Nigeria Times

By Li Xia, People’s Daily

Zenghouyi chime bells, an ancient Chinese musical instrument with a history of more than 2,400 years, has gained new vigor and enjoys great popularity in the modern world, thanks to the country’s burgeoning digital technologies and cultural and creative industry.

Excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Zenghouyi, or Marquis Yi, a ruler of the Zeng State during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.), in Suizhou city, central China’s Hubei province, the ancient Chinese musical instrument represents the pinnacle of bronze musical instruments-making in the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) of China.

It is by far the largest, heaviest, best-preserved, and finest set of chime bells ever unearthed in China and has the most complete temperament and range among all chime bells unearthed in the country.

More importantly, the racks and bells of the instrument bear inscriptions consisting of a total of 3,755 Chinese characters, which contain rich and complete knowledge of music.

The chime bells is nowthe most precious treasure of the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan City, the capital of Hubei province.

Today, in addition to watching and learning about the ancient percussion instrumentat the museum, people can also buy cultural and creative products featuring the chime bells, “play”it with the help of digital technologies including holographic projection, and enjoy chime bell performances given by the Hubei Provincial Museum Chime Bell Orchestra.

“Zenghouyi chime bellsis a symbol of China’s rites and music culture and has been the most valuable piece of intellectual property,which has facilitated our efforts to build cultural and creative brands,” said Wang Liang, director of the museum’s marketing department and deputy head of the orchestra.

According to Wang, the museum began to develop chime bell-themed creative and cultural products in the 1990s.At first, it made full-size replicas and miniature versions of the chime bells, which werevery popularin both the domestic and overseas markets. Then, the museum rolled out stationery and daily necessities featuring the ancient musical instrument, which have also been well received.

The application of digital technologies has “brought the chime bells to life”. In the experience zone of the museum’s comprehensive exhibition hall, the chime bells is projected holographicallyso that visitors can “play” it with their hands. With the help of a virtual reality (VR) headset and hand shank, visitors can “perform” on chime bells according to the prompts of the digital system, immersing themselves in the charm of the cultural relic.

On the eve of the 2022 Chinese Lunar New Year, the Hubei Provincial Museum, China Media Group, as well as other organizations, jointly launched a new media-based interactive project that allows people to “strike” the Zenghouyi chime bells remotely using their mobile phones.

In 1978, when the chime bells was unearthed, a concert was held in Suizhou to test its musical function. The original Zenghouyi chime bells was used to play a famous music composition, and the performance impressed the world. Since then, the original cultural relic has been put under protection. Only its replicas have been used for performances.

In 1983, a completereplica of the chime bells unearthed was made andthe Hubei Provincial Museum set up a team to perform on it, which later became the Hubei Provincial Museum Chime Bell Orchestra. Over the past more than 30 years, the orchestra has received more than 10 million visitors from home and abroad.

Music is a very good way to connect with the audience, said Wang Xianfu, deputy curator of the museum and head of the orchestra. As musicians perform on replicas of the Zenghouyi chime bells, the ancient musical instrument is “revived”, he noted.

Xiang Zhang, curator of Suizhou Museum, disclosed that cultural heritage institutions and museums in Suizhou have worked with related institutions and bell-making craftspeople to reproduce bronze chime bells and pass on the traditional craft for making them, which was listed as a representative item of China’s national intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

In an effort to better introduce chime bells to more people, the Hubei Provincial Museum Chime Bell Orchestra has made active efforts to integrate chime bells with different types of other musical instruments, such as the saxophone, piano, and the guqin, a plucked seven-stringed Chinese musical instrument.

In June this year, the Hubei Provincial Museum and the Wuhan Qintai Piano Museum jointly held a concert, during which chime bells and pianos were played together.

In September 2022, the Hubei Provincial Museum held an online concert in cooperation with the Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, wowing netizens with an innovative combination of chime bells and guqin

By Guan Kejiang, People’s Daily
Electronic payments in the retail sector of Saudi Arabia reached 57 percent of total transactions conducted in the country in 2021, up from 36 percent two years ago, according to a recent survey by the country’s central bank.
In 2021, over 5.5 billion payments were executed through point of sale (PoS) in Saudi Arabia, which represented 243 percent growth from 2019. Among them, 95 percent were conducted through contactless payment methods.
Digital payment is developing rapidly in Gulf countries. According to a survey by Mastercard, 88 percent of residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used one or more emerging payment methods. Mobile payment was the most popular one, followed by BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later). Most respondents said they used digital payment because it was safe and convenient.
McKinsey & Company said the transaction volume of digital payment in the UAE had kept increasing nine percent or more each year between 2014 and 2019, higher than the average in Europe which stood at four percent to five percent. According to the management consulting firm, the UAE is expected to become completely cashless by 2030.
Since January this year, Oman has made digital payment mandatory at shopping centers, restaurants and supermarkets. Digital payment transactions in Kuwait surged 46 percent year on year in 2021.
Bahrain is the first among all Gulf countries to launch digital payment services. According to statistics released by the country’s central bank, digital payment of the country grew 13.1 percent year on year in July this year.
On Aug. 30 this year, Qatar’s central bank issued the first license for digital payments to two fintech firms, allowing them to offer relevant services.
Analysts believe that the prospering e-commerce sector is an important force driving the rapid development of digital payment in Gulf countries. These countries are latecomers in e-commerce, but boast high penetration of internet and high per capita income. They enjoy huge development potential in this regard. Amid COVID-19, Gulf countries saw further development of e-commerce, and the market is expected to hit $50 billion in 2025, from $24 billion in 2020.
Gulf countries generally adopt policies that encourage digital payment. J.K. Khalil, Mastercard’s Cluster General Manager of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) East, said Gulf countries’ passion for digital payment is inspiring.
Saudi Arabia’s “Saudi Vision 2030” plan takes digital transformation as an important goal, aiming to digitalize 70 percent of the country’s total transactions.
The UAE established a “Cashless Dubai Working Group” that aims to shift all payment transactions in Dubai to secure and easy-to-use cashless platforms across sectors.
Gulf countries have carried out active international cooperation on digital payment. The common digital currency project“Aber” jointly launched by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Buna multi-currency payment platform established by the Arab Monetary Fund for its member countries, as well as the joint regional payments platform AFAQ that links real-time gross settlement systems for each Gulf Cooperation Council country, all support cross-border digital payment.
China has played an important role in accelerating the development of digital payment in Gulf countries, and the two sides are constantly enhancing their digital cooperation. Chinese tech firms are actively joining the digital development of Gulf countries to build a digital Silk Road.
Zhong Hong, deputy dean of the Academy of Bank of China, told People’s Daily that digital payment creates a safe, effective and low-cost transaction environment, makes financial services accessible to more people and enhances people’s wellbeing in Gulf countries.
She said digital payment, employing big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies, will contribute to the digital transformation of Gulf countries and create new impetus for their economic development.

By Zhou Zhou, People’s Daily
The Egyptian government recently piloted a digital precision irrigation system among hundreds of farmers.
The system samples data with its sensors buried in the soil and tells farmers when they should water the crops and how much water is needed. Through a mobile application, farmers can obtain information about their crops, including the soil moisture content. They can start the irrigation remotely with just a few clicks on the screen of their mobile phones. The system cuts farmers’ water consumption in irrigation by around 20 percent.
Apart from Egypt, Saudi Arabia is trying to grow crops with sea water, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building greenhouses and water-conserving farms in desert.
The Middle East and North Africa region is home to five percent of the global population, but it owns only one percent of the world’s renewable water resources.
In recent years, some Arab states have rolled out relevant policies and plans to tackle drought, agricultural water scarcity, and other challenges, developing and introducing digital technologies and artificial intelligence to vigorously develop water-saving agriculture.
China and Arab states have constantly deepened cooperation under the frameworks of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China-Arab States Expo, implementing a series of water-conserving projects. China has offered many new solutions for Arab states to alleviate the shortage of irrigation water.
China’s Ningxia University and Egypt’s Ain Shams University have jointly established an intelligent water-conserving irrigation laboratory in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, as well as two bases for irrigation experiments that cover a total area of 21.3 hectares.
It is learned that the irrigation system can send water to the roots of crops, which is greener and more efficient than traditional irrigation methods. It can be controlled remotely by farmers with their mobile phones.
So far, the system has been used on over 2000 hectares of land.
With the soil improvement technologies offered by a Chinese biotech company, date palms are growing exuberantly on a China-Africa demonstration farm of salt water agriculture in the Sahara Desert in southeast Morocco. The water consumption per date palm each year has been reduced from 600 litersto 200 liters.
In the UAE, a research team from China’s Chongqing Jiaotong University launched cooperation with local enterprises to carry out experiments to “turn sand into soil” on a piece of barren land stretching 10 square kilometers in Abu Dhabi.
“China has made surprising achievements in agriculture and water resource management, which are worth learning for countries in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Sinan Bacha, director of the National Center for Cartography and Remote Sensing, Tunisia. He said he was deeply impressed by China’s advanced technologies employed in water conservation during a field trip to the country.
“A path of modern agricultural development must be followed to achieve high-quality agricultural development. During my stay in China, I saw many modern technologies applied in traditional agriculture, desert agriculture, and desertification prevention and control,” said Jordanian Ambassador to China Hussam Al Husseini, adding that he expects Jordan and China to carry out more cooperation in agriculture

By Li Bingxin, People’s Daily
“The Communist Party of China (CPC) always puts people in the first place and is currently leading the Chinese people on a new journey toward realizing the second centenary goal,” said U Han Shwe, Chairman of Executive of the National Unity Party of Myanmar, during an exclusive interview with People’s Daily.
“We highly agree with China’s people-centered development philosophy, which is reflected in every aspect of China’s development,” he added.
U Han Shwe said China has lifted over 700 million people out of poverty over the past four decades and made contributions to global poverty alleviation, which is admirable.
The 81-year-old politician has his own opinions on the development achievements made by China.
“I once visited Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan province, where I was deeply impressed by the rapid development there. After landing in the city, I saw a modern airport, wide and flat roads as well as flourishing flowers on the sides of them, and modern buildings. The city was more beautiful and prosperous than what I had seen in books,” U Han Shwe noted.
U Han Shwe gradually realized that the development direction and plans made by the CPC based on local conditions were key to China’s economic and social progress.
Poverty alleviation is a common task faced by developing countries. U Han Shwe said some regions in Myanmar are still bothered by poverty, and there’s an urgent need to improve people’s living standards.
He said Myanmar can learn from China’s experience to drive common prosperity with coordinated regional development.
The National Unity Party of Myanmar is the successor to the Burma Socialist Programme Party. It has maintained frequent exchanges with the CPC since a delegation paid its first visit to China in 2013 at the invitation of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.
“The CPC values inter-party communication very much. We cherish our exchanges and friendship with the CPC and hope to learn from its governance experience,” U Han Shwe noted.
He said the book “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” has inspired him a lot.
“The CPC always puts people and their lives first, and the National Unity Party also pays close attention to the interests of workers and farmers,” he said, adding that China’s COVID-19 response exactly mirrors the CPC placing the Chinese people and their lives in the first place.
“The CPC has a strong organizing and mobilizing capability. China, being the first country to put COVID-19 under control, has provided large numbers of anti-pandemic supplies to other countries and made its COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, which reflects the sense of responsibility of the major country,” U Han Shwe told People’s Daily.
He noted China’s assistance for Myanmar amid the pandemic is very important, and the two countries have offered each other support since the pandemic broke out.
“When China was troubled by the sudden outbreak, Myanmar donated rice and other materials to Wuhan, China. At the critical moment of Myanmar’s fight against COVID-19, China offered us large batches of medical supplies and dispatched medical experts to Myanmar,” U Han Shwe said.
According to him, a China-Myanmar joint factory in Myanmar officially started producing COVID-19 vaccines in late March this year. Since May, the first batch of one million doses of vaccines has been administered to local people.
“Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out that development is meaningful only when it is for the people’s interest, and can sustain only when it is motivated by the people. Both domestic and global governance shall be participated by the people and benefit the people. The CPC has set a great example for other political parties around the world in this regard,” U Han Shwe said.
He told People’s Daily that he agrees with Xi’s remarks on diplomacy. People in all countries have the right to democracy, which is not a patent held by a few countries. There are many ways to realize democracy. It is impossible to apply one single script to all scenarios.
“This has inspired us. A country, when promoting democracy, must start from its reality,” U Han Shwe noted.
He commended China’s active participation in global governance, saying China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) helps developing countries achieve prosperity and is an effective solution to improving global governance.
Taking Myanmar as an example, he said the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor has brought huge opportunities to Myanmar’s comprehensive development. The country will share the dividends of China’s development.
“We hope that by participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and implementing the GDI, we can achieve common development together with China and other neighboring countries,” U Han Shwe said.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) recently concluded in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The meeting passed tens of resolutions on the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. It reached a historic agreement to provide “loss and damage” funding to vulnerable countries most affected by global climate change.
The meeting released a positive signal in adhering to multilateralism and coping with climate change with solidarity.
The Chinese delegation joined consultation on nearly 100 topics and firmly safeguarded the common interests of developing countries, making important contribution to the package of positive outcomes the conference achieved.
The theme of conference “Together for Implementation”mirrored the world’s ambition and vision to achieve climate justice.
At present, global efforts on climate change are facing severe challenges, with the developing world remaining the largest victim of climate change issues.
Developed countries had once enjoyed the development dividend brought about by long-term disorderly carbon emission, and their total per capita carbon emission is way more than that of developing countries.
However, developed countries have failed to fulfill their promise made in 2009 to provide $100 billion per year for developing countries to tackle climate damage by 2020, and have never set any credible roadmap for doubling the adaptation finance. It constitutes a “capital bottleneck” for the global response to climate change.
At the COP27, developed countries still didn’t face up to their historical responsibility and were reluctant to provide financial or technical support for developing countries.
The Foreign Affairs magazine said in an article that “the West must be honest and serious about its development-aid and climate-finance commitments.”
China has always been taking earnest actions in climate governance. Having over-shot the climate action goals of 2020 ahead of schedule, China announced the vision of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and published the “1+N” policy framework for implementing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.
Between 2012 and 2021, China’s energy consumption expanded 3 percent annually on average, but its economy was growing an average speed of 6.6 percent each year. During the same period, China’s CO2 emissions per unit of GDP dropped 34.4 percent, and its energy intensity fell by 26.4 percent..
In July 2021, China’s national carbon emissions trading market commenced. It is the largest of its kind in the world and covers about 4.5 billion ton of CO2 emissions each year.
At the COP27, China formally submitted a report on the progress in implementing its targets of tackling climate change.
Named “Progress on the Implementation of China’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC),” the report introduces the progress made by China in implementing its NDC targets and mirrors China’s determination and efforts to promote green development and tackle climate change.
Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad has expressed appreciation for the “dual carbon” goals raised by China and the country’s efforts to realize them, saying China’s concept of “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” is inspiring.
As a developing country and a responsible major country, China has always been a staunch supporter and active practitioner for South-South climate cooperation.
At the Session 1 of 17th summit of the Group of 20 (G20) recently held in Bali, Indonesia, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that in tackling climate change and transitioning toward green and low-carbon development, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities must be upheld. It is also important to provide funding, technology and capacity-building support for developing countries and promote cooperation on green finance, he added.
So far, China has signed 45 climate change cooperation documents with 38 developing countries, constructed three low-carbon demonstration areas, carried out 42 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, held 45 offline and seven online training courses in China, and trained 2,000 officials and technicians in the field of climate changefor more than 120 developing nations.
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Simon Stiell noted that China has made substantial progress in coping with climate change, playing an important role in advancing the global climate governance.
Everyone living on Earth is part of a big family and humanity is one community. Climate change is a common challenge to all, and humanity must come together to rise to that challenge. China will keep working with all parties relevant to build a fair, equitable and win-win global climate governance system, and to contribute Chinese wisdom, solutions and strength to tackling climate change.

By Liu Yao

Chinese elements are seen everywhere at the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, from stadium construction and brand marketing to mascot manufacturing, providing strong support for the grand football event.
On the evening of Nov. 22 Beijing time, the China-constructed Lusail Stadium with 92,000 seats finished its World Cup debut, where a match between Argentina led by superstar Lionel Messi and Saudi Arabia took place.
The golden-bowl shaped stadium is located 15 kilometers north of Doha, capital of Qatar. Serving as the largest sporting venue in Qatar and the main venue for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, it will host important matches such as the semi-finals, the final, and the closing ceremony of the World Cup.
China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited won the bid to build the centerpiece stadium in 2016. It marked the first time a Chinese enterprise served as a main contractor to build a FIFA World Cup pitch.
The stadium is also the largest and most advanced one among professional football stadiums built by Chinese enterprises overseas.
Boasting the world’s widest-spanning double membrane tensile structure, the Lusail Stadium has a roof cable span of 278 meters. As a green venue, it adopts a double-façade structure to ensure thermal insulation in the scorching days of Qatar.
To make the football pitch and the spectator area cooler and more comfortable, independent cooling stations were built outside the stadium, sending cool breezes into the stadium through the ventilation ducts under the spectator seats.
Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said the complex structure proves the great skills and service capability of Chinese enterprises, adding that those who watch the games in the venue should be grateful to Chinese engineers and constructors.
During the World Cup, Chinese new energy buses are offering shuttle services for spectators, officials and journalists between stadiums and hotels. It is reported that Qatar has imported 1,500 buses from China, including 888 electric ones to meet the transportation demand during the World Cup.
It marked the first time for a major global sports event to use Chinese new energy buses in such large quantities, as well as the first time that pure electric buses make up the majority of World Cup fleets.
In 2020, Chinese manufacturer Yutong was selected to provide service vehicles for the Qatar World Cup. The company equipped its buses with a device that shields the motors from sand and mud, employed liquid-cooling power batteries and adopted an intelligent temperature control algorithm for the air conditioners in the buses.
These intelligent and green vehicles are welcomed by local people and will keep running in Qatar as an important part of the country’s public transport system after the World Cup.
In a desert 80 kilometers west of Doha, there is a vast photovoltaic (PV) power station with a total area equal to 1,400 standard football pitches.
Built by the PowerChina Guizhou Engineering Co., Ltd., the 800MW Al Kharsaah Solar Power Plant has over 2 million PV panels that are able to generate 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity for Qatar each year. It can supply around 300,000 local households and reduce 900,000 tons of CO2 emissions on an annual basis.
During the construction of the power plant, the Chinese company tailored detailed relocation plans for local animals and plants such as lizards and snakes, in an effort to minimize the impacts on local ecology.
More Chinese elements abound both on and off the field in Qatar. The appearance of referees Ma Ning, Shi Xiang and Cao Yi marks the first time in the recent 20 years for Chinese referees to judge World Cup games.
Chinese companies have put up nearly $1.4 billion in sponsorship deals for the world cup, outdoing the spending by U.S. brands and becoming the top among all countries.
According to the estimation by the sports equipment society of China’s Yiwu, the world’s largest wholesale market in small commodities, 70 percent of World Cup peripheral products were from Yiwu.
Chinese giant pandas Jing Jing and Si Hai, which were sent to Qatar in October this year, made their first public appearance in the country just a few days ahead of the opening of the World Cup. They carry the wishes of the Chinese people for the grand event.

By Wang Junling
Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo put into use a manufacturing base in Hungary in June this year, which is able to produce over 1,000 customized servers and 4,000 customized work stations per day.
Each production line of the plant is run by 20 to 30 employees and delivers a server every minute.
“This plant is one of the largest overseas manufacturing bases of Lenovo and the first one owned by the company in Europe. Relying on the unique geographical location and convenient transportion of Hungary, it significantly improves our supplying efficiency for European customers. The plant has created over 1,100 jobs for local communities, of which 60 percent are taken by females,” said Guan Wei, senior vice president of Lenovo and head of the company’s global supply chain.
This is a miniature of Chinese enterprises investing in foreign countries.
According to a report jointly issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the country’s outbound direct investment (ODI) increased 16.3 percent year on year to $178.82 billion in 2021, ranking among the world’s top three for ten consecutive years. By the end of 2021, China’s ODI stock stood at $2.79 trillion, ranking among the top three globally for five consecutive years.
The report said China has maintained its position a major foreign investor over the recent years, and seen a constantly optimizing investment structure and satisfying win-win results.
“The report shows that as the world’s second largest economy, China is investing in a wide range of fields in a number of foreign countries, especially in the high-tech sector. This will help maintain the stability of the global division of labor,” said Wan Zhe, researcher at the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University.
While actively joining the overseas market, many Chinese enterprises have given full play to their advantages and deeply integrated themselves into the local development.
The rapid development of new energy vehicles and consumer electronics has constantly expanded the market demand for nickel in recent years. Trying to grasp the opportunity, Lygend Resources & Technology Co., Ltd. based in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang province, launched cooperation with an Indonesian company in 2018 and started building a nickel smeltery and a supporting power plant on Obi Island, Indonesia. In just a few years, a huge production base that includes a power plant, a port and living quarters has taken shape.
A polymeric additive plant invested by Chinese company Sennics Co., Ltd. was put into operation in the Rojana Industrial Park in Chon Buri province, Thailand in May this year. The plant, producing 25,000 tons of rubber antioxidants each year, is the first one in Southeast Asia that manufactures the product. Besides, it also provides convenient localized services for the production bases in Southeast Asia of its customers on the lower stream of the industry.
Chinese enterprises, relying on their outstanding performance in expanding employment and taxation, providing quality products, environmental protection, fulfilling social responsibility and enriching cultural exchanges, have continuously expanded their “circle of friends” and intensified cooperation with foreign partners.
MOFCOM statistics indicated that China’s non-financial ODI reached 627.4 billion yuan ($87.6 billion) in the first 10 months of 2022, up 10.3 percent year on year. The country has been seeing more and more favorable factors under the trend of open development.
Policy support for Chinese enterprises exploring overseas market is strengthened. China has issued a regulation on the management of enterprises’ overseas investment, held promotional events and forums on international capacity cooperation and jointly built industrial parks with other Belt and Road countries.
Chinese enterprises themselves are also actively exploring new models of doing business overseas. Some of them have acquired equity of prospering overseas companies, soon integrating themselves intensively into the overseas market.
ForJavier Perea, CEO of the Spanish construction engineering companies Empresarios Agrupados Internacional, S.A. and Ghesa Ingenieriay Tecnologia, S.A., the fifth China International Import Expo was an opportunity to both exhibit his companies’ services and “go home,” as the two companies he manages were purchased by the China Energy Engineering Corporation in early 2020.
“The purchase was a great opportunity for us and significant for the designing and consulting services in the energy engineering sector. We will jointly bring our advantages into full play and help our clients achieve sustainable development,” he said.