Energy on the go
Art serving life
August 15 - 16, 2020
Xi concept on
ecology helps
guide world
‘Lucid waters’ idea becomes role model
for balancing economy, environment
By CAO DESHENG in Beijing
and MA ZHENHUAN in Hangzhou
Fifteen Years ago, when Xi Jin-
ping was secretary of the Commu-
nist Party of China Zhejiang
Provincial Committee, he proposed
the concept of “lucid waters and
lush mountains are invaluable
assets” during a visit to Yucun vil-
lage in the province’s Anji county.
The idea reflects Xi’s governance
philosophy in pursuing the synergy
between economic development
and environmental protection. It
was developed after Xi became the
general secretary of the CPC Central
Committee in November 2012, and
has been translated into the prac-
tice of the building of an ecological
civilization as part of the country’s
development strategy.
Dechen Tsering, United Nations
Environment Program regional
director and representative for Asia
and the Pacific, said the balance
between economic development and
protection of ecosystems is not easy
to achieve, but the aspiration of the
“ecological civilization” that Xi advo-
cates is to accomplish exactly this.
“China has done a lot of very
important work on environmental
issues to realize this ambition, and
that’s positive leadership the world
can take inspiration from,” Tsering
said. “Especially at a time when we
are dealing with environmental
issues on all fronts — from climate
change to pollution to biodiversity
loss — we need countries like China
to … lead the international commu-
nity in striking strong agreements
that protect nature.”
New color scheme
Tel Aviv’s city hall is lit with the colors of the United Arab Emir-
ates flag on Thursday after Israel, the UAE and the United States
announced that the two Middle Eastern nations would normalize
relations and Israel would suspend annexation of Palestinian
lands. JACK GUEZ / AFP See story, page 7
University’s admissions offer out of this world
By ZHANG ZHIHAO
zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn
College admissions officers in
China have jazzed up the offer pack-
ages sent to prospective freshmen
this month with items ranging from
fancy posters to motivational books.
But one university’s effort to entice
high school graduates was, quite lit-
erally, out of this world.
On Monday, prospective freshmen
offered places at the University of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
received a black vinyl disk with their
offer letter containing the sounds of
15 pulsars — extremely dense and
magnetic remnants of massive stars
Trump, Biden
Xia
Xiamen’s
X Luminous Festival a platform
for
fo groups
g seldom heard from LIFE, PAGE 10


As a significant part of Xi Jinping
Thought on Socialism with Chinese
Characteristics for a New Era, Xi’s
vision on building an ecological civi-
lization calls for putting conserva-
tion and protection first to ensure
the harmony between human and
nature, and sticking to innovative,
coordinated, green, open and shared
development. It also regards a sound
environment as the most inclusive
benefit to people’s well-being.
When President Xi returned to
Yucun during an inspection tour of
Zhejiang province in March, he
again underlined the fundamental
importance of ecological conserva-
tion in the country’s sustainable
development. He said that “the
environment itself means the econ-
omy. If you protect the environ-
ment, you will receive rewards from
the environment”.
Under the guidance of Xi’s
Thought on ecological civilization,
China has started to conduct central
environmental inspections and has
carried out guidelines to control air,
water and soil pollution, published
its own plans to realize the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Develop-
ment and is implementing a nation-
al plan to tackle climate change.
Speaking at a national conference
on environmental protection in
May 2018, Xi said that with the Chi-
nese economy transitioning from
high-speed growth to high-quality
development, the building of eco-
logical civilization has entered a crit-
ical period — a period that requires
more quality ecological goods to
See Model, page 3
deep in the universe that spin and
shoot powerful jets of radiation from
their poles.
Pulsars, also known as rotating
neutron stars, are so dense that a
teaspoon of matter from them
would weigh over a billion metric
tons, according to NASA. Since they
emit bright, rotating streams of
radiation, pulsars are often regard-
ed as the lighthouses of the uni-
verse, with some scientists saying
they could be used for navigation
during interstellar travel.
Students and faculty from the
university recorded the signals
using the Five-hundred-meter Aper-
ture Spherical Telescope in Guizhou
trade barbs on
virus response
WORLD, PAGE 8
RIGHT TRACK
Construction on the Xiong’an station of the Beijing-Xiong’an intercity railway is seen in an aerial view on Thursday. More than 100 major
construction projects were announced this year for the Xiong’an New Area, and 70 had started by the end of July. MOU YU / XINHUA
Reforms expected to speed up to foster growth
By LI XIANG
lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn
China saw stable growth recov-
ery in July as monthly economic
indicators continued to show
improvement. Policymakers,
meanwhile, will accelerate reforms
and opening-up to foster new
growth drivers for the rest of the
year, the National Bureau of Statis-
tics said on Friday.
The continuous economic
rebound could make it less likely
Beijing will roll out additional large-
US attack on Confucius Institute criticized Nation works
By MO JINGXI in Beijing
and ZHAO HUANXIN in Washington
Beijing on Friday urged Washing-
ton to stop politicizing a bilateral
educational project, cease interfer-
ing in normal people-to-people
exchanges and stop undermining
mutual trust and cooperation after
the United States designated the
Confucius Institute US Center as a
“foreign mission” of China.
“The US move is an act that
demonizes and stigmatizes the nor-
mal functioning of the program. We
deplore and firmly oppose it,” For-
eign Ministry spokesman Zhao Li-
jian said at a regular news briefing in
Beijing, adding that China reserves
the right to respond.
In a statement on Thursday, US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
called the CIUS “an entity advancing
Beijing’s global propaganda and
malign influence campaign on US
campuses and K-12 classrooms”.
Zhao said Pompeo cited a lot of
baseless reports that revealed his
province, the world’s largest single-
dish radio telescope.
The signals, 13 of which were
released publicly for the first time,
were processed into audible sam-
ples, with some sounding like the
beating of a baby’s heart and others
like an air horn, the crackle of a fire-
cracker or a galloping horse.
The university’s offer package
went viral on Chinese social media
this week, with its hashtag generat-
ing over 110 million views on the Sina
Weibo micro-blog platform by Friday.
Li Shushen, the university’s presi-
dent, said in a letter to prospective
freshmen that the “echoes of the uni-
verse” were meant to let them physi-
scale stimulus measures, yet the pol-
icy stance will remain proactive and
supportive to ensure the economy
moves steadily out of the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic and severe
floods in the southern regions, econ-
omists said.
China’s industrial output expand-
ed by 4.8 percent on a yearly basis in
July while the country’s fixed-asset
investment, including manufactur-
ing, infrastructure and property sec-
tors, declined by 1.6 percent year-
on-year from January to July,
narrowing from the 3.1 percent
intention of suppressing the program
under unfounded pretexts. He added
that certain people in the US, out of
ideological bias and for selfish gains,
have been blatantly obstructing the
normal functioning of China-US
cooperative programs for awhile now.
“This is totally unacceptable,” Zhao
said, noting that all the Confucius Insti-
tutes in the US are jointly established
with US universities in accordance
with a voluntary application process.
“Their functioning has been
open and transparent, they have
been observing local laws and uni-
versity rules and they have contrib-
uted to China-US people-to-people
exchanges and have been wel-
comed by host universities and
people in the US,” he added.
The Confucius Institute serves as a
bridge and bond for people across
the world to learn Chinese, know
China and enhance their educational
and cultural exchanges with China.
Altogether, there are 65 institutes
on US university campuses and
approximately another 500 class-
Disk with the sounds of pulsars
is included with offer letters by
the University of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
cally experience the scientific progress
the nation has made, and encourage
them to answer the call of duty to
remain curious and eager to learn and
explore science and innovation.
Li Di, FAST’s chief scientist and a
Number of charging stations
for electric vehicles on rise
BUSINESS, PAGE 5
chinadaily.com.cn
decline in the first six months,
according to the NBS.
Retail sales dropped by 1.1 percent
in July on a yearly basis, narrowing
from the 1.8 percent decline in June.
Sales of commercial goods for the
first time returned to expansion
mode this year, growing by 0.2 per-
cent year-on-year in July as domes-
tic consumption gradually recovers.
“The national economy has main-
tained its stable recovery in July as
production and supply continued to
recover, market demand gradually
picked up, employment and prices
room programs affiliated with the
institute in the country. While the US
government is not closing the Confu-
cius Institutes, it said that it would
ask that universities, again, take a
hard look at what those institutes are
doing on their campuses.
The US designation came nearly
two months after it designated the
US operations of four Chinese media
outlets as foreign missions. Before
that, five Chinese media outlets had
already been so designated.
“We disagree with the US State
Department’s designation and hope
to clear up this fundamental misun-
derstanding,” the CIUS said in a
statement Thursday.
The CIUS is devoted to global edu-
cation services and intercultural
opportunities for US communities,
promoting the “simple ideal” of US
students learning the Chinese lan-
guage, a goal that is shared by many
educators and students across the
US, according to the statement.
See Target page 3
professor at the university, said the
latest and best data collected by the
telescope had been presented to
new students as a gift.
“The best astronomical instru-
ments are actually built for the next
generation of astronomers,” Li said
in a welcome video to freshmen. “Sci-
ence is a craft, and the best telescope
should be wielded by the most metic-
ulous and capable scientists. This
responsibility will rest on your shoul-
ders.”
Among those intrigued by the
innovative offer package was Cheng
Chuanyu, a lawyer based in Cheng-
du, Sichuan province, who called
the echoes of the pulsars “true music
from heaven”.
See Offers, page 3
WEEKEND
EDITION
RMB ¥2
are generally stable and business
confidence tended to strengthen,”
Fu Linghui, an NBS spokesman,
said at a news conference in Beijing.
The recovery has been helped by
supportive government policies,
including the increased central gov-
ernment budget deficit, special trea-
suries of 1 trillion yuan ($144 billion)
for epidemic control and prevention
and a pledge of 2.5 trillion yuan in
tax and fee cuts for companies, Fu
said.
See Economy, page 2
to accelerate
superfast 5G
technology
By FAN FEIFEI
fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn
China is ratcheting up efforts
to accelerate the construction of
new infrastructure, with a key
focus on bolstering the develop-
ment of superfast 5G technolo-
gy and supporting its
innovative applications, accord-
ing to the country’s top industry
regulator.
“The rollout of China’s 5G base
stations has exceeded expecta-
tions, as the country had 88 mil-
lion 5G users whose smartphones
were connected to the wireless
network by the end of July,” said
Xin Guobin, vice-minister of
industry and information tech-
nology, in an interview with Chi-
na Central Television.
Xin said more efforts should
be made to propel the applica-
tion of 5G in various sectors,
including smart healthcare, vir-
tual private networks for enter-
prises, smart grids, vehicle-road
coordination system and the
internet of vehicles.
China leads the world in 5G
development. Figures from the
See 5G, page 2
国内统一编号:
CN11-0091
国际标准编号:
ISSN0253-9543 A member of the
邮发代号:1-3 Asia News Network
© 2020 China Daily
All Rights Reserved
Vol.40 — No.

12566
2 | August 15-16, 2020
CHINA
Patients struck
again by virus
less infectious
Experts say recurrence of COVID-19
is not rare, but cause is still unknown
By WANG XIAODONG in Beijing
and ZHOU LIHUA in Wuhan
COVID-19 patients who tested
positive again after being cured are
less likely to be infectious, but they
also need to be isolated to mini-
mize risks, experts said following
recent reports of such cases.
A 68-year-old woman in
Jingzhou, Hubei province tested
positive for the novel coronavirus
on Sunday, several months after
being cured, the city’s COVID-19
control and prevention headquar-
ters said on Wednesday in a notice.
She was first diagnosed with the
disease on Feb 8, it said.
The patient has been receiving
treatment again under isolation
and all her contacts were traced
and tested negative for the virus,
the notice said, adding there is no
evidence yet to prove the isolated
case could spread the virus.
In an attempt to reduce trans-
mission of the virus, the head-
quarters on Friday released
another notice banning drug-
stores from selling drugs to people
with a fever.
All those with a fever should
voluntarily go to fever clinics for
treatment, where they can have
free nucleic acid and antibody
tests for the virus, the notice said.
In Shanghai, the municipal
health authority on Thursday also
reported a similar case.
The man, from Jilin province,
who was cured after being diag-
nosed with COVID-19 in April,
tested positive for the novel coro-
navirus again on Monday.
He doesn’t have any symptoms
and is receiving treatment under
isolation. Shanghai’s health
authority has traced 23 close con-
tacts of the patient and put them
under isolation, and all of them
tested negative for the virus, it said.
Previously, the man was cured
and discharged from hospital in
June after testing negative for the
virus, and was released from isola-
tion on July 9 after testing negative
on four occasions, according to a
statement released on Wednesday
by Yanbian Korean autonomous
5G: Infrastructure key to
offset pandemic’s effects
From page 1
ministry last month showed Chi-
na had built 410,000 5G base sta-
tions by the end of June, with
257,000 being set up in the first
half of the year.
Xiang Ligang, director-general
of the Information Consumption
Alliance, a telecom industry asso-
ciation, said 5G technology can be
adopted in a wide range of indus-
tries and scenarios, including vid-
eo conferencing, online medical
consultations, remote education,
short videos, livestreaming events
and games.
“The country’s push in expedit-
ing the development of a fresh
round of new infrastructure pro-
jects, especially the construction
of 5G networks, will assist in the
digital and intelligent transfor-
mation of traditional industries,
offset the economic fallout of the
pandemic and achieve high-quali-
ty growth,” Xiang said.
He said that about 20,000 new
5G base stations are currently
being built in China every week,
adding that the coverage of the
5G network will be further
expanded, with about 750,000 to
800,000 stations expected to be
built nationwide by the end of
this year.
The China Academy of Infor-
mation and Communications
Technology, a government think
tank, said China is likely to spend
1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) on
5G network construction, driving
prefecture, in Jilin province, where
the man lives. All of his 178 con-
tacts, including family members,
tested negative for the virus and are
under isolation, the statement said.
The exact cause for recurrence of
the novel coronavirus on cured
COVID-19 patients remains unclear,
but experts said such phenomenon
is not rare and caution is needed.
Jiang Rongmeng, a senior expert
in infectious diseases at Beijing
Ditan Hospital, said with more
patients cured and leaving hospital,
patients testing positive again have
been identified in many places, and
in some places as many as 15 per-
cent of cured patients could test
positive again.
One possibility for cured
patients testing positive for the
virus again is that they may have
always carried the virus, even if
they are considered cured and dis-
charged from hospital, he said.
“They may have tested negative
for the virus before leaving hospi-
tal, because they may still have
carried a little amount of virus,
which could not be tested, or
improper testing methods gave
them a false negative,” Jiang said.
Wang Guiqiang, head of Peking
University First Hospital’s infec-
tious disease department, said in
an earlier interview that in some
cases testing kits are not sensitive
enough or the virus is concealed
deep in the lungs, resulting in
inaccurate results.
Some patients, especially seniors
and those with chronic diseases,
may have weaker immune sys-
tems, which could result in them
remaining positive for the virus for
a long period even with treatment,
he said.
As a new virus, the novel corona-
virus still poses a number of ques-
tions to humans, and more research
into the virus is needed, Jiang said.
“We have not found a clear rela-
tionship between incidences of
cured patients testing positive
again and their ages, illness and
immunity,” he said.
Contact the writers at
wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn
more than 3.5 trillion yuan of
investment in the upstream and
downstream industrial chain and
other related sectors by 2025.
Wang Zhiqin, deputy director
of the CAICT, said the 5G industry
is expected to directly create over
3 million jobs as of 2025, with
aggregate information consump-
tion brought by the commerciali-
zation of the wireless technology
surpassing 8.3 trillion yuan.
Furthermore, according to Xin,
the nation’s industrial output rose
by 4.1 percent on a yearly basis in
the second quarter, 0.9 percent-
age point higher than the growth
of the GDP. That shows the strong
resilience of the industrial econo-
my, which is an important force
for driving the nation’s economic
recovery, Xin said.
The vice-minister said the min-
istry will focus on enhancing the
stability and competitiveness of
the industrial chain, supporting
the healthy development of small
and medium-sized enterprises
and promoting technological
innovation and digital transfor-
mation and upgrading.
Fu Baozong, director of the
industrial research office at the
institute of industry of the China
Macroeconomic Research Insti-
tute, said market entities, espe-
cially small and medium-sized
enterprises, are important partic-
ipants and promoters of techno-
logical innovation and will inject
new vitality to the country’s high-
quality development.
Country’s name in ancient bronze
Visitors surround a bronze vessel called he zun from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771
BC), which bears the earliest record of the characters zhong guo (China), during the opening of a
bronze-themed exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing on Friday. The 143 selected
bronze wares on display were unearthed in and near Baoji, Shaanxi province. The show will run
through Oct 13. JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY
Government wheat purchasers
outbid by private companies
By YANG WANLI
yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn
Government wheat purchases in
major production areas declined
this summer as many farmers sold
into a better performing open
market in the past weeks, experts
revealed recently.
According to statistics released by
the National Food and Strategic
Reserves Administration, govern-
ment wheat purchases in major
production areas were 42.8 million
metric tons as of Aug 5, a drop of
about 9.38 million tons compared
to the same period last year.
Henan province, where the pur-
chases fell the most, only saw 9.12
million tons of wheat sold to the
government. It was followed by
Anhui, Hebei, Jiangsu and Shan-
dong provinces.
“The well-preforming market
resulted in a higher price in the
open market than the government
acquisition price,” Hu Bingchuan, a
researcher from the Rural Develop-
ment Institute of Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences, said in a recent
XIAOKANG@GRASSROOTS
Hometown grape industry becomes profitable
By MO JINGXI
and HU MEIDONG in Ningde, Fujian
The decision to close a profitable
dumpling restaurant several years
ago in the most expensive central
business district in Fuzhou, Fujian
province, was not easy for Lai Chun-
yan and her husband Liu Dexing.
“Our business was doing well
because we’d already used the inter-
net to promote our restaurant to
receive more orders,” Lai said.
She had worked on game develop-
ment and operation at an internet
company for several years after
graduating university in computer
science in 2009. Liu was a school-
mate majoring in mathematics.
But going back to Liu’s hometown
in Xianghuan village of Fu’an city
seemed to be the only choice after
their fathers got sick in succession
and Lai was pregnant with their sec-
ond child.
Fu’an, renowned as the grape city
in southeastern China, produces
85,000 metric tons of grapes annu-
ally throughout 129 villages.
Nearly 120,000 people in Fu’an
are engaged in grape-related indus-
tries.
However, the couple noticed that
despite decades of development
since 1984, there was not one single
brand created for grapes produced
in Fu’an, which meant that the
grapes could only be sold at a rela-
tively low price.
They decided to seize this oppor-
tunity by setting up a company to
sell Fu’an grapes.
Liu, who is responsible for provid-
ing high-quality grapes to his wife,
usually gets up at 3 am to supervise
the grape picking by growers in
orchards. Then, he goes to the facto-
ry to monitor the product packaging
interview with ThePaper.cn. had higher expectations for the
He said the government acquisi- wheat market in the second half of
tion price is a preferential policy to the year and hoarded their produce
ensure basic profits of farmers in for a higher price, which also con-
major production areas, which also tributed to the drop of government
plays an important role of main- wheat purchases.
taining stable grain production. “Fluctuations in wheat prices
According to Sublime China have been witnessed regularly in
Information Co, China’s online recent years. But in general, it
commodity pricing platform, the wasn’t and will not pose a threat to
prices for wheat offered by many our food security,” he said.
wheat powder companies this sum- According to the National Food
mer was between 2.4 yuan ($0.35) and Strategic Reserves Administra-
and 2.8 yuan per kilogram, higher tion, government wheat acquisi-
than the government acquisition tions were 42.9 million tons in 2018,
price of 2.32 yuan per kg. a drop of 21.5 million tons com-
Xu Xueping, an analyst with SCI, pared for 2017. In 2019, however,
told ThePaper.cn that increasing purchases bounced back to 64.3
wheat prices this summer might million tons.
be influenced by stronger market Summer grain is the first season
demand and rising corn prices in of China’s annual grain production,
July. which accounts for more than one-
Both corn and wheat are major fifth of the annual grain output.
food supplies for livestock, he said, In mid-July, the National
and higher corn prices forced live- Bureau of Statistics revealed that
stock producers to purchase more China’s summer grain output
wheat as a substitute, which boost- reached a historic high of 142.8
ed wheat prices. million tons this year, an increase
According to Hu, some farmers of 1.2 million tons compared with
and agricultural product agencies the same period last year.
Liu Dexing thins grapes at a plantation in Xianghuan village of Fu’an
city, Fujian province, in May. He helped local grape growers with
techniques to harvest grapes for a better price. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
Now, among the more than
10,000 cases of grapes they sell
Jiangxi
Fu'an every day through online and offline
channels, more than 2,000 cases are
Fujian
Tengyu grapes, whose retail price is
98 yuan ($14) per case.
“Our annual turnover in 2017 was
about four million yuan. It doubled
Taiwan to more than eight million yuan in
2018. Last year, our annual turnover
exceeded 17 million yuan,” Liu said.
200 km Now the grape growers in Xiang-
CHINA DAILY
huan are encouraged to adopt meas-
ures such as yield management and
and shipment. The day only ends avoiding the use of chemical fertiliz-
late at night after he has checked the ers, to increase their output of high
bills with grape growers and quality grapes that can be branded
arranged picking for the next day. as Tengyu.
Lai, who works on packaging In July, their company sold the
improvement and expanding mar- first batch of 1,152 cases of Tengyu
keting channels, tries to sell the grapes to Canada.
grapes for a good price. Next, the couple plans to export
In 2017, they branded the best their grapes to more countries such
quality grapes as “Tengyu”, which as Singapore and Thailand.
means “the vines speak”. Meanwhile, some 150 kilometers
CHINA DAILY
Economy:
Consumption
important to
drive growth
From page 1
“For the second half of the year,
the government will intensify the
measures for further reform and
opening-up to inject new impetus
into the economy and accelerate
opening and development of the
economy,” he said.
While China’s overall economic
activities and unemployment rate
remained largely stable in July, the
recovery of industrial output and
retail sales were slightly slower than
expected, which indicated that con-
tinuous policy support is needed to
boost production and domestic con-
sumption, economists said.
Huang Yiping, deputy dean of the
National School of Development at
Peking University, said consump-
tion is becoming an increasingly
important growth driver and more
policy attention should be paid to
the domestic market.
“In the short term, consumption
has been temporarily depressed by
the epidemic. But in the long run,
China’s consumption potential will
continue to grow and policies
should focus on exploring and
unleashing such potential to drive
China’s growth,” Huang said.
With economic activities and
unemployment largely stable, infla-
tion edging higher and the virus
increasingly under control without
a full-scale lockdown, policymakers
likely see a lack of strong rationale
to loosen policy incrementally for
now, Song Yu, an economist at Bei-
jing Gao Hua Securities, said in a
research note. “On the other hand,
this set of data does not suggest
room to tighten policy, either. Poli-
cymakers are likely to keep their
cyclical policy stance largely stable
and continue to shift their attention
to other goals such as financial and
fiscal risk controls,” he said.
China’s top leadership pledged at
a recent meeting that economic pol-
icies will be more flexible, appropri-
ate and targeted to support recovery
in the second half of the year.
Wang Tao, chief China economist
at Swiss bank UBS, said in a
research note that policies will
remain supportive in the second
half. While credit flow will likely
stay resilient for the rest of the year,
there may be a low incentive to
adopt further monetary easing,
Wang added.
from Xianghuan, Fujian’s Longtan
village, which once had only about
200 residents, is attracting people
from cities across the country to set-
tle down as new villagers, contribut-
ing their wisdom and resources to
rural rejuvenation. Jiang Silin is one
of them.
Jiang has been working on rural
planning and organic agriculture
since 2014 after graduating from
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry
University. During an inspection
tour to Longtan in 2018, he found
out that the village is almost his
dream village.
Longtan, which was rejuvenated
through a project launched by local
authorities in 2017 to promote cul-
tural and creative industries, has
witnessed an influx of new arrivals
in recent years, most of them with
university degrees.
Now Jiang and his girlfriend live
in a renovated old house rented
from a villager with a 15-year lease
and run a small farm of 0.2 hectares.
“By growing organic rice and veg-
etables ourselves, we want to share
with people in cities this new life-
style in the village through our
words and videos on social media so
that more and more people will be
interested in and even purchase
Longtan’s agricultural products,”
Jiang said.
Jiang hopes that the success of
their small farm will prove to local
villagers that organic agriculture is
workable even though it is still not
popular in villages.
“I’m sure that it’s not a difficult
thing for them to earn 10,000 yuan
annually once they successfully shift
to organic agriculture,” he said.
Contact the writers at
mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn
 CHINA DAILY
TOP NEWS
NBS: Employment ‘generally stable’
However, nation recorded more jobless
youth in July amid graduation season
By HOU LIQIANG
houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn
China recorded a higher youth
unemployment rate in July, a tradi-
tional graduation period with a
record number of university gradu-
ates expected this year, amid “a gen-
erally stable” employment
situation, said the National Bureau
of Statistics.
From January to July, a total of 6.71
million new jobs were created in the
country’s urban areas, down 1.96 mil-
lion year-on-year, the bureau
announced on Friday.
The surveyed unemployment
rate in urban areas in July stood at
5.7 percent, which equals that of
June but was 0.4 percentage point
Model: Climate change
fight key to sustainability
From page 1
meet people’s ever-growing demand
for a beautiful environment and at a
time when China is capable of
addressing prominent environmen-
tal issues.
Tsering said that the Secretariat of
the China Council for International
Cooperation on Environment and
Development has sought UNEP’s
input on China’s 14th Five-Year Plan
(2021-25). “UNEP has worked close-
ly with China to achieve ecological
protection,” she said.
“Our recommendations focus on
building back better from the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, which means
increasing sustainable infrastruc-
ture, fostering sustainable consump-
tion and production, greening
supply chains, improving access to
green finance and tackling climate
change and air pollution.”
China has said it considers the cli-
mate change fight strategically
important for high-quality sustaina-
ble development at the forefront of
building a community with a shared
future for mankind. Policies and
actions it already has taken have
achieved remarkable results. China’s
GDP in 2019 more than quadrupled
that in 2005, while carbon dioxide
emissions per unit of GDP were
reduced by 48.1 percent from 2005,
equivalent to a reduction of about
5.62 billion metric tons.
Capacity for leadership
UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres has commended China’s
efforts in fighting climate change,
saying China has shown a clear
capacity for climate leadership.
“In the past five years, China has
deployed more solar and wind
capacity than any other country.
More than 50 percent of electric vehi-
cles in the world are sold in China.
China also makes 99 percent of the
world’s electric buses,” the UN chief
said in a video speech at an event
organized by the Tsinghua Universi-
ty on July 23.
“Like COVID-19, climate change
respects no borders. By seizing the
mantle of leadership, China can help
protect all people who share this
planet,” Guterres said.
While striving to strike a balance,
the country should be deeply
involved in global environmental
governance, guide cooperation on
Offers: Universities add touch of panache
From page 1
“So this is what pure science sounds
like. It is so fascinating and mesmeriz-
ing,” he said in a comment on the
WeChat instant-messaging app.
Nie Jiahui, a high school graduate
from Beijing who has accepted an
offer to become a physics major
freshman at the university, said he
had been thrilled to receive the spe-
cial message from space.
“I will treasure this package for the
rest of my life,” he said, adding he was
eager to keep learning and contribute
to the nation’s scientific development.
The university also made head-
lines with its offer package last year,
which included the Chinese-made
Loongson 3 computer chip with the
aim of reminding talented young
higher year-on-year.
While the surveyed unemploy-
ment rate for people aged 25 to 59 fell
by 0.2 percentage point to 5 percent,
the rate for youth aged 16 to 24 went
up, it said, without disclosing addi-
tional details.
Bureau spokesman Fu Linghui
said the unemployment rate for peo-
ple aged 20 to 24 with three years of
college education or higher degrees
went up by 3.3 percentage points
from last year. Most of this group are
fresh university graduates.
“The employment situation is gen-
erally stable,” Fu said at a news con-
ference organized by the State
Council Information Office on Friday.
He also said the employment situ-
ation has generally improved for
climate change issues and work with
others to come up with a worldwide
solution for environmental protec-
tion and sustainable development,
according to Xi’s vision on ecological
civilization.
“UNEP welcomes China’s support
for multilateralism and China’s posi-
tive role in global environmental gov-
ernance and regional cooperation,”
Tsering said, adding that by signing
and ratifying the most important
modern environmental treaties, Chi-
na sets an example.
The UNEP official mentioned
many treaties and agreements in
which China plays an active part,
including the UN Paris climate
agreement, the Montreal Protocol,
the Basel and Stockholm conven-
tions, the Convention on Biological
Diversity and the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
She also praised China’s support
for other regional environmental
cooperation programs, such as envi-
ronmental cooperation between Chi-
na and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, China-Japan-Repub-
lic of Korea environmental coopera-
tion and Lancang-Mekong
subregional cooperation.
Initiated by Xi, the Belt and Road
Initiative International Green Devel-
opment Coalition was established
last year to promote cooperation and
concerted action for green develop-
ment on the Belt and Road, to inte-
grate sustainable development into
the BRI, and to help BRI participat-
ing countries to realize the UN Sus-
tainable Development Goals on
development and environment.
More than 130 Chinese and interna-
tional organizations have joined in
the coalition, including UNEP.
Tsering called international coop-
eration vital. “A global challenge
requires global efforts. That’s why
multilateralism is the only choice. No
one country can do it alone.”
China and UNEP can continue to
work together to promote “Green
Governance” principles and practic-
es by sharing knowledge and
through South-South cooperation,
Tsering said. “This is urgent as many
countries are trying to quickly devel-
op response and recovery strategies
for COVID-19,” she added.
Contact the writers at
caodesheng@chinadaily.com.cn
people that a small and unassuming
gadget can change the world.
Wu Wuqing, an assistant business
professor at Renmin University of
China, said the University of CAS’ offer
package this year was designed with
creativity, history and a sense of duty.
“Listening to the sounds that
echoed for eons in space feels like
immersing oneself in the fabric of the
universe,” he said. “For teenagers,
opening that acceptance letter
means opening a new chapter of
their lives. It is moving to see how our
personal history can intertwine with
that of the universe.”
This year, other Chinese universi-
ties have also sprinkled a touch of sci-
entific panache in their offers.
Southeast University’s package plays
the school’s anthem when opened.
migrant workers. The number of
migrant workers who have left home
for work reached 177.5 million in July,
97.3 percent the number recorded in
the same period last year.
The youth unemployment rate
increase occurred as university stu-
dents graduated and entered the job
market.
The Ministry of Education said a
record high 8.74 million university
students will graduate this year —
400,000 more than in 2019 — amid
a “a grim and complicated employ-
ment situation” affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic and economic
slowdown.
The ministry planned to expand
postgraduate enrollment by 189,000
from last year and provide three-year
degree holders with the opportunity
to enroll in programs for bachelor
degrees by providing an additional
322,000 spots to cope with the situa-
Classy capital crossing
Members of internet celebrity model group “Glamma Beijing” (left to right), Lin Wei, 65; Sun Yang,
64; Wang Nianwen, 74; and Wang Xinghuo, 70, wear traditional Chinese qipao dresses during a vid-
eo shoot in Beijing’s Central Business District on Thursday. WANG TINGSHU / REUTERS
Safety of seafood imports stepped up
By ZHANG XIAOMIN in Dalian
zhangxiaomin@chinadaily.com.cn
With at least nine Chinese cities
reporting cases of imported frozen
products contaminated with the
novel coronavirus since early July,
authorities are taking measures to
prevent further such incidences.
On Thursday, officials in Shen-
zhen, Guangdong province, con-
firmed that a sample of frozen
chicken wings imported from Bra-
zil tested positive on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, some packaging sam-
ples from frozen shrimp tested
positive in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.
China’s customs authority sus-
pended imports from three Ecua-
dorean shrimp producers on July
10 after samples collected from the
outer packaging of their shrimp
and the interior of a container in
which they were shipped tested
positive for the virus in Xiamen,
Fujian province, and Dalian, Liao-
ning province.
Packaging for some Ecuadorean
shrimp also tested positive in sev-
eral other places, including Ping-
xiang, Jiangxi province;
Chongqing municipality; and
Wuhu, Anhui province.
The package from Northwestern
Polytechnical University has a code
that, when scanned with a phone,
starts an augmented reality tour of
the school. Tsinghua University
included a laser-cut, detailed paper
model of its historical Second Gate
that stands up when the package is
opened.
Tsinghua’s package also contained
the social science classic, From the
Soil, by pioneering Chinese sociolo-
gist and anthropologist Fei Xiaotong.
The book is an extensive yet accessi-
ble depiction of the moral and ethical
characteristics of Chinese society in
the mid-20th century.
Qiu Yong, the president of Tsing-
hua University, said the selection is to
encourage young people to whole-
heartedly learn and love the country
tion, said Wang Hui, who heads the
ministry’s college students depart-
ment, during a news conference in
May.
According to a 2020 report on
university graduate employment,
recruitment demand for graduates
across the country stood at 12.37
million in the first quarter, 2.49
million less than the same period
last year.
In an interview with several media
outlets earlier this month, Zhang Ji-
nan, who leads the Ministry of
Human Resources and Social Securi-
ty, said, “The task of stabilizing
employment remains arduous with
many uncertainties,” especially since
many graduates entered the job mar-
ket this month and last.
The country, however, has experi-
enced a steady recovery in its job mar-
ket following general containment of
the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.
The General Administration of
Customs issued inspection and
quarantine requirements on Fri-
day for Ecuadorean frozen white
shrimp.
It said that enterprises produc-
ing frozen white shrimp in the
Andean nation should first be
approved by Ecuadorean authori-
ties and also registered in China.
Without registration, they are not
allowed to export to China.
During the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, enterprises must com-
ply with anti-COVID-19 and food
safety requirements, meet guide-
lines issued by United Nations’
Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion and the World Health Organi-
zation, and ensure the effective
implementation of prevention and
control measures during the whole
process — from harvesting to proc-
essing, packaging, storage and
transport — in order to prevent
contamination, it said.
Michael Ryan, executive director
of the Health Emergencies Program
at the WHO, said on Thursday in
Geneva that: “People should not
fear food or food packaging, or the
processing or delivery of food.
There is no evidence that food or the
Fu Youtang, a retired professor
from Shaanxi Normal Universi-
ty, writes an acceptance letter
on Thursday for an incoming
student using calligraphy, a tra-
dition at the school.
ZHANG BOWEN / XINHUA
they grew up in, and feel the respon-
sibility that rests on their shoulders.
“Hope you can take root in the soil
of our motherland, grow, prosper
and forge ahead into the future,” Qiu
said in a letter to prospective fresh-
men.
He said the number of new jobs
added each month in urban areas
has increased from just 390,000 in
February to around 1 million in
recent months.
“The gradual recovery of employ-
ment in China beat expectations and
was a hard-earned result” thanks to a
series of measures the government
had rolled out, such as cutting social
insurance contributions paid by
enterprises, he said.
According to this year’s Govern-
ment Work Report, China aims to
add over 9 million new urban jobs
and keep the surveyed urban unem-
ployment rate around 6 percent this
year.
Last year, about 13.5 million new
jobs were created in urban areas, 2.5
million more than the annual target.
The country registered a surveyed
unemployment rate of 3.62 percent
at the end of the year.
food chain is participating in trans-
mission of this virus … Our food,
from a COVID perspective, is safe.”
Zhu Yi, an associate professor at
China Agricultural University’s col-
lege of food science and nutrition
engineering, told Beijing News
that the contamination actually
has nothing to do with the food or
packaging.
The key is the cold-chain tem-
perature of -18 C, in which viruses
can survive, Zhu said, adding that
it is not a bad thing that some sam-
ples have tested positive as this
demonstrates that China carries
out strict epidemic prevention and
control measures.
Zhu said the packaging samples
which tested positive might be
contaminated with droplets from
an infected person, just as from ele-
vator buttons or door handles.
He added that if the contagion is
not controlled in production areas,
workers in labor-intensive food
processing plants are at higher risk
of infection, and food preparation
surfaces are also at higher risk of
contamination. People most at risk
are those in the food processing
and catering sector while the risk
to customers is very low.
Target: Program brings benefits
From page 1
It insists that the Confucius Insti-
tute US Center, which has no direct
connection to college campuses
and is not involved in deciding CI
curriculum, employment or fund-
ing, is being “targeted symbolically”.
“CIUS has no influence, let
alone ‘malign’ influence, over how
universities run and manage their
own Confucius Institute language
programs. We hope the State
Department (will) visit those
schools and see for themselves just
as members of the Government
Accountability Office (GAO)
already have,” it said.
The GAO, a federal agency that
conducted interviews with insti-
tute personnel and school officials
August 15-16, 2020 | 3
US hit over
declaration
on 5G with
Slovenia
By ZHOU JIN
zhoujin@chinadaily.com.cn
The development of Hong Kong
into a global financial center was
achieved through efforts by gener-
ations in the region and support-
ed by China’s deepening reform
and opening-up, and cannot be
discounted by any country, the
Foreign Ministry said on Friday,
while also criticizing Washing-
ton’s attempt to place restrictions
on Chinese technology.
Ministry spokesman Zhao Li-
jian made the remarks at a daily
news briefing after United States
President Donald Trump said in
a televised interview on Thurs-
day that Hong Kong “can never
succeed” under Chinese control
and its markets will “go to hell”.
Trump’s comments come as
Sino-US relations continue to
sour on various issues, including
Hong Kong-related matters. In
July, the US signed into law the
so-called Hong Kong Autonomy
Act and revoked the special
administrative region’s preferen-
tial trade treatment.
The practice of
politicizing the 5G
issue is not
conducive to the
development of the
technology...”
Zhao Lijian, Foreign Ministry
spokesman
The global financial center sta-
tus is also a result of China’s
implementation and mainte-
nance of the “one county, two sys-
tems” policy, Zhao said, adding
that such a coveted status “is not
given by any country and cannot
be arbitrarily taken by anyone”.
US Secretary of State Mike Pom-
peo said that by Slovenia’s signing
on Thursday of a joint declaration
on 5G Clean Network Security, the
European nation has secured pro-
tection against “authoritarian
threats” including China’s efforts
“to control people and informa-
tion”, Reuters reported.
The US itself has misbehaved
in matters of cybertheft, Zhao
said, adding that it is ridiculous
that Pompeo proposed a “clean
network”.
What certain US politicians
want is probably not a clean net-
work or a 5G security network,
but a US surveillance network,
Zhao said, adding that they want
to consolidate US digital hege-
mony rather than protect per-
sonal privacy and freedoms.
“The practice of politicizing the
5G issue is not conducive to the
development of the technology,
goes against the principle of fair
competition and is not in line
with the common interests of the
international community,” Zhao
said.
He added that he believes the
international community will see
through the real intention of cer-
tain US politicians and “say no to
the US bullying practices of inter-
ference with other countries’ 5G
network construction and coop-
eration”.
at 10 schools with Confucius Insti-
tutes, reported in February 2019
that officials from more than half
of the case-study schools said that
establishing a Confucius Institute
offered benefits that aligned with
the school’s strategic plans to forge
international connections and to
expand the global reach of their
campuses.
Officials at several case-study
schools also said that the funding
provided for the institutes was a
small proportion of a larger budget
related to Asian studies and Chi-
nese-language programs, and, as a
result, could not exert undue influ-
ence, according to the GAO report.
Contact the writers at
mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn
4 | August 15-16, 2020
COMMENT
Editorial
Review might
offer chance
to refocus on
shared interests
T
hanks to the rising Sino-
US tensions, especially
after the novel corona-
virus pandemic broke
out, many seem to have forgotten
that over the past four decades,
economic and trade cooperation
has been the ballast to bilateral
relations.
To many, by relentlessly attack-
ing China, despite being “satisfied”
with the progress of the “phase
one” trade deal, Washington has
gone too far and China is exercis-
ing extraordinary restraint.
But Beijing knows well the
cacophony over the decoupling of
the US and China notwithstand-
ing, the world’s two largest econo-
mies have been faithfully trying to
fulfill their obligations as stipulat-
ed in the “phase one” deal since it
came into effect on Feb 15.
That China now accounts for
more than 40 percent of US com-
modity exports, compared with
about 20 percent in the baseline
year of 2017, was confirmed by
none other than Larry Kudlow,
chair of the US National Econom-
ic Council. Which means that
while the pandemic has taken a
toll on world trade as a whole, the
two sides have minimized its
impact on bilateral trade.
As China has been reiterating,
increasing imports is essential to
its economic restructuring and
industrial upgrading. It is also in
line with US interests. No wonder
Kudlow quoted US Trade Repre-
sentative Robert Lighthizer as tell-
ing the US president that China
“really picking their imports of our
commodities” is “a great boon”,
indicating the two sides can still
broaden their common interests
and seek win-win cooperation.
As for most of the pain spots in
the Sino-US relationship such as
technology transfers, industrial
subsidies and data restrictions,
which some US politicians tend to
highlight to claim bilateral ties
don’t have much to offer to Wash-
ington, those issues are exactly
what the two sides have agreed to
shelve for future discussion.
That all is not yet lost should be
evident on Saturday when, as part
of the “phase one” deal, Chinese
Vice-Premier Liu He and Light-
hizer are due to conduct the first
semi-annual review of the deal’s
implementation through video-
conferencing. And if their meet-
ing is positive enough to prompt
the US and China to agree to pre-
pare for future talks, there might
be reason to assume the two sides
could re-focus on their common
interests to better handle their dif-
ferences and manage risks, if not
altogether resolve the sticky
issues in bilateral relations.
As a US-China Business Council
report says, the pandemic has once
again made US enterprises realize
the importance of the Chinese
market, not least because China’s
is the only major economy to
rebound — and robustly — in the
second quarter. In fact, US enter-
prises doing business in China are
optimistic about their prospects
and believe the “phase one” deal
can ease Sino-US tensions.
With the “phase one” deal show-
ing positive signs, now is the time
for the two sides to move to
resolve their trade disputes and
end the speculation that a new
Cold War is imminent.
Indeed, trade is at the core of the
two sides’ shared interest. It can
also become the foundation for
expanding their shared interests
in other fields.
CHINA DAILY WORLDWIDE
Contact us at:
China Daily
15 Huixin Dongjie Chaoyang District,
Beijing 100029
News: +86 (0) 10 6491-8366
editor@chinadaily.com.cn
Advertisement: +86 (0) 10 6491-8631
ads@chinadaily.com.cn
Subscription: +86-400-699-0203
subscription.chinadaily.com.cn
App: www.chinadaily.com.cn/mobile/daily.html
Shan Juan
New outbreak adds to Beijing’s lessons
T
he Xinfadi wholesale
market, the source of the
latest novel coronavirus
infections in Beijing,
reopened on Saturday after the
city authorities effectively con-
trolled the new outbreak in less
than two months. A few days ago,
the last of the 335 infected people
recovered and was discharged
from the hospital. Which shows
that, if prompt, strict and effective
measures are taken, near normal-
cy can be restored in a couple of
months.
Life in Beijing is gradually, but
cautiously, returning to normal
with city residents starting to enjoy
the highlights of summer such as
night time snacks outdoors. Also,
swimming pools and cinemas are
reopening, and students are pre-
paring for the fall semester from
the first week of September.
No death, no citywide lockdown,
no price hike, no strain on testing
or medical services. Beijing’s
response has been acclaimed by
many as efficient, precise and sci-
entific, while experts say the capi-
tal has set an example of how to
contain new outbreaks.
Since scientists worldwide agree
that the novel coronavirus, unlike
Xiong Bingqi
Education must be an equalizer, a path to social justice
N
othing But Thirty has
become China’s most
talked-about TV series.
The hit show tells the
story of how three women on the
threshold of 30 lead their lives in
Shanghai.
The parenting style of one of the
protagonists, Gu Jia, a middle-
class housewife, has triggered
some sort of controversy. Due to
her single-minded determination
to get the best education for her
son, as most Chinese parents do,
Gu buys a luxurious flat in down-
town Shanghai without hesitation
after taking a huge loan, so her
son could get admission to a
“prestigious” kindergarten in the
locality. In the end, thanks to her
untiring efforts, she succeeds.
In one scene in the series, a little
girl suffers a seizure attack at a
school party, prompting the par-
ents of many other children to
seek her expulsion from the
school, claiming such attacks in
the future could frighten their
children. Gu opposes the other
parents’ demand and tells her son
to help the girl instead.
Gu seems a perfect mother who
selects the best kindergarten for
her son but, at the same time,
sympathizes, rather than discrimi-
nates against, a child in need of
immediate attention, if not medi-
cal help.
Yet Gu’s response is self-contra-
dictory as her obsession to get
her son admitted to a “prestig-
ious” kindergarten exhibits her
preference for a special type of
teachers and classmates for her
child. In real life, most parents
who take pains to get their chil-
dren enrolled in such schools
would logically demand that the
“sick girl” be struck off the
school’s register.
From the perspective of parents,
a “good” school helps kids excel in
studies and become competitive
in life. But for children, it’s unfair
to receive education depending on
their families’ economic status.
Such inequity will give kids a start
in life based on their families’ eco-
nomic background and narrow
the channel for poor students’
upward social mobility.
Like Gu, many Chinese parents
are ready to pay any price to send
their kids to the best and therefore
expensive kindergartens in the
hope they will boost their chil-
China Daily UK
90 Cannon St, London EC4N 6HA, UK
+44 (0) 207 398 8270
editor@chinadailyuk.com
China Daily Asia Pacific
China Daily Hong Kong
Unit 1818, Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan
Praya Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
+852 2518 5111
editor@chinadailyhk.com
editor@chinadailyasia.com
the SARS virus, will not disappear
abruptly and, instead, could linger
for quite a while, it is important to
work out a scientific, sustainable
and cost-effective response to it
which would cause minimum
social and economic disruption.
The measures Beijing imple-
mented after the Xinfadi infection
cluster was detected were not the
result of rocket science. Social dis-
tancing, contact tracing, quaran-
tine, and mass screening are not
new public health measures to
bring a disease under control, but
they do need a decisive approach
and a supporting public to be
effective.
Thanks to the concerted efforts
of society, the daily caseload
declined to zero in less than a
month after the detection of the
first new infection on June 11. Yet
the new infection cluster showed
the capital, or for that matter any
other city, cannot be fully safe until
the virus is effectively contained
across the world. And that’s why
public support and cooperation
are essential to bring new clusters
under control.
The first confirmed case in the
new infection cluster, a 52-year-old
man, faithfully informed the city
China Daily USA
1500 Broadway, Suite 2800,
New York, NY 10036
+1 212 537 8888
editor@chinadailyusa.com
China Daily Africa
P.O. Box 27281-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
+254(0)20 242 8589 (Nairobi)
editor@chinadailyafrica.com
enquiries@chinadailyafrica.com
subscription@chinadailyafrica.com
break nationwide, in order to curb
Only if the public
trusts the government
the spread of the virus.
It took only 12 days for Beijing to
and the medical cut off the transmission chain, par-
ticularly to prevent the new infec-
facilities will the tions from spreading beyond the
public health capital after the first new infection,
according to scientific estimation,
measures work.
occurred on June 4. In contrast, it
took 47 days to do so in Wuhan,
And Beijing is
where the epidemic first broke out
a perfect example in China.
of that. In Beijing, widespread applica-
tion of big data and the internet of
things made it possible to detect
officials, including medical experts, those at the risk of infection. Some
of every place he had visited since even termed the strict measures as
May 30 and provided a list of 38 “overkill”, because people even
people with whom he had come in driving past the closed Xinfadi
close contact in the two weeks market received a message on
before being diagnosed. Which their phones asking them to take a
helped the experts to soon identify virus test. Starting with those
the outbreak source to Xinfadi, directly connected with Xinfadi, a
which the authorities ordered shut mass screening program finally
two days later so as to cut off the covered nearly 12 million Beijing
main link in the transmission residents, more than half of the
chain. local population, in roughly one
On June 16, based on epidemiol- month.
ogists’ findings, Beijing raised the Notably, based on scientific evi-
epidemic response level by impos- dence such as a low positivity rate
ing targeted restrictions such as and no community transmission,
prohibiting high-risk groups from Beijing didn’t extend strict screen-
leaving the city and timely sharing ing to the rest of the city, display-
the information on the new out- ing a cost-effective response. But as
It may be impossible
to eliminate all the disparities
but it is possible to strike
a balance in the allocation of
public education resources to
ensure all children get
equal education opportunities.
LI MIN / CHINA DAILY
CHINA DAILY
part of a highly coordinated
response to the outbreak in the
city, experienced health workers
were mobilized in a short period of
time to help with the screening
exercise and clinical treatment at
designated hospitals.
I was among those who took
the virus test in Beijing. I can,
with honesty, say it was not an
easy decision to make to walk into
a clinic in mid-June to undergo a
virus test. But my anxiety eased to
a large extent when the nurse at
the registration desk called me on
the phone to check my identity. As
a journalist covering the health
sector for many years, I knew she
did that to make sure I remained
on the “radar” if the test result
was positive. However, that “dis-
trust” boosted my trust and, in
general, the public’s trust in the
city’s overall response capacity
and capability.
Only if the public trusts the gov-
ernment and the medical facilities
will the public health measures
work. And Beijing is a perfect
example of that.
The author is a writer with China
Daily. Contact the writer at
shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn
dren’s academic progress leading
to their admission to “elite” colleg-
es and a bright future. But not all
parents can afford such huge
expenses. Such unbalanced educa-
tion from the kindergarten to the
university level will certainly wid-
en the social divide between the
rich and their disadvantaged peers.
Aware of the advantages of
sending their children to “elite”
schools, many parents would go to
any length to get their wards
enrolled in such institutions
despite the severe competition,
and ignoring the call for rationali-
ty. The classification of schools
into elite, good, decent and ordi-
nary breeds competition, and
prompts many to look down upon
children studying in the so-called
ordinary schools.
The root cause of the craze to
get children admitted to elite
schools is education inequality. To
ease parents’ anxieties and bring
education back to the healthy
track, there is a need to bridge the
gap in education quality among
schools. Ensuring equal education
for all will also teach children an
important lesson: that they
should attach high value to equali-
ty rather than developing a false
sense of superiority.
Birth shouldn’t be the determi-
nant of development opportuni-
ties. Education should be an
equalizer, a path to social justice.
And children born into poverty,
just like their affluent peers,
should have access to high-quality
education.
China attaches great impor-
tance to the right to equal educa-
tion. For example, the government
has taken measures to improve
the quality of preschool education
for all and narrow the gap
between urban and rural schools
by taking measures to reduce the
admission cost, narrow the gap in
compulsory education in public
and private schools, improve the
quality of teachers and school
equipment, and promote online
education.
Yet there is education disparity
in different schools and regions.
The gap is wider in after-school
activities. Children of the rich
commonly learn additional skills
after school, making them more
competitive. For instance, in the
TV series, Gu sends her son to
learn horse riding, which many
households cannot afford to do.
It may be impossible to elimi-
nate all the disparities but it is
possible to strike a balance in the
allocation of public education
resources to ensure all children
get equal education opportunities.
The author is deputy director of
the 21st Century Education
Research Institute.
The views don’t necessarily repre-
sent those of China Daily.
 CHINA DAILY
BUSINESS
China braves odds to
salvage US trade deal
Govt underlines bilateral cooperation
to keep alive phase-one agreement
By ZHONG NAN
zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn
China has remained focused on
its efforts to implement the phase-
one economic and trade deal
signed with the United States in
January this year, despite the novel
coronavirus pandemic and other
disruptions, a senior Commerce
Ministry official said on Thursday.
Ren Hongbin, assistant minister
of commerce, said relevant govern-
ment departments in China have
done a lot of work to put the phase-
one deal into place, despite the
COVID-19 pandemic. Tighter con-
trols imposed by the US on exports
to China and other restrictive
measures have impacted goods
and services imports from the
country, he said.
The official said it was necessary
for both sides to work together to
strengthen cooperation and over-
come difficulties.
Ren said the US should stop
restrictive measures and discrimi-
natory practices against Chinese
companies and create the right
conditions for the implementation
of the phase-one China-US eco-
nomic and trade agreement.
Chen Wenling, chief economist
at Beijing-based China Center for
International Economic
Exchanges, said that in the next
stage of economic and trade talks,
senior government officials from
the two sides are likely to discuss
how the phase-one trade deal has
Briefly
Hainan FTP inks deals
for 12 major projects
Twelve overseas enterprises, includ-
ing tourism giant TUI Group from
Germany, signed cooperation agree-
ments for major projects within the
free trade port in South China’s
Hainan province on Thursday. Fif-
ty-nine major projects, including 12
foreign-funded and 47 domestic
ones, were agreed, covering tour-
ism, the modern service industry
and high-tech industries, with an
estimated total investment of 14.2
billion yuan ($2 billion). The sign-
ing ceremony also unveiled 20
investment-promotion projects that
Electronic information sector sees solid momentum
By CHENG YU and PEI PEI
in Shenzhen, Guangdong
China has gained sound momen-
tum in the electronic information
industry in the second quarter
despite challenges brought by the
COVID-19 outbreak, as the country
sought to bolster industrial chain
in the electronics battlefield for
stable development, the nation’s
top industry regulator said at the
ongoing China Information Tech-
nology Expo in Shenzhen on Fri-
day.
Qiao Yueshan, head of electronic
information department at the Min-
istry of Industry and Information
Technology, said that the country’s
electronic information continued to
develop as leading companies in the
Number of charging piles for electric vehicles to rise
By ZHENG YIRAN in Beijing and
PEI PEI in Shenzhen, Guangdong
The number of electric vehicle
charging piles in China is estimated
to reach 1.66 million by this year-
end and 11.2 million in 2025, while
the ratio of EVs to charging piles will
continue to decline, a recent report
said.
The report issued by Beijing-
based think tank EO Intelligence
said that in 2019, China’s EV charg-
ing piles surged by 56.9 percent
year-on-year to 1.22 million. With
the EV sector growing rapidly and
given the government’s favorable
been carried out and how they
resolve trade barriers in the next
stage.
She said many Chinese compa-
nies suffered due to the export
restrictions imposed by the US gov-
ernment earlier this year.
China’s goods trade with the US
declined by 3.3 percent on a yearly
basis to 2.03 trillion yuan ($292 bil-
lion) in the first seven months of
this year, with China’s exports to
the US falling by 4.1 percent and
imports by 0.3 percent amid the
COVID-19 pandemic and other eco-
nomic uncertainties, according to
the latest Customs data.
Although the US government
has pressured companies from
certain developed economies to
cease operations in China, and
tried to build a global industrial
and supply chain without China,
18,800 foreign-funded companies
were newly established across Chi-
na between January and July,
including 415 Japanese firms, 860
US companies and 849 South
Korean businesses, justifying glob-
al investors’ confidence in the mar-
ket.
Foreign direct investment from
the US continued to flow into Chi-
na, rising 6 percent year-on-year in
the first half of 2020, according to
the Ministry of Commerce.
Otis Corp, a US manufacturer of
elevators and escalators, opened its
new escalator factory in Haining,
Zhejiang province, late last month.
The facility incorporates intelli-
are open to global investors, in are-
as such as new-energy vehicles,
tourism, offshore trade and duty-
free retail.
Nation top destination
for Mongolian exports
China remained the top export des-
tination for Mongolia during the
first seven months of this year, and
accounted for 68 percent of the
country’s total exports, the Mongo-
lian National Statistics Office said.
China was also the top source for
Mongolian imports in the January-
July period, accounting for 35.2
percent of the total imports.
Visitors try out VR equipment on display at the China Information
Technology Expo in Shenzhen on Friday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
policies in “new infrastructure”, the
EV charging market is expected to
expand accordingly.
The central government released
its “new infrastructure” construc-
tion plan in March. EV charging
piles were included in the plan,
making it a key sector for national
infrastructure construction.
“With the opportunities brought
by ‘new infrastructure’ construc-
tion, the development of the charg-
ing pile sector is expected to speed
up, and a 1 trillion yuan ($144 bil-
lion) market will probably develop,”
Sun Huifeng, president of CCID
Consulting, said in an interview
gent manufacturing and advanced
automation to produce high-per-
formance escalators and moving
walkways.
Located close to Shanghai, the
new plant uses Otis’ latest digital
technologies, such as 3D modeling,
custom engineering and real-time
quality management that enhance
product quality and operational
efficiency, said Perry Zheng, presi-
dent for the China operations of
the company.
“Escalators are one of our core
products and our factory in China
caters to the global markets. The
upgraded Otis escalator factory
underscores our confidence in the
China market,” he said, adding that
the group is committed to continue
meeting the needs of its customers
in China, the world’s largest eleva-
tor market.
Zong Changqing, director-gen-
eral of the department of foreign
investment administration at the
Ministry of Commerce, said that
foreign investors’ expectations and
confidence in China remain
strong.
According to a recent survey
conducted by the ministry, about
99.1 percent of foreign-funded
enterprises indicated that they
would continue to invest and oper-
ate in China, he said.
Backed by a broad spectrum of
strong upstream manufacturers
and downstream customers, China
will maintain its key position in
foreign direct investment among
global investors, in particular from
developed economies, said Thom-
as Brenner, executive vice-presi-
dent of Siemens China.
Great Wall Motor car
output up last month
Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, China’s
largest sport utility vehicle and
pickup manufacturer, said produc-
tion and sales rose in July. The
Baoding, Hebei-headquartered
company manufactured 73,610 cars
last month, up 22.98 percent on a
yearly basis. Sales in July climbed
29.79 percent year-on-year to
78,339 units. In the January-July
period, Great Wall Motor manufac-
tured 464,643 cars, down 16.58 per-
cent on a yearly basis.
XINHUA
with China Automotive News.
According to the report, the ratio
of the country’s newly added EVs to
newly added charging piles in 2019
was 3.4, EO Intelligence said. It is
estimated that by 2025, the ratio will
drop to 2. In the long term, it will
likely drop to 1.
The report also showed that high
power charging piles will become
mainstream as EV owners, especial-
ly taxi drivers, favor quick charging.
High-power charging piles greatly
shorten the charging period and
ease charging anxiety. For enterpris-
es, high charging efficiency increas-
es the rate of return on investment.
Potential homebuyers size up a property model in Haikou, Hainan province.
Home prices continue recovery in July
By WANG YING in Shanghai
wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn
Home prices continued to recover
in China, albeit at a slower pace, as
local governments continued their
efforts to stabilize the real estate
market, experts said.
Led by Yinchuan, capital of the
Ningxia Hui autonomous region, 59
out of the 70 cities tracked by the
National Bureau of Statistics report-
ed growth in new home prices in
July, two less than that of June,
according to data released on Friday.
The 70 Chinese cities tracked by
the bureau reported a new home
price growth of 0.5 percent on a
monthly basis, and by 4.8 percent on
a yearly basis, both slower than the
figures in June.
“Local governments are strictly
following the central government’s
directive that houses are for living in
and not for speculation, and are pay-
ing special attention to the steady
and healthy development of the sec-
tor with timely and accurate meas-
ures. As a result, we have seen that
property prices have remained
largely stable in the 70 major Chi-
nese cities,” said Kong Peng, chief
statistician of the NBS.
July is the third month in a row
that Yinchuan has seen the biggest
hike in new home prices, and it is nec-
essary for noncore second-tier cities
to take equally proactive measures in
taming home prices, especially as
sector have made remarkable
efforts in driving upstream and
downstream small and medium-
sized enterprises to resume work.
In the first half of this year, the
industrial output of the electronic
information manufacturing indus-
try increased by 5.7 percent year-on-
year, which was 7 percentage points
higher than the overall industrial
growth rate. The sector also earned
an income of 5.14 trillion yuan ($739
billion) in the same period, which
made up 12.7 percent of the total.
“More steps will be taken to
enhance the risk-resisting ability of
the industrial chain and bolster the
coordination of resource guaran-
tees to ensure that the electronic
information supply chain is well-
rounded,” Qiao said.
Currently, it takes charging piles
one to one-and-a-half hours to fulfill
the endurance mileage of 200 kilo-
meters. In the future, the time peri-
od will be cut to 10 minutes, the
report said.
The country’s first high power
charging demonstration station for
a passenger EV was established in
Beijing on Jan 11, 2019.
The charging station, built by
State Grid Electric Vehicle Service
Co Ltd, can fulfill the endurance
mileage of 300 km of an EV in 10
minutes. The charging time is
equivalent to the time it takes to
fuel a petrol vehicle that runs the
The number of cities
reporting home price
growth both in new
and used homes is
declining.”
Xu Xiaole, chief market analyst
with the Beike Real Estate
Research Institute
their eastern peers are maintaining
their policies effectively,” said Yan
Yuejin, director of the Shanghai-
based E-house China Research and
Development Institution.
New home prices in the top four
cities saw a 0.5-percent increase on
average from the previous month,
with Guangzhou taking the lead
with 0.8-percent growth, followed
by Shenzhen with 0.6 percent,
Shanghai with 0.4 percent and Bei-
jing by 0.3 percent on a monthly
basis. Compared to last year, the
four top-tier cities saw a 3.6 percent
growth in their new home prices,
according to NBS.
In the pre-owned home market,
Guangzhou again reported the big-
gest increase of 1.6 percent in trans-
action prices among the four top
cities, followed by Shenzhen with 1.2
percent and Shanghai by 0.5 per-
cent. Pre-owned home prices
The remarks also came after the
MIIT’s Vice-Minister Xin Guobin
said in an interview with Xinhua
News Agency that the country’s
industrial economy showed sound
recovery since the second quarter
of this year.
“For the next step, the country
will improve the stability and
competitiveness of the industrial
chain. More efforts will be made
to make up for shortcomings and
upgrade the industrial structure
to maintain such sound funda-
mentals,” Xin said.
With such achievements, local
electronic companies are scram-
bling to make technological break-
throughs in key industries, while
foreign tech firms are beefing up
their presence in research and
development in the nation.
You Xuejun, chief technology offi-
cer at Chinese digital solution pro-
vider H3C, said that the company
same distance.
The company said that in the
future, it will speed up the research
on high power charging technology
and organize relevant pilot work.
The pilot work will cover Beijing
and Shandong, Jiangsu, Hunan and
Fujian provinces among others.
Another trend for the industry is
intelligence. With the introduction
of the internet, charging piles will
complete the intelligent upgrade
and have value-added services.
For example, during the charging
period, charging stations can offer
services including automobile
inspection and maintenance.Users
can reserve the services through
mobile apps. In this way, a compre-
hensive service ecology can be
formed.
August 15-16, 2020 | 5
SHI YAN / FOR CHINA DAILY
remained largely flat in Beijing.
Overall, 45 out of the 70 cities saw
price growth in pre-owned home
transactions, five less than the previ-
ous month.
Xu Xiaole, chief market analyst
with the Beike Real Estate Research
Institute, said: “The number of cities
reporting home price growth both in
new and used homes is declining.
“On the one hand, the pent-up
demand from the previous months
has been assimilated. On the other,
more local governments are tighten-
ing curbs on real estate to abide by
the central authorities’ stance on
property stabilization. Both these
factors have lowered market expec-
tations,” said Xu.
More than 10 cities including
Shenzhen and Dongguan of Guang-
dong province, Hangzhou and
Ningbo of Zhejiang province,
Zhengzhou of Henan province, Nan-
jing of Jiangsu province, and Chang-
chun of Jilin province have
announced more tightening meas-
ures recently, and “we expect at least
15 more cities to follow suit soon”,
said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at
Centaline Property Agency Ltd.
Thanks to the effective curbs, new
home and pre-owned residential
price growths remained stable or
slowed in 31 second-tier cities for 15
months in a row. Home prices
remained unchanged or saw mar-
ginal declines in 35 third-tier cities
during the same period.
has put a lot of efforts in technologi-
cal innovation of information tech-
nology and related applications,
especially when faced with recent
economic uncertainties.
“As China has called for more
efforts in new infrastructure, Dell
insists on our aim of ‘in China and
for China’ to make contributions
to the nation’s electronic informa-
tion sector,” Huang Chenhong,
global vice-president of US tech
giant Dell Technologies and presi-
dent of Dell in China, said on Fri-
day.
The US firm has poured at least
$33 billion into China each year. It
has two global service centers, three
factories, eight research and devel-
opment centers, 12,500 staff in total,
and contributes 64,000 hours of
charity work per year, Huang said.
Contact the writers at
chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn
Shenzhen, Guangdong-based
EV manufacturer BYD said that as
EVs are gradually coming into the
public’s sight in recent years, the
charging infrastructure has been
rapidly evolving and there are
more and more charging piles that
are accessible to the public.
The company has accelerated prod-
uct iteration and launched EVs that
are suitable for quick charging to cut
the waiting time for consumers.
With the constant upgrade of
products and technologies and the
country’s emphasis in charging
infrastructure in the future, EV con-
sumers are expected to have a better
user experience, the company said.
Contact the writers at
zhengyiran@chinadaily.com.cn
6 | August 15-16, 2020
HOSPITALITY
Water carnival offering
refreshment in Liaoning
By ZHANG DANDAN
zhangdandan@chinadaily.com.cn
A water carnival in Northeast
China’s Liaoning province is
entertaining visitors with the
exotic charm of Southeast Asia
that saves them from fatiguing
cross-border travel.
The carnival opened on June
20 at a water park named “Bali”
in Hot Go Park, a top summer
tourism spot at a reform and
innovation demonstration zone,
which is located between the two
major cities in Liaoning prov-
ince: Shenyang and Fushun. The
event will continue to the end of
August.
It has invited groups from Viet-
nam, the Philippines and Thai-
land to perform large-scale
receptions and parades that
immerse visitors in authentic
Southeast Asian culture.
To add more fuel to the festivi-
ties, the Bali park has held elec-
tronic music parties every
weekend since July 4.
By inviting well-known DJs
and emcees from across the
country and staging firework
shows, the electronic music par-
ties highlight the water carnival,
according to Wang Xiaojiu, a
director with Hot Go Park.
To cater to more visitors seek-
ing water entertainment experi-
ences during summer, the Bali
park launched a ticket package,
valid until the end of 2020.
Priced at 260 yuan ($37), the
package allows buyers to enjoy
entertainment services valued at
765 yuan in total, according to
the amusement park.
As a representative water park
in Northeast China, Bali makes
Tourists ride a roller coaster at Hot Go Park in a reform and
innovation demonstration zone between Shenyang and Fushun
in Liaoning province. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
As a representative water park in Northeast China, Bali makes up
for the lack of such refreshing facilities in its surrounding cities.
US burger chain adds local flavor to its hearty menu
By YUAN SHENGGAO
The New York burger chain Shake
Shack made its Beijing debut on
Wednesday.
Set in the trendy Taikoo Li Sanli-
tun neighborhood, it creates a warm
community gathering space in the
thriving shopping, dining and enter-
tainment destination.
To celebrate its opening, Shake
Shack Sanlitun staged a series of
events inspired by Peking Opera with
a thrilling modern twist, wowing the
audience with games, prizes and per-
formances. The performances
included rap music infused with tra-
ditional opera and street dance
blended with tai chi.
Like its opening celebrations that
combined traditional culture with
modern music, the new restaurant
has added a local flavor to its culinary
offerings.
The signature items are offered
exclusively at Shake Shack Sanlitun
and reflect the tastes of Beijing.
7
sq km
Area of Hot Go Park
up for the lack of such refreshing
facilities in its surrounding cities
which are far from the coast,
Wang said.
Besides Bali, Hot Go Park is
forging a series of other enter-
tainment parks with diverse
themes. It aims to develop itself
into a comprehensive tourist
resort that is usable through all
four seasons.
As a national 4A scenic spot,
Hot Go Park covers an area of 7
square kilometers. Featuring
ecotourism, popular science and
education, physical exercise,
commercial activities and quality
accommodation, the park also
attaches great significance to the
integrated development of lei-
sure tourism and culture.
The park makes an effort to
combine local cultural flavors,
traditional Chinese culture and
other cultural elements from all
over the world with its amuse-
ment facilities and equipment to
allow visitors to learn about cul-
ture while having fun.
Wang said that the hot spring
park in Hot Go Park is a project
that integrates traditional Chi-
nese health culture and tradi-
tional Chinese medicine with a
recreation facility.
With an aim to build an interna-
tional tourist resort, Hot Go Park is
playing a leading role in promot-
ing the upgrading and develop-
ment of the tourism industry in
Shenyang, Wang noted.
Shake Shack Sanlitun opens in Beijing on Wednesday.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
Among them, Hutong Hawthorn
milkshake, inspired by tanghulu — a
popular street snack in Beijing, made
of sugarcoated haws or other fruits —
is made from freshly spun frozen
vanilla custard infused with the tart-
Sofitel Shanghai Hongqiao is a member of the Accor family in China.
Accor tightens hygiene
rules to reassure guests
As domestic travel recovers, group rolls
out new rewarding lifestyle program
By WANG HONGYI in Shanghai
wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn
As the domestic Chinese market
gets back on track, French hospitality
group Accor is working to reignite
guests’ enthusiasm for travel while
providing safe destinations.
Accor recently announced the
application of its Allsafe Cleanliness
and Prevention Label across its Gary Rosen, chairman and chief
hotels in China to rebuild guest con- operating officer with Accor
fidence as people return. Greater China
“Now the domestic Chinese mar-
ket is continuing to recover and
guests are returning to travel and capitalizing on this opportunity to
lifestyle norms, hygiene has become surprise and delight guests with new
a top priority,” said Gary Rosen, services and products,” Rosen said.
chairman and chief operating officer “Hygiene can be accomplished with
with Accor Greater China. “The pro- flair and incorporate our brand
gram was introduced in response to touch points. Though circumstances
our relentless focus and constant may be different, the guest experi-
care for the safety and well-being of ence remains key to what we do.”
our guests and employees in each The hospitality industry was one
destination.” of the sectors heavily affected by the
According to Accor, the program outbreak of COVID-19 in the first half
encompasses some of the hospitality of 2020. With a resumption of work
industry’s most stringent cleaning and production in China, domestic
standards and operational protocols. travel has seen an increase in
These standards were vetted by demand.
Bureau Veritas, an internationally “We have been seeing growing
recognized leader in inspection, cer- trends for domestic travel among our
tification and laboratory testing ser- hotels in China and that is encourag-
vices. ing as it continues to prove that the
“Allsafe is a crucial program for the strategy and efforts we have been
industry’s recovery process. Through focusing on are the right ones,”
the program, we aspire to exceed Rosen said.
guests’ expectations and to demon- Resorts are running incredibly
strate that hotel stays are meant to be well and are the first sector to recov-
enjoyable and safe,” Rosen said. er, he said. “We do have outstanding
The program features a series of hotels running at full-house. We’ve
disinfection and cleaning measures, seen a healthy pickup trend so far
it covers comprehensive guidelines with double-digit growth month-on-
and best practices. Other measures month since the recovery started.”
include the optimization of workers’ To reignite guests’ passion for trav-
travel routes and work schedules to el and lifestyle, Accor began prepar-
minimize cross-contamination and ing for the recovery with the
maintain social distancing. It also innovative offerings of ALL — Accor
prioritizes safety and health for Live Limitless — in February. The
everyone including third-party ven- new lifestyle program integrates
dors. rewards, services and experiences
“We anticipate new needs while across the entire business to bring
rose pastry, raspberry jam and fresh
raspberries, topped with rose petals.
Daoxiangcun is a time-honored food
brand in Beijing.
Taking notes from roasted chest-
nut street snacks in northern China,
the Taikoo Lizi Concrete blends
roasted chestnuts, buttery short-
bread and a drizzle of miso-chestnut
caramel sauce with frozen vanilla
custard.
To round off the local offerings,
Shake Shack Sanlitun offers beer
from Jing-A, Beijing’s award-win-
ning craft brewery. Jing-A is a brew-
ery obsessed with hunting down rare
ingredients and unexpected flavors
to brew its beers with. They range
from twists on classic styles to curi-
ous experiments and inspiring col-
laborations.
ness of local hawthorn berries and Starting as a humble hot dog cart
topped with whipped cream and in Manhattan’s bustling Madison
crushed caramel. Square Park, Shake Shack remains
The picturesque Beijing Blush proud of its New York City heritage
Concrete features vanilla custard and commitment to serving quality
blended with Daoxiangcun-branded food made from thoughtfully
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
value to everyday life for members.
“ALL embodies the strategic trans-
formation and reflects Accor’s ambi-
tion. We’re leading the way for a
revolution to challenge conventions,”
he said. “We believe that the spirit of
hospitality extends beyond the stay
and loyalty is at the very heart of our
consumer universe.”
This year marks Accor’s 35th anni-
versary in China. Accor said it will
launch a series of programs and cam-
paigns to reinforce its position as a
luxury and lifestyle hotel destination.
Earlier this year, the group
wrapped up a sales and marketing
promotion campaign in China, fea-
turing a distinctive approach to pro-
gram design, media planning and
creative distribution via top digital
platforms. The highlight of the cam-
paign was that it used the strength of
each platform, including Ctrip, Ali-
baba’s Fliggy, WeChat and Meituan
Dianping.
Accor and Alibaba activated their
strategic alliance with a unique offer-
ing driven via a targeted marketing
plan across Alibaba ecosystem. It
also tapped into a social aspect with-
in the WeChat platform. And a new
exclusive members’ program was
also developed through a partner-
ship with Ctrip.
Accor and Fliggy has recently
announced the return of Super
Brand Day by partnering with exclu-
sive roses and jewelry brand Rose-
only. By using the system of
shopping portal Tmall and online
travel platform Fliggy, the campaign
A World of ALL Romantic Wonders
honors Chinese Valentine’s Day in
August. It touches upon the ways
romantic experiences and loving
memories are enhanced through
creative offerings.
“Since Accor China’s domestic
recovery campaign began, we have
partnered with Alibaba to create
opportunities while driving the lei-
sure market’s pace with innovative
offerings,” Rosen said. “We aim to
synergize with our partners to pam-
per our members through key pas-
sion points in life.”
sourced ingredients. The menu in
Beijing features all of its crowd-pleas-
ing favorites, the company said.
The cultural combination is also
reflected in the restaurant’s design.
Just as the modern Taikoo Li Sanli-
tun was built around heritage hutong
streets, this restaurant draws inspi-
ration from traditional courtyard
houses and updates it with contem-
porary touches.
Beijing’s courtyards, which lined
hutong, have traditionally provided a
serene, natural space for connecting
with friends and family. Shake Shack
Sanlitun is comprised of two distinct
spaces connected by a corridor hark-
ening to crisscrossing hutong lanes.
Lush foliage and a live tree anchor
the space, which is in contrast to the
modern fixtures such as a terrazzo,
mirrored finishes and dynamic light-
ing which changes throughout the
day to mimic Taikoo Li’s colored glass
facades that transform according to
the sun.
Shake Shack opened its first China
outlet in Hong Kong in 2018. It now
operates six burger restaurants in
Hong Kong and five in Shanghai,
News.winshang reported.
CHINA DAILY
New brand
launched by
Hyatt, BTG
Homeinns
By XING YI in Shanghai
xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn
UrCove, a new mid- to upscale
hotel brand created by a joint
venture between Hyatt and BTG
Homeinns, started to take reser-
vations on Thursday.
The first hotel of UrCove,
known in Chinese as Yifei, is
scheduled to open in Shanghai’s
Jing’an district in October. More
hotels are being built in other cit-
ies, such as Nanjing of Jiangsu
province and Chengdu of Sich-
uan province. UrCove plans to
open 300 hotels across China in
the next five years, said CEO Sun
Wu during the event.
People are able to reserve
rooms on Hyatt and BTG’s book-
ing platforms, such as their web-
sites and mobile apps.
The launch of the reservation
system and a signing ceremony
for property owners and the
UrCove hotel management com-
pany was staged at Grant Hyatt
Shanghai.
Grant Hyatt Shanghai hosts
the launch of UrCove’s global
reservation program on
Wednesday.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
We hope the new
brand will continue
to leverage the
resources of the two
groups and stick to
the pursuit of
quality and
innovation.”
Stephen Ho, president of
growth and operations for the
Asia-Pacific region at Hyatt
“Our target guests are business
travelers who care about the
experience and quality of their
accommodation,” he added.
The brand is positioned in
between BTG Yitel Premium and
Hyatt Place, according to the
company.
“We hope our guests will feel a
relaxed atmosphere once they
enter through the door, so we
opened the front desk area and
merged it with the lobby to create
a multifunctional social space,
and we provide guests with more
than 130 healthy selections for
breakfast,” Sun said.
Despite the COVID-19 pan-
demic, executives of the new
brand are confident about the
future of the hotel market.
“The pandemic is temporary
and we have seen a gradual
recovery in China,” said Yan
Chun, chief development officer
of UrCove. “The signing of a
bunch of memorandums of
understanding today just showed
people’s confidence in the future
growth of the market.”
Sun Jian, general manager of
BTG Homeinns Hotels, said the
joint venture has combined the
efficiency of BTG and the quality
of Hyatt. “The idea of the new
brand took shape in just two
years, which is a record speed for
the cooperation between domes-
tic and international hotel
groups,” he said.
Stephen Ho, president of
growth and operations for the
Asia-Pacific region at Hyatt,
joined the event from a video call
in Hong Kong. “I am proud to see
the global reservation of UrCove
go live today. This is a milestone
for our cooperation. We hope the
new brand will continue to lever-
age the resources of the two
groups and stick to the pursuit of
quality and innovation.”
 CHINA DAILY
WORLD
Israel, UAE
to normalize
diplomatic ties
Accord marks a major foreign policy
achievement for Trump before election
By CHINA DAILY
Israel and the United Arab
Emirates have agreed to normalize
relations in a landmark United
States-brokered deal, only the
third such accord the Jewish state
has struck with an Arab nation, in
which it pledged to suspend
annexation of Palestinian lands.
The bombshell news was bro-
ken by US President Donald
Trump, in a tweet hailing a “HUGE
breakthrough” and a “Historic
Peace Agreement between our two
GREAT friends”.
He said leaders from both nations
would sign the deal at the White
House in roughly three weeks.
Establishing diplomatic ties
between Israel and Washington’s
Middle East allies, including the
oil-rich Gulf monarchies, has been
central to Trump’s regional strate-
gy to contain Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said it was a “historic
day” and would launch a “new era”
for the Arab world and Israel.
The Palestinians strongly reject-
ed the deal, calling it a “betrayal” of
their cause, including their claim
to Jerusalem as the capital of their
future state.
They also announced they were
withdrawing their ambassador
from the UAE, and demanded an
emergency Arab League meeting.
Islamist group Hamas, which
runs the coastal Gaza Strip, quickly
said the agreement “does not serve
the Palestinian cause”.
On Friday, Iran and Turkey also
lashed out at the UAE over its deci-
sion to normalize diplomatic ties
with Israel, accusing it of betray-
ing the Palestinian cause.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called
the deal a “dagger that was unjust-
ly struck by the UAE in the backs of
the Palestinian people and all
Muslims”. Turkey said the peoples
of the region “will never forget and
will never forgive this hypocritical
behavior” by the UAE.
A joint statement by Trump,
Netanyahu and the UAE’s leader,
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,
announced that they had “agreed
to the full normalization of rela-
tions between Israel and the Unit-
ed Arab Emirates”.
It added that Israel would “sus-
pend declaring sovereignty” over
occupied Palestinian West Bank
areas — an idea proposed in
Trump’s controversial earlier plan
to resolve the conflict.
Sheikh Mohamed said in a tweet
that the agreement “was reached to
stop further Israeli annexation of
Palestinian territories”.
But Netanyahu said shortly aft-
erward in a televised address that
he had only agreed to delay, not
cancel, the annexations, that the
plans remained “on the table” and
that he would “never give up our
rights to our land”.
Independent minded
People cheer while watching fireworks during Independence Day
celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday. The country gained
independence from Britain when colonial rule ended in 1947.
FAREED KHAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
(Annexation would)
effectively close the
door (on negotiations
between Israeli and
Palestinian leaders
and) destroy the
prospect (of a viable
Palestinian state
under a two-state
solution).
Antonio Guterres,
UN secretary-general
The controversial Trump plan,
unveiled in January, had offered a
path for Israel to annex territory
and Jewish West Bank settle-
ments, communities considered
illegal under international law.
The Palestinians rejected it out-
right as biased and untenable, as
did Israel’s Arab neighbors, and it
sparked fears of further escalation.
Middle East peace
United Nations Secretary-Gen-
eral Antonio Guterres said on
Thursday he hoped the deal could
help realize a two-state solution
with the Palestinians for peace in
the Middle East. Annexation
would “effectively close the door”
on negotiations between Israeli
and Palestinian leaders and
“destroy the prospect” of a viable
Palestinian state under a two-
state solution, he said.
Israel has had difficult relations
and several wars with its Muslim
and Arab neighbors since its
founding in 1948, with most states
ruling out relations until the Israe-
li-Palestinian dispute is resolved.
Thursday’s deal would make the
UAE only the third Arab country
to establish formal diplomatic ties
with Israel, after its peace deals
with former enemies Egypt and
Jordan.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of
Egypt, which signed a treaty with
Israel in 1979 to opposition from
across the Arab world, praised the
deal on “the halt of Israel’s annexa-
tion of Palestinian land”, and said
he hoped it would bring “peace”.
The deal marks a major foreign
policy achievement for Trump as
he heads into a difficult campaign
for reelection in November.
His presumptive Democratic
challenger for the presidency, Joe
Biden, welcomed the agreement
and called the UAE’s move a “badly
needed act of statesmanship”.
Hours after the deal was
announced, the Emirati flag was
projected onto Tel Aviv’s town hall.
Agencies, Xinhua and Hong Xiao
at the United Nations contributed
to this story.
Workers try to stabilize a damaged building in Beirut on Thursday. Nearly 600 heritage buildings were
damaged due to the explosions that rocked the Lebanese capital on Aug 4. BILAL JAWICH / XINHUA
Beirut deaths near 180, with 30 missing
BEIRUT — The death toll from
this month’s explosions in Beirut
has risen to nearly 180, with an esti-
mated 6,000 people injured and at
least 30 missing, the United Nations
said on Friday. The update comes
after the United States said it would
send FBI agents to the Lebanese
capital to help in investigations.
The explosions on Aug 4, centered
on the city’s port, have affected opera-
tions at six hospitals, up from an ini-
tial three, and damaged more than 20
clinics in the worst-hit parts of Beirut.
Nearly 120 schools, used by
50,000 students, have been dam-
aged. More than 1,000 of nearly
50,000 residential units were
severely damaged, the report said.
The World Bank, in a preliminary
assessment, said 80 percent of resi-
dential buildings and infrastructure
was impacted, aside from the destruc-
tion to the port. Wastewater systems
in central Beirut and an electrical sub-
station in one neighborhood also
were severely damaged, it said.
“Beyond the human tragedy, the
economic impact of the explosion
could be large,” the report said,
Yale accused of bias against Asians, whites
WASHINGTON — The US Justice
Department accused Yale University
on Thursday of violating civil rights
law in the United States by illegally
discriminating against white and
Asian-American applicants.
The department’s finding — which
Yale rejected as “meritless” — came
after a two-year investigation into the
undergraduate admissions process
at the prestigious Ivy League univer-
sity in New Haven, Connecticut.
The US Supreme Court has ruled
that universities may consider the
race of an applicant in making
admission decisions but the depart-
ment said it must be “in certain limit-
ed circumstances as one of a number
of factors”.
“The Department of Justice found
Yale’s use of race is anything but lim-
ited,” it said, and was used at “multi-
ple steps of its admissions process”.
“The Department of Justice
found Yale discriminates based on
race and national origin in its
undergraduate admissions process,
and that race is the determinative
factor in hundreds of admissions
Britons go green in lockdown lessons
By ANGUS MCNEICE in London
angus@mail.chinadailyuk.com
Olivia Vaughan-Fowler is at war
with foxes. She has been gardening
more than ever during the COVID-
19 lockdown, and most nights the
creatures will drop by to dig up the
fruits of her labor.
She has tried a number of deter-
rents ranging from the conventional
(fencing) to the creative (a model
owl decoy). She is hoping a newly
purchased motion-sensored sprin-
kler will do the job.
“Lockdown has given me the
space and time to be very multifari-
ous,” said Vaughan-Fowler, a Lon-
don-based product strategist. “I’ve
enjoyed making clothes, and mak-
ing green things grow.”
Like many Britons, Vaughan-
Fowler’s daily routine has changed
dramatically since the COVID-19
including a decline in trade, economic
activities and government revenues.
UN agencies are aiding survivors
of the Beirut disaster, delivering
medicine, health services, food,
water and psychological support,
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for
UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres, said on Thursday.
Mobile health clinics run by the
UN’s refugee agency are providing
medicines and health services to
those most in need, and the world
body’s children’s fund is distributing
10,000 tetanus vaccines, 42 emergen-
cy kits and emergency drugs to prima-
ry healthcare centers in need, he said.
Heritage restoration
The UN Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization said on
Thursday it will lead an internation-
al campaign for the recovery and
restoration of Beirut’s heritage, cit-
ing local officials who said that
around 60 historic buildings in the
capital were at risk of collapse fol-
lowing the explosions.
Regarding the FBI’s role, Leba-
nese authorities had invited the US
decisions each year,” it said.
“For the great majority of appli-
cants, Asian Americans and whites
have only one-tenth to one-fourth of
the likelihood of admission as Afri-
can-American applicants with com-
parable academic credentials,” the
department said.
“Yale rejects scores of Asian-
American and white applicants
each year based on their race, whom
it otherwise would admit.”
US Assistant Attorney General
Eric Dreiband said there is “no such
thing as a nice form of race discrimi-
nation”. “Unlawfully dividing Amer-
icans into racial and ethnic blocs
fosters stereotypes, bitterness, and
division,” he said.
“It is past time for American insti-
tutions to recognize that all people
should be treated with decency and
respect and without unlawful
regard to the color of their skin.”
The administration of US Presi-
dent Donald Trump opened the
investigation into Yale two years ago
following a complaint by Asian-
American groups that it was violat-
pandemic hit. She no longer jour-
neys around the city on public trans-
port for work meetings, a huge time-
saver that has allowed her to start a
small business called Not-So-Long
Johns, where she makes children’s
garments out of repurposed fabrics.
“A less traditional routine has
made me very happy,” she said.
Surveys have revealed an uptick
in environmentally friendly behav-
iors during the lockdown in the
United Kingdom, including garden-
ing, cycling, and meal planning, and
transport consultancy Sia Partners
has reported a 60 percent reduction
in passenger vehicle emissions.
Research conducted by Manches-
ter and Cardiff universities suggests
that most Britons intend to main-
tain a greener lifestyle when society
starts to open up again.
Out of 1,800 people surveyed in
the study, 63 percent said they spent
law enforcement agency to take part
in investigations, and it’s one of the
ways that Washington can help the
country deal with the effects of the
disaster, US Undersecretary for
Political Affairs David Hale said as
he toured the badly damaged
Gemayezeh neighborhood.
“The FBI will soon join Lebanese
and international investigators at the
invitation of the Lebanese in order to
help answer questions that I know
everyone has about the circumstan-
ces that led up to this explosion,” said
Hale, who arrived in Beirut on Thurs-
day for a three-day visit.
Lebanese officials agreed on
Thursday on naming a judicial
investigator to lead the probe under
the auspices of the Supreme Judicial
Council, which handles crimes that
infringe on the country’s national
security, as well as political and state
security crimes.
An Israeli expert said on Thurs-
day the main explosion was preced-
ed by a series of blasts, the last of
which was combustion of fireworks.
AGENCIES VIA XINHUA
ing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act, which prohibits discrimination
based on race, color and national
origin by recipients of federal funds.
The finding could have a potential
impact on affirmative-action poli-
cies designed to provide representa-
tion for marginalized groups who
have been denied opportunities.
The Justice Department demand-
ed that Yale agree not to use race or
national origin in its upcoming 2020-
21 undergraduate admissions cycle.
In a statement, Yale “categorically”
denied the department’s allegations
and said its admissions practices
“absolutely comply with decades of
Supreme Court precedent”.
“At Yale, we look at the whole per-
son when selecting whom to admit
among the many thousands of high-
ly qualified applicants,” the universi-
ty said.
“We are proud of Yale’s admis-
sions practices, and we will not
change them on the basis of such a
meritless, hasty accusation.”
AGENCIES—XINHUA
nothing on clothes and footwear
from March to May, up from 9 per-
cent over the three months before
lockdown. There has also been a
marked increase in meal planning, a
small but detectable reduction in
meat consumption, and 92 percent
of those surveyed said they are now
wasting less food.
“Our surveys demonstrate that
lockdown has provided the public
with opportunities to try out low-
carbon behaviors, like working and
socializing online, spending more
time on creative hobbies and gar-
dening, buying less, and cutting
food waste,” said Lorraine Whit-
marsh, director of the UK Centre for
Climate and Social Transformation
at Cardiff University.
Hannah McClean, an actress
from Northern Ireland, said that
she now mostly gets around by
walking and cycling, whereas
August 15-16, 2020 | 7
Briefly
AFGHANISTAN
Last 400 of Taliban
inmates leaving jails
The Afghan government has
begun releasing the last Taliban
prisoners from a final batch of
400 who the militants want freed
before they agree to start peace
negotiations, a security agency
spokesman said on Friday. The
government agreed on Sunday to
release the 400 “hard-core” pris-
oners after consulting a grand
assembly of elders and other
community leaders, known as a
Loya Jirga. Disagreement over
the release of the prisoners, who
include some of those accused in
connection with some of Afghan-
istan’s bloodiest attacks, has
delayed negotiations for months
as the United States withdraws
troops under a deal signed with
the Taliban in February.
BELARUS
Authorities ready for
‘constructive dialogue’
Belarus is ready for “constructive
and objective dialogue” with its
foreign partners on events relat-
ed to the presidential election
and its aftermath, the BelTA
news agency quoted Belarusian
Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei
as saying on Friday. In a phone
call between Makei and his Swiss
counterpart Ignazio Cassis, “the
Belarusian side noted its readi-
ness for a constructive and objec-
tive dialogue with foreign
partners to discuss all issues
related to the developments in
Belarus during the election cam-
paign and after it”, the agency
reported. The authorities have
released hundreds of people in an
attempt to calm down protests.
DPRK
Nation won’t accept
aid after flood losses
Kim Jong-un, top leader of the
Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea, said although his country
suffered serious damage from a
recent flood, it would not accept
outside assistance due to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, the official Kore-
an Central News Agency reported
on Friday. According to the report,
more than 39,000 hectares of rice
fields were damaged by the flood
in the country. Meanwhile, the top
leader appointed Kim Tok-hun as
the new premier of the country.
Kim Tok-hun was the parliamen-
tary budget committee chief
before the new appointment.
UNITED STATES
Apple, Google drop
game over payments
Apple and Google dropped the
popular game Fortnite from their
app stores after the game’s devel-
oper introduced a direct payment
plan that bypasses their plat-
forms. Apple and Google both
take a 30 percent cut from in-app
revenue purchases in games,
which has long been a sore spot
with developers. Fortnite is free,
but users can pay for in-game
accouterments like weapons and
skins. Its developer, Epic Games,
said on Thursday that it was
introducing Epic Direct pay-
ments, a direct payment plan for
Apple’s iOS and Google Play.
Apple and Google said the service
violates their guidelines.
XINHUA—AGENCIES
before lockdown her bicycle had
been “gathering dust”.
“I can see myself sticking with
that,” McClean said.
Researchers said they expected
that climate concerns would take a
back seat during the COVID-19 cri-
sis, but they have found the opposite
to be true. In the survey, 72 percent
of respondents said that climate
change should be addressed with
urgency, compared to 62 percent in
August last year.
“Lockdown really got me in touch
with my own resourcefulness,”
Amber Anderson, a London-based
actress, said. “For years I’ve been
someone who travels a lot and pri-
marily eats out, but the pandemic
forced me into my own kitchen.”
However, Claire Hoolohan, a
social scientist at Manchester Uni-
versity, said that while the survey
revealed that people enjoy some
aspects of lockdown, many reported
experiencing feelings of stress and
guilt while “trying to balance caring
responsibilities and work”.
8 | August 15-16, 2020
WORLD
Trump, Biden
trade barbs on
virus response
Masks center stage as poll challenger
sharpens attack on US president’s record
By CHINA DAILY
US President Donald Trump on
Thursday attacked Joe Biden for
calling on governors to mandate
the wearing of masks for the next
three months, accusing the Demo-
cratic presidential candidate of
politicizing an issue Trump him-
self has used for political gain.
Trump claimed Biden has been
wrong about the pandemic at
every turn, “ignoring the scientific
evidence and putting left-wing
politics before facts and evidence”.
He went on to falsely say that Bid-
en was advocating for the presi-
dent to use executive power to
institute a nationwide mask man-
date and that Biden was in favor of
“locking all Americans in their
basements for months on end”.
“To Joe, I would say stop playing
politics with the virus,” Trump
said at a White House news con-
ference.
Biden did not call for an execu-
tive order, but did at an earlier
campaign event call for the insti-
tution of “a mask mandate nation-
wide, starting immediately”. Biden
clarified, however, that it should
be left up to the governors to make
mask-wearing mandatory.
He said nothing about keeping
people indoors, but has argued
that economic reopenings in
states have been rushed and done
without proper guidance from
the federal government to keep
people safe.
Trump spent the early months
of the pandemic refusing to wear
a mask during public appearan-
ces, ridiculing reporters who wore
them, and retweeting messages
making fun of Biden for wearing a
mask and implying that he looks
weak. Trump first wore a mask in
public about a month ago, during
a visit to a military hospital, and
has since expressed support for
them at times.
On Thursday, he said it’s patriot-
ic for US citizens to wear masks,
but added: “Maybe they’re great,
and maybe they’re just good. May-
be they’re not so good.”
Biden, at his earlier event, said
all US people should wear masks,
citing health experts’ predictions
that it could save 40,000 lives from
the virus over the next three
months. The presumptive Demo-
cratic presidential candidate also
responded to those who push back
against such mandates.
“This is America. Be a patriot.
ì#
Protect your fellow citizens. Step
up, do the right thing,” Biden said
at the time.
The back-and-forth marked a
new line of attack from Trump,
who is trailing Biden significantly
in most nationwide and swing-
state surveys. Biden has made
what he says is Trump’s mishan-
dling of the pandemic — which
has now caused the deaths of
166,000 people in the country — a
centerpiece of his attacks on the
president.
Health experts are adamant
about the need for people to wear
masks and maintain social dis-
tance to defeat a pandemic that
has already infected 20 million
people and killed 750,000 world-
wide.
Quick action
Doctor Anthony Fauci, who
heads the US National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
urged US states to take quick
action to stamp out even slight
upticks in COVID-19 cases.
Fauci, who has, at times, found
himself at odds with Trump’s
response to the pandemic, also
said he is “cautiously optimistic” a
COVID-19 vaccine could be devel-
oped soon, but acknowledged the
chances it would be highly effec-
tive are “not great”.
Doctor Robert Redfield, head of
the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, had acknowl-
edged during an ABC News inter-
view that the initial federal
government response to the virus
was too slow.
The US on Wednesday reported
nearly 56,000 new coronavirus
cases, the highest one-day tally in
four days, and 1,499 deaths, its
highest daily count since May 27,
when there were 1,518, according
to data compiled by Johns Hop-
kins University. On Thursday, the
number of new cases decreased by
90 to 55,910.
Total cases in the US topped 5.2
million, about a quarter of the
worldwide total, according to the
data.
On Thursday, Trump again dis-
missed critics who say he was too
slow to react to the pandemic in
the US, saying on Fox Business
Network that “nobody blames me”.
As for the virus, Trump said: “It
will be going away.”
Agencies and Ai Heping in
New York contributed to this story.
Open-armed welcome
Brazilian military personnel disinfect the area around the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro
ahead of the tourist attraction’s reopening on Thursday. Brazil is second in the world only to the United
States in numbers of both coronavirus cases and deaths. RICARDO MORAES / REUTERS
WHO steps up call for vigilance
against COVID-19 regression
By CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels
chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn
The World Health Organization
has repeated its warnings that as
economies and societies open up,
countries, communities and indi-
viduals must remain vigilant
against the coronavirus in order to
avoid regression and more out-
breaks.
The WHO reported more than 20
million cases and 744,385 deaths
worldwide from COVID-19 up to
Friday afternoon, including
276,000 new cases and 6,933 new
deaths for the latest 24-hour period.
Mike Ryan, executive director of
the WHO’s Health Emergencies
Program, said only a very small pro-
portion of the world’s population
has been exposed to the virus, been
infected or developed immunology
memory of the novel coronavirus.
“This virus has a long way to
burn, if we allow it,” he told a virtu-
al news conference from Geneva
on Thursday.
He said people should remem-
ber that the vast majority of popu-
lations remain susceptible to
infection.
“Once you get community trans-
mission under control, you get back
to clusters and sporadic cases,”
Ryan said. “You have to try to keep
it there. Because if you take pres-
sure off this virus, it will slip back
toward community transmission.
“Once community transmission
takes off, establishes itself and
becomes intense, then you will
have all the consequences of the
This virus has a long
way to burn, if we
allow it. Once you
get community
transmission under
control, you get back
to clusters and
sporadic cases.”
Mike Ryan, executive director
of the WHO’s Health
Emergencies Program
health system under pressure,
death rate rising, hospitalization
rising.”
Ryan said the key objective is “to
try and suppress infections to a
point where we have control at
community level”.
Many European Union member
states have witnessed a spike in
new cases and deaths in recent
weeks.
14-day quarantine list
On Friday, hundreds of thou-
sands of British holidaymakers in
France faced the prospect of hav-
ing to go into self-isolation for 14
days when they return home after
the British government reimposed
quarantine restrictions on the
country following a recent pick-up
in coronavirus infections there.
In an announcement late on
Thursday, the British government
said France is being removed from
the list of nations exempted from
quarantine requirements because
of rising coronavirus infections,
which have surged 66 percent this
past week. The Netherlands, Mal-
ta, Monaco and the Caribbean
islands of Aruba and Turks and
Caicos are also being added to the
quarantine list.
The requirement to spend 14
days in self-isolation will apply to
anyone returning to the United
Kingdom after 4 am local time on
Saturday, a time frame that may
prompt many to try to return
before then. That could be particu-
larly the case for anyone currently
in France, which is the second-
most popular holiday destination
for British tourists.
Getlink, which operates train
services in the Channel Tunnel,
warned travelers that they may not
be able to get back in time as servi-
ces are heavily booked.
John Keefe, Getlink’s director of
public affairs, told the BBC that
trains were “already pretty much
fully booked” on Friday.
While the number of new infec-
tions in Britain is also rising, they
are not thought to be increasing at
the same pace as in the countries
added to the quarantine list. The
latest 14-day cumulative figures
from the European Center for Dis-
ease Prevention and Control show
32.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000
people in France, compared with
18.5 in the UK.
Agencies contributed to this story.
CHINA DAILY
College sport
now facing
toughest
opponent
By WILLIAM HENNELLY
in New York
williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
Two world wars and a global pan-
demic in 1918 could not stop college
football in the United States from
being played. Then the coronavirus
came along.
Two of the sport’s major conferen-
ces — the Midwest-centered Big Ten
and the West Coast-bred Pac-12 —
decided on Tuesday to cancel their
football seasons over health and
safety concerns related to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic while keeping open
the prospect of playing in the spring
semester.
But the three other conferences
that make up the Power 5 — the
Southeastern Conference (SEC), the
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
and the Big 12 — are holding the line
on playing this fall.
“Reasonable people can disagree
on it, and the Pac-12 and the Big Ten
are seeing much of the same infor-
mation that we’re seeing,” Bob
Bowlsby, the Big 12 commissioner,
said on Wednesday. “But our board
believes in our scientists and has
come to a conclusion that’s differ-
ent, and so have the leadership of
the SEC and the ACC.”
College football is a hero when it
comes to contributing to the US
GDP. The major athletic conferen-
ces rake in massive sums from tele-
vision contracts, while an economic
stream flows from the gridirons
through the college towns across
the country that host games.
$2.7 billion a year
According to a 2019 article on
forbes.com, the 25 most valuable
college football programs in the US
averaged $2.7 billion a year in
annual revenue for what is ostensi-
bly an amateur sport.
Fox, owned by News Corp, and
Disney’s ESPN have multiyear TV
rights for Big Ten and Pac-12 football
games, for which they paid a total of
$5.6 billion, according to The Wall
Street Journal.
Last season, college football
brought in nearly $1.7 billion in TV
ad spending, according to research
firm Kantar.
The fight to save the season natu-
rally has played out on social media.
A group of prominent players, led
by Clemson University quarterback
Trevor Lawrence, started a viral
hash tag last weekend on Twitter
called #WeWantToPlay.
US President Donald Trump
tweeted “Play College Football!” on
Monday. At a news conference on
Wednesday, Trump said that play-
ers’ health would be better protected
on a football field than in the outside
world. He also spoke by phone with
Lawrence and Louisiana State Uni-
versity coach Ed Orgeron, support-
ing their desire to play.
9&0-'ì28)6)78ìBì

ìAìì"
 CHINA DAILY
LIFE
Plays to mark
key author’s
life and work
By CHEN NAN
chennan@chinadaily.com.cn
P
laywright Cao Yu’s debut
play, Thunderstorm, was
published in 1934 when he
was 24. Cao, arguably Chi-
na’s greatest 20th century play-
wright, wrote the play during his
final year at Tshinghua University.
It revolves around two families
whose complex relationships lead to
inevitable tragic consequences
unfolding against the backdrop of
turmoil in the 1930s.
It was critically praised both at
home and abroad.
His real name was Wan Jiabao
(1910-1996) but he adopted the pen
name Cao Yu. He was born in Tian-
jin and fell in love with acting dur-
ing middle school. His works,
including Sunrise, Wilderness and
Peking Man, have become classics.
Thunderstorm has been
described as one of China’s most
enduring dramas of the 20th centu-
ry and Cao is called “the father of the
country’s modern drama”. He was
appointed the director of the Beijing
People’s Art Theatre in the early
1950s and was elected the chairman
of the Chinese Dramatists’ Associa-
tion in the early 1980s.
He died in Beijing in 1996 after
being hospitalized for eight years.
As this year marks the 110th birth
anniversary, his classic works will be
staged again in December, the Bei-
jing-based drama company Magnifi-
cent Culture Co announced on July 31.
Excerpts from his plays, including
Thunderstorm, Sunrise and Peking
Man, were staged at Poly Theater on
July 31, featuring veteran actors,
such as Shi Ke and Lin Lin, as well as
young actors. The performances
marked the reopening of the theater
after it closed for about six months
due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The past six months have been
devastating to theaters. The charm
of watching a play inside a theater is
irresistible, but we’ve been forced to
stay at home due to the viral out-
break,” says producer Wang Keran,
who directed the performances on
July 31.
What does the future hold for China’s biggest cycling event?
XINING — Due to the coronavi-
rus pandemic, this summer will not
be the same without the Tour of
Qinghai Lake for cyclists and fans
around the world.
Yet, at the end of July, which
coincides with the event’s original-
ly planned schedule, sports indus-
try experts gathered here to
explore the future path for the
country’s biggest cycling event, as
the organizers seek to duplicate
the success and glory of the
renowned Tour de France.
The rise
In 2002, 102 cyclists from 17 teams
around the world gathered in Xin-
ing, capital city of Qinghai, marking
the inception of the race.
Excerpts from Cao Yu’s plays, including Thunderstorm (top) and Sunrise (center right), are staged at Poly Theater on July 31. Center left: Script-
writer Wan Fang’s play Winter Journey. Above: French artist Anai Martane performs the song Spring from the Chinese version of the play
Ghetto, written and directed by Israeli playwright and director Joshua Sobol. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
“When we could go back to watch
plays at the theater, we want to offer
the audiences with classic plays by
Cao Yu and contemporary works by
his daughter, which is like a conver-
sation between father and daughter
and a celebration of theater from
different eras.”
Wan Fang, 68, a Chinese play-
wright, who is the daughter of Cao
Yu, said: “I watched my father’s
Thunderstorm many times at the
Beijing People’s Art Theater, where
my father was one of the theater’s
founding members and its first
Over the past 19 years, the Tour of
Qinghai Lake has become the
world’s fourth largest cycling event,
after the Tour de France, Tour of Ita-
ly and Tour of Spain, attracting over
hundreds of cycling enthusiasts and
professionals from home and
abroad every year.
The Tour is now known in the
cycling world as the “Race in the
Sky” due to the unique experience
and challenges of racing at an alti-
tude of over 3,000 meters.
After being promoted from a
2.5-category to a 2.3-category race
by the International Cycling Union
(UCI), the race has also been sanc-
tioned by UCI as a 2. HC race, a top
intercontinental road stage race,
second only to HC races, such as
president. I was so scared that I
started to cry when I first heard the
noise of the thunderstorm emanat-
ing from the stage. My father started
to write the play when he was about
19. I am also a writer but writing
such a great work like Thunder-
storm at merely 24 is beyond my
imagination,” she adds.
Wan Fang’s plays, including Win-
ter Journey and New Wilderness,
were also staged at Poly Theater on
July 31. During December, her works
will also be adapted, including her
latest work, Thunderstorm II, a
the Tour de France.
Over time, the tour has sparked a
cycling boom in China, as more and
more cycling events are springing
up all over the country, said Zhang
Qiangqiang from Beijing Sport Uni-
versity.
The struggle
It has been a thorny road for the
Tour to be internationally recog-
nized.
In the first years, the cycling event
largely relied on financial support
from the government. But as the
tour takes shape, the event has
begun to better serve the local econ-
omy.
“Hosting the Tour is not only
about organizing the race. It is also
sequel to Thunderstorm. It will focus
on the characters’ choices at the end
of Thunderstorm, how they recall the
night and the people they would later
become.
She says the characters in Thun-
derstorm are memorable and had
distinctive personalities. She won-
dered what future the characters
would have after that fateful night,
where some of them uncover bitter
truths and others lose their minds.
“Many people ask me about the
definition of ‘classic’ since many of
my father’s works are considered as
about building a sustainable indus-
try that accommodates to global
dynamics and local feature,” said
Gesang Cering, head of Qinghai’s
sport bureau.
This year, Xining was approved
to be the permanent host of the
Tour’s opening ceremony. Experts
pointed out that as the city is a key
point on the Silk Road, the deci-
sion has great significance in
building a sound industry which is
also conducive to the event’s
brand.
“In the future, based on the Tour
itself, we will build a diversified
industry featured with tourism and
training. The sport and the industry
will finally join hands for a greater
future,” said Cering.
classic. My answer is that when a play
is adapted and staged again and
again and audiences from different
generations share the emotions in it,
it becomes a classic naturally,” she
says. “The key of creating a classic
work is the writer’s sincerity.”
Cao was a sincere man and he was
a keen observer. As Wan Fang
recalls, her father liked to walk
around after dinner. One day, when
Wan Fang walked with him, Cao Yu
suddenly stopped and said: “Being
young is beautiful,’’ while pointing
at a young couple on the street.
The future
On social media, athletes and fans
regret the decision to call off the
Tour due to the global pandemic.
But the organizing committee still
managed to pull off a cycling carni-
val, with a view to turn the crisis into
opportunities.
From its outset, the Tour has tak-
en environmental impact as a top
priority, with a commitment to
building an ecologically friendly
race.
“As Qinghai is pushing for its
national park pilot project, the Tour
is making its ecological contribu-
tions. By finding a right balance, the
Tour has become a fete for the fans
and ordinary people alike,” said
Cering.
August 15-16, 2020 | 9
“He told me that writing originat-
ed from subtle and careful observa-
tion of real life. I felt lucky to be his
daughter as I learned a lot from him
both through his writing and per-
sonality,” she adds.
Last year, Wan Fang published a
book, titled You And Me, which fol-
lowed the romance between her
father and mother. Wan Fang’s
mother, Fang Rui, was born into an
intellectual family and was the sec-
ond wife of Cao. She died in 1974.
When Cao died in 1996, Wan Fang’s
stepmother, Li Yuru, gave her all the
letters between Cao and Fang dur-
ing the 1940s, which inspired Wan
Fang to write the book.
“It took me over 10 years to finish
the book. In the beginning, I wanted
to dedicate it to my mother, because
I had never written anything about
her. But as I read the letters, I got to
know both of my parents better and
the book has become a gift to both of
them,” says Wan Fang.
The romance between Cao and
Fang also led to Cao’s classic work,
Peking Man, which was written in
1941 and premiered at the Beijing
People’s Art Theater in 1957.
The four-act play set in Beijing
dramatizes the conflict in a declin-
ing feudal family during the 1930s.
The charm of
watching a play
inside a theater is
irresistible, but we’ve
been forced to stay at
home due to the viral
outbreak.”
Wang Keran,
director of the performances of
excerpts from Cao Yu’s plays
The patriarch Zeng Hao spends his
days recalling the glorious years of
the past. His eldest son, Wenqing,
does nothing all day and lives off his
father. Wenqing’s wife, Siyi, is the
boss of the house, while Zeng’s son-in-
law is a playboy. Sufang, Zeng’s niece,
is the only member of the family who
appears reliable but she falls in love
with Wenqing. She remains single for
Wenqing and finally leaves the family
for and a new life.
“Sufang shares a lot of similarities
with my mother, who took good care
of the family, loved to paint and
write,” Wan Fang says. “When my
father wrote Peking Man, he shared
the story with my mother one act aft-
er one act. My mother made sugges-
tions and wrote on the papers. ‘When
I watched the play Peking Man in the
theater, I think of you. The sugges-
tions you made were well-placed’ my
father wrote to my mother.”
Starting her career as a play-
wright in 1980s, Wan Fang has
written scripts for movies, TV dra-
mas and plays. One of her most
well-known scripts is Winter Jour-
ney, which she wrote in 2012 and
premiered in 2015.
Winter Journey was first directed
by Stan Lai featuring Lan Tianye, a
veteran from Beijing People’s Art The-
ater, and Lichun Lee, a longtime col-
laborator of Lai’. It portrays two
writers whose friendship harks back
to the 1940s. Political upheaval in
1966 turned the cordial relationship
topsy-turvy — with Lao Chen, Lee’s
character who is a poet and translator
of T.S. Eliot, betraying Lao Jin, Lan’s
character, who is an ardent lover of
Franz Schubert. They went through
inner struggles of longing for confes-
sion and forgiveness from each other.
“What drove writers to write? I
would say that when I feel confused, I
want to write. I want to figure things
out and find answers through the
characters I created and the stories I
write,” says Wan Fang.
According to a survey, other than
creating economic profits, the Tour
has put Qinghai under global spot-
light, which, in turn, leads to new
ground marked with dynamic inter-
national cooperation.
But the ultimate goal for the Chi-
nese event is to become a century-
old race that can rival the Tour de
France, which had been around
since 1903.
“The altitude, the great challenge
on route and the splendid landscape
are the unique advantages of the
Tour. By seizing the uniqueness,
Qinghai is not far away from creat-
ing its own century-old glory,” said
Zhang.
XINHUA
10 | August 15-16, 2020 CHINA DAILY

LIFE

ART AS
CHRONICLER,
COUNSELOR
& CONSOLER

The second edition of the Luminous Festival, highlighting inclusive arts, includes Franchir la Nuit (top) from France and The Story of Giving Birth (above) from China.
PHOTOS BY PATRICK IMBERT AND LI HAO

The second edition of a cultural festival in Xiamen, Fujian province, puts untrained actors and dancers at center stage.
By CHENG YUEZHU | chengyuezhu@chinadaily.com.cn The play is performed mainly by that many of the women had been To tell the stories within a confined

A
female migrant workers from the through traumatic experiences that space and with a limited budget, the
gainst a pitch-black backdrop and a mesmerizing song Mulan Community Service Center, a involved great physical and psycholog- play centers on the experiences of the
nonprofit social service organization ical pain. woman mentioned at the start of this
about self-expression, a woman begins to tell her story to that brings together women who come The experiences were so personal article, who was born in the 1970s and
another, revealing that she has been pregnant five times from all over China to work in Beijing. and so painful that the women could gave birth in the 1990s and in the
but has given birth just twice. The narration is conveyed The director of the play, Zhao Zhiy- not even bring themselves to talk with 2000s, and whose tale is regarded as
ong, a professor at the Central Acade- their husbands about them, depriving fairly representative of all the women.
in a light manner, but without making light of the matter at hand. my of Drama, calls the play a project of them of one channel for catharsis. So Even though the issue of giving birth
Rearing two boys, the couple could not afford to raise more children, applied theater, which does not see Qi suggested to Zhao that they produce is the core of the play, the aim is to say
drama as art to be appreciated but as a a play on the topic. something more generally about the
and the woman’s other three pregnancies were aborted. means of serving practical social goals, Over the course of more than a year plight of China’s migrant workers, of
such as offering school students psy- they interviewed 29 mothers in the whom there were more than 290 mil-
This heart-wrenching tale is based staged both online and offline, most of chological counseling. community, ranging from 20-year-olds lion last year, according to the National
on the woman’s real-life experience, the latter in Xiamen, Fujian province. Zhao has worked with Mulan Com- to 60-year-olds, most of whom had fol- Bureau of Statistics.
adapted into The Story of Giving Birth, The Story of Giving Birth tells of the munity Service Center since 2014, lowed their husbands to Beijing. Despite the conspicuous absence of
a play screened online in the second predicament that pregnant women teaching the migrant workers to “We then sorted the recordings into men in the play, this is not meant to
edition of the Luminous Festival just can face, including terminating a preg- engage in drama as a way of expressing a transcript of nearly 300,000 words. cast them as villains worthy of con-
finished. The festival aims to provide nancy, giving birth in the roughest of themselves. As I read them I felt a sense of awe. demnation because of their lack of par-
an artistic platform for minority environments and eventually raising Qi Lixia, founder of the center, says Their narration of their own childbirth ticipation in parenthood. Rather, that
groups and others whose voices often children – every one of these made all the play is the product of a casual dis- experiences together formed a chroni- lack of participation is a by-product of
go unheard. Because of the pandemic, the harder because of an absence of cussion in the community in which she cle of our society over the past few dec-
events in this year’s festival were paternal support. talked about childbirth. It turned out ades.” See Festival, page 11

Body Nomadic is a dance project produced by Ge Huichao, founder and curator of the festival. She believes that dance should be an inclusive experience.
PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
 CHINA DAILY August 15-16, 2020 | 11

LIFE

From left: Schweigen Impossible from Germany; the Xiamen version of Gala, the 2015 award-winning dance by the choreographer Jerome Bel. PHOTOS BY FLORIAN KRAUSS AND PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

FESTIVAL: Team spirit has full play

From page 10
the migrant family’s lot: the father
needs to continue working, and per-
haps far away from his family, so as to
support them.
“Prejudice and discrimination
toward so-called marginal and disad-
vantaged groups, including these
migrant workers, remain present in
our society,” Zhao says. “We’re keen to
use these cultural happenings to com-
municate with the public, so people
learn something about how migrant
workers live and how they feel.
“I believe that in this way we can
help promote a kind of mutual under-
standing and empathy between differ-
ent social groups. Empathy is an
extremely scarce and valuable
resource. We hope people will be able
to understand those who are different
from us and the situations they’re in.”
The second edition of the Luminous
Festival, highlighting inclusive arts,
also included works from other coun-
tries, including Franchir la Nuit and
Gala from France, Schweigen Impossi-
ble from Germany and Artificial
Things from the United Kingdom.
Franchir La Nuit looks at the subject
of exile, focusing on childhoods broken
by displacement, with a flooded stage
and the movements on it representing
the numerous transitions they face.
A rendering of Gala, the 2015 award-
winning dance by the choreographer
Jerome Bel, was staged in Xiamen.
On a board placed on the stage is the
Chinese word for ballet. Performers
come onto the stage one by one, each
performing a pirouette, followed by
similar performances of diverse dance
styles such as waltz and Michael Jack-
son, before the dancers come together
to perform as a group.
With this unconventional dance per-
formance Bel rejects the traditional
standard of “good dancers” and invites
people, amateurs and professionals
alike, to together perform a dance and
create a space of inclusiveness.
“I think dance belongs to everyone,
not only professional dancers,” Bel says.
“I want the stage to be a place for equali-
ty, not for exclusivity. Everyone has to be
represented, not just powerful people.”
In the Xiamen version the dancers
were 20 Xiamen residents from young
to old and from many walks of life.
They included Huang Eryan, a nurse
in Xiamen who spent six weeks in
Wuhan, Hubei province, during the
coronavirus outbreak early this year.
“Because of my work I’m usually
quite a reserved person in the hospi-
tal,” Huang says. “We tend to repress
our emotions. But taking part in the
dance I felt the environment was very
open. There was no right or wrong, and
we were allowed to be ourselves and
encouraged to let ourselves go. So the
whole experience was very uplifting.
“I was with the other performers for
only a few days, but I feel we developed
a very powerful team spirit. It was sim-
ilar to what happened in our medical
team in Wuhan: small but powerful.
There was something I could learn
from each and every person.”
She had little dance experience, she
says, and was anxious at first, so was
encouraged to just to be herself.
“Most people imagine they are not
good enough to dance on a stage, and
that’s exactly the people I want to cast
for Gala – those who think they’re no
good,” Bel says.
“I’m not there to judge the dancing.
I’m more interested in understanding
what it means and what the dancer is
expressing. So Gala particularly wel-
comes those who say ‘I can’t dance.’”
Instead of conforming to the tradi-
tional power relationship in which the
director is free to audition and select
the dancers, Bel extends invitations to
those within his personal networks.
For a performance that is estab-
lished on the core concept of “anyone
can do it”, he feels this is better than
holding rehearsals that result in most
of the candidates being rejected.
As a result of eschewing flying to
protect the environment as well as the
pandemic, Bel and his team forewent
the opportunity to travel to China for
the production, instead holding les-
sons and rehearsals using video con-
ferencing tools.
Gala is an ideal presentation of
human unity, says Ge Huichao,
founder and curator of the festival.
“In the performance you can see per-
formers of diverse age groups, back-
grounds and identities, a perfect
rendering of inclusiveness.”
The festival also featured Body
Nomadic, a dance project produced by
Ge that has an ethos similar to that of
Gala – that dance should be an inclusive
experience.
As its name implies, the project
brought together choreographers, com-
posers, dancers and video artists to con-
duct workshops within different art,
culture and folk communities in Xia-
men, re-imagining the ideas of them-
selves, others and urban living, via
contact improvisation, an approach to
dance that emphasizes spontaneity.
Participants included children, teen-
agers, teachers, volunteers, villagers and
disabled people from charity and cultur-
al organizations all over Xiamen.
After six workshops at diverse loca-
tions, a final community co-creation
performance brought participants
from different communities together
that was livestreamed on Aug 8.
Inclusiveness is about bringing peo-
ple together, Ge says.
“We must change the prevailing way
of cognition, via art or popularization
of new concepts. It’s very important
that we no longer condescend to peo-
ple with needs, taking for granted that
they require our help. Everybody in
some ways has deficiencies of their
own, some visible and others not.
“Inclusiveness means not to label
others, define them or objectify them.
It means to return to the origin of
equality, to see yourself and others
through the innermost being.”

A chain of celestial lights to celebrate inclusiveness

By CHENG YUEZHU teers. A total of 1,232 children with

O
n a hot and clear Thurs-
day night above the city
of Xiamen, in Fujian
province, an orbiting Chi-
nese satellite continuously spits out
flashes of light that taken together
constitute a Morse code message
strung across the heavens. “Second
Luminous Festival Amoy”, it reads,
referring to the opening of the festi-
val in Xiamen that evening, Amoy
being the name of the city in local
dialect.
The festival is a nonprofit one
held annually since last year that
focuses on inclusive arts. With
forums, performances and work-
shops, it aims to provide an artistic
platform for minority groups,
reduce prejudice and promote
exchanges and friendship between
different social groups.
Putting that celestial show on July
23 into context, Ge Huichao,
founder of the festival, says: “inclu-
siveness is just like the starry sky,
with different social groups looking
at one another and illuminating one
another”.
This year’s festival, from July 25 to
Aug 8, advocated “art without bor-
ders, inclusiveness without isola-
tion”, aiming to encourage people to
think about inclusiveness, particu-
larly in the light of the dislocation
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At an opening forum, profession-
als from supporting organizations
and social welfare institutions dis-
cussed their work in promoting
inclusiveness through art and cul-
ture, highlighting diverse social
groups, including people with disa-
Cultural
festival
aims to
ensure that
art does not
leave out
those we
can
easily
overlook.
An orbiting Chinese satellite displays the slogan of this year’s Luminous Festival, “art without borders, inclusiveness without isolation”.
PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
bilities and senior citizens.
Zhang Lie, director of the autism
rehabilitation research project,
Institute for Accessibility Develop-
ment of Tsinghua University, said
the project is working to establish a
statistical system that can contrib-
ute to the rehabilitation and educa-
tion of autistic children.
Research in China and else-
where has shown that 1 in 100 peo-
ple are autistic, meaning that
there are at least 10 million people
in China with autism.
Targeting the huge population,
nonprofit organizations including
the Xiamen Foundation for Disa-
bled Persons, which hosted this
year’s festival, have been experi-
menting at using art as a means of
rehabilitation.
Lu Ya of the foundation says it has
developed six art therapy courses to
help children with special needs
and to promote social integration.
In each class, two in every three
students have learning difficulties,
many of whom are affected with
autism, and there are enough volun-
teers to provide one-on-one sup-
port.
“Via the medium of art, such as
painting and piano, we create a ped-
agogy of deep participation and an
inclusive environment, for these
autistic children to connect with
non-autistic children, to support
each other and share the energy of
one another,” Lu says.
Their findings show that often
children with autism can perform
even more actively in these classes
than those without autism. When
immersed in music or other artistic
environments, they can open up
and bond with others.
The organization has been devel-
oping these art therapy courses for
more than three years, working with
11 educational institutions, and with
the voluntary support of 48 teachers
and 3,565 nonprofessional volun-
needs have attended these courses.
This year, for the first time, the
foundation worked with Body On &
On, a cultural and art organization
that founded the festival.
“We plan to continue working
with the Luminous Festival, for we
have been exploring the art integra-
tion courses, and have achieved sat-
isfactory results,” says Chen Yiyu,
secretary-general of the foundation.
“Moreover, I believe any cause
requires support from society at
large, and we hope to establish links
with more organizations and pro-
mote integration and inclusiveness.”
Apart from art therapy courses,
the organization has established a
comprehensive system, including
disability prevention, rehabilita-
tion, career support and social inte-
gration.
This year’s Luminous Festival was
conducted both online and offline,
with the forum and lectures hosted
via video calls, performances
screened or livestreamed, and work-
shops that reached into the local
communities of Xiamen being held.
Accessibility was one of the top
priorities for all events. An English-
Chinese simultaneous interpreter
and a sign language interpreter
were present at each session, and
transcriptions of speeches were pro-
duced in real time.
“Inclusiveness should target the
general public rather than people
with special needs only,” Ge says.
“Tolerance and integration require a
two-way effort, otherwise people
with needs will remain invisible in
society. We need to be able to see
each other.”
12 | August 15-16, 2020 CHINA DAILY

LIFE

From top: Li Shishui prepares to scrub a wooden board to make toys; Li uses ink lines to mark the wooden board; Li planes a piece of scrap wood to make a toy; Li’s grandson
Dandan watches him making wooden toys.

Wood-working grandpa
gains internet fame with
his carpentry
Photos by SONG WEIWEI | Xinhua

I
t is not rare in China that many seniors make good
use of their retirement years to find ways to please
their grandchildren.
Some of them can make traditional sugar figures.
It is called the sugar figure blowing art that uses sugar as
its basic material, and the maker has his own ways to
boil sugar and blow it into various figures. Some can
weave, using even the most unexpected materials such
as leaves, and some excel in carpentry, and often use
wood to carve lifelike dolls and toys.
Recently, in Xinqiao village, Xinqiao township,
Changting county, Longyan city, in East China’s Fujian
province, one-and-a-half-year-old Dandan became the
most enviable child in the village.
Not long ago, his grandfather made a pure wooden
“mantis cart” for him. The wooden components on both
sides of the cart would rise and fall with the wheels,
resembling a mantis. This one-of-a-kind toy was filmed
by the child’s parents and posted on the internet. The
cart immediately aroused curiosity among netizens.
The child’s grandfather, Li Shishui, 70, has been a car-
penter for more than 50 years. Two years ago, he retired
and returned to his hometown because of his advanced
years. Together with his wife, Li takes care of his grand-
son Dandan for his son and daughter-in-law who both quit their jobs and returned to their hometown. While
work in a garment-making factory in the city. using their years of business expertise to start a clothing
In his spare time, he picked up his old craftsmanship e-commerce company, they recorded the unique love of
and used the scrap wood from his old house to make a “Grandpa Carpenter” for his grandson, and let more
“mantis cart” tenon by tenon. He also made pure wooden people know about the magic of carpenters and their
toys such as robots and birds to make his grandson happy. traditional craftsmanship.
Dandan is blessed with a carpenter grandfather who When Dandan goes out in the “mantis cart” that his
not only made the “mantis cart” with long legs, but also a grandfather made for him, it always succeeds in turning
simple version of a wooden “Iron Man”. heads and making the children of the neighbors next
These wooden toys, full of childlike fun, paternal love door so envious that they shout and cry to their parents
and ingenious design, not only captured the heart of his that they want it too.
grandson, but also impressed his son and daughter-in-law When a child has an elder who loves him, the child
who had been working away from home for many years. will have a certain sense of dependence and trust. There-
Netizens also expressed their envy after watching their fore, when the child encounters a problem, he will
online videos. In the comment section of these online vid- always ask the elder for help in the first place. The elders
eos, some netizens said: “I want a grandpa like him too.” will also extend their helping hands to guide and help
“Does grandpa want a granddaughter?” “The child has a the child overcome difficulties together.
grandfather who loves him so much since he was a child, Many believe parents should lay emphasis on the cul-
and his childhood must have been very happy.” tivation of their children’s interpersonal communica-
In addition, they commented that although their grand- tion skills at an early age. Children who grow up in the
father is not a carpenter, but when they were young, their love of their elders will be more brave, positive, optimis-
grandfather also made some gadgets to make them happy. tic and confident than other children.
These videos have brought back their fond memories. From top left: Li Shishui debugs a “self-propelled” toy bird; Dandan watches his grandpa saw the plank
At the beginning of 2020, his son and daughter-in-law - ZHANG LEI along the line; Dandan sits in the “mantis cart” and attracts the attention of the children in the village.