भारतीय रोज़ नई ख़बरें – Page 21 – भारतीय रोज़ न्यूज़ भारत की सबसे अधिकारपूर्ण, समय पर और विश्वसनीय समाचार सलाहकार वेबसाइट है

Engine of Eurasia: Smart China-Europe freight trains drive world trade

A China-Europe freight train arrives in Xi’an City, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, February 1, 2024. /CFP

The China Railway Express (CR Express), a major international freight train service, spans China, Europe, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, offering new possibilities for collaborative and sustainable trade. Praised by the international community, the transportation service, which not only revitalizes the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road but also enhances people’s livelihoods, serves as a vital public good to promote win-win cooperation and economic vitality across Eurasia and beyond.

After a decade of groundbreaking and innovative efforts, the iconic BRI project, which connects 120 cities in China with 219 cities across 25 European countries, has completed over 85,000 trips by the end of February, according to China Railway Group Limited (CREC).

In the January-February period, nearly 3,000 trips were registered between the continents as CREC inaugurated new routes linking Xi’an, Chongqing and Yiwu in China to Tbilisi in Georgia, Baku in Azerbaijan and Istanbul in Türkiye, dispatching a total of 18 trains along the routes.

The freight train service accomplished a total of 2,928 trips to deliver 317,000 containers of goods in the first two months of 2024, marking a year-on-year increase of 9 percent in trips frequency and 10 percent in cargo volume.

Global economic ties

The CR Express has kept adding new lines and expanding its capacity during the past decade, providing the Eurasian continent with fresh corridors of land transport and new bridges for economic and trade cooperation, said Mao Ning, a spokesperson with China’s Foreign Ministry.

As a result, China has forged closer cooperation and strengthened trade ties with Central Asia and Europe. A considerable number of companies specializing in international trade, smart manufacturing and supply chain service have made their mark along the routes, Mao said.

Industries such as manufacturing, trade and commerce, finance and information have seen continuous enhancements. More and more European products have entered the lives of the Chinese people, while “Made in China” is becoming more popular in Europe, Mao added.

So far, the service has delivered a total of over 50,000 types of goods to the related regions, with growing popularity stemming from its safety, reliability and resilience against external disruptions.

It especially experienced a surge in demand amidst the turmoil caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, highlighting its critical role as a dependable trade route that contributes to the resilience of global supply chains.

Unlike maritime routes, which are susceptible to piracy, adverse weather conditions and geopolitical tensions, the land-based China-Europe freight train channel offers a faster, more secure and stable alternative. Both forms of transportation work together to ensure the smooth flow of commodities and promote global economic stability amid uncertainties and volatility.

The China-Europe freight train service is also highly cost-effective, as an analysis by Foreign Policy magazine in late January called the BRI “a blueprint for what every nation needs in an age of uncertainty and disruption amidst the Red Sea crisis,” claiming “the solution to supply shocks is more supply chains. More belts, more roads.”

Smart, efficient transportation

Over the past 10 years, along the routes of the China-Europe Railway Express, customs clearance and inspection have been streamlined, the business environment at ports of entry has improved, and rules and regulations for cross-border transportation have become more standardized.

According to Zhang Xinyuan, head of the Co-Found think tank, the China-Europe freight train service is experiencing a boom. The network is denser, with more frequent trips and improved efficiency. This translates to faster deliveries and a wider range of goods being transported, optimizing the import and export structure.

Several Chinese customs offices are expediting the clearance process for high-value goods. A prime example is Guangzhou Customs in south China’s Guangdong Province. It offers specialized guidance to businesses and trains, launching dedicated routes specifically for high-tech exports. These routes focus on complete NEV components, top-tier home appliances and communication equipment – essentially “white goods,” electronics and NEVs. This prioritization optimizes the import and export structure for these valuable products.

East China’s Jiangsu Province has implemented a “fast customs clearance” system for China-Europe freight trains, which has significantly improved efficiency for both customs transfers and overall transportation. Train journeys are now two to three days shorter, and businesses benefit from a 20 percent reduction in declaration costs.

Export companies are embracing innovative solutions to maximize container space on China-Europe freight trains, too. A prime example is Hunan Hualian China Industry, a daily ceramics exporter, adopting the “less than container load (LCL)” mode to consolidate smaller shipments from multiple businesses into single containers.

Shipping small goods with varied shapes, quantities and destinations across vast regions like Central Asia and Europe presents a challenge for utilizing the full capacity of China-Europe freight trains, said Peng Long, a company secretary.

The LCL mode provides a solution, tackling the challenge of efficiently transporting goods of variyng sizes to vaied destinations across Central Asia and Europe. LCL not only optimizes train capacity but also significantly reduces wait times for international customers.

Large machinery loads containers to the China-Europe freight train at the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) logistics cooperation base, Lianyungang City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, January 8, 2024. /CFP

Future development

As a flagship project and a landmark brand of the BRI, the CR Express has established a development model based on consensus building, win-win cooperation and continuous growth, as highlighted by Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang at the China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum last September. Ding undersocred the importance of continued collaboration for the future of the CR Express.

He urged joint efforts to develop a more efficient transport system for the CR Express. This includes expediting cooperation mechanisms between governments, fostering the convergence of international regulations and strengthening the foundation for international cooperation. These efforts will ensure the smooth operation of the service.

Looking ahead, Ding stressed the importance of exploring new international routes while maintaining existing ones. This will broaden the China-Europe Railway Express network. Additionally, an innovative development system is needed, with a focus of promoting IT applications, digitization and intelligent infrastructure development. It will also prioritize the adoption of green technologies, making the CR Express even more environmentally friendly and beneficial for all involved nations.

As the world enters the age of artificial intelligence (AI), the CR Express has a significant opportunity to solidify its position as a vital link in the global trade network. AI can be harnessed to optimize logistics operations, improve route planning and enhance predictive maintenance for trains. By embracing AI, the freight train service can achieve greater efficiency, reliability and sustainability to ultimately benefit all nations involved.

U.S. returns 38 cultural objects to China

Chinese cultural objects returned to China by the United States, April 17, 2024. /China Media Group

Chinese cultural object returned to China by the United States, April 17, 2024. /China Media Group

Chinese cultural objects returned to China by the United States, April 17, 2024. /China Media Group

The U.S. returned 38 Chinese cultural objects to China on Wednesday.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office handed over the cultural objects to a delegation from China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration at a handover ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

Based on preliminary evaluation, experts said that most of the objects are Tibetan Buddhist cultural relics from China during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911 AD), involving pagodas, Buddha statues, Buddhist ornaments and other categories.

With materials ranging from copper to ivory and wood, those well-preserved cultural relics have important historical, artistic and scientific value, the experts added.

China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that aims to prevent the illegal importation of Chinese cultural artifacts into the United States on January 14, 2009. The MoU was extended in 2014 and 2019 respectively.

A total of 504 Chinese cultural relics were returned to China in 15 patches from January 14, 2019 to January 14, 2024.

The MoU’s validity has been extended for a third time, starting from January 14 this year.

(With input from Xinhua)

Scientists use gut bacteria to prevent mosquito-borne diseases

Chinese scientists have developed a more natural strategy to prevent mosquito-borne diseases by changing insects’ gut microbes, which might be used as an alternative to controversial experiments that see genetically-modified mosquitoes released in Florida.

Mosquito-borne viruses, such as dengue and Zika, cause several potentially fatal human viral infections. Dengue viruses infect approximately 390 million each year globally.

An epidemic survey over the past decade documented frequent dengue outbreaks in Xishuangbanna and Lincang, both in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. But few have been reported in neighboring cities of Wenshan and Pu’er.

The marked different prevalence stimulated the curiosity of researchers from Tsinghua University and the Yunnan Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Sciences.

Gut microbes

The team’s field investigation on thousands of blood-sucking female mosquitoes revealed that mosquitoes from two different habitats carry different symbiotic bacteria in their guts, the first tissue organ usually infected by viruses.

Among the 55 strains isolated, a kind of bacterium called Rosenbergiella_YN46 was abundant in mosquito guts in Wenshan and Pu’er, but not in Xishuangbanna and Lincang, according to the study published on Friday in the journal Science.

Then, the researchers colonized the strain in the intestines of two common disease-transmitting mosquitoes – Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti.

Those mosquitoes did become less likely to be infected with dengue and Zika via blood bites, according to the study.

The further analysis suggested that an enzyme secreted by the bacteria can convert glucose into gluconic acid and rapidly acidify the intestines of blood-sucking mosquitoes. The mosquito-borne viruses will be neutralized in an acidic environment.

Intervention tactics

The team made an experiment in the wild to breed “good mosquitoes” that do not transmit viruses. They added Rosenbergiella_YN46 bacteria to the water where mosquitoes eggs were laid and hatched.

Encouragingly, the intestinal colonization proved a success at a site in Mengla County of Xishuangbanna and the colony persistently resided in the guts of Aedes mosquitoes.

The researchers also proposed another potential intervention strategy – the use of plants. Mosquito’s gut microbes in the wild are either derived from microbes in breeding waters, or in the sap and nectar of plants.

“We are collecting a large number of plant samples in Wenshan, where the bacterium was isolated, in order to find plants that are enriched with this bacterium,” said Cheng Gong from Tsinghua, the corresponding author of the paper. “Transplanting and cultivating this plant to the infected area may intervene in the ability of mosquitoes to carry and transmit the virus.”

“If those plants are shrub or herbaceous plants, they can be grown in your backyard or residential compound,” added Cheng.

“Rosenbergiella_YN46 is derived from the natural environment and its potential environmental risk is relatively low, and will not make mosquitoes resistant to the drug, nor affect their survival in nature,” commented Xu Jianguo from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who did not participate in the study.

Meanwhile, the team is conducting a study in Leizhou Peninsula in south China’s Guangdong Province, where the mosquito population is large but there is no dengue, to discover more bacteria that could inhibit the spread of mosquito-borne viruses.

“The spread of Zika and epidemic encephalitis B might be contained if more bacteria can be found,” said Cheng.

This study has shown that the use of bacteria-colonized field mosquitoes could offer a feasible biocontrol strategy for reducing virus transmission and prevalence in nature, said the researchers.

(Cover image via CFP)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

Niubeishan, a hidden-gem mountain to enjoy sunrises

An undated photo shows Niubeishan, or Oxback Mountain in Sichuan Province. /Photo provided to CGTN

Sichuan is famous for its mountains. Niubeishan, which translates to Oxback Mountain, is a beautiful mountain nearly 4,000 meters above sea level. Known to a few, the mountain is possibly one of the best places in Sichuan Province to enjoy sunrises. The snow-capped mountains can be seen in the far background, while the sun casts different colors on those mountains’ peaks and seas of clouds. Recently, a hiking trail was opened to attract more visitors.

Q&A: 10 cancer-related misconceptions

As China marks 30th “National Anti-Cancer Week” from April 15-21, learn from health experts about cancer-related misconceptions.

[Photo/IC]

Q: Are there any dietary or nutritional supplements that have special anti-cancer effects?

A: Experts believe there’s no scientific evidence to support any health care product or supplement as a “specific medicine” for cancer prevention. While certain products may be beneficial to the health or helpful in the nutritional management of cancer patients, they are definitely not substitutes for standard cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, targeted radiotherapy, or immunotherapy.

Patients and their families should follow the doctors’ guidance instead of blindly believing the representations in the advertisements of health products.

China’s actual use of foreign capital in Q1 remains at historically high level, defying West’s ‘foreign capital withdrawal’ rhetoric

A view of the skyline of Lujiazui in Shanghai on January 24, 2024 Photo: VCG

China’s actual use of foreign capital in the first quarter of this year remained at a historically high level, an official with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Friday, defying claims by some Western media that foreign capital is withdrawing from China.

The country’s continuous opening-up, supportive policies and industry upgrade are among the key drivers for more foreign capital, officials and experts said.

Friday’s data also reflect the fact that the world’s second largest economy continues to be attractive to foreign businesses, despite the West’s intensified attempts at “decoupling” or de-risking.

Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Guo Tingting, vice commerce minister said that the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in the first quarter of this year came at 12,000, an increase of 20.7 percent, maintaining the rapid growth trend from last year.

In terms of investment scale, the actual use of foreign capital reached 301.67 billion yuan ($41.67 billion), which was still at a historically high level, the vice minister said.

It is noteworthy that in terms of investment structure, the proportion of investment in high-tech manufacturing reached 12.5 percent during this period, an increase of 2.2 percentage points year-on-year, according to Guo.

Investment in the service industry, which is closely related to residents’ lives, also witnessed rapid growth.

The growth was driven by multiple factors, particularly China’s continuous opening-up efforts, improved market environment and industry upgrade, officials and experts said.

For example, the “Invest in China” series of activities as part of the government’s opening-up effort has received an enthusiastic response. The first landmark event alone attracted more than 140 representatives of foreign companies and business associations from 17 countries and regions, according to the MOFCOM official on Friday.

The continuous optimization of China’s business environment for foreign enterprises allows more of them to participate more fully in China’s development and gives them a sense of achievement, Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

Although there is foreign capital moving out of China, Bai said it is a part of capital market development. “Foreign investment comes and goes, much like the continuous flow of international capital markets, but the structure is constantly optimizing,” Bai said.

As China pursues industry upgrades for high-quality development, many foreign investments, especially those with advanced technology, choose to expand their investments and outlays in China, experts said, defying some Western rhetoric that there is a trend of foreign capital leaving the country.

In the first quarter, the actual use of foreign investment in the manufacturing industry reached 81.06 billion yuan, of which investment in high-tech manufacturing reached 37.76 billion yuan, Ji Xiaofeng, an official with the department of foreign investment management under MOFCOM, told the press conference on Friday.

Data from some leading international consultancies also pointed to the positive trend.

The 2024 Kearney FDI Confidence Index released by American global management consulting firm Kearney shows China jumping from 7th position to 3rd, which shows that multinational companies will continue to expand their investment in China.

In the first quarter, China’s GDP grew 5.3 percent, which was well above market expectations, as the country got off to a robust start, laying the foundation for achieving its goal of growing by around 5 percent for the whole year.

As the trend of China’s economic development is further consolidated, foreign companies see new opportunities for growth in areas such as green transformation and digitalization.

Meanwhile, more policy support is also in place to boost foreign investment.

On Friday, MOFCOM, together with nine other government departments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, issued 16 specific measures to further support overseas institutions’ investment in domestic technology-based enterprises.

These measures include implementing differentiated supervision, supporting bond issuance and facilitating personnel exchanges.

On the same day, China’s top securities regulator issued 16 measures to boost capital markets’ support for high-tech companies, including setting up green channels for fundraising, in a bid to boost innovation and development of new quality productive forces.

In March, China’s State Council, the cabinet, issued an action plan comprising 24 specific pro-foreign investment measures to attract foreign investment, facilitate data flows and business travel. The action plan demonstrates the Chinese government’s determination and efforts to attract foreign investment, which plays a positive role in further promoting high-level opening-up, experts said.

Looking ahead, Ji said that MOFCOM is further easing barriers to foreign investment, including reasonably reducing the negative list for foreign investment access, comprehensively abolishing access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, and relaxing market access in the medical, telecommunications and other service industries.

After COVID-19, WHO defines disease spread ‘through air’

A visitor walks past an illuminated coronavirus (COVID-19) model as he visits the “Mini-Worlds on the Way of Illumination” exhibition during the Light Festival preview at the Botanical garden in Paris, France, November 12, 2022. /Reuters

The World Health Organization (WHO) and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.

The Geneva-based U.N. health agency released a technical document on the topic on Thursday. It said it was the first step towards working out how to better prevent this kind of transmission, both for existing diseases like measles and for future pandemic threats.

The document concludes that the descriptor “through the air” is appropriate for infectious diseases where the main type of transmission involves the pathogen traveling through the air or being suspended in the air, in line with other terms such as “waterborne” diseases, which are understood across disciplines and by the public.

Almost 500 experts contributed to the definition, including physicists, public health professionals and engineers, many of whom disagreed bitterly over the topic in the past.

Agencies have historically required high levels of proof before calling diseases airborne, which required very stringent containment measures; the new definition says the risk of exposure and severity of disease should also be considered.

Past disagreements also centered around whether infectious particles were “droplets” or “aerosols” based on size, which the new definition moves away from.

The WHO logo is seen near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2, 2023. /Reuters

During the early days of COVID-19 in 2020, around 200 aerosol scientists publicly complained that the WHO had failed to warn people of the risk that the virus could spread through the air. This led to an overemphasis on measures like handwashing to stop the virus, rather than focusing on ventilation, they said.

By July 2020, the agency said there was “evidence emerging” of airborne spread, but its then chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, who began the process to get a definition, later said, the WHO should have been more forceful “much earlier”.

Her successor, Jeremy Farrar, said in an interview that the new definition was about more than COVID, but he added that at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lack of evidence available and experts including the WHO acted in “good faith”. At that time, he was head of the Wellcome Trust charity and advised the British government on the pandemic.

Farrar said getting the definition agreed among experts from all disciplines would allow discussions to begin about issues such as ventilation in many different settings, from hospitals to schools.

He compared it to the realization that blood-borne viruses like HIV or hepatitis B could be spread by medics not wearing gloves during procedures.

“When I started out, medical students, nurses, doctors, none of us wore gloves to take blood,” he told Reuters. “Now it is unthinkable that you wouldn’t wear gloves. But that came because everyone agreed on what the issue was, they agreed on the terminology… [The change in practice] came later.”

Source(s): Reuters

15 movies vie for Tiantan Awards at the 2024 Beijing film festival

Members of the Tiantan Award International Jury Committee pose for photos at the opening ceremony of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival, April 18, 2024. /CGTN

A total of 15 movies from across the world are competing for the Tiantan Awards at the 14th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), which runs from April 18 to 26.

The festival, organized by China Media Group (CMG) and the government of Beijing, features nearly 100 events for film lovers, such as forums, roadshows and masterclasses.

The opening ceremony featuring a two-hour launch gala was held at the Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention and Exhibition Center in Huairou District.

Over 350 film professionals, including the seven Tiantan Award jury committee members, walked the red carpet on Thursday.

“Film is an artistic bond that connects our hearts,” said Yin Yong, mayor of Beijing and chairman of the festival’s organizing committee. “In 2023, Chinese movies witnessed a rebound.”

Shen Haixiong, president of CMG and chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, expressed his respect and best wishes to the movie industry at the ceremony.

Margareth Menezes, minister of culture of Brazil, also made a speech via video link during the ceremony. “The year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China,” she said. “We are bringing four films that portray part of our cultural and territorial diversity.”

Click here to watch the live rebroadcast of the launching ceremony and the gala.

The jury committee will select the winners of 10 awards based on their depth, artistry and public appeal. The winners will be announced at the festival’s closing ceremony.

The festival will also feature over 250 high-quality films in 27 movie theaters in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Brazil is the guest country of this year’s festival. A dedicated event will be held to play Brazilian movies. Renowned director Carlos Saldanha is participating in the festival as a member of the jury committee for the Tiantan Awards.

Fan Yun, deputy editor-in-chief of CMG and vice chairman of the 14th BJIFF Organizing Committee, participated in the launch ceremony.

(Cover via CFP)

Doctor Victor’s Music Voyage, together for music

03:26

For the first time, Icelandic musician Doctor Victor meets Chinese singer-songwriter Nerissa Wang and guzheng artist Lucy Luan at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy. The trio previously collaborated on the dynamic hit “Space Fantasia” for China’s Space Day in April 2023. Now, they gather to engage in a salon discussion with aspiring music students, sharing insights from their creative processes and behind-the-scenes stories of the song, embodying their shared passion for music.

Concert commemorates 85 years of ‘The Yellow River Cantata’

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the premiere of “The Yellow River Cantata,” coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. To commemorate this special occasion, a grand symphonic choral concert titled “Ode to the Motherland: Spirit of the Yellow River” has taken center stage at Tsinghua University.

02:12

Composed by Xian Xinghai in 1939 during the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, “The Yellow River Cantata” remains a timeless ode to patriotic heroism and resilience in the face of hardship. With its enduring artistic charm, this musical masterpiece has spread far and wide across the continents.