Nigeria Times

By ZhangYunhe, Zhu Jiaqi, People’s Daily

The 19th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit concluded in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Sept. 19.

The four-day event, themed “Sharing RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) New Opportunities, Building a Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area,” expanded the circle of friends for open cooperation under the RCEP framework and made positive contributions towards building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

The expo featured 88 economic and trade events held in-person and virtually. They facilitated more than 3,500 trade and project cooperation matches, and around 1,000 were made online.

The exhibition area reached 102,000 square meters this year, where a total of 5,400 exhibition booths were set up by 1,653 enterprises. Besides, over 2,000 enterprises joined the event online.

“Many foreign merchants took interpreters to the expo to enquire about sewage purifiers and relevant technologies. We saw broad market prospects given the emphasis placed by ASEAN countries on environmental protection,” said XueDongning, manager of the administrative department of an environmental protection investment company based in GuangxiZhuang autonomous region that has joined the expo for seven consecutive years.

Xue believes that the China-ASEAN Expo not only provides a platform for economic and trade cooperation but also facilitates intercompany exchanges.

PungKheav Se, president of the Federation of Khmer Chinese in Cambodia, said that more and more ASEAN countries have become desirable investment destinations for Chinese enterprises.

“The 19th China-ASEAN Expo helped ASEAN countries and China, especially Cambodia and China  grasp the new opportunities brought about by the implementation of the RCEP, and made positive contributions to promoting bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation,” said Kheav Se.

South Korea participated in the expo as a specially invited partner this year, and an investigation tour to Guangxi was paid by a delegation of representatives from South Korean companies.

It is hoped that South Korea, China and ASEAN countries, as close neighbors, could push for closer cooperation in economy, culture and social affairs to jointly respond to global challenges, said South Korean Trade Minister AhnDuk-geun.

“Since the RCEP took effect this January, it has been joined by more and more countries. Our circle of friends is getting larger and larger,” said ZhangShaogang, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

China’s trade with ASEAN countries surged 13 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year, accounting for 15 percent of China’s total foreign trade during the period, according to the vice chairman.

During this year’s China-ASEAN Expo, 267 international and domestic cooperation projects were signed, with a total investment of over 400 billion yuan ($56.4 billion), up 37 percent from the previous year. About 76 percent of the volume came from enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and other major areas. Besides, the expo witnessed a new record in the number of provinces signing cooperation projects.

“The expo fully demonstrated the strong resilience of China-ASEAN economic ties. It has offered firm support for and made great contributions to the economic recovery of the region,” said WeiZhaohui, secretary-general of the expo’s secretariat and deputy director-general of the Guangxi International Expo Affairs Bureau.

China-Malaysia bilateral trade surged 34.5 percent year on year to $176.8 billion last year. As the Country of Honor of the 19th China-ASEAN Expo, Malaysia sent 34 enterprises to the event. Twenty-three of them attended the event in-person, while 11 joined it online. Most of these enterprises are in food and beverage, healthcare, as well as petroleum and gas industries.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail SabriYaakob said the China-ASEAN Expo is an important platform for driving regional economic recovery and enhancing China-ASEAN trade exchanges. He said Malaysia hopes to further strengthen its trade ties with China and elevate the ties to a new level through multiple initiatives and measures.

By Li Nan

China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently unveiled a new version of an occupational classification list, which designates 133 jobs as green professions, up from 127 in a 2015 version.

The green professions include energy consumption instructor, heat engineering technician of metallurgy, environmental sanitation engineering technician, among others.

Guided by the “dual carbon” goals, green professions are emerging batches after batches in China, creating massive new employment and development opportunities.

Green professions are jobs related to environmentally friendly, low-carbon and circular activities. They emphasize the sustainability of production and environment.

These professions are mainly engaged in environmental monitoring, protection and treatment, new energy production, waste recycling and utilization, as well as scientific researches, technological development and planning related to these areas.

The prospering development of these professions mirror the broadly recognized vision that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. They are a result of China’s fast-developing green economy and growing new business models.

Green development is a critical element of modernizing an economy; it is also a fundamental solution to pollution.

Green industries and talents are the pillar of green development. China ranks first globally in terms of the development and utilization of renewable energy, and the world’s largest carbon trading market was launched in the country last year.

Driven by market demands, green professions are emerging, such as carbon sink appraiser and coal upgrading technician. Incorporating new businesses and professions, the new-version occupational classification list is of important significance for enhancing social identity of relevant jobholders, promoting employment and entrepreneurship, guiding the reform of vocational education and driving high-quality economic development.

New professions alwaysbring more new opportunities. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China’s efforts for eco-environmental protection have entered a critical stage. Reducing carbon emissions is a major strategy during this stage, so the country is promoting reductions in both pollutants and carbon emissions, encouraging the green transformation of every aspect of economic and social development, and striving to reach the tipping point from quantitative to qualitative environmental improvements.

According to statistics, China needs 550,000 to a million professionals during the 14th Five-Year Plan period to work for its “dual carbon” goals. To achieve the goals and build a beautiful China calls for continuously expanding green industries and constant efforts to enhance technological innovation, which will help green talents build successful careers and realize their dreams.

The emerging occupations offer laborers with more choices on the job market and mirror a change in people’s attitude toward employment. A survey showed that most of the new professions are taken by young people – those born in 1980s and 1990s account for over 90 percent of the total jobholders. All the new professions mean to the young people an opportunity to realize their self-worth.

By Zhong Yin, People’s Daily

A recent study released by the Inter Region Economic Network, a leading independent African think tank, showed that China’s cooperation with Africa was highly recognized by Africans for infrastructure construction, quick decision making, and timely completion of engineering projects.

It once again proved that China, through efficient and effective actions, has brought tangible benefits and opportunities to Africa.

China always adheres to the vision of peaceful development and shares its development dividend with the rest of the world. China’s modernization is not only for its own development, but also for the wellbeing of the whole world. It has opened up broader prospects for the common development of mankind.

The Chinese have always believed that “You yourself desire rank and standing; then help others to get rank and standing.” China’s modernization – featuring common prosperity, balanced material and cultural progress, harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and peaceful development – will be shared by a huge population. The Chinese path to modernization is based on China’s conditions, and reflects the evolution of human society as a whole.

There is no set form of modernization or one-size-fits-all modernization standards in the world. Today, Chinese stories are hot topics around the world due to China’s huge development success. However, behind the stories are not only exponential economic growth of a major country, but also a unique path to modernization and the charm of a new model for human progress.

The world’s development is multi-dimensional, and history is never a lenient movement. People of all countries are entitled to choose their own development paths and institutional models, and all efforts of individual countries to independently explore the path to modernization in light of their specific national conditions are worthy of respect.

China’s new model for human progress has refuted the myth that modernization can be achieved only by following the capitalist model. The country’s success indicates that there doesn’t exist a fixed model for the path to modernization, and the one that suits you well will serve you well.

China is pursuing modernization as a “latecomer.” Developed countries in the West went through a “serial-type” course of development, from industrialization to urbanization, and to agricultural modernization and informatization. The whole course has so far taken them over 200 years. On the contrary, China’s development is a “parallel-type” one, which means the country experiences all the above processes simultaneously.

It cost China only decades to have grown from a “latecomer” to a new growth pole of global modernization, a process that took developed countries several centuries. China’s modernization has blazed a trail for other “latecomers,” and proves that it’s totally possible for countries to pursue a development path suited to their own national conditions.

Different from the old path of Western modernization that seeks primitive accumulation with expansionism and follows the law of the jungle, China’s modernization has no relation with colonization, war or conflict. It is advanced with peace, cooperation and win-win results.

Pursuing true multilateralism, China holds that all countries should write international rules and manage global affairs, and that multilateralism is about having international affairs addressed through consultation.

In the new era, China firmly safeguards international equity and justices, follows the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and never hesitates to speak up for other developing countries.

On the vast African continent, two railways enjoy a special status in history. One is the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, a “freedom railway” that was built by over 50,000 Chinese engineering technicians in 1960s and 1970s. More than 60 Chinese experts rest forever on this land far away from home. The other is the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, which adopts Chinese standards and technologies and was built with Chinese equipment. It is driving the transport and economic development of the entire East Africa.

The two railways, with their special status in history and remarkable contribution nowadays, demonstrate that the Communist Party of China has always been bearing in mind the development of the African continent.

By Wang Hao, People’s Daily

The Yellow River, the second longest river in China, is hailed as the cradle of Chinese civilization. Over the past 20 years, China has intensified its efforts to restore ecology along the river, and the river that once dried up has seen no flow cutoff for 23 consecutive years.

According to Zhang Li, who works at the Lijinhydrometric station managed by the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) in Dongying, east China’s Shandong province, the last hydrometric station before the Yellow River flows into the sea, flow data of the Yellow River at the Lijin hydrometric station wasabsent for 226 days around 1997. Besides, the seawater gradually eroded the shore and reduced the variety of near-shore species.

Unlimited water exploitation was the major reason for the river’s drying up. This set of data might suggest the tension between the supply and demand for water from the Yellow River: the waterway accounts for only 2 percent of China’s total runoff but feeds 12 percent of the country’s population and irrigates 17 percent of the arable land.

Unified water volume regulation was key to the Yellow River treatment. “With a target of keeping the river flowing, a total consumption volume from the river was set at the national level based on which local governments made their respective water usage plans. Adjustments were made every month and important cross sections were put under regular monitoring,” said KeSujuan, an official with the YRCC.

On March 1, 1999, the first water volume regulation order was issued by the YRCC, and ten days later, water started running again in the river course. The Lijin hydrometric station finally saw flow data appear again.

As a result, wetlands along the Yellow River expanded, attracting more and more bird species and recovering biodiversity. Since 1999, the river has supplied over 670 billion cubic meters of water for tributaries and relevant regions, offering strong support for socioeconomic development and ecological progress in these places.

Meanwhile, by promoting water-saving agriculture and implementing water-saving projects in irrigation areas, China has constantly improved the effective utilization of irrigation water in the Yellow River basin. The average water consumption for irrigation per mu (about 667 square meters) in the Yellow River basin is lower than the national average.

In Dayudu irrigation area, Ruicheng county, Yuncheng, north China’s Shanxi province, water from the Yellow River is elevated over 300 meters and used to irrigate over 500,000 mu of farmland. In the fields, irrigation polesare established every 18 meters and all of them can be started remotely on farmers’ mobile phones.

The underground sprinkler system has reduced water consumption per mu from 150 cubic meters to less than 60 cubic meters, said HuTianni, a major local crop grower. The system has saved over 160,000 yuan ($22,698) inirrigation costs for the woman, who grows over 1,000 mu of wheat. Besides, Hu has also equipped her farmland with sprinklers, sensors, internet of things facilities and other new tech devices.

The water-sand imbalance was what made the Yellow River treatment difficult. As early as 1952, the YRCC  set up an experiment station for the conservation of water and soil in Suide, a county lying on the west bank of the Yellow River in northwest China’s Shaanxi province. A year later, the first silt arrester in northern Shaanxi was built in the county’s Maliangou village by researchers.

Villager LiWenyuan was told many stories about the silt arrester by senior villagers. According to him, a piece of farmland covering 150 mu has been formed by the sands and mud blocked by the silt arrester just years after it was built.

“Silt arresters not only conserve water and soil but also help increase grain output,” said Dang Weiqin, chief engineer of the Suide experiment station.

Today, trees and grass are densely planted on local hills, and a series of biological, agricultural and engineering measures have been taken to block sand and mud in local waterways. “It means that more sand and mud isstaying in gullies and more clean water is flowing into the Yellow River,” Dang explained.

Thanks to comprehensive treatment projects, both the area and intensity of water and soil loss in the Yellow River basin have decreased over recent years.