Xi aims to open brighter future of China-France ties via visit
习近平访法，旨在推动中法未来关系获得更大成就
2024-05-06
| Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that he hopes China and France will light up their way forward with the torch of history, open a brighter future of China-France relations and make new contributions to world peace, stability and development.
Xi made the remarks in a written speech upon his arrival for a state visit to France. He said during the visit, he will have an in-depth exchange of views with French President Emmanuel Macron on growing China-France and China-Europe relations under the new circumstances as well as major international and regional issues in the world today. "I hope this visit will help cement our long-standing friendship, enhance political trust, build strategic consensus and deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields," he said, adding that it is a great pleasure to begin his third state visit to the French Republic at the invitation of Macron. Back in 2014 and 2019, Xi paid two visits to France, both in spring, to celebrate the 50th and 55th anniversaries of diplomatic relations together with the people of France. "As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic ties, I have a strong sense of deja vu when setting foot again on the soil of your beautiful country. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I wish to take this opportunity to extend our warmest greetings and best wishes to the French government and people," Xi said. As important representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations, China and France have a long history of mutual appreciation and admiration, said Xi. French Enlightenment thinkers turned to study Chinese culture centuries ago, and great French thinkers and writers such as Voltaire, Diderot, Hugo and Balzac have been household names in China, he added. He also noted that 60 years ago, the two countries broke through Cold War blocs and established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. In the 60 years since, the bilateral relations have always stayed abreast of China's relations with Western countries, setting a prime example for countries with different social systems to coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation, said Xi. In recent years, the relationship between China and France has risen to new heights, and the two countries keep making new progress in cooperation on aviation, aerospace, nuclear energy, agrifood and green development, Xi said. He said that the two countries enjoy close coordination and cooperation on climate response, biodiversity protection and global governance, adding that activities of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism are unfolding across the board. "A growing China-France relationship not only brings benefits to both peoples, but also provides stability and positive energy to the turbulent world," Xi said. The Chinese president was received by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at Paris Orly airport and warmly welcomed by overseas Chinese upon arrival. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
Chinese premier says China's market is always open to foreign businesses
中国总理称中国市场一直对外开放
2024-04-29
| Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Elon Musk, CEO of the US electric carmaker Tesla, in Beijing on Sunday, promising that China's market will always be open to foreign-funded firms.
Calling Tesla's development in China a successful example of China-US economic and trade cooperation, Li said the facts have proved that cooperation featuring equality and mutual benefits serves the fundamental interests of both countries, and meets the common expectations of the two peoples. It is hoped that the US will work more with China to follow the strategic guidance of the two countries' heads of state and promote the sustained and stable development of bilateral ties, so as to bring more benefits to the people of both countries and the world, Li said. Noting that foreign-funded enterprises are indispensible participants in and contributors to China's development, the premier said that China's vast market will always be open to them. China will act on its words and intensify its efforts in expanding market access and enhancing services, among other areas, to offer a more favorable business environment and stronger support for foreign enterprises, he said. Musk said that Tesla's Shanghai gigafactory is the company's best-performing factory, thanks to the diligence and wisdom of its Chinese team, and Tesla is willing to deepen cooperation with China to achieve more win-win results. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
神州十八的宇航员进入空间站
2024-04-26
| The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-18 spaceship have entered the country's space station and met with another astronaut trio on Friday, starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover.
The Shenzhou-17 crew opened the hatch at 5:04 a.m. (Beijing Time). The three space station occupants greeted the new arrivals, and they took group pictures. The space get-together of the two crews kicked off the fourth in-orbit crew rotation in China's space station. According to the China Manned Space Agency, the six astronauts will live and work together for about 5 days to complete planned tasks and handover work. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
China urges EU to create non-discriminatory environment for foreign firms
中国要求欧盟对外国公司创造非歧视环境
2024-04-25
| China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday urged the European Union to provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in Europe.
An official of the MOC called on the European side to immediately stop and correct its wrong practices after the European side raided offices of a Chinese enterprise in Europe and seized equipment on Tuesday. China expressed serious concern and strong opposition to the EU move, which breached due procedures, disrupted normal competition, greatly undermined the confidence of all foreign companies operating in Europe, the official said. China will closely follow the future moves of the European side and take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese firms, the official stressed. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
中国将在4月25日发射神州十八号飞船
2024-04-24
| The Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 8:59pm Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday.
The spaceship will carry three astronauts — Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu — to carry out the Shenzhou-18 spaceflight mission, and Ye will be the commander, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, at a press conference. Shenzhou-18 is the 32nd flight mission of China's manned space program, and the third manned mission during the application and development stage of China's space station. The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, and they are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October this year. The launch will use a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant soon, Lin said. The Shenzhou-17 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site on April 30 after completing the in-orbit work handover to the Shenzhou-18 crew, Lin added. The Shenzhou-18 astronauts will perform various in-orbit space science and application tests and experiments as well as multiple space walks during their six-month stay in the country's space station. The crew will utilize the scientific experiment cabinets and extravehicular payloads to carry out more than 90 experiments in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medicine and space technology, said Lin. During the mission, the country's first in-orbit aquatic ecological research project will be implemented. Using zebrafish and goldfish algae to establish a self-cycling aquatic ecosystem in orbit, the project aims to make to a breakthrough in the cultivation of vertebrates in space, according to Lin. The world's first in-orbit stem cell study on the plant's stem tips will be made to reveal the mechanism of plant evolutionary adaptation to gravity and provide theoretical support for space cropping, said Lin. The Shenzhou-18 astronauts will carry out two to three extravehicular activities (EVAs), implement six cargo outbound deliveries via the station's cargo airlock module. During the EVAs, the astronauts will install space debris protection reinforcements for extravehicular piping, cables and critical equipment, and carry out extravehicular inspections, as appropriate, to further safeguard the safety of the space station, said Lin. Fourth batch selection The selection of the fourth batch of Chinese astronauts is about to be completed soon. They will work with other active astronauts to carry out the follow-up space station missions and to realize the country's manned lunar landing, said Lin. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
美国参议院通过涉TikTok法案
2024-04-24
| The US Senate on Tuesday approved legislation requiring the wildly popular social media app TikTok to be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be shut out of the American market.
The measure was part of a US$95 billion foreign aid package which has now cleared Congress and heads to President Joe Biden's desk. TikTok has 170 million users in the United States alone. The bill, which could trigger the rare step of barring a company from operating in the US market, passed the Senate by a 79-18 vote three days after it cleared the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support. Biden has stated he will sign the legislation. TikTok complained after Saturday's House vote, saying it was "unfortunate" that lawmakers sought to "jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes US$24 billion to the US economy, annually." Under the bill, ByteDance would have to sell the app within a year or be excluded from Apple and Google's app stores in the United States. Steven Mnuchin, who served as US treasury secretary under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, has said he is interested in acquiring TikTok and has assembled a group of investors. Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, came out Friday against banning TikTok, saying "doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression." |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
250 cross-border telecom fraud suspects handed to China by Laos: Chinese police
中国警方：老挝移交250名跨国电竞诈骗嫌疑人
2024-04-23
| Laos had handed 250 Chinese suspects of cross-border telecom fraud to China, China's Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.
Chinese and Lao police recently cooperated to bust three criminal dens in Laos, seizing 250 Chinese suspects of cross-border telecom fraud and over 1,000 mobile phones and computers used for committing such crimes, according to the MPS. During the cooperation, Chinese police discovered clues to the criminal dens in Laos while working to solve a telecom fraud case in China. The groups were suspected of targeting Chinese nationals for telecom fraud involving huge amounts of money. Chinese police informed their Lao counterparts of the clues after securing criminal facts and evidence. Lao police successfully busted the dens in a prompt manner, the ministry said. This marked another major achievement in law enforcement cooperation between the two countries' police forces, the MPS said, vowing to step up further efforts on intensifying international cooperation to resolutely contain cross-border crimes such as telecom fraud. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
China voices strong dissatisfaction, opposition to US Section 301 investigation
中国表达强烈不满，反对美国新的301调查
2024-04-18
| China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the United States' launch of a Section 301 investigation into China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
The US petition is full of false accusations, according to a statement from a ministry spokesperson. The petition misinterprets normal trade and investment activities as damaging to US national security and corporate interests, and blames China for US industrial issues, lacking factual basis and running counter to common sense economics, the statement said. These accusations from the United States are entirely untenable, the spokesperson said, as China's industrial development is the result of technological innovation and the active participation of enterprises in market competition. While accusing China of adopting so-called non-market practices, the United States has provided hundreds of billions of dollars in discriminatory subsidies to its own domestic industries, the statement noted, highlighting that several US studies have shown that the US shipbuilding industry lost its competitive edge years ago due to overprotection. It said that the United States is making another mistake in launching its latest Section 301 investigation, as the World Trade Organization (WTO) has already determined that the previous US administration violated WTO rules by launching similar investigations and imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods — actions that were also opposed by many WTO members. China urges the United States to respect the facts and multilateral rules, immediately cease its erroneous practices, and return to the rules-based multilateral trading system, the ministry said. China will follow the progress of the investigation closely, and take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its rights and interests, it said. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
US returns 38 pieces of cultural relics to China, signaling enhanced cultural exchanges
美国归还中国38个文物，意为加强文化交流
2024-04-18
| Chinese officials received 38 pieces of cultural relics returned by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Wednesday.
The handover ceremony, held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, was attended by Li Qun, deputy minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, along with Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping, and Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. In his remarks at the ceremony, Li, who is also director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said that the renewed cooperation between China and the United States in cultural relic returns signifies mutual trust and progress in artifact repatriation efforts. China will continue to actively fulfill the memorandum of understanding with the United States on preventing the illegal entry of Chinese cultural relics into the United States, and work with the United States to establish a sound mechanism for information sharing on stolen relics, contributing the wisdom and strength of both countries to safeguarding cultural heritage and promoting mutual understanding through cultural exchanges, Li said. Huang noted that the event is a positive implementation of the San Francisco Vision reached by the leaders of both countries in November last year and will greatly enhance cultural exchanges and friendship between China and the United States. This year marks the 45th anniversary of China-US diplomatic relations, and it is hoped that people from all walks of life in China and the United States will continue to work together to promote stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations, said Huang. Bogdanos emphasized the significance of the return of these cultural relics in fostering cultural exchanges. "For cultural heritage, what it does is it brings us all together...We have far more in common when we roll up our sleeves and get to work returning these antiquities where they belong because that's our only goal," said Bogdanos. Most of the 38 pieces of cultural relics returned Wednesday are Tibetan Buddhist artifacts from China, dating from the Yuan to Ming and Qing dynasties, with a rich variety and exquisite craftsmanship. Among them, ivory carvings, wooden sculptures, and fragments of murals are particularly rare and hold significant historical, artistic, and scientific value. These artifacts were seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in March. After receiving the artifacts in New York, the National Cultural Heritage Administration will arrange for their timely return to China. China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to prevent the illegal importation of Chinese cultural artifacts into the United States in January 2009. Its validity has been extended for the third time, starting from January 14 this year. Wednesday's handover marks the first successful artifact repatriation cooperation between the two countries since the agreement's renewal. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
“中国天眼”发现900颗新脉冲星
2024-04-17
| China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified more than 900 new pulsars since its launch in 2016, its operator said Wednesday.
Pulsars, or fast-spinning neutron stars, originate from the imploded cores of massive dying stars through supernova explosions. Han Jinlin, a scientist with the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), said that the pulsars included over 120 binary pulsars, more than 170 millisecond pulsars, and 80 faint and intermittent pulsars. Han added that over the past 50-plus years since the discovery of the first pulsar, less than 3,000 pulsars were discovered worldwide, and the number of new pulsars discovered by FAST is more than three times the total number of pulsars found by foreign telescopes during the same period. "The study has important implications for understanding the dense remnants of dead stars in the Milky Way and their radiation characteristics," Han said. Pulsar observation is an important task for FAST, which can be used to confirm the existence of gravitational radiation and black holes, and help find answers to many other major questions in physics. Jiang Peng, chief engineer of the FAST, said that all staff members make every effort to improve the performance of the telescope. At present, the annual observation time of the telescope is about 5,300 hours, and it plays an important role in the continuous output of scientific research achievements. Located in a deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST started formal operation in January 2020. It is believed to be the world's most sensitive radio telescope. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
