Nigeria Times

By He Yin, People’s Daily

In his 2025 New Year message, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that China will work with all countries to enhance mutual learning among different cultures. This demonstrates China’s wisdom and vision to promote harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, as well as the country’s sense of responsibility in advancing the progress of human civilizations.

The world is in a new period of turbulence and transformation, and global challenges keep emerging. Toachieve peaceful coexistence and harmony among different civilizations remains crucial for addressing common challenges facing humanity.

In the face of rising unilateralism, protectionism and populism, as well as the increasing disputes derived from the differences in cultures and civilizations, China remains committed to promotingexchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, which is a wise choice inspired by the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

The prosperity of civilization and human progress will not be possible without enhancing common ground, openness and inclusiveness as well as exchange and mutual learning among civilizations and agreeing to reserve differences. More dialogue means less confrontation, and more inclusiveness means less estrangement.

Xi has made solid efforts to strengthen exchanges and enhance understanding among different civilizations, ensuring that civilizations, diverse in many ways, complement each other and shine brightly together, just like the multicolored pools of China’s Jiuzhaigou and Peru’s Salt Terraces of Maras.

When replying tothe letter from his American friend, Xi pointed out, “For China-U.S. relations to advance, it hinges more on the two peoples.”In a congratulatory letter to the inaugural World Conference of Classics, he emphasized the need to seek wisdom from different civilizations. When drawing blueprints for BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other cooperation mechanisms, he elaborated on people-to-people and cultural exchangesand dialogue on many occasions.

While injecting momentum into exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, Xi has also provided wisdom and solutions to questions like how countries should get along with each other and how they should make joint efforts to address global challenges.

Civilizations are like water, moistening everything silently. “As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘Passengers in the same boat should help each other.’ Today, as I see it, dwellers of the same planet should help each other,” said Xi. He also encouraged the international community to resolve differences through dialogue and rise above conflicts through cooperation, and build a beautiful world of harmonious coexistence together.

These important proposals reflect the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture and serve as a source of inspiration for humanity to tackle the challenges of the times.

In June 2024, the 78th session of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by China to establish the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations. This vividly exemplifies China’s solutions and contributions to eliminating prejudices and misunderstanding and enhancing mutual understanding and trust among different civilizations.

Joining hands to advance modernization

To achieve modernization is an important topic in the development of civilizations. Modernization is not “an exclusive patent” of a small handful of countries, nor is it a single answer question. It cannot be realized by a cookie cutter approach or simple “copy and paste.”

Along the path to modernization, China has been working together with other countries to step up the exchange of experience in state governance and national development.

In November 2024, Xi shared with other countries China’s successful story in poverty alleviation when attending the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

To tackle poverty, China has made targeted policies tailored to each village, each household and each person; helped localities generate growth by fostering industries with distinctive features and upgrading infrastructure, all in light of their own conditions; and promoted common prosperity by pairing up well-off regions with less developed ones. Such experience has drawn great attention worldwide.

From poverty reduction to the fight against corruption, from promoting common prosperity to enhancing ecological conservation, the successful experience of Chinese modernization has become a public good driving the progress of human civilizations.

At the opening ceremony of the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China unveiled ten partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation, of which the Partnership Action for Mutual Learning among Civilizations is in the first place. Under this action, China is ready to work with Africa to build a platform for governance experience sharing.

Many African leaders believe that China stands ready to share its experience with other countries based oncommon values and mutual respect. They said that Africa and China can accelerate the process of industrialization and modernization by learning from each other and drawing on each other’s strengths.

China has always been committed to strengthening exchanges and mutual learning with all countries. Its experience is increasingly viewed by the international community, especially countries of the Global South, as an opportunity and hope for achieving development and progress.

The world is a colorful place and civilizations are diverse. At the crossroads of human civilizations, China stands ready to enhance mutual learning among different cultures together with other countries, to see that different civilizations enrich each other and add to the beauty of the world.

China will also join hands with other countries to bring down cultural barriers on the ground, reject prejudices that stand in the way of human interactions, and eliminate cultural bias that prevents people from engaging with one another, so as to ensure that different civilizations coexist in harmony.

By Qiao Dong, People’s Daily

Qinghai Lake, the largest inland saltwater lake in China, has been expanding in size continuously for the past 20 years. The latest satellite remote sensing found that the lake’s w r surface had reached 4650.08 square kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 28.1 square kilometers.

The recovery of the lake surface area is attributed to the local ecological restoration efforts and ongoing management and protection of the water ecosystem in recent years.

“Over the past 20 years, the warming and increased humidity on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau has led to higher average temperature and rising rainfall in the Qinghai Lake basin,” said Sun Jianqing, an official with the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Administration.

“More importantly, we have been beefing up ecological restoration and comprehensive sand and water management of the Qinghai Lake basin. The water quality in the main area of Qinghai Lake has consistently remained good over an extended period,” Sun added.

According to Shi Derong, an engineer at the grassland station in Haiyan county of Haibei Tibetan autonomous prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai province, Qinghai Lake’swater level had experienced a reduction due to grassland degradation, land desertification, and river flow interruption.

To combat desertification, Qinghai adopted a sand control approach that focusedprimarily on preventing sand expansion while boosting afforestation. The province has restructured its tree species and successfully tested a range of practical technologies appropriate for high-cold sandy areas. Over 500,000 mu (33,333 hectares) of desertified land to the northeast of Qinghai Lake has been treated, with the overall coverage rate of grassland vegetation reaching 60 percent.

The continuous flow of streams into Qinghai Lake also provides a constant source of energy for the lake’s expansion.

The Buha River, originating from the Qilian Mountains, is the largest tributary of Qinghai Lake and accounts for over 50 percent of the lake’s water inflow.

Currently, China has approved a plan to establish a national park at Qinghai Lake. As part of the park’s development,the headwater regions of inflowing rivers, ecologically fragile areas such as glaciers and permafrost, habitats of rare species, as well as the lake area, will all be incorporated into core protection zones.

Over the past few years, the size of the Buha River basin has been on a steady increase, with the water quality consistently rated as excellent. How did local authorities manage to enhance the water quality while increasing the water volume?

A management system composed of the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Administration, its branch offices and protection stations has been established in Qinghai Lake. Additionally, six protection stations have been put in place. carrying out special operations and daily patrols and monitoring to protect the water ecology.

Increasing biodiversity

Recently, an outdoor video monitoring platform run by the Protection and Utilization Administration of Qinghai Lake Scenic Area captured a real-time footage – hundreds of overwintering swans walking back and forth in groupsnear a bird islet.

It is learned that during the establishment of the national park, three comprehensive observation stations have been set up at the Chinese national level and under the administration of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Besides, a research platform has been established with the concreted efforts of several parties. Over 300 ecological monitoring stations for water, soil, air, and wildlife have alsobeen set up to supervise 24 major bird habitats, 13 Przewalski’s gazelle activity areas, and 28 key ecological protection areas.

Today, Qinghai Lake has seen its ecological environment improved and biodiversity rapidly restored. The naked carp population has recorded a nearly 46-fold growth.A total of 281 bird species have been identified in the region, with an impressive 606,000waterfowl making it their permanent home. Additionally, the number of the Przewalski’s gazelle in the Qinghai Lake basin has risen from fewer than 300 in the early stages of conservation to over 3,400.

“Our ecological conservation efforts are manifested in ‘three improvements and three reductions’ – we have increased the areas of wetland, the coverage of high-density vegetation, and the overall ecological function, while reducing the areas of sandy, bare, and saline-alkali land within the protected zone. At the same time, within our protected zone, the functional land under protection remains unchanged,” said Sun.

Booming ecological tourism

In Ha’ergai township of Gangcha county on the northern shore of Qinghai Lake, mushroom-shaped hotel buildings are favored by many tourists. There is also a rescue station for Przewalski’s gazelleand a science museum close by.

In recent years, the Qinghai Lake scenic area has upgradedits tourism infrastructure, including transportation, service facilities, and parking lots, while also providing a wider range of ecological tourism productsto enrich visitors’travel experiences.

Local residents are benefiting from the improved ecological environment. Sources say that the Protection and Utilization Administration of Qinghai Lake Scenic Area has adopted a collaborative approach to develop ecological tourism within the 12 approved scenic spots, featuring the participation of companies, cooperatives, and the public. This innovative model has contributed to local job creation, benefiting more than 20,000 residents in the eight neighboring townships.

“Over 60,000 people are living within the proposed boundaries of the national park at Qinghai Lake. We are planning to provide people in local communities with sharesin cooperatives, which will encourage their participation and allow them to benefit from the park’s development. In this way, we canpursue a well-coordinated approach in ecological protection and high-quality development,” said Ma Tiancheng, deputy head of the Protection and Utilization Administration of Qinghai Lake Scenic Area.

By Wang Junling

Starting from Jan. 1, 2025, provisional import tariffs, lower than the most-favored-nation rates, have been applied to 935 Chinese commodities as part of an annual tariff adjustment plan recently issued by the Customs Tariff Commission of China’s State Council.

Experts said thatlower provisional tariffs have been implemented for some raw materials, drugs, equipment, and components. Besides, China has adjusted the import tariff rates and items on certain goods in an effort to boost imports of high-quality products, expand Chinese domestic demand, advance high-level opening up, and promote high-quality development.

The tariff adjustments were implemented in three aspects. First, to foster new quality productive forces through scientific and technological innovation, cycloolefin polymers, ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, and automatic transmissions for special-purpose vehicles such as fire trucks and repair vehicles can enjoy lower import tariffs.

Second, to enhance people’s well-being,China has cut tariffs on sodium zirconium cyclosilicate, viral vectors for CAR-T tumor therapy, and nickel-titanium alloy wires for surgical implants.

Third, to promote green and low-carbon development, ethane and some recycled copper and aluminium raw materials also see their import tariffs reduced.

According to Fan Min, deputy head of the information and market department of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, ethane, cycloolefin polymers, and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers are important basic materials for China’s petrochemical industry. The tariff cuts can promote the application of green and low-carbon manufacturing processes and drive the development of high-tech, and high-performance products in downstream industries, Fan added.

Demonstrating China’s commitment to high-level opening up

The tariff adjustments also demonstrate China’s sense of responsibility as a major trading nation under the current international economic situation.

In 2025, China will continue to offer zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines to the 43 least developed countries (LDCs) with which it has diplomatic relations in a bid to support their development and foster mutual benefits.

At the same time, China will continue to apply preferential tariff rates to certain products from Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar in accordance with the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement and its exchange of notes with ASEAN member states.

“Starting Dec. 1, 2024, China has given all the LDCs with which it has diplomatic relations zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines. In 2025, China will continue to implement this unilateral opening-up policy,” said Cui Fan, professor with the University of International Business and Economics.

At the same time, conventional tariff rateswill be applied to certain products from 34 countries and regions under 24 free trade and preferential trade arrangements in 2025, up from 30 countries and regions under 20 free trade and preferential trade arrangements as compared to the 2024 tariff adjustment plan. These changes signify an expanding “circle of friends” in China’s foreign trade, Cui noted.

As the first annual tariff adjustment plan after the adoption of the law on customs duties, this plan represents China’s commitment to steadily expanding institutional opening up, unilaterally opening its doors wider to LDCs, and expandingthe globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas. It also demonstrates China’s proactive efforts to promote high-quality development via high-standard opening up, said Cui.

“China has adopted a flexible and targeted approach in tariff adjustment. It has reduced provisional import tariffs on key equipment and components, drugs, medical equipment, and energy products. Besides, the country has also adjusted or eliminated import tariffs on products for which it has a certain level of production capacity and competitiveness,” said Gao Lingyun, a researcher with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Gao noted that these adjustment measures are contributing to China’s efforts to expand opening up and promote industrial upgrading.

Supporting measures keep unfolding in different regions

Relevant departments in China have introduced a range of supporting measures. For instance, on Dec. 29, 2024, China’s General Administration of Customs announced a new round of 16 measures to promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and boost imports of high-quality products.

One measure involves working with local governments to push forward the pilot program for a “white list” of imported materials for biopharmaceuticalsresearch and development in the region to support regional synergy.

Another measure is to set up a pilot program in Yiwu, east China’s Zhejiang province, for a positive list management system of imported daily consumer goods.

Additionally, a collaborative mechanism is underway to facilitate grain imports in the region, which will link entry ports, transit ports, and destination customs to enable information sharing, mutual assistance in law enforcement, and mutual recognition of results.

Experts noted that as China continuously expands voluntary opening up and creates more favorable conditions for high-quality imported products, more and moreforeign market players are expected to benefit from its growing import demand.