behind these applications is the rapid expansion of China’s new digital infrastructure.

Take precision agriculture as an example. In scenarios such as autonomous tractor driving, precision tillage, uniform seeding, and variable-rate fertilization, centimeter-level positioning accuracy is reshaping traditional farming practices, where even slight deviations in plowing could hurt crop yields.

How is such precision achieved? 

“We have established more than 5,000 ground-based augmentation reference stations nationwide, continuously providing positioning benchmarks and real-time correction services for agricultural machinery,” said Yang Zhangbing, general manager of the intelligent driving division at SinoGNSS, a positioning devices provider based in Shanghai.

When operating in the field, machinery equipped with BeiDou smart terminals receives not only satellite navigation signals but also high-precision differential data from nearby augmentation stations. Through fast computing and error correction, the system delivers real-time centimeter-level positioning, allowing machinery to accurately determine its location and maintain perfectly straight operating routes.

In recent years, satellite-based augmentation services have further expanded precision farming into remote regions without access to ground-station signals.

“Satellite-based augmentation uses signal transponders carried by geostationary satellites to broadcast correction information to users, improving the positioning accuracy of satellite navigation systems,” explained Chen Jinpei, CEO of SpatiX, a global leader of spatiotemporal intelligence. 

“In regions such as northeastern China and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, we can now achieve centimeter-level positioning within two minutes, and across most areas within five minutes. Straight-line and inter-row operating accuracy exceeds 2.5 centimeters, enabling tractors to plow and harrow fields much more precisely,” Chen added.

Beyond high-precision positioning, the BDS is increasingly integrated with remote sensing, geographic information systems, the Internet of Things, and big data — effectively giving farmland a “smart eye” and shifting agricultural management from extensive practices to refined, data-driven care.

For example, multispectral remote sensing inspections by BDS-linked drones can quickly identify differences in crop growth and predict areas vulnerable to pests and diseases, allowing risks to be addressed early. 

Rice-transplanting quality inspections, meanwhile, combine machine learning and computer vision technologies to detect missing seedlings during planting operations, uploading real-time data to cloud platforms to support replanting and quality control.

“We are also exploring BDS-based digital maps that allow underlying field data to be shared across different agricultural machines,” Yang said. He explained that physical weeding equipment can then follow the exact planting trajectories recorded by rice transplanters to raise efficiency. During harvest, combines can also automatically follow previous operational routes, further reducing labor costs.

According to statistics from the GLAC, China has cumulatively deployed more than 2.7 million BeiDou terminal devices in the agricultural sector.

The widespread adoption of satellite navigation as a “new farming tool” for Chinese farmers has been made possible by coordinated support across the entire industrial chain and ecosystem.

In recent years, China has continued making breakthroughs in independently developed BeiDou chips, integrated communication-navigation-sensing technologies, and algorithm optimization. The BeiDou industry now possesses full-chain production capabilities spanning chips, modules, and terminal equipment, providing strong support for the large-scale integrated application of BeiDou technologies.

At the same time, the large-scale rollout of the BDS also relies on the coordination of the entire industrial chain. At present, many agricultural machines in China have undergone intelligent upgrading based on BeiDou technology.

“Thanks to the BDS, agricultural machinery location data can connect directly to our IoT platform,” said Wang Liying, head of the information department at FMWORLD, a leading farming machine manufacturer of China. 

“This allows us to quickly coordinate spare parts and service personnel nationwide, ensuring timely, efficient technical support during peak spring plowing and autumn harvest seasons,” Wang added.

By Chang Jin, People’s Daily

A touching moment at the 139th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, widely known as the Canton Fair, recently went viral on social media both in China and abroad. 

Assisted by an exoskeleton robot developed by Hangzhou-based Taixi Robot, an Argentine patient with muscular weakness slowly rose from a wheelchair and took several steps — a milestone long awaited. Witnesses wept with joy as cutting-edge technology and profound human compassion converged in a powerful moment.

“This is the tangible strength of Chinese smart manufacturing,” observed one online commentator..

The critical leap from conceptualization to breakthrough — the journey from “0 to 1” — relies on a vibrant, interconnected innovation ecosystem.

The development of exoskeleton robots, once confined to science fiction, spans multiple cutting-edge fields including artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction. Such advances require years of dedicated research by companies, but breakthroughs are never achieved in isolation. Behind Taixi Robot stands a network of coordinated support: angel investment led by the Zhejiang University Alumni Fund, close collaboration among universities, enterprises, research institutions, and end users, plus a fast-track patent approval pathway launched by Hangzhou’s Gongshu district.

This fertile ground for innovation allows new ideas to take root and scale rapidly. 

Today, a growing number of Chinese companies achieving technological breakthroughs reflects the strengths of China’s system for mobilizing resources and coordinating innovation efforts on a national scale.

The recently released preview version of DeepSeek-V4, for example, is compatible with domestically developed chips such as the Huawei Ascend AI processors. Such progress would not have been possible without coordinated efforts to overcome technological bottlenecks in the semiconductor sector. Nor would today’s massive computing power be possible without earlier strategic investments in energy infrastructure and green electricity.

This system-level coordination is accelerating China’s innovation engine and continuously generating new breakthroughs in advanced technologies.

The subsequent leap from invention to affordability — moving from “1 to 100” — is underpinned by China’s comprehensive industrial system

For years, exoskeleton robots remained prohibitively expensive. Yet the products showcased at the Canton Fair came with a significantly lower price tag. That shift owes much to highly integrated and efficient supply chains.

In Zhejiang province in east China, industries producing sensors, servo motors, and other intelligent hardware components are already well established, helping reduce manufacturing costs and making advanced technologies more affordable and accessible.

And Zhejiang is far from an isolated case.

Across China, local governments are actively removing barriers to production factors and enhancing industrial coordination, fostering opportunities for corporate growth and innovation.

In Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, companies can source 90 percent of the components needed for robotics production within just a few kilometers. Today, the city is home to more than 74,000 enterprises in the industry. 

In east China’s Anhui province, nearly all parts for a new energy vehicle can be sourced within a three-hour drive. This supports seven major automakers and helps the province rank first nationwide in annual automobile production.

These highly efficient industrial clusters have become powerful catalysts for business growth.

In today’s China, the technological strength of innovation hubs is increasingly merging with the manufacturing capabilities of the “world’s factory,” allowing flashes of inspiration in laboratories to be transformed into continuous output on production lines.

The final leap — scaling from domestic success to global reach, moving from “100 to 10,000” — reflects China’s commitment to shared global development. China’s innovation journey is not about isolation, but about forging connections for mutual benefit.

After the exoskeleton video from the Canton Fair gained global attention, Taixi Robot proactively contacted the foreign patient and offered follow-up support. Over and over, she said “thank you” in Chinese, voicing her hope that more of the company’s products could be brought to Argentina to help others living with similar conditions.

This spirit of shared development and global solidarity has become deeply embedded in China’s approach to innovation.

In the field of artificial intelligence, for instance, China has become one of the world’s major contributors to open-source software and open models. The goal of “advancing the development of open-source ecosystems” has even been included in the outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.

Bloomberg noted in an article that while some of the West’s tech giants are racing to build increasingly powerful AI systems while tightly restricting access, Chinese research labs continue to share technological advancements openly and free of charge.

From Juncao technology benefiting countries around the world, to Chinese-built power grids illuminating remote communities in Brazil, to the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope opening its facilities to global researchers, China’s innovation has never been aimed at “holding others back.” Instead, it seeks to “build roads for everyone,” helping more countries cross development barriers and improve people’s quality of life.

Persevering through hard work while embracing cooperation and mutual benefit — this is one of the deepest, most powerful, and most inspiring forces shaping modern China.

By Liu Zhonghua, Xu Xin, People’s Daily

China’s rapidly advancing new energy vehicle (NEV) sector is spearheading the global automotive industry’s green transition, creating significant opportunities for collaboration between Chinese and European companies.

According to statistics released by financial services firm UBS, since 2018, European automakers including Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW Group have established technology partnerships with at least 38 Chinese companies and research institutions, covering areas such as software, hardware, batteries, and vehicle connectivity.

This marks a strategic shift for European manufacturers. Moving beyond their initial focus on China’s vast consumer market, they are now increasingly embedding themselves within the country’s dynamic innovation ecosystem. Many are strengthening their presence in China and positioning it as a cornerstone of their global strategies.

On March 13 this year, the first model jointly developed by Volkswagen and Chinese electric car manufacturer XPeng, UNYX 08, officially rolled off the production line in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. It took just 24 months from the signing of the joint development agreement to mass production.

This pace contrasts with the joint ventures of the 1980s that spurred China’s passenger car industry. Today, as the global auto industry accelerates towards electrification and intelligence, multinationals like Volkswagen are actively reshaping their roles to integrate more deeply into China’s innovation landscape.

“China is the world’s most competitive and innovative automotive market,” said Ralf Brandstatter, chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group China. To date, Volkswagen has invested about 3.5 billion euro ($4.1 billion) in Hefei, building a complete NEV ecosystem encompassing research and development, manufacturing, and supply chains. The company expects to launch more than 20 NEV models this year.

Hildegard Muller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, noted that the automotive sectors of Germany and China are highly complementary. China is not only one of the largest and fastest-growing auto markets but also a key arena for testing new technologies and driving industrial innovation. 

German automakers, she said, hold advantages in safety and engineering standards. Deeper cooperation will accelerate technological innovation, generate synergies, and promote industry upgrading.

In March this year, Swedish heavy truck manufacturer Scania delivered its first batch of NEXT ERA trucks produced at its industrial base in Rugao, east China’s Jiangsu province, its third global production base. The facility, wholly owned and operated by Scania, began operations last October and is designed to produce 50,000 heavy-duty trucks annually.

A breakthrough in policy was key to this investment. In 2020, China released a negative list for foreign investment, lifting equity restrictions in the commercial vehicle manufacturing sector. Scania quickly finalized the Rugao project, becoming one of the first international commercial vehicle manufacturers to establish a wholly owned plant in China. It also marks Scania’s largest overseas investment in nearly 70 years.

“The Rugao base has obtained a wholly foreign-owned production license from the Chinese government, breaking the traditional joint venture model,” said Camilla Dewoon, executive vice president and head of Scania Group China. 

“This allows us to improve efficiency in product definition, technology introduction, and operational management, and it reflects China’s steadily improving level of opening up and business environment in manufacturing,” she added.

In Dewoon’s view, the Rugao base is “a bridge to the future.” “Much of the innovation shaping the industry today, including autonomous driving, electrification, and intelligent connectivity, originates in China. We aim to integrate more deeply into the Chinese market, continue learning, and work closely with outstanding Chinese partners,” she said.

In 2025, Chinese NEV maker Leapmotor sold more than 67,000 vehicles overseas, including over 20,000 in the European market. In 2024, it sold only 771 units in Europe. This sharp increase reflects strategic collaboration between Chinese and European automakers. In 2024, Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest automaker, formed a joint venture, Leapmotor International, with the Chinese NEV company.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Stellantis has set ambitious goals amid the transition to new energy: to achieve 100 percent electrification of its passenger cars in Europe by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2038. 

To this end, the group has shifted its China strategy from traditional joint ventures to a new model of ecosystem-based collaboration. Leapmotor International is a key outcome of this approach. With joint efforts from both sides, Leapmotor had expanded into more than 30 overseas markets across Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa as of June last year.

Cooperation now goes beyond vehicle manufacturing. In November last year, Stellantis and Chinese power battery enterprise CATL jointly broke ground on a lithium iron phosphate battery plant in Aragon, Spain. With a total investment of 4.1 billion euro, the facility will run entirely on renewable energy and adopt Industry 4.0 standards, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2026.

Amid this growing “look East” trend among European automakers, China is fostering a new blueprint for automotive cooperation with an open and inclusive approach. 

Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Bochum, western Germany, noted that China’s vast market and well-developed supply chains are generating increasing economies of scale. Combined with rapid innovation in cutting-edge fields such as power batteries, NEVs, and autonomous driving, China has become a key force driving the global automotive industry’s transition toward electrification and intelligentization.

By Sun Chao, People’s Daily

Central China’s Hunan province has rapidly emerged as a key exporter of agricultural machinery, with shipments surging due to strong product adaptability, advancing technology, and targeted global strategy. 

In 2025, the province’s agricultural machinery exports reached 730 million yuan (about $107 million), a 65.6% year-on-year increase according to customs data. Germany has become the fastest-growing major overseas market, with exports soaring more than 100-fold in the first 11 months of the year to 120 million yuan.

This growth reflects not only competitive products but also a broader shift from exporting standalone equipment to delivering integrated solutions that combine technology, standards, branding, and services.

During the spring plowing season, a visit to Fuja Technology Co., Ltd. in Yiyang, Hunan, offered a glimpse of this transformation. 

Inside its facilities, a range of high-tech “new farm tools” was on display: compact machines powered by new energy, crawler chassis capable of navigating complex terrain, and autonomous systems that can independently plan operating routes.

“One of our smart spraying robots secured orders for 500 units from Italy and other European countries immediately after February field tests,” said Chen Fei, project manager at the company. 

Another flagship product, the high-speed rice seedling production line, automates the entire process from sorting and seeding to soil covering and stacking. It meets the seedling requirements for 500 mu (33 hectares) of farmland in just eight hours and is gaining strong traction in Southeast Asia.

Hunan’s agricultural machinery has gained traction overseas for its compact design, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. At the 2025 Africa International Agricultural Expo held in Kenya in last October, 10 companies from Hunan, including Zoomlion Agriculture Machinery, Hunan Nongyou Machinery Group, and Changsha Sunlight Agricultural Machinery Equipment, showcased 42 units of equipment, all of which were sold out on site. Orders signed with local distributors and large farms exceeded 10 million yuan.

In December last year, Hunan Nongyou Machinery Group shipped 38 containers carrying 152 rotary tillers to Southeast Asia within just 10 days.

“The natural environment in Southeast Asia is similar to that of Hunan, and the main crops are also comparable,” said Liu Ruoqiao, chairman of the group. 

Around 70 percent of Hunan’s farmland lies in hilly and mountainous areas, where fragmented plots and uneven terrain have long made it difficult for large machinery to operate efficiently. Yet these constraints have driven a distinctive development path toward smaller, specialized, and more precise equipment.

The company has developed a rotary tiller capable of operating in mud as deep as 60 centimeters, with the ability to turn in place. Targeting the mechanization gap in cassava cultivation, a widely grown crop in Africa, the company has also developed a full suite of machinery covering planting, digging, collection, and processing. At the 2025 China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, a buyer from Mozambique placed an order worth 5 million yuan for cassava harvesters.

Elsewhere in Hunan, Hunan Nongfu Machinery & Electronic Co., Ltd. in Chenzhou ranks among the national leaders in market share for crawler tractors. “We develop and manufacture whatever is most urgently needed in hilly and mountainous agriculture,” said Shou Yuanfeng, the company’s technical director, describing its innovation logic.

“When we looked overseas, we found that Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America also have extensive hilly terrain and a strong demand for compact, agile machinery. Hunan’s ‘hilly DNA’ aligns perfectly with many emerging markets,” he added.

While adaptability provides the foundation, intelligent technology has become the key to unlocking global markets.

Hunan has built an innovation ecosystem driven by enterprises, guided by market demand, and supported by close integration of enterprises, universities, research institutions, and users. Fuja Technology, for example, has partnered with Hunan Agricultural University to establish a key laboratory for intelligent seedling cultivation in southern China, achieving breakthroughs in precision high-speed seeding.

With Changsha, capital of Hunan, as the hub, the province is developing an innovation, research and development center for intelligent agricultural machinery, leveraging platforms such as the Yuelu Mountain Laboratory to tackle core technologies in intelligent sensing and precision operations. 

Meanwhile, cities including Loudi, Chenzhou, and Changde are building specialized manufacturing bases for hilly-area machinery, niche equipment, and smart agricultural machinery, forming a differentiated industrial cluster.

Thanks to strong product performance and precise market positioning, Hunan’s agricultural machinery sector has evolved from simple product exports to a coordinated “going global” strategy encompassing technology, standards, brands, and services.

Nongyou Machinery Group has customized rice mills, harvesters, and other equipment for Indonesian clients, while establishing overseas factories in countries such as Nigeria and Indonesia. Its reliable and efficient after-sales service has helped drive rapid sales growth.

“More and more African clients are coming to us. Going global is no longer optional, but essential,” said Li Dianqin, general manager of an electromechanical company in Huaihua, Hunan. In recent years, the company has set up dedicated teams to systematically expand into African markets, moving beyond product exports to promote its brand and service offerings abroad.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

China has become an indispensable “training ground” for global carmakers, an arena where rapid technological iteration and fast-changing consumer demand are pushing the industry to evolve at unprecedented speed. 

At the just concluded 2026 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (Auto China 2026), which once again set a new record for scale among global auto shows, this dynamic was on full display. 

“China is like a ‘gym’ for the automotive industry. Nowhere else sees such fast technological iteration or such rapidly shifting user demand,” said Oliver Blume, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. 

His analogy captures the unique appeal of the Chinese market. As some international observers have noted, “the Auto China 2026 confirmed China as the new center of the automotive industry,” “China is becoming a key hub for exporting next-generation vehicles to global markets,” and “this is not just an auto show, but a story of industrial transformation.”

What makes China such a critical “gym” for global automakers? Beyond the buzz of packed exhibition halls, the answer lies in a shift from the traditional “scale dividend” to a more competitive “ecosystem dividend.”

Chinese brands, leveraging advances in intelligent technologies, are achieving leapfrog development and moving steadily toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain, demonstrating strong competitiveness worldwide. 

At the Auto China 2026, Chinese automakers unveiled a series of flagship models featuring innovations such as power batteries with ranges of up to 1,500 kilometers, AI-driven intelligent cabin, and advanced driver-assistance solutions geared toward Level-3 autonomous driving. These technologies highlighted China’s leading edge in intelligent, connected new energy vehicles.

An executive from a foreign automaker noted that while traditional multinational companies once took four to five years to develop a new vehicle model, a development cycle of 2 to 2.5 years has now become the new norm in China. 

By deeply engaging with the Chinese market and fully understanding local demand, many development challenges can be resolved more efficiently, producing a powerful “amplification effect,” the executive added.

China’s vast, open and inclusive market provides fertile ground for deep collaboration between domestic and international companies. Since the Auto Shanghai 2023, many multinational automakers have come to recognize China’s advantages in key technologies and supply chains for smart electric vehicles, prompting them to shift more of their research and development (R&D) functions to China. At the Auto China 2026, these companies have entered a phase of intensive launches of “localization 2.0” products.

The logic of cooperation between Chinese and foreign automakers has also undergone a profound transformation. Foreign companies have moved beyond simple vehicle manufacturing or basic technology transactions, choosing instead to integrate deeply into China’s innovation ecosystem and pursue comprehensive collaboration. 

Volkswagen offers a clear example: through close cooperation with Chinese partners, it developed a new localized electronic and electrical architecture in just 18 months. Its advanced driver-assistance competence center in China has shortened R&D cycles by 30 percent and reduced platform development costs by 50 percent.

From “in China, for China” to “in China, for the world,” multinational automakers are no longer treating China merely as a sales market but as a global hub for innovation and exports. Some Japanese and German automakers plan to introduce new energy vehicles developed and produced in China to international markets, while several French companies have identified China as a global testing ground and innovation incubator to support worldwide vehicle development.

As the industry shifts from “product exports” to “system exports,” technologies and management models refined through the Chinese market are comprehensively empowering the global automotive industry.

An open arena allows all participants to leverage their strengths and share progress. Looking ahead, China will continue to foster a fair, efficient, and dynamic development platform with an open and inclusive approach, working with all parties to advance the global automotive industry and inject fresh momentum into the world economy.

By Yang Hao, People’s Daily

Across China, from cutting-edge technology labs and aerospace programs to rural revitalization projects and frontline industrial workshops, young people across China are emerging as a pivotal force driving the country’s development. 

Fueled by ambition, creativity, and perseverance, they are contributing to innovation, revitalizing communities, and pursuing excellence in their daily work, embodying the dynamism of modern China.

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a reply letter to the representatives of the awardees of the China Youth May Fourth Medal and New Era Youth Pioneer, encouraged young Chinese to stay rooted in their posts, strive for new achievements, and inject their youthful dynamism into advancing China’s new journey of development.

Stressing that 2026 marks the opening year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), Xi said the present time presents a prime opportunity for young people to contribute to the country’s development.

The vitality of China’s youth is vividly displayed in technological innovation. Late into the  night in Shanghai’s Xuhui district, the lights remain on at the SMC Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, a large-model AI innovation community. Xia Lixue, an entrepreneur born in the 1990s and CEO of Infinigence, a rising star in China’s AI infrastructure landscape, is often deep in discussion with his team about computing-power optimization.

Leading a team averaging just 32 years old, Xia focuses on improving the efficient use of domestic computing resources. Collaborating with industry partners, his team launched China’s pioneering “computing power ecosystem supermarket” — the SMC computing power dispatching platform — aiming to make computing resources as accessible as utilities like water and electricity for both industries and households.

The SMC innovation community is now home to more than 300 AI companies. Its annual revenue has grown more than twelvefold year on year, while total output has surpassed 100 billion yuan ($14.68 billion). The average age of entrepreneurs there is under 30. This year, the young innovators in the community received the China Youth May Fourth Medal.

Youthful talent also forms the backbone of China’s aerospace sector. Key teams demonstrate remarkable youthfulness: the Beidou satellite network development team averages 31 years old; core personnel for the Chang’e lunar missions average 33; the assembly team for the Mengtian space lab module averages 33; and the Tianwen Mars mission flight control team averages just 30. Propelled by this young ingenuity, China is rapidly evolving from a participant and contributor in global science and technology into a pioneer and leader.

For many young Chinese, the most fulfilling path lies where the country needs them most..

In Kantian Gezhuang village in Laoting county, north China’s Hebei province, rows of tomatoes are thriving inside vegetable greenhouses. Li Yao, the village committee director, was introducing local agricultural industries to visiting guests.

Eight years ago, Li Yao spent his own money to purchase materials, lay wiring and replace lamps, finally lighting up 120 LED streetlights across the village. He also spearheaded the construction of 3,000 meters of gravel farm roads, renovated the water pipeline network, and installed public fitness facilities, dramatically improving the village’s environment.

“But better roads and brighter lights alone are not enough to raise incomes,” Li said. He led villagers in developing high-standard farmland and introduced an aquaponics-based collective farming project alongside facility agriculture. Within a few years, average annual income per mu (667 square meters) of farmland rose from just over 1,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan.

At the northeastern edge of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu province, northwest China, lies Minqin county, surrounded by the Tengger and Badain Jaran deserts like an isolated island in a sea of sand. Zhong Lin, a Gen-Zer, grew up there and chose to return home after graduating from university. Along the edge of the Tengger Desert, he has planted saxaul trees across more than 7,000 mu through public-interest afforestation efforts, gradually bringing greenery back to the desert landscape.

“Youth takes root downward, while greenery grows upward,” reads the description on Zhong’s short-video account, where he regularly posts content about desertification control and tree planting. Inspired by his efforts, enthusiastic volunteers from across the country have traveled to the desert, joining the fight against desertification.

Young people are also demonstrating dedication and craftsmanship in ordinary positions, honing their skills as they strive for excellence.

Beside an 80,000-ton die-forging press at China National Erzhong Group Deyang Wanhang Die Forging Co., Ltd., Ye Linwei was leading his team in operating the massive equipment with meticulous control.

As the machine’s first operator and a recipient of the 2023 China Youth May Fourth Medal, Ye has led his team in overcoming numerous technical challenges. Together, they successfully forged multiple high-end aviation components, including the main landing gear outer cylinder and fuselage frame structures for the C919 large passenger aircraft.

Today, China has more than 80 million technical professionals and over 220 million skilled workers, including more than 72 million highly skilled workers. Increasing numbers of young people are pursuing success through technical expertise and contributing to the country.

Wang Qinjin’s journey offers another example. After graduation, he worked as a warehouse manager for SF Express before being selected for the company’s internal pilot training program. Through relentless physical training, intensive aviation theory study, and rigorous simulator practice, he steadily earned his wings.

From delivery worker to airline captain and eventually flight instructor, Wang has accumulated 6,600 hours of safe flight time, demonstrating that in an era where opportunities are increasingly open to all, hard work can give youth limitless possibilities.

Whether scaling the heights of technological innovation, serving at the grassroots level, or excelling in ordinary jobs, young people across China are pursuing their dreams while staying grounded in reality. Bold in vision yet practical in action, they are bringing to life a flourishing portrait of a youthful and vibrant China.

By Yang Hao, People’s Daily

At 6 a.m., as morning mist lingered over the streets of Ruijin in east China’s Jiangxi province, 38-year-old food delivery rider Chen Yiwen straightened his uniform, fastened his helmet, checked his delivery box, and set off on his electric scooter, right on schedule, just as he has done for the past eight years.

Chen entered the food delivery industry in 2018. Initially, unfamiliar routes, frequent late deliveries, and difficulty finding addresses nearly made him quit. He persevered, however, meticulously learning the layouts of older residential complexes, tracking restaurant preparation times, calculating elevator wait times during peak hours, and memorizing building access rules. His delivery efficiency steadily improved.

During storms, he climbs stairs on foot to ensure timely deliveries. When roads are blocked, he detours kilometers to keep food warm for customers. Over the years, Chen has traversed nearly every corner of the city and consistently ranked as the top performer at his station.

For Chen, however, delivering meals transcends speed; it’s about giving back to the city he serves.

In the summer of 2020, he came across a middle school student who was injured after falling off a bike. He immediately paused his deliveries and accompanied the child to the hospital, helping with registration and treatment. 

In the winter of 2021, while making deliveries, he spotted a fire in a residential building. He helped evacuate residents and contacted emergency services, leaving only after firefighters arrived.

In May 2024, Chen learned that eight elderly residents with limited mobility in Ruijin’s Shazhouba township struggled to obtain meals. He volunteered to help, traveling 14 kilometers round-trip daily at lunchtime to deliver their food, regardless of weather. He later inspired over twenty fellow riders to form a volunteer team assisting residents in need.

For Chen, youth forged through hard work is defined by not only hustle, but also depth. 

To support workers in emerging sectors, Ruijin established a dedicated training program offering systematic professional development and career guidance. Chen enrolled without hesitation.

During a course on grassroots governance, words from an instructor left a lasting impression on him: “Delivery riders and couriers travel through every street and alley of the city every day, and that’s what makes you the mobile sensors of the city.”

Inspired, Chen created a WeChat group called “Snap and Report.” The group now includes more than 300 delivery riders and couriers, who report issues ranging from damaged roads and faulty public facilities to fire safety hazards.

So far, members of the group have submitted more than 1,000 reports, 98 percent of which were solved, turning the group into an active force in community governance.

From a five-star rider renowned for precise service, to an everyday hero stepping up in emergencies, and now a mobile inspector patrolling urban streets, Chen has forged a life path imbued with warmth. He passes on kindness and compassion, embodying the responsibility and mission shared by workers in new forms of employment.

By Hong Qiuting, People’s Daily

China’s burgeoning robotics industry is accelerating rapidly, and alongside it, a new generation of young professionals is emerging, growing in tandem with the technology they help develop.

Inside the Guangdong provincial embodied intelligence training center in Haizhu district, Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province, robots were undergoing intensive real-world training under the guidance of young technical architects, engineers, and operators. 

Robotic arms sorted automobile bolts with precision; inspection robots autonomously patrolled electrical pipelines for hazards; humanoid robots carried out delicate tasks.

“Today’s task is to simulate a supermarket scenario and train the W1 robot to pick up and place common bottled drinks,” said Deng Yueci, a Gen-Z foundational engine architect, to Song Lei, a robot teleoperation engineer born in the 1990s.

Song took a deep breath, put on a virtual reality (VR) headset, and gripped the controllers. As his arms moved, the W1 robot mirrored his motions in real time.

“Keep the movements steady and fluid,” Deng advised.

Guided by the VR controllers, the robot slowly approached a bottle of mineral water. As the robotic arm made contact, it paused briefly. Within a second, the robot sensed its interaction with the object and recorded the relevant data.

To Song, robots may come in many forms, but they all feel familiar. “You have to imagine yourself as the robot when operating it,” he said. “Only then can you reach a real state of human-machine integration.”

Nearby, Deng kept a close eye on the sensor readings, carefully monitoring movement data from the robotic arm’s joints and end effectors.

“Precision is everything,” he explained. “Different types of beverage bottles require subtle adjustments in speed and force. The more accurate the movement and the coordination, the more complete and reliable the data collection becomes.”

Once the teleoperation session ended, the collected datasets were uploaded to servers for processing.

“The standards for data accuracy and completeness are extremely high,” Deng said. “For a retail scenario like the one we’re testing now, robots need to learn to recognize bottles made from different materials and identify various types of shelves, all while collecting separate datasets.”

But a single round of collection is far from enough. “Engineers would also use simulation techniques to expand the datasets and generate new data. Only after the volume reaches hundreds of thousands of data points can the project move on to the next stage: model training,” Deng added.

From painstaking data collection and simulation modeling to deploying robots in real-world environments, the work is demanding, but also deeply engaging.

“It feels a bit like progressing through levels in a game,” Deng told People’s Daily. “There’s always something new to explore. As robots improve through diverse training scenarios, we’re growing too.”

When Song first started operating robots, his hands trembled constantly. Wearing a VR headset often left him dizzy, and he needed long periods just to familiarize himself with the training environment. 

Now, whether operating two-finger wheeled robots used in retail scenarios or more advanced dexterous robotic hands, he can usually master a new system within 10 to 30 minutes. Even large wheeled inspection robots used in complex industrial workshops, which place high demands on an operator’s balance and coordination, pose little challenge to him today.

Even so, whenever a new robot arrives at the training center and is unpacked for testing, Song still sees himself as a newcomer alongside the machine.

“What kind of work can this robot actually do? And how can we help it do the job well?” With those questions in mind, he continues practicing day after day, refining his skills through hands-on experience and constant reflection.

“The development of embodied intelligence depends on integrating multimodal data across a vast range of real-world scenarios,” said Ding Ning, director of the Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center of Guangdong Province. 

The training center functions not only as a laboratory but also as a proving ground, he explained, one that tests robots against genuine operational demands and lays the groundwork for their eventual integration into real production and daily life.

“These young engineers spend countless hours training and experimenting, helping robots evolve from specialized tools into general-purpose intelligent agents,” said Gao Fang, chairman of the company which operates the training center. “In doing so, they are also contributing to the industries of the future.” According to Gao, 74 percent of the company’s technology professionals were born in the 1990s.

Across China, waves of youthful innovation are spreading far beyond embodied intelligence into ever broader fields. Young people throughout the country are integrating their personal aspirations into the broader course of national development, creating new achievements in their respective roles and contributing the energy of youth to China’s new journey forward.

By Shi Zhipeng, Lyu Jiuhai, People’s Daily

International influencers living in China are sparking cross-cultural dialogue through candid videos showcasing everyday security in the country. Their unscripted moments have popularized a new term: the “Chinese sense of safety,” generating widespread discussion across global social media platforms.

What do these video show? Late-night snack runs without a second thought. Fruit vendors napping beside unattended stalls. Laptops left on café tables, still there hours later. Packages stacked along the street, untouched. For many viewers, these ordinary scenes feel anything but ordinary.

So, how safe is China? The data offer part of the answer.

In 2025, the number of criminal cases filed in China dropped by 12.8 percent year on year, reaching the lowest level of this century. China remains one of the countries with the lowest rates of homicide, violent crime, and gun- and explosives-related offenses in the world. Public satisfaction with safety reached 98.23 percent, staying above 98 percent for six consecutive years.

Internationally, according to Gallup’s Global Safety Report 2025, China has been ranked as the third safest place globally and fourth in the law and order Index, both ahead of several Western countries.

Yet for many foreign influencers, what feels even more remarkable than the statistics is how ordinary safety seems to Chinese people in daily life. It is so deeply embedded that many barely notice it.

As one overseas netizen even joked: “China is very safe, except for people trying to lose weight. One careless night snack, and you end up with ‘happy fat.'”

So where does this widely noted sense of safety come from?

First, it comes from governance.

In China, public safety is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a universal public good shared by all. Kong Fanbin, dean of the Huazhi Institute for Global Governance at Nanjing University, argues that an integrated governance system involving multiple social forces provides strong support for high-level public security.

From the immediate response mechanism to public appeals that delivers prompt solutions to people’s demands, to refined grid-based meticulous management that integrates human patrols and technical prevention, every governance measure is well-regulated and people-focused.

Such initiatives bolster public security, lay a solid foundation for enhancing people’s sense of gain and happiness, and make the general public feel genuinely safe and reassured.

Second, it comes from trust.

“The ‘Chinese sense of safety’ is also rooted in profound cultural traditions,” said He Mingxing, professor at the School of International Journalism and Communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University. 

The Chinese nation has long cherished the age-old virtues of “no one picks up lost articles on the road, nor do people bolt their doors at night”, while emphasizing harmony and mutual care.

In real life, this trust is reflected in two ways. 

One is trust in public institutions. “Many Western countries struggle to understand the relationship between police and the public in China,” He noted. “In some places, even approaching a police car might trigger a warning. Here, to ask for help from police officers is one of the most instinctive thoughts ordinary people have.”

The other is the trust shared among strangers. Someone may call to remind you that your car door is unlocked. A neighbor may bring over food that was mistakenly delivered to their home. As one foreign influencer put it: “In China, I learned how to trust again.”

Third, this sense of safety comes from development.

Chinese people understand that security is the foundation of development, while development is the guarantee of security.

“With the steady advancement of Chinese modernization, people’s sense of safety has become increasingly solid,” said Lu Jiehua, professor at the School of Population and Health at Renmin University of China.

In 2025, China’s per capita disposable income rose by 5 percent year on year, in line with overall economic growth. Guided by the principle of “investing in people,” China has built the world’s largest education, social security, and health care systems. Fairer social protection, more balanced public services, more inclusive basic livelihood services, and better access to diversified social services have all strengthened people’s confidence in the future.

Taken together, it all comes down to China’s governance.

The “Chinese sense of safety” is built upon a solid “safety net,” Lu said. “It reflects the remarkable effectiveness of China’s governance and highlights the institutional strengths of the country,” he added.

At a time when the international landscape is marked by turbulence and overlapping risks, China’s combination of stability and steady development is drawing attention — not only for how it supports the lives of its 1.4 billion people, but also for the sense of certainty it offers to the world.

In recent years, from the rise of “China Travel” as a global social media trend, to growing expressions of wanting to “become Chinese,” and now to the widespread fascination with the “Chinese sense of safety,” more and more foreigners are experiencing the country firsthand, often revising earlier assumptions in the process.

Official data show that in the first quarter of this year, the number of foreign visitors entering China visa-free rose by nearly 30 percent year on year — another sign that the country’s opening up, stability, and sense of safety continue to resonate far beyond its borders.