New Ideas Guide New Era of Reform and Opening Up: Strengthening Ecological Civilization Foundation, Penning New Chapter in Beautiful China Construction
Ecological civilization development is a fundamental and long-term plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that respecting, conforming to, and protecting nature are inherent requirements for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. We must firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and plan development from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has vigorously promoted theoretical, practical, and institutional innovations in ecological civilization, proposing a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, forming Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. China's ecological civilization system has been continuously improved, and the concept of green development has taken deep root in people's hearts. The vast landscape of China is magnificent. 240 practice and innovation bases demonstrating the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and 572 ecological civilization demonstration zones are like seeds scattered across the land, constantly taking root and sprouting, telling stories of ecological protection and economic synergistic development. In the heartland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the "Third Pole" of the Earth, the Three-River-Source National Park has achieved holistic protection of the sources of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang Rivers. The Tibetan antelope population has recovered to over 70,000, and more than 17,000 herdsmen have become ecological rangers, demonstrating a path of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. On the edge of the Maowusu Desert, Yulin City in Shaanxi Province has transformed thousands of acres of barren sand into a forest, achieving a historic shift from "sand advancing and people retreating" to "green advancing and sand retreating." Currently, the local forestry carbon sink transactions have accumulated to 200,000 tons, with a transaction value exceeding 10 million yuan. Amidst urban skyscrapers, the number of various urban parks nationwide has reached 65,000. Previously, parks were used to "embellish" cities; now, more and more cities are "growing" within parks. Ecological prosperity leads to civilizational prosperity. Entering the new era, facing the people's aspiration for a better life, how should we answer the essential question of ecological civilization development? General Secretary Xi Jinping, from the perspective of the Chinese nation's sustainable development, creatively put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies. He incorporated ecological civilization development into the "Five-in-One" overall layout; green has become an important component of the new development concept; he emphasized that harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is an important characteristic of Chinese modernization; and in the goal of building a great modern socialist country, a beautiful China is an important part of it. From the value orientation of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature to the development orientation that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and then to the systemic governance direction that mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands are a community of life, General Secretary Xi Jinping has scientifically answered the relationship between natural ecology and human civilization. While planning the blueprint for a Beautiful China with a series of ecological civilization thoughts and concepts embodying Chinese wisdom, General Secretary Xi Jinping has traveled across the country, observing mountains, rivers, forests, fields, grasslands, and sands, promoting the rooting of ecological civilization concepts. He has chaired four symposiums on the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and two symposiums on ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, with "jointly promoting great protection" being a constant concept. He showed concern for the protection of Guilin's landscapes along the Lijiang River, urged effective protection of the "Third Pole" ecosystem on the snowy plateau, inspected the growth of mangroves and the surrounding ecological environment in Zhanjiang, and encouraged the exploration of green development methods in Saihanba Forest Farm to strengthen the ecological barrier for Beijing and Tianjin. From mountain peaks to coastal areas, from vast forests to barren Gobi deserts, this reflects the profound thoughts of a reform leader deeply concerned with the nation's sustainable development, and the deep insight of Chinese Communists into the general trend of human civilization development and the laws of economic and social development. This is a profound transformation concerning development concepts and development methods, with unprecedented reform measures pushing the comprehensive and in-depth reform of the ecological civilization system. The institutional system has been continuously strengthened, with ecological civilization written into the Constitution. Top-level design has been strengthened, with the issuance of the "Overall Plan for the Reform of the Ecological Civilization System" and the successive introduction of over a hundred special plans, covering various related fields such as resources, environment, ecology, and industry. The establishment of a national park system was proposed for the first time, and the "three zones and three lines" were comprehensively delimited, creatively proposing the ecological protection redline system. The "Ecological Protection Compensation Regulations" officially came into effect, promoting the establishment of the central ecological environment inspection system, the ecological civilization development target evaluation and assessment system, conducting audits of natural resource assets for outgoing leading cadres, and implementing a lifelong accountability system for ecological environment damage, among others. High-quality ecological environment supports high-quality development, with battles launched for blue skies, clear waters, and clean lands. From 2013, three "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" documents were successively issued, and the central government has allocated over 200 billion yuan in funds for air pollution prevention and control. A comprehensive river and lake chief system has been established, leading to a transformation of many rivers and lakes from "unmanaged" to "managed" and from "unmanageable" to "well-managed." At the same time, detailed surveys of soil pollution and actions to control soil pollution sources are steadily advancing. With the power of reform, China is exploring transformational development. China has incorporated carbon peak and carbon neutrality into the overall layout of ecological civilization development, successively releasing the "1+N" policy under the "dual carbon" goals, vigorously promoting an energy revolution, accelerating the development of new energy sources such as wind power and solar power, promoting green and low-carbon transformation of industries, and advocating green lifestyles. Today, the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets has gradually become a consensus and action across the entire Party and society. China's ecological civilization system reform is accelerating, and ecological environmental protection has undergone historic, transformative, and overall changes, with significant strides made in building a beautiful China. The sky is bluer, and China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality globally, with a significant decrease in heavily polluted days, and blue skies and white clouds becoming the norm; the water is clearer, the appearance of rivers and lakes has fundamentally improved, and the proportion of surface water with excellent quality has approached that of developed countries, with the main streams of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers stably maintaining Class II water quality; the land is greener, China has taken the lead globally in achieving "zero growth" in land degradation and "double reduction" in desertified and sandy land areas, and is the country with the fastest growth in forest resources globally. Green and low-carbon development methods are accelerating across the board. China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP have decreased by over 35%, and the world's largest clean power generation system has been built, with non-fossil energy power generation capacity exceeding 1.6 billion kilowatts. Green and low-carbon living concepts and lifestyles are being integrated into everyone's lives. If people do not fail the green mountains, the green mountains will not fail the people. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, further deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system, integrating institutional integration and mechanism innovation, and supporting high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment, the building of a beautiful China will continue to make new strides, and a new chapter of modernization featuring harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature will continue to present new wonders.
Li Qiang Holds Welcome Ceremony for Solomon Islands Prime Minister's Visit to China
On the morning of the 11th, Premier Li Qiang held a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for the official visit of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to China. State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council Wu Zhenglong and others attended the welcoming ceremony. The military band played the national anthems of Solomon Islands and China. Afterwards, Li Qiang accompanied Sogavare in inspecting the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Li Qiang Holds Talks with Solomon Islands Prime Minister
Following the welcoming ceremony, Li Qiang held talks with Manasseh Sogavare. Li Qiang stated that in the five years since China and Solomon Islands established diplomatic relations, bilateral ties have maintained strong development, with continuously deepening political mutual trust and fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various fields, becoming a model of South-South cooperation among developing countries. President Xi Jinping will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Sogavare to further chart the course for the future development of bilateral relations. China is willing to work with Solomon Islands to further enrich the connotations of the comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development between China and Solomon Islands in the new era, and continuously enhance the well-being of the two peoples. Li Qiang pointed out that China supports the Solomon Islands people in independently choosing a development path that suits their national conditions and is willing to continue to firmly support each other's core interests with Solomon Islands. China is willing to share more development experience with Solomon Islands and strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, rural development, and information and communication to help Solomon Islands enhance its endogenous development momentum. China is willing to import more high-quality agricultural and food products from Solomon Islands and encourages capable Chinese enterprises to invest and do business there. Both sides should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in education, health, culture, sports, youth, and local areas, further facilitate personnel exchanges, and consolidate the public opinion foundation for bilateral cooperation. Li Qiang emphasized that China will continue to uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality, win-win cooperation, and common development, and promote the continuous forward development of comprehensive strategic partnerships with Solomon Islands and other Pacific island countries, working together to build a closer community of shared future between China and Pacific island countries. Manasseh Sogavare stated that Solomon Islands firmly adheres to the One-China principle, supports President Xi Jinping's concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and highly appreciates China's important contributions to promoting world peace and development. Solomon Islands is willing to deepen cooperation with China in economy, trade, humanities, and other fields to promote the continuous forward development of Solomon Islands-China relations. After the talks, the two prime ministers jointly witnessed the signing of several bilateral cooperation documents on Belt and Road cooperation, economy and trade, and digital economy. Wu Zhenglong attended the above activities. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare went to Tiananmen Square on the afternoon of July 11 to lay a wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes.
China's Marine Ecological Environment Protection White Paper Released
Today (July 11), the State Council Information Office held a press conference to release the white paper "China's Marine Ecological Environment Protection." Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the white paper systematically introduces China's policy concepts for building a harmonious human-ocean marine ecological environment, comprehensively elaborates on China's important measures to coordinate the promotion of marine ecological environment protection, systematically carry out marine ecological environment governance, and improve the level of marine green and low-carbon development, and demonstrates China's extensive international cooperation in marine ecological environment protection and its practical actions and world contributions to promoting the building of a maritime community with a shared future.
All 2023 Additional Government Bond Projects Begin Construction
Reporters learned today (July 11) from the National Development and Reform Commission that as of the end of June, all projects funded by the additional one trillion yuan in national bonds issued in the fourth quarter of last year have commenced construction. Recently, a batch of post-disaster reconstruction projects, including the reconstruction project of village-level health clinics in Bazhou, Hebei, the restoration project of flood-damaged roads in Weixian, and the Dashihe flood-damaged repair project in Fangshan District, Beijing, have been completed and put into use. Not just in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, as of June 30, all 15,000 projects funded by the additional national bonds have commenced, with a total investment of 480 billion yuan completed. Since November last year, China has allocated one trillion yuan in additional national bond funds, primarily supporting eight areas of project construction, including post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, enhancing disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, and backbone flood control projects. In the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission will urge relevant parties to accelerate project implementation, forming more physical workloads within the year, while strictly controlling engineering quality to ensure that the additional national bond projects are built into high-quality projects.
Party Flag Flies High at Grassroots Level: Three Days and Nights of Battle, Dongting Lake Breach Closed Ahead of Schedule
On the afternoon of July 5, a breach occurred in the first-line levee of the Dongting Lake at Tuanzhouyan, Huarong County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Dispatched by the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters Office and the Ministry of Emergency Management, the professional rescue team of China ANENG Group, with Party members as its backbone, rushed to the scene overnight. A race against time to plug the breach immediately began. At 7 p.m. on the night of the breach, Zhang Xuzhuang, an engineering expert with 26 years of Party membership, and on-site water conservancy experts inspected the danger while discussing the sealing plan. The lake was surging with strong currents, and the breach was continuously expanding. Zhang Xuzhuang and the expert group repeatedly adjusted the sealing plan, finally deciding to adopt a combination of bidirectional sealing on the embankment and waterborne vessel stone dumping for the plugging operation. This was also their first time adopting the waterborne vessel dumping tactic. More than 80,000 cubic meters of sand and stone, brought from all directions, were continuously transported to the site. Zhang Xuzhuang and the boat drivers constantly communicated to find the optimal unloading method, significantly accelerating the dumping speed. At the same time, on the embankment, on-site commander Chen Zhiping led a commando team of 17 Party members, working day and night, to guide a long line of vehicles into the site for sealing. The embankment road was narrow, less than 10 meters wide. To ensure smooth operation of vehicles loaded with stones, the team members stood within two meters of the breach edge, orderly directing and commanding trucks to steadily unload block stones into the designated area. During the day, under high temperatures and scorching sun, the team members toiled on the embankment in nearly 40℃ heat, sweating profusely; at night, they overcame mosquito bites and worked late into the night. They adopted a "people rest, machines don't rest, two shifts of work" approach, pushing forward the breach plugging day and night. After three days and nights of continuous combat, rescue forces from China ANENG, the Armed Police, and the fire department worked together, with full support from local relevant departments. At around 10:30 p.m. on July 8, with the last truckload of stones pushing into the breach, the 226-meter-long breach was successfully closed.
New Era, New Journey, New Achievements - Practical and Diligent Work: Jiangsu - Government Leads Multi-Party Linkage to Expand Emerging Industries
Currently, various regions are exploring how to cultivate emerging industries. Jiangsu, a major manufacturing province, is leveraging the guiding role of government investment funds, through provincial-municipal linkage and government-enterprise linkage, to attract more social capital to jointly participate in supporting and promoting the development and growth of more forward-looking and leading strategic emerging industries. Not long ago, the Jiangsu Provincial Strategic Emerging Industries Mother Fund, with a scale of 50 billion yuan, officially started operation, leveraging the guiding and leveraging role of fiscal funds. Through in-depth cooperation with industrial capital, social capital, financial institutions, etc., it has built an efficient docking platform for industry-finance interaction. Driven by the provincial mother fund, within just one week, seven cities including Nanjing, Suzhou, and Changzhou simultaneously launched the establishment of the first batch of industrial special funds. Provincial and municipal levels began to coordinate the operation of the funds, which will be precisely invested in strategic emerging industries and future industries such as new power, biomedicine, and high-end equipment. This technology-based private enterprise in Yangzhou has started the development of a small and medium-sized aircraft engine with broad market prospects. However, as an emerging enterprise, the huge R&D investment still puts pressure on them. The enterprise's 30 million yuan "angel" investment came from Yangzhou City's industrial fund. Yangzhou City has built an industrial fund system by issuing science and technology innovation bonds and raising social capital to cultivate the growth of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises. Currently, under the guidance of the provincial mother fund, Jiangsu Province has established the first batch of 14 industrial special funds. These industrial special funds are expected to form a total fund size of over 160 billion yuan after attracting social capital, which will promote a virtuous cycle of science and technology, industry, and finance, and empower the development of new productive forces according to local conditions.
Chongqing, Sichuan and Other Areas Actively Respond to Heavy Rainfall
Today (July 11), heavy rainfall is mainly concentrated in the area from the Sichuan Basin to the Jianghuai region, and the Central Meteorological Administration continues to issue a yellow rainstorm warning. Most areas of Chongqing experienced heavy to torrential rain, with some areas experiencing exceptionally heavy rain. In Chengxi Town, Dianjiang County, heavy rainfall caused severe waterlogging, and the local government activated emergency plans, transferring over 5,000 people. In Yuntai Town and Haitang Town, Changshou District, the heavy rainfall also led to some houses being flooded and residents trapped, and local rescue teams were organized to go to severely affected areas for rescue operations. In Bazhong, Sichuan, the rainfall caused multiple road landslides and subsidence, and the local government urgently carried out emergency repairs. The National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters maintained a Level IV emergency response for Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan, and Chongqing. Two working groups and four expert groups dispatched by the Office of the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters are assisting and guiding disaster relief and levee patrols on the front lines.
Domestic News Briefs
The 32nd National Youth Patriotic Reading Education Activity Launched in Beijing Today (July 11), the All-China Women's Federation launched the 32nd National Youth Patriotic Reading Education Activity in Beijing. During the event, parent-child reading, themed lectures, and traditional culture classic reading and other characteristic activities will be carried out among primary and secondary school students across the country to guide young people to grow into pillars capable of taking on the important task of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. First Domestic Computing Power Interconnection Public Platform Released The first domestic computing power interconnection public platform was released today (July 11). The platform will identify, register, and test computing power resources nationwide. Through the platform, users can query computing power resources and related computing power scheduling services nationwide, providing real and credible computing power support for all walks of life, and accelerating the interconnection of computing power. China Has Initially Established a Fertility Support Policy System Today (July 11) is the 35th World Population Day. Currently, China's fertility support policy system has been initially established, with the national prenatal examination rate and prenatal screening rate both reaching over 90%. There are nearly 100,000 institutions providing childcare services for infants and young children aged 0-3 nationwide, with approximately 4.8 million childcare spots. Parental leave in all provinces has been extended to over 158 days. Fujian Will Annually Implement Approximately 300 Key Marine Economic Projects Today (July 11), Fujian introduced measures to accelerate the construction of "Maritime Fujian," and will annually implement approximately 300 key marine economic projects, promoting key regional marine development, marine scientific and technological innovation, and the construction of a modern marine industrial system, among other key tasks. China Successfully Constructs a Quantum Simulator Beyond Classical Computers for the First Time Recently, a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China achieved a new breakthrough in quantum computing research, successfully constructing the "Tianyuan" quantum simulator capable of solving scientific problems. It can simultaneously control about 800,000 lattice points, achieving simulation capabilities beyond classical computers, laying an important foundation for understanding the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. China-Africa-UN Cooperation Demonstration Center Unveiled and Established Today (July 11), during the second high-level meeting of the Global Development Action Forum, the China-Africa (Ethiopia)-UN (UNIDO) Cooperation Demonstration Center was unveiled and established in Beijing. This is the first demonstration project jointly implemented by the three parties under the framework of the Global Development Initiative by the China International Development Cooperation Agency, to support Africa's industrialization, agricultural modernization, and talent training programs.
Israeli Army Continues Military Operations in Gaza City; Palestinian Armed Group Claims Attacks on Israeli Personnel and Vehicles
The Israeli military said on the 10th that Israeli forces carried out a combined ground and air operation in the Shujaiya area of Gaza City, killing dozens of Palestinian armed personnel. The Israeli military also distributed leaflets on the same day, ordering all residents to leave Gaza City. Palestinian armed organizations said on the 10th that they attacked Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Gaza City, and used explosive devices to attack Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip continued on the 11th in Doha, the capital of Qatar, with Israel and relevant mediators participating. Israeli officials said that the negotiating parties have reached a consensus on some minor issues, but many issues still need to be discussed. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) stated on the 10th that Hamas showed flexibility in the negotiations, but Israel still tried to exert pressure by intensifying military operations and forcing the displacement of people in Gaza. Hezbollah Says It Will Cease Hostilities with Israel if Gaza Ceasefire Reached Lebanese Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said on the 10th that if a ceasefire agreement is reached in the Gaza Strip, his organization will cease hostilities with Israel, and Hezbollah supports any decision made by Hamas regarding negotiations with Israel. Since the new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted on October 7 last year, conflicts between Hezbollah armed forces and Israel have continued along the Lebanon-Israel border.
Russia Claims Strikes on Ukrainian Military on Multiple Fronts; Ukraine Claims Situation Under Control
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on the 10th that Russian forces struck Ukrainian targets on multiple fronts, destroying one Ukrainian ammunition depot. Russian air defense systems also shot down several US-made ATACMS missiles and guided aerial bombs from Ukraine. The Ukrainian side stated that the front-line situation remains tense but is under control. In the Pokrovsk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian attacks. Russia Says US Deployment of Long-Range Strike Systems in Germany Increases Arms Race Risk The United States and Germany stated on the 10th that the United States will deploy long-range strike systems in Germany starting in 2026, far exceeding existing weapons in Europe. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatov criticized the plan on the 10th, saying it poses a direct threat to international security and increases the risk of a missile arms race.
International News Briefs
Syria and Saudi Arabia Resume Commercial Flights A Syrian Airlines flight departed from Damascus, the Syrian capital, on the 10th and arrived in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, marking the official resumption of commercial flights between Syria and Saudi Arabia. Syrian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ayman Sawsan said on the same day that this marks another step forward in the development of relations between the two countries. Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with Syria in 2012. As the domestic and regional situation in Syria changed, most Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, began to restore diplomatic relations with Syria in 2023. American Airlines Boeing Plane Cancels Takeoff After Tire Burst The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on the 10th that an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane was found to have a burst tire while preparing for takeoff at Tampa Airport in Florida, and the flight was subsequently canceled. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident. On the 8th, a United Airlines Boeing 757 plane had a tire detach after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport in California, and the cause is under investigation. Bosphorus Strait Temporarily Closed Due to Ship Malfunction The Bosphorus Strait was temporarily closed to shipping on the 10th due to a ship malfunction. Local media reported that the incident occurred in the northern section of the strait. Currently, northbound shipping through the strait has resumed, while southbound shipping has not yet resumed.
Deepening Reform: Myriad Aspects of Chinese Modernization
On the new journey of the era, Hubei and Liaoning are leveraging their unique strengths, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development concept, and striving to create a new situation of high-quality development. Today (July 11)'s "Comprehensively Deepening Reform: A Myriad of New Prospects for Chinese Modernization" will take us into Hubei and Liaoning.