New Ideas Guide Reform and Opening-Up in a New Era: For the People's Aspiration for a Better Life
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the people's aspiration for a better life is our goal, and reform and development are, in the final analysis, for the purpose of enabling the people to live better lives. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has adhered to a people-centered approach, respected the principal position and pioneering spirit of the people, and ensured that reforms are for the people, rely on the people, and that the fruits of reform are shared by the people. In the magnificent and grand process of comprehensively deepening reform, a new chapter of putting the people first has been written. Today's China is a land of magnificent landscapes and proud people. This is a China that has historically eradicated absolute poverty across 9.6 million square kilometers of Chinese territory, comprehensively built a moderately prosperous society, and created a human miracle that will go down in history. This is a warm China that has built the world's largest education system, the largest social security system, and the largest healthcare system in a country with over 1.4 billion people. This is a beautiful China where humanity and nature coexist in harmony, allowing people to enjoy an ecological space with clear waters and green mountains. Open the window and see green, step out and enter a park. Large and small "pocket parks" and continuous fitness trails make cities pleasant, healthier, and more livable. This is a striving China where all people, with unprecedented confidence, work together to march towards the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Entering the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has comprehensively deepened reform and expanded opening up, achieving a series of historic, revolutionary, and pioneering achievements. The steps of ordinary Chinese individuals and families moving towards a happy life have become the most vivid annotations of this great revolution. In 2012, China began its march towards comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society. At that time, there were nearly 100 million rural poor people in remote mountainous villages, and the development gap between urban and rural areas and the income distribution gap among residents were still significant. Social contradictions had notably increased, and there were many issues related to the vital interests of the masses. Facing the people's new aspirations for a better life, Xi Jinping, who had just been elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made a solemn commitment to the people. For the people's aspiration for a better life, a grand blueprint for comprehensively deepening reform slowly unfolded across China. The comprehensive deepening of reform proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee involved 60 specific tasks and 336 reform measures. Putting the people first was the most distinct feature of comprehensively deepening reform; the people were the deepest concern in General Secretary Xi Jinping's heart. No one should be left behind in building a moderately prosperous society. How to help all impoverished people shake off poverty as soon as possible? From Fuping in the depths of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei to Jinggangshan in the old revolutionary base area of Jiangxi, from Dingxi in Gansu, known for its extreme poverty, to Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, where "it takes a day to walk across a mountain," General Secretary Xi Jinping braved severe cold, stepped through snow, observed real poverty, and inquired about people's well-being time and again. What are the concerns, worries, and anxieties of the people in their lives? What are their expectations for a better life? General Secretary Xi Jinping went deep into the grassroots to observe people's livelihoods and conditions. He traveled along winding and steep mountain roads for over three hours to a rural primary school in Chongqing to see the children's learning environment and ask about teachers' salaries. He visited the homes of disaster-stricken villagers in Shangzhi City, Heilongjiang, and urged local Party committees and governments to ensure that the affected people could safely and warmly get through the winter, as winter comes early and lasts long in the Northeast. In Shanghai, General Secretary Xi Jinping inquired whether migrant workers felt secure in their housing. In Beijing, he visited delivery drivers who were still working. He entered a community elderly dining hall in Shenyang, Liaoning, asking if the food was expensive and if community services were good. In the old city streets of Changde, Hunan, he emphasized the importance of inheriting traditional culture. On the Sunlight Coast Greenway in Rizhao, Shandong, he pointed out the need to improve the ecological environment to bring more tangible happiness to the people. What the people are concerned about, I must think about; what the people aspire for, I must act upon. General Secretary Xi Jinping is always connected heart-to-heart with the people. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core creatively put forward the value orientation of comprehensively deepening reform, adhering to a people-centered approach in advancing reform, and making the enhancement of people's well-being and the promotion of people's all-round development the starting point and ultimate goal of reform and development. Reforms are planned and advanced from the perspective of the overall, fundamental, and long-term interests of the people. The goals of reform are grand yet simple, aiming for the people's good days. Facing an unprecedented battle in human history to completely eradicate absolute poverty, a series of reform measures have been established around the basic strategy of targeted poverty alleviation, including establishing a poverty alleviation responsibility system, improving the poverty alleviation assessment and evaluation system, assigning first secretaries to all registered poor villages, establishing a mechanism for determining poverty alleviation for poor households, and formulating strict, standardized, and transparent procedures and verification methods for the exit of poverty-stricken counties, ensuring the quality and sustainability of poverty alleviation. These measures have built a complete poverty alleviation institutional system with Chinese characteristics, providing institutional guarantees for winning the battle against poverty and consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation. On November 23, 2020, Guizhou Province announced that Ziyun County, Qinglong County, Wangmo County, and nine other counties had exited the list of poverty-stricken counties. By then, all 832 poverty-stricken counties and 98.99 million rural poor people across the country had been lifted out of poverty. This moment, which changed the fate of nearly 100 million people, has been recorded in the history of the Chinese nation's development. Today, the national poverty alleviation information system has been upgraded to a system for monitoring the prevention of relapse into poverty and for connecting and promoting rural revitalization. Focusing on "precision," reform continues to exert its strength. Around the people's aspiration for a better life, reform is fully exerting its efforts. Deepening economic system reform, promoting high-quality development, and striving to "make the pie bigger" to consolidate the material foundation for common prosperity for all people. Deepening political system reform, developing whole-process people's democracy, and ensuring that the people are masters of their own country. Deepening cultural system reform, promoting the prosperous development of cultural undertakings and industries, and better meeting the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people. Deepening social system reform, listing issues of greatest concern, most direct relevance, and most practical interest to the people, and promoting the equalization of basic public services. Deepening ecological civilization system reform, allowing a good ecological environment to become the most inclusive public welfare. Deepening the reform of the Party building system, addressing problems and correcting malpractices with the mission of "offending thousands of people for the sake of 1.4 billion people," ensuring that the power entrusted by the Party and the people is always used to seek happiness for the people. What the people call for, reform responds to. Alleviating the shortage of pediatric medical service resources, improving the treatment of skilled workers, accelerating the breaking down of household registration barriers, innovating the professional title evaluation mechanism, promoting the innovative development of mobile internet, fully implementing the river and lake chief system... A series of urgent and difficult issues concerning the interests of every citizen have become the focus and leverage points of reform, one after another, year after year. In the great process of reform, the sense of gain, happiness, and security of over 1.4 billion people has become more substantial, more secure, and more sustainable, and the fruits of reform and development are benefiting all people more broadly and fairly. Institutional barriers hindering the social mobility of labor and talent have been broken down, and the employment-first strategy and active employment policies have been continuously improved. Basic old-age insurance covers 1.07 billion people, and basic medical insurance coverage remains stable at over 95%. High-quality medical resources are accelerating their expansion to central and western regions and closer to the people. Nine batches of national centralized drug procurement have covered 374 types of drugs, with an average price reduction of over 50%. A total of over 64 million units of affordable housing and renovated shantytown housing have been built. The educational gaps between urban and rural areas, regions, schools, and groups are continuously narrowing, and the普及 rate of education at all levels has reached or exceeded the average level of middle and high-income countries. "15-minute living circles" and renovation of old communities have made people's lives more convenient and community activities more diverse. Reform is meaningful only when it is for the people. Reform has vitality only when it relies on the people. Adhering to a virtuous interaction and organic combination of top-level design and grassroots exploration, deeply rooted in the people and closely relying on the people, will undoubtedly unleash the boundless wisdom and strength of over 1.4 billion Chinese people. Further comprehensive deepening of reform will surely be unstoppable and insurmountable.
People's Daily Ren Zhongping Article: Standing at a Crucial Juncture, Leveraging a Vital Tool
Today (July 15), the People's Daily published a Ren Zhongping article titled "Seizing the Critical Period and Utilizing an Important Magic Weapon." The article points out that by grasping the general trend of development and seizing the opportunity of historical change, and continuing to move towards the future with an attitude of reform and opening up, we are more confident and stronger. The article emphasizes that history has proven and will continue to prove General Secretary Xi Jinping's far-sighted significant judgment: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics was born in reform and opening up, and it will surely develop and grow stronger in reform and opening up."
National Economy Maintains Stable and Progressive Growth in First Half, Achieving New Advances in High-Quality Development
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today (July 15) shows that in the first half of the year, China's economy operated smoothly overall, with steady progress in transformation and upgrading, accelerated growth of new drivers, and new advancements in high-quality development. According to preliminary calculations, in the first half of the year, the gross domestic product (GDP) was 61,683.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, maintaining a stable and positive trend. From the production side, agricultural production remained stable in the first half of the year, with a bumper summer grain harvest. Industrial production grew rapidly, with industrial added value increasing by 6.0% year-on-year, and the equipment manufacturing industry playing a significant supporting role. From the demand side, in the first half of the year, total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 23 trillion yuan, with rapid growth in new and green consumption, and strong growth in service consumption. Final consumption expenditure contributed 60.5% to economic growth, driving GDP growth by 3.0 percentage points. In terms of investment, in the first half of the year, national fixed asset investment increased by 3.9% year-on-year, with increased investment in key areas. Investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services both maintained double-digit year-on-year growth. In the first half of the year, China's total imports and exports of goods increased by 6.1% year-on-year, trade structure continued to optimize, employment and prices remained generally stable, and residents' incomes continued to increase. Meanwhile, physical volume indicators that directly reflect economic operations, such as industrial power generation above designated size, freight volume, and commercial passenger volume, also maintained stable growth. There was both quantitative growth and qualitative improvement. Since the beginning of this year, China has accelerated the transformation of growth drivers, and the trend of industrial transformation towards "new" and "green" is more apparent. In the first half of the year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size accounted for 15.8% of the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the first quarter. The output of smart and green new products such as integrated circuits, service robots, new energy vehicles, and solar cells all maintained double-digit growth. New technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence have spurred new consumption scenarios, driving an 8.8% year-on-year increase in online retail sales of physical goods. New technologies empower green development, with rapid growth in clean energy production, enhancing the "green" content of economic development. The added value of modern service industries represented by information transmission, software, and information technology services grew by double digits.
Early Rice Harvest Expected, Main Production Areas Lay Foundation for Autumn Grain Abundance
Currently, early rice in southern China is undergoing a large-scale harvest, while autumn grains in major producing areas such as Northeast China and the Yellow-Huaihe Plain are growing well, with intensified field management underway to lay a solid foundation for a bumper harvest. Early rice is the second season of grain production for the year, and its area this year remains stable at over 71 million mu, showing a trend of restorative increase. Currently, all nine major early rice producing provinces, including Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi, have successively begun harvesting, with over 40% of the harvest completed. In Nanchang City, Jiangxi, over 1.9 million mu of early rice are undergoing concentrated harvesting, with the number of high-speed harvesters in the area increasing to over 18,000, improving harvesting efficiency while reducing machine harvesting losses to about 2%. In Anren, Hunan, 230,000 mu of early rice are successively maturing, benefiting from the local construction of four large-scale seedling cultivation factories, which have improved the overall quality of seedlings. At the same time, increased planting density has led to large-scale balanced yield increases. Autumn grain production accounts for about three-quarters of the annual grain output. Currently, autumn grains in the major producing areas of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and Northeast China are entering a critical period of field management. Shandong's 66 million mu of autumn grain area has remained stable with some increases. Feicheng is intensifying chemical control on nearly 100,000 mu of dense corn to prevent lodging. Although summer planting in the area was delayed by about 5 days due to severe drought, timely irrigation for seedling protection has helped the crop growth catch up to normal levels. Jilin has added 1 million mu of "water-fertilizer integrated + dense planting technology." At the demonstration base in Xieli Village, Shuangliao, reporters observed black pipelines precisely delivering water and fertilizer solutions to the corn roots, saving over 30% on fertilizer. Heilongjiang's autumn grain area continues to remain above 218 million mu. The 1.05 million mu of rice in Huachuan are in the panicle differentiation stage. Earlier low temperatures caused some rice to grow weakly, so local agricultural technicians are providing on-site technical guidance and services to promote robust growth. The latest agricultural situation report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that currently, the proportion of first and second-class autumn grain seedlings in Northeast China exceeds 95%, and the drought in most parts of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain has been relieved, accelerating crop growth and ensuring smooth progress in field management.
China Expands 144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy to 37 Ports of Entry
The National Immigration Administration today (July 15) announced that effective immediately, the number of ports of entry applicable for China's 144-hour visa-free transit policy has increased to 37. The 144-hour visa-free transit policy will be implemented at Zhengzhou Aviation Port in Henan, with the stay limited to the administrative area of Henan Province. The scope of stay in Yunnan Province has been expanded from Kunming City to the administrative areas of nine cities (prefectures), including Lijiang and Yuxi. Three new ports of entry have been added to the 144-hour visa-free transit policy: Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport, Lijiang Sanyi International Airport, and Mohan Railway Port. Citizens from 54 eligible countries transiting through Beijing, Shanghai, and 35 other ports of entry to a third country or region can stay in China visa-free for 144 hours according to regulations. It is understood that in the first half of this year, the 144-hour visa-free transit policy has led to a rapid increase in the number of inbound foreign tourists. A total of 8.542 million foreigners entered China through visa-free transit at various ports across the country, a year-on-year increase of 190.1%. This expansion of applicable ports provides more options for foreign nationals to visit China for tourism and business.
Domestic News Briefs
China to Launch Pilot Cities for Large-Scale Beidou Application. The reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that China will select a batch of eligible cities with a solid foundation across the country to carry out pilot projects for large-scale Beidou application in three areas: mass consumption, industrial manufacturing, and integrated innovation. Through the integration of "Beidou+" and "+Beidou" with regional characteristics and industrial foundations, distinctive and innovative Beidou applications will continue to be developed, and new industrial chains will be built. Each pilot city must select at least one area to carry out pilot work. National Intellectual Property Administration Fully Promotes Implementation of Patent Open Licensing System. The National Intellectual Property Administration recently issued a notice to fully promote the implementation of the patent open licensing system. Patent holders voluntarily submit a patent open licensing statement and implement "clearly marked prices" for patent licensing fees. The National Intellectual Property Administration will then "publicize" this to the entire society. Any unit or individual can obtain an implementation license by written notice to the patent holder and payment according to the marked price, treating all licensees "equally." Guangzhou Haizhu Bay Tunnel Achieves Double-Line Breakthrough. Today (July 15), the Guangzhou Haizhu Bay Tunnel achieved double-line breakthrough. The project has a total length of 4.35 kilometers and is designed as a double-tube, two-way, six-lane tunnel, scheduled for completion and opening to traffic in 2025. At that time, driving time from downtown Guangzhou to Guangzhou South Railway Station will be shortened from about 40 minutes to about 15 minutes. Hemudu National Archaeological Site Park Construction Launched. The construction of the Hemudu National Archaeological Site Park was recently launched in Yuyao, Zhejiang. The park will feature five exhibition areas, integrating cultural relics protection, archaeological display, and research education functions. The initial area under construction covers a total land area of 45.36 hectares and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.
International Figures State China's Comprehensive Deepening of Reforms Propels Chinese Modernization and Promotes Global Development and Prosperity
International figures point out that China's comprehensive deepening of reform not only promotes its own high-quality development and advances Chinese modernization but also plays an important role in regional and even global development. International figures note that China's further comprehensive deepening of reform and advancement of Chinese modernization will also bring strength to achieving common development and prosperity for all countries.
Israeli Army Airstrikes School in Central Gaza Strip Refugee Camp, Palestinian Armed Groups Strike Israeli Targets in Multiple Locations
The Israeli military stated on July 14 that it carried out an airstrike on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli military claimed intelligence indicated the school, which belongs to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), was a stronghold for Palestinian militants. Gaza's civil defense department stated that the bombed school was used to house displaced people, and the airstrike had killed at least 15 people. Palestinian armed factions said they continued to strike Israeli personnel, military vehicles, and other targets in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Houthi Forces Claim Attacks on Israeli Targets; US Military Claims Destruction of Houthi Drones and Unmanned Surface Vessels. Yemen's Houthi forces stated on July 14 that they used drones to attack military targets in Eilat, a southern Israeli seaport, and also used ballistic missiles and drones to attack an Israeli vessel in the Gulf of Aden. The US Central Command stated on July 14 that US forces destroyed two Houthi drones and one unmanned surface vessel in the Red Sea, and a drone in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
International News Briefs
Russia Claims Advances on Multiple Fronts; Ukraine Claims Repelling Russian Attacks. Russia's Ministry of Defense stated on July 14 that Russian forces had taken more advantageous positions on multiple fronts, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Russian forces also gained control of more settlements in the Donetsk region. Ukraine stated on July 14 that the situation in the Pokrovsk direction remained the most tense, with over one-third of the battles occurring there. Ukrainian forces repelled multiple Russian attacks. Boeing Starliner Return Date Still Undetermined. On July 14, a month had passed since the original scheduled return date of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Currently, the return date for the two American astronauts aboard the spacecraft at the International Space Station remains undetermined. The spacecraft was originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 14, but due to thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, its return has been repeatedly delayed. NASA recently stated that technicians began a series of ground checks and tests on the spacecraft's thruster technology on July 2, which could take several weeks. Until these tests are completed, a specific return date cannot be provided. Optimistically, the two astronauts could return by the end of July, or possibly mid-August.
Beautiful China
In the height of summer, all things flourish; across the land of China, vitality abounds. At the end of the program, let us enter "Beautiful China" and experience the magnificent beauty of China in its myriad forms.