Nigeria Times

By Xu Peiyu

“First-store economy” means the total businesses brought about by the first stores set up by international or domestic brands in a specific region.

A number of brands have recently established their first stores in major Chinese cities, offering new destinations of consumption with upgraded services. Driven by the robust “first-store economy,” commercial zones in multiple cities have witnessed a rise in retail sales and a further release of consumption potential.

For instance, eight top-notch beauty brands, including Tom Ford, Gucci, Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent, recently set up outlets at Parc 66, a retail landmark in Jinan, east China’s Shandong province, which were these brands’ first in Jinan or Shandong province.

Besides, people were seen lining up in front of a new shop opened by Chinese pastry maker Luxihe in Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian province, and the first franchise store opened by LELECHA, a high-end tea drink brand in Fujian was also crowded.

Japanese furniture and home accessories retail company Nitori, Japanese restaurant Ginza Onodera and Chinese chain restaurant Green Tea made their debut in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province. During the weeklong National Day holiday in October, 51 major merchandising enterprises in the city reported total revenue of over 862 million yuan, up 8.84 percent year on year.

Apart from that, most of the “first stores” that recently opened have launched customized services and experience activities to better meet consumers’ individualized and upgraded demands.

On Sept. 30, a Nike Style retail concept store opened at the Shanghai TX Huaihai shopping mall. It is the first retail concept store opened by Nike in China after the multinational sportswear company decided to accelerate its digitalization in the country. Besides, it is also the first Style Remix lab of Nike which allows consumers to customize their orders.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com launched a flagship experience store at a shopping mall in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. Being tech-ish and fashionable, the store is attracting a large number of consumers.

Apart from renowned international companies, emerging Chinese brands are also launching first shops in Chinese cities to fully leverage brand influence, regional economic prospects and regional resource allocation. Last year, consumption became the top driving force for China’s economic growth, as final consumption expenditure contributed to 65.4 percent of the country’s economic growth.

The emerging “first-store economy” accelerates the building of international consumption center cities and contributes to consumption upgrade.

Shanghai, for example, proposed in September, 2021 to build itself into an international consumption center with global influence, competitiveness and reputation by the end of 2025. According to official statistics, the metropolis was home to over 1,000 “first stores” and over 3,000 brands debuted their products in Shanghai the last year.

In the first nine months of this year, 703 brands set up their first outlets in Shanghai, and the whole-year figure will exceed 800. Over 15 percent of consumers are expected to shop in the city because of the launch events to be hosted there.

“First-store economy” is exactly one of the important boosters advancing Shanghai’s progress in building an international consumption center city.

Zhang Jianping, director of the Center for Regional Economic Cooperation under the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told People’s Daily that “first stores” expand the scale effect of urban consumption and diversify consumers’ choices, thus improving cities’ consumption capability and helping the building of international consumption center cities.

By Jia Fengfeng, People’s Daily

Lenghu township in Mangya city, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai province, is hailed as “the most Mars-like place on the Earth”.

It was said to be an astronomical observation site comparable to the top ones in the world by a Nature article published on Aug. 18, 2021.

Today, the Lenghu astronomical observation base is making huge strides toward building a world-class astronomical observatory.

The township once prospered in 1950s due to its rich petroleum resources. However, as petroleum ran out, the remote, dry and sparsely populated township finally fell into silence.

Tian Cairang, an official with the Lenghu industrial park, came to Lenghu with his colleagues in 2017 to seek development opportunities, where they were inspired by the splendid starry sky above the Gobi Desert there.

At that time, scientist Deng Licai with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who was then on a research mission at an observatory in Delingha, 560 kilometers from Lenghu, was looking for a proper site for a large optical telescope project. However, nothing was after his heart, though he had visited a number of places in western China for investigation.

Compared with radio telescopes, large optical telescopes feature higher technical specifications and costs. They have a rigid requirement on surrounding environment, such as the number of clear nights, sky brightness, and astronomical seeing. That’s why qualified optical observation stations are always scarce.

When Deng was over a barrel, he was reached by Tian, who persuaded him to have a trip to Lenghu. In January 2018, Deng, together with his team and Tian, started in-situ monitoring in Lenghu. Surprisingly, they found that the observation time there could add up to 300 days each year.

Upon the sampling of key parameters, Deng found the median of astronomical seeing in Lenghu was only 0.75 arc seconds, similar to those measured during the same time at the world’s best observation sites.

“Astronomical seeing indicates how much atmospheric agitation would blur observation. The smaller it is, the better the observation would be,” Deng explained.

According to him, there’s no world-class optical telescope located on similar longitudes as Lenghu. As astronomical observation needs to be sustained, the astronomical observatory in Lenghu would become an important base for international optical astronomical studies, as well as a vital source for original scientific innovations in astronomical research.

Deng Yuanyong, director of the Huairou Solar Observing Station of the National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) under the CAS, told People’s Daily that the Lenghu astronomical observation baseis built on three altitudes.

Astronomical observation facilities will be built above an altitude of 4,400 meters, and a series of scientific projects have been planned and are currently under construction at an elevation between 4,400 meters and 4,000 meters. Telescopes at an altitude of around 3,800 meters are expected to be used for both research and science popularization purposes.

Besides, science popularization facilities will also be built near Lenghu township, which is 2,700 meters above the sea level.

The Lenghu astronomical observation base is the result of cooperation between the NAO, the science and technology department of Qinghai, and the government of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture. So far, nine optical telescope projects have been implemented, with a total investment of nearly 2 billion yuan ($276 million).

An environmental protection regulation will be put into force on Jan. 1, 2023, in Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture for better observation conditions. According to the regulation, both the types and brightness of light sources must be put under strict control in the core zones of dark-sky preserves, where the direction of all fixed outdoor illumination facilities should be tilted 30 degrees toward the ground. Besides, that in the buffer zone should be horizontal.

“We will do our best to protect these ‘big guys,’ so as to make scientists see what they want to see,” said Tian.

By Liu Wenxin, Liu Yi, People’s Daily

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently issued a report to review China’s policies and actions for addressing climate change since 2021.

The report demonstrated the country’s new progress in coping with climate change and its contributions to promoting global climate governance.

The report said China firmly implemented a national strategy of actively responding to climate change and put in place a policy framework for carbon peak and carbon neutrality over the recent years. The country has made a series of new arrangements and taken more forceful measures and policies to advance relevant work in an orderly manner, according to the report.

As of 2021, China had fostered 430 specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products in the environmental protection and energy conservation sector. The output value of the sector exceeds 8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion), with an annual growth rate of over 10 percent.

Nearly 90 types of products have obtained “green” certificates, including construction materials, express delivery packages and electronic products.

Optimizing its energy structure, China has vigorously developed the non-fossil sector while enhancing the clean utilization of fossil energy.

As of the end of 2021, the country’s installed capacity of renewable energy totaled 1.06 billion kilowatts, accounting for 44.8 percent of the total installed power generation capacity. China ranked first in the world in terms of offshore wind power installed capacity.

At the same time, China continuously promotes the clean and efficient utilization of traditional energies. The county upgraded coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of nearly 900 million kilowatts to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

Besides, it completed ultra-low emission transformation of coal-fired power generation units totaling 1.03 billion kilowatts, or 93 percent of the country’s total installed capacity of coal power generation. The world’s largest clean coal-fired power system has been built.

China also enhances the carbon sink capacity of its ecosystem. Last year, China nurtured 34.67 million mu (2.31 million hectares) of forests, restored 14 million mu of degraded forests, planted 54 million mu of trees, and treated 21.6 million mu of land of sandy and rocky desertification.

Besides, it added and restored 1.09 million mu of wetlands. The country has seen continuous improvement in its natural reserve system with national parks as the mainstay.

According to the report, China’s CO2 emission per unit of GDP in 2021 decreased by 3.8 percent from that in 2020 and 50.8 percent from 2005. Non-fossil energy accounted for 16.6 percent of primary energy consumption. There was a significant drop in coal consumption per unit of GDP.

The national carbon emissions trading market is a major institutional innovation for China to reach its “dual carbon” goals. The trading market was officially launched in July 2021.

By Oct. 21 this year, it has witnessed a cumulative trading volume of 196 million tons, with a cumulative turnover of 8.58 billion yuan. The market has been operating in an orderly and stable manner, and the trading price is steadily increasing.

Wang Zhixuan, a member of China’s National Expert Committee on Climate Change noted that enterprises have gained a significantly higher awareness of carbon assets, carbon reduction and achieving low-cost carbon emission through market means.

The carbon trading market has started to show its functions in promoting enterprises’ greenhouse gas emission reduction and accelerating low-carbon transition, he added.

China will keep implementing the national strategy of actively responding to climate change, take the synergy between pollution reduction and carbon emissions as leverage for promoting a comprehensive transition to green and low-carbon economic and social development, and enhance its efforts to address issues at the source through systematic and holistic approaches, said Li Gao, an official of the Department of Climate Change at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Besides, the country will actively yet steadily advance its work related to carbon peak and neutrality, accelerate the low-carbon transition of key areas, construct the national carbon emissions trading market in a stable and orderly manner, and continue improving relevant legal and policy systems, Li noted.

He said China should carry out comprehensive and in-depth popularization campaigns on coping with climate change at multiple levels to foster green and low-carbon lifestyles and consumption habits.

The country should also implement the National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation 2035 to enhance climate change monitoring and risk management, actively join global climate governance and make contributions to building a fair and rational global climate governance system for win-win results.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

Nearly 100 countries have recently voiced support to China after a few Western countries groundlessly attacked China with regard to the Xinjiang-related issue at the Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, stressing all parties should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN charter.

Such a voice of justice fully proved that justice always prevails. The international community, especially the developing world, opposes the politicization of human rights issues. The scheme of some Western countries to contain China’s development with the Xinjiang issue will never succeed.

Prior to that, a few Western countries, including the U.S., had used Xinjiang-related issues to create rumors and make trouble at the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, which was held between Sept. 12 and Oct. 7. They propagated falsehoods on Xinjiang at the Human Rights Council and put together a so-called draft decision in an attempt to use UN human rights bodies as a tool to interfere in China’s internal affairs and to serve the agenda of using Xinjiang to contain China.

The draft decision ended up unsupported by the majority of the Human Rights Council membership.

However, these Western countries, unwilling to accept their failure in Geneva, took it to the Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. Of course, another failure was doomed.

On behalf of 66 countries, Cuba delivered a joint statement to oppose politicization of human rights and double standards, and interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. It urged all parties to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN charter and respect the right of the people of each state to choose independently the path for development in accordance with their national conditions.

Besides, over 30 countries supported China by making statements in national capacity or co-signing a letter.

It once again proved that safeguarding international justice and equity is a common aspiration of the majority of the countries in the world.

The U.S. and a few other Western countries have failed again and again in their provocations because their practices – fabricating lies and bullying other nations – are totally unjust.

No matter how they package the lies they fabricate, they cannot cover up the historic progress in Xinjiang’s human rights development, or hide their plot to undermine China’s stability and hinder China’s development with Xinjiang-related issues.

At the Third Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, China comprehensively introduced its efforts and achievements in promoting and protecting human rights and was fully recognized by most of the participating countries.

China adheres to its path of human rights development, takes an active part in global human rights governance, and pushes for comprehensive progress in human rights. It upholds humanity’s common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, and has made important contributions to the progress of human civilization. No country or individual can tarnish China’s progress or sense of responsibility.

The U.S. and a few other Western countries have failed again and again in their provocations because they follow double standards on human rights issues and act in a hypocritical and hegemonic manner.

They use so-called human rights issues to attack other countries but turn a blind eye to their own poor records in human rights. They are not only indifferent to the human rights crises they have created in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other countries but also close their eyes to their own human rights problems at home.

At present, the U.S. is seeing high inflation, spreading energy crisis, deteriorating social security, as well as widening political polarization and social divide, which have thrown its citizens into situations. However, American politicians are on the one hand attacking each other and contributing to further social divide, and on the other hand fueling confrontation between different values and forcing others to take a side. How can it win support from the international community with such double standards?

The international community sees it clearly that the U.S. and a few other Western countries, by groundlessly attacking China under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues, are indeed challenging the basic norms governing international relations, international equity and justice, and the common interests of the world.

In today’s world, the hegemonic, high-handed, and bullying acts of using strength to intimidate the weak, taking from others by force and subterfuge, and playing zero-sum games are exerting grave harm. The deficit in peace, development, security, and governance is growing. All of theseare posing unprecedented challenges for human society.

Facing an uncertain world, to safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, international equity and justice, as well as true multilateralism, is a common aspiration of the international community, especially the developing world.

The world has long been clear-eyed about and tired of the farcical shows of some Western countries’ politicization of human rights and double standards. China urges these countries to stop their condescending lectures and stop using human rights as a pretext for political manipulation, slander and rumor-mongering, and containment and suppression.

What they need to do is deeply reflect on their own human rights woes, learn their lesson from the human rights disasters they have brought to other countries, and return to the right track of cooperation and dialogue.

By Ge Mengchao, People’s Daily

At a “From Exhibitors to Investors” subsection of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), German cleaning manufacturer Karcher showcased how and why it has been attracted to the Chinese market.

In 2019, the German company set up its Chinese headquarters in Changshu, east China’s Jiangsu province, with an investment of 380 million yuan ($52.47 million). A year later, it inked a strategic investment and cooperation agreement with its Chinese partners and jointly built an R&D and production base.

This year, it invested another 100 million yuan in building a global research center that covers 13,000 square meters in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, for better development in the Chinese market.

The CIIE led Karcher to the Chinese market, said Tang Xiaodong, president of Karcher Greater China. The huge dividends and spillover effect of the event are a major reason for the German company to have joined all the five sessions of the exhibition and expanded its exhibition area year by year, he added.

The company will establish an experienced team of battery development and work closely with its headquarters to provide more professional and competitive battery solutions for global consumers, according to Tang.

The “From Exhibitors to Investors” subsection, which is set up for the first time this year at the CIIE, covers a total area of over 6,000 square meters and is joined by more than 30 exhibitors, including many globally renowned enterprises.

Gu Wenqian, a CIIE staff member at the new subsection, told People’s Daily that the newly established exhibition area comprehensively showcases the CIIE’s spillover effect of how exhibits have turned into hot commodities and how exhibitors have turned into investors and business partners. The subsection reviews the common progress of exhibitors and the CIIE over the past five years, she noted.

More and more CIIE exhibitors are turning into investors and taking root in the investment hotspot of China.

Apart from setting up a thematic exhibition booth, Japanese beauty company Shiseido is also showcasing its investment and innovation results it has achieved in China over the past 40 years at the “From Exhibitors to Investors” subsection.

“The CIIE is unquestionably the best platform where we showcase our core strategies and important innovation achievements. It has created a huge space for communication and a huge spillover effect for enterprises,” said Shiseido China CEO Kentaro Fujiwara.

He noted that the Chinese market will play a more and more important role in leading the beauty company’s innovation and growth in its mid- and long-term development, expressing his hope that the company can keep showcasing its frontier technologies, new products and new brands at the CIIE.

Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, from joining the first CIIE, has so far completed a number of investments and optimized its industrial chains in China. Between 2019 and 2021, it invested 500 million yuan in its factory in north China’s Tianjin municipality, introducing three production lines for pre-filled pen injectors . Last year, it invested another $150 million in China to expand its production capacity and build a digital factory.

“As an old friend of the CIIE, Novo Nordisk benefits from the spillover effect of the CIIE. Our  innovative medicines have turned from exhibits to commodities, and the company also turned from an exhibitor to an investor,” said Zhou Xiaping, senior vice president of NovoNordisk.

According to her, the company is displaying 18 innovative drugs and 10 injector devices at the fifth CIIE. It hopes to expand its “circle of friends” and better serve Chinese patients of diabetes and other chronicle diseases through the important platform.

“Our determination to develop in the Chinese market and invest in China will never change,” she said.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his official visit to China on Nov. 4.

Xi called on both sides to keep to the overall direction of bilateral ties from a strategic height, pursue the biggest common ground in a constructive manner, and advance practical cooperation with an open mind to create conditions for long-term and steady growth of bilateral ties.

The more complex and difficult the situation becomes, the more important it is for China and Europe to uphold mutual respect, mutual benefit, dialogue and cooperation, Xi said.

Xi’s words indicated the future direction of China-Germany relations and China-Europe relations.

Scholz is the first European leader to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The trip also marked his first visit to China as the Federal Chancellor of Germany.

Xi briefed Scholz on the 20th CPC National Congress, with a particular focus on the essence of Chinese modernization.

“China has been upholding and promoting world peace through its own development. In this process, the development of China and that of other countries have become more interconnected and mutually reinforcing. China will stay committed to advancing high-standard opening up, keep to the right direction in economic globalization, promote an open world economy, and expand converging interests with other countries,” said Xi, demonstrating China’s firm determination to advance win-win cooperation with the rest of the world.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Germany diplomatic relations. It is significant because the two countries will build on past successes to further advance their ties.

The five-decade journey shows that as long as the two sides follow the principles of respecting each other, seeking common ground while reserving differences, maintaining exchanges and mutual learning, and pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation, bilateral ties will keep going in the right direction on the whole and making steady progress.

Xi said it is important that China and Germany respect each other, accommodate each other’s core interests, adhere to dialogue and consultation, and jointly resist disturbance from bloc confrontation and attempts to see everything through the prism of ideology.

Noting the high degree of stability and consistency in China’s policy toward Germany, he called on Germany to follow a positive China policy for the mutual benefit of both countries.

Scholz said Germany wants to maintain communication and coordination with China to better safeguard regional and global peace and security, stressing a multi-polar world is needed in which the role and influence of emerging countries can be taken seriously.

He noted Germany opposes bloc confrontation for which politicians should be held responsible, adding that Germany will play its role in furthering Europe-China relations.

Over the past five decades, bilateral practical cooperation has kept deepening, with two-way trade growing by almost 1,000 times, serving economic and social development in both countries. That’s why the German business community was expecting Scholz’s visit to China.

The 20th CPC National Congress drew a bright blueprint for China’s development, and China’s efforts to advance high-quality development will create more opportunities for China-Germany practical cooperation.

Xi said while exploring more cooperation potential in traditional areas, efforts should be made to energize cooperation in emerging fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence and digitalization.

Amid rising unilateralism and protectionism, a few countries are fanning decoupling and building “exclusive yards with high walls,” which creates new risks for the world economy that has already been in trouble.

Scholz reiterated that Germany firmly supports trade liberalization, supports economic globalization, and opposes decoupling. Germany stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China, and supports more mutual investment between Chinese and German businesses.

As two major economies, China and Germany will work together to keep global industrial and supply chains stable and create momentum for global recovery by jointly resisting protectionism.

A well-developed China-Germany relation not only benefits the two countries, but also is significant for the stable development of China-Europe relations.

Changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding today in ways like never before. Xi stressed China-Europe relations bear on global stability and prosperity in Eurasia and should be maintained and developed with efforts from both sides.

Xi said China always regards Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner, supports the strategic autonomy of the European Union and wishes Europe stability and prosperity. China maintains that its relations with Europe are not targeted at, dependent on, or subjected to a third party.

China will work with Germany and with Europe to step up coordination and cooperation in international affairs and jointly look for solutions for such global issues as climate change, biodiversity and food security, Xi pointed out.

Xi said under the current circumstances, the international community should support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis. He reaffirmed China’s support for Germany and Europe to play an important role in facilitating peace talks and to build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture in Europe.

Xi stressed that there is no change in China’s commitment to developing ties with Germany, no change in China’s sincere wish for closer cooperation with Germany, and no change in China’s conviction that China and Germany can make greater differences together.

Working together to further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and strive for the new development of China-Germany and China-Europe relations, the two countries will make more contributions to world peace and development.