भारतीय रोज़ नई ख़बरें – Page 23 – भारतीय रोज़ न्यूज़ भारत की सबसे अधिकारपूर्ण, समय पर और विश्वसनीय समाचार सलाहकार वेबसाइट है

Jiaxing residents make green rice balls for Qingming Festival

A woman is spotted making qingtuan during Qingming Festival celebrations on April 4, 2024 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. /CFP

People are spotted making qingtuan during Qingming Festival celebrations on April 4, 2024 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. /CFP

People are spotted eating and sharing qingtuan during Qingming Festival celebrations on April 4, 2024 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. /CFP

Qingming Festival, also recognized as Tomb-Sweeping Day, falls on April 4th this year. Traditionally, this day is marked by the custom of eating qingtuan, which are green rice balls. In Jiaxing, east China’s Zhejiang Province, a unique event brings together many participants to craft qingtuan from scratch, allowing them to relish and share the delightful taste of this traditional delicacy.

Qingming Festival holiday spurs national tourism boom

A photo taken on April 5, 2024, shows a folk artist performing in Tangshan, Hebei Province. /CFP

A photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows that the Sophia Square of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province is packed with people. /CFP

A photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows throngs of tourists at Chongqing Zoo. /CFP

A photo taken on April 6, 2024 shows that the Great Wall at Badaling in Beijing is packed with tourists./CFP

A photo taken on April 5, 2023 shows people lining up to visit the Palace Museum in Beijing. /CFP

During the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, a staggering 119 million domestic travelers embarked on trips across the nation, marking an impressive 11.5% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

With a total expenditure of nearly 54 billion yuan (roughly 7.4 billion USD), Chinese tourists are opting for diverse destinations. From leisurely strolls amidst flowers to exhilarating hikes, spring outings and nature expeditions emerged as the top trends for holiday getaways. According to data from Qunar.com, the 18 to 25 age group dominated the travelers, highlighting young people’s enthusiasm for exploration. On April 4, the first day of the Qingming Festival, scenic spots were almost as crowded as train stations during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Record flood waters rise in Russia’s Urals, forcing thousands to evacuate

Flood waters were rising in two cities in Russia’s Ural mountains on Sunday after Europe’s third-longest river burst through a dam, flooding at least 10,000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee with just their pets and a few belongings.

A view of the flood-hit Old Town neighborhood of Orsk, Russia, April 7, 2024. /CFP

Some of the worst floods in decades have hit a string of Russian regions in the Ural Mountains and Siberia, along with parts of neighboring Kazakhstan in recent days.

The Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several meters in just hours on Friday due to melt water, bursting through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk, 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.

The mayor of Orsk, Vasily Kozupitsa, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying a second river in the town, the Yelshanka, had also burst its banks. Measures were being undertaken to evacuate residents from affected areas.

Rescuers evacuating people from flooded areas of Orsk, Russia, April 7, 2024. /CFP

More than 6,100 people have already been evacuated from the city of 230,000, according to local authorities. Fifteen of 40 schools in the school had been flooded.

Footage published by the Ministry of Emergency Situations showed people making their way through neck-high waters, rescuing stranded dogs and traveling along flooded roads in boats and canoes.

People wading in floodwater in the village of Priuralye, Orenburg, Russia, April 6, 2024. CFP

Rescuer evacuating a dog in flood-hit Orsk, Orenburg, Russia, April 6, 2024. /Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations

State news agency TASS reported that six adults and three children had been hospitalized in Orsk, but their condition was not life-threatening.

Agencies quoted authorities as saying the Samara River in the town of Buzuluk, further west in Orenburg region, was also rising quickly. Measures were taken to keep residents safe.

President Vladimir Putin ordered Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Emergency Situations, to fly to the region. The Kremlin said on Sunday that flooding was now also inevitable in the Urals region of Kurgan and the Siberian region of Tyumen.

Putin had spoken to the governors of the regions by telephone, the Kremlin said.

In Kurgan city, which has a population of 310,000, authorities ordered residents of one riverside neighborhood to evacuate urgently, saying that flood waters would soon arrive in the city.

The Orenburg region’s governor, Denis Pasler, said the floods were the worst to hit the region since records began.

Russian media cited Orenburg region authorities as estimating the cost of flood damage locally as around 21 billion roubles ($227 million) and saying that flood waters would dissipate only after April 20.

In Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Saturday the floods were his country’s largest natural disaster in terms of scale and impact for 80 years.

‘Levels will only rise’

Flood warnings were issued in other Russian regions and Kurenkov said the situation could get worse very fast.

“The water is coming, and in the coming days its level will only rise,” said Sergei Salmin, the mayor of Orenburg, a city of at least 550,000 people. “The flood situation remains critical.”

Emergencies Minister Kurenkov said bottled water and mobile treatment plants were needed, while local health officials said vaccinations against Hepatitis A were being conducted in flooded areas.

Local officials said the dam in Orsk was built for a water level of 5.5 meters (18 feet) yet the Ural River rose to 9.6 meters (31.5 feet).

Federal investigators opened a criminal case for negligence and the violation of safety rules over the construction of the 2010 dam, which prosecutors said had not been maintained properly.

The Orsk oil refinery suspended work on Sunday due to the flooding. Last year, the Orsk Refinery processed 4.5 million tonnes of oil.

(Cover: A view of the flood-hit Old Town neighborhood of Orsk, Russia, April 7, 2024. /CFP)

Source(s): Reuters

Greece raises wildfire alert level after spate of blazes

Greece on Sunday raised its wildfire alert level to “high risk” after dozens of blazes broke out, the civil protection ministry said.

On Saturday, “71 fires were declared in agricultural and forestry regions across the country in 12 hours, between 3:00 a.m. GMT and 3:00 p.m. GMT,” said the ministry that also looks after the climate crisis.

The fires were brought under control, including a major blaze in Lasithi on the island of Crete that was burning until mid-day Sunday, the fire department said.

Three people were lightly injured and one person was arrested for “causing the fire on Saturday morning,” the fire department said.

He is due to be transferred to the Lasithi public prosecutor’s office on Monday, according to the same source.

Strong winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour are expected to blow until Tuesday in parts of Greece, “making the situation extremely dangerous for the outbreak of fires,” the ministry said.

In those areas, which include the Athens region, the centre, the Cyclades islands and Crete, “all civil protection services will be placed on level four (high risk of fires),” the ministry said.

Greece recorded a record average temperature of 11.8 degrees Celsius over the winter, said the Athens Observatory. Scientists fear that this warmest winter on record will leave much of the land warm and dry.

Temperatures have been unseasonably high since the start of April, reaching 31 degrees Celsius on Tuesday at Chania on Crete.

Greece, like many other parts of the Mediterranean, experienced a prolonged heat wave last summer in which 20 people died and close to 175,000 hectares of land were scorched in fires that ravaged the country.

(Cover image via CFP)

Source(s): AFP

Six golden monkey cubs born in China’s Shennongjia National Park

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Six golden snub-nosed monkey cubs were recently born at Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center in the Shennongjia National Park in central China’s Hubei Province.

The golden snub-nosed monkey is a typical arboreal animal living all year round in the forests at an altitude of 1,500 to 3,300 meters. The species is now under first-class state protection in China.

The six monkey cubs are very healthy, according to staff members of the research center. The number of golden monkeys in Shennongjia has reached over 1,470, an increase of more than 200 over 2005. Its habitat area has expanded from 210 square kilometers to more than 350 square kilometers in the national park.

“The existence of the golden snub-nosed monkey represents China’s unique natural heritage and biodiversity. Protecting the monkeys is to protect the ecological security and natural resources,” said Huang Tianpeng, director of the research center.

Shennongjia is one of China’s three major biodiversity centers and was approved for inclusion in the World Heritage List in 2016. It has the largest primary forests remaining in central China and provides a habitat for many rare animal species.

Chinese researchers reveal mating dynamics of ancient insects in amber

Cretaceous water striders. /Chinese Academy of Sciences

The discovery of a group of water striders trapped in amber, engaged in copulation millions of years ago, has sparked excitement among scientists, providing a unique opportunity for researchers to gain insight into the behaviors of ancient insects.

Chinese researchers have revealed the mating behavior and potential sexual conflicts of the insects through the first fossil record of Cretaceous water striders in copulation from northern Myanmar, which dated back to the mid-Cretaceous some 100 million years ago.

The findings were published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on April 3.

Fossilized mating insects are an irreplaceable tool for understanding the evolution of mating behaviors and life history traits in the deep-time record of insects, according to the research team led by Huang Diying, a professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The specimen reported in this study contains seven adult water striders (also known as Burmogerris rarus), including three paired individuals and a single adult male, and four recognizable water strider nymphs enclosed in the amber piece. Of these, two pairs were captured in mating situations, with smaller males riding on the backs of the females.

Catching insects during copulation, especially aquatic species, is a rarity in the fossil record. The findings are of great help in deepening understanding of relevant behavioral strategies across geological time periods among scientists, Huang said.

In addition, two pairs and a single male appear to have been preserved in the same layer near the upper surface of the amber. “We speculate that the small-sized male Burmogerris rarus is unlikely to be territorial, while this species maintains a high population density in the Myanmar amber forest,” said Fu Yanzhe, a member of the research team.

Microscopic analysis also identified differences between the front legs of the males and females that may have played a role during and after mating. In males, a section called the protibia is slightly curved, while it is straight in females. In addition, it features a comb-like structure on its edge, which females do not have.

“By comparing the male’s protibial combs with species in the related family Veliidae, we suggest that the specialized protibial comb of the new fossils functions as a grasping apparatus, likely representing an adaptation to overcome female resistance during struggles,” Huang said.

These paired fossils probably represent a stage of precopulatory struggle or postcopulatory contact guarding. Males used such contact guarding to prolong mating, thereby avoiding sperm competition, according to the researchers.

The specialized morphology and diverse behavior of gerromorphans, including water striders and their relatives, have become hot research topics in evolutionary biology, ecology and even interdisciplinary studies, and have provided a theoretical basis for the development of biomimetic technology on water surface, the researchers noted.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

GT Voice: China remains vital for German firms despite rising competition

Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

Some Western media outlets are keen to hype the competition faced by Volkswagen in the China market, but this is not the whole story. The German carmaker remains by far a giant in China’s car market. This offers a new perspective on competition from Chinese automotive brands, and companies in the broader manufacturing sectors.

It should be noted that pressure is unavoidable in any country. Given the intense competition for limited market space, business activities are constantly accompanied by arduous efforts. Citing Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume’s interview with German newspaper FAZ, Reuters reported on Friday that Volkswagen wants to avoid setting “utopian” goals for its market share in China. So, anything above 10 percent was “very respectable” given the intense competition.

The tone reflects the anxiety of the West over the increasing competition in the manufacturing sector. However, more importantly, it is hoped people can see from Blume’s words the rational attitude and unremitting efforts of Volkswagen in maintaining its market share in China, which reflects the importance of the fast-growing China market for the German carmaker.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, BYD leapfrogged Volkswagen as China’s bestselling car brand for the first time in the first quarter of 2023. Previously, Volkswagen had been reportedly the bestselling brand among automakers in China since at least 2008, when data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center became available. Although Volkswagen faces fierce competition from local brands in China, it would not change the fact that Volkswagen still enjoys high brand awareness among Chinese consumers, while China is also an important market for the German carmaker.

In the late 1970s, China’s auto manufacturing industry was weak, but auto consumption had begun to increase. Against this backdrop, China constantly opened up its market and encouraged multinational enterprises, including Volkswagen, to invest in the country. In the following decades, Volkswagen’s sales in China grew rapidly.

When the global financial crisis of 2007-09 hit, followed by the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010-12, the consumption of automobiles in the US and Europe was negatively affected.

The China market provides tremendous opportunities for Volkswagen and holds an important position in Volkswagen’s global strategy, laying the solid foundation for its performance in the global market. According to Reuters, Volkswagen said in February that group deliveries rose 13.3 percent in January to 698,200 vehicles, with China the leading growth region.

In recent years, China’s manufacturing industry, especially electric vehicle manufacturing, has developed rapidly, but China’s commitment to high-level opening-up has remained unchanged. Foreign investment is welcome and the door to China will only open further.

However, in the US and Europe, trade protectionism is on the rise. Some Westerners are trying hard to contain China’s manufacturing rise and smear China’s economy. They amplify the competition faced by Western companies in China while deliberately overlooking the opportunities offered by the Chinese economy.

According to Western media reports, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit China in mid-April. It’s not at all surprising that some Western media outlets have tried to hype the competition faced by Volkswagen ahead of Scholz’s reported visit. However, a closer look at Volkswagen’s performance in the China market shows that the opportunities outweigh competition. Despite fierce competition, China is still a key market for Volkswagen.

The German government in July 2023 presented a strategy for relations with China that pointed to a need to reduce the risks of economic dependency. This proves that there are more than a few political elites in Germany who are trying to push for “de-risking” from China.

However, this is not the whole picture of public opinion. According to media reports, Germany’s top corporate brass will join Scholz when he visits China later this month, showing that German companies attach great importance to economic and trade cooperation with China. It is hoped Scholz’s reported visit can elevate China-Germany economic relations to new heights and enhance mutual understanding.

Forward-thinking strategies proposed at two sessions as China-proposed BRI embarks on high-quality development for next decade

Cargo ships dock at and leave the Taicang Port in East China’s Jiangsu Province on January 24, 2024. Photo: VCG

At the ongoing two sessions, the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, hot topics that relate to both China and the world have been proposed and discussed. One particular highlight is the discussions over the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has just marked its decade of anniversary last year and is now embarking on the next decade of a new journey for high-quality development.

Over the past decade, the joint construction of the BRI has delivered prosperous results for participating countries. Thanks to the joint initiative, many developing countries have gained increasing access to global markets, eased their financing problems for much-needed infrastructure projects, filled an “infrastructure deficit,” strengthened their comparative advantages, and boosted their capacity for independent economic development, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

Members and deputies of the two sessions, many of whom have direct experience and participation in BRI projects have noted how the initiative has brought about changes to participating countries over the past decade.

On this special occasion, they have also proposed strategies across various sectors, spanning from personnel training to connectivity and green development, while vowing to embrace high-quality development, which aligns with the future trajectory of the initiative.

Talent matters

In addition to daily lectures, one of the most important works for Zhang Shuibo, a professor of the College of Management and Economics of Tianjin University, was to lead his team to carry out major research projects to serve domestic enterprises engaged in the BRI, covering investment and financing, operations, logistics, international engineering contracting among other aspects, based on cultivating high-end talent ahead of “going global.”

Over the past two years, Zhang has held training courses for dozens of enterprises and trained thousands of international engineering management talents.

As a deputy to the 14th NPC, one very important subject for Zhang this year relates to the joint construction of the BRI, he told the Global Times during the two sessions.

As the initiative pursues high-quality development in the next decade, one key aspect needs to be strengthened is the personnel training, with Luban Workshop program being a core.

The workshop, named after Lu Ban, an ancient Chinese woodcraft master, is a Chinese vocational workshop program aims to promote vocational education exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world committed to developing urgently needed technical talents.

The joint construction of the BRI is shifting from scale-oriented development to high-quality development, which poses higher demands on talent, Zhang said.

“To address this, we have introduced a series of policies to promote the cultivation of local talent, aiming to better benefit local development and ensure the efficient operation of projects,” Zhang said.

Luban Workshop Research and Promotion Centers are established in local technical colleges or other educational institutions, and local enterprises are also involved and receive certain subsidies from the government for the training. Currently, there are approximately 200 Luban Workshops worldwide, according to Zhang.

“The standardization and high quality of the curriculum is needed for the next stage of development,” Zhang said.

Specifically, when collaborating with schools in various countries, our curriculum design should be adjusted and optimized according to the industrial development of each country and the needs of Chinese enterprises in countries of the joint construction of the BRI, Zhang said.

However, other challenges persist against the backdrop of the growing complexity of the international situation, with rising geopolitical tensions and a slow economic recovery worldwide.

To address these difficulties, Zhang proposed to ramp up support the BRI by increasing the loans of Chinese yuan in better response to the fiscal difficulties faced by many countries and their insufficient foreign exchange reserves.

“By doing so, it will not only help the countries’ development but also promoting the internationalization of the yuan,” the NPC deputy said.

Stronger connectivity

In jointly building the BRI, connectivity is crucial. Among key projects, railways, as the backbone of integrated transportation systems, are an important component of infrastructure connectivity, as the initiative is deepening its high-quality development, said Liu Zhenfang, chairman of the board of the China State Railway Group Co, who is also a deputy to the 14th NPC, in its proposal read by the Global Times.

The 142.3-kilometer-long high-speed line, connecting Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta and the fourth largest city Bandung, serves as a flagship project and successful example of developing countries in the region working together toward modernization.

Meanwhile, the China-Laos Railway, another iconic project, has become a game changer for the Southeast Asian country, opening it up to greater economic opportunities.

Few transportation networks rival the cross-continental China-Europe freight train in terms of its significant transportation capacity and its contribution to economic and trade growth, bridging the East and the West.

As of the end of January, the China-Europe freight train had operated over 84,000 trips cumulatively, reaching 219 cities in 25 countries across Europe, according to media reports, highlighting its role as a stabilizer of the global supply chain, particularly amid the Red Sea crisis.

Liu said in his proposal that in 2024 that China Railway will fully leverage a coordination mechanism linked to the China-Europe freight train, continuously enhance the transportation capacity of key ports and corridors, expand the operation of scheduled freight trains along the entire route, and promote the cross-continental cargo train to develop toward higher quality, better efficiency, and increased safety.

Moreover, Liu pledged to intensify exchanges this year with international cooperation organizations and foreign railway institutions to promote the internationalization of Chinese railway standards.

In addition to connectivity, green is also an important part of the high-quality development for the BRI. Wang Tongzhou, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of China Communications Construction Co, proposed to further support and encourage research and development and the widespread application of green technologies in order to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption across the entire industry chain under the BRI. “That includes creating a number of exemplary green projects in promoting green development in the joint construction of the BRI,” Wang said.

The achievements under the BRI have provided clear evidence, paving an auspicious path toward the high-quality development of the initiative.

Over the past decade, the Chinese government has signed over 240 cooperation agreements promoting the joint construction of the BRI with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations. This has resulted in a multitude of cooperative projects, establishing the broadest and largest international cooperation platform in the world, said Liu Jieyi, spokesperson for the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, said at a press conference on March 3.

Looking ahead, the prospects for the high-quality construction of the BRI are promising, said Liu.

TSMC’s Japan project should avoid wrong US direction of ‘decoupling’

Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC)’s chip plant in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan expects to reach 60 percent local procurement by 2030, TSMC Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei said during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday, Bloomberg reported.

TSMC’s ambition of localizing procurement in Japan bears a strong imprint of the geopolitical drive by the US to divide the Asian and global semiconductor industry chains. If TSMC’s Japanese factory keeps moving in this wrong direction of “decoupling,” its sustainability will be in question.

TSMC’s production complex in Kumamoto, which became operational in February, is the first plant in Japan for the world’s top contract chip manufacturer. According to Japanese media outlet Nikkei, Japan plans to provide subsidies of more than 1.2 trillion yen ($7.9 billion) for this project. Additionally, TSMC is planning to launch a second plant in Japan that will produce advanced 6-nanometer chips by the end of 2027.

TSMC’s plan to build plants in Japan is only part of a broader global strategy. The company has been building a plant in the US state of Arizona, and it is also reportedly planning to build its first European plant in Germany. Compared with its plans in the US and Europe, its progress in Japan has been relatively smooth due to fewer problems such as a lack of specialized labor.

TSMC’s production layout in Japan, Europe and other places is actually very costly. Although the US, Europe and Japan all seem willing to subsidize and attract TSMC to build chip factories in order to revitalize their domestic chip manufacturing industries, considering the current lag in chip manufacturing in these economies, it will be difficult to boost chip manufacturing by solely depending on a single company like TSMC.

Moreover, there is an even bigger problem in all the chip manufacturing ambitions of the US, Europe and Japan – political interference by the US to divide the global and Asian semiconductor industrial chains.

For example, TSMC’s ambition for localization in Japan seems to be seriously affected by the political interference of the US in the global semiconductor supply chain, and is sliding toward “decoupling.” This is an extremely dangerous trend.

From coercing other countries to impose restrictions on the export of high-end chips and production equipment to China to pressuring other countries to cut off their semiconductor supply chain cooperation with China, the blatant US chip war against China has already caused too much damage to cooperation and development in the global chip industry.

If TSMC’s and Japan’s cooperation continues to succumb to US political pressure, blindly emphasizing the “geopolitical” and “economic security” factors of the projects, and further cooperating with the US semiconductor “decoupling” plan against China, then the sustainability of the projects will face great uncertainty.

If TSMC’s Japanese factory achieves 60 percent local procurement, coupled with the use of US machinery and equipment, it will significantly deviate from the efficient and cost-effective supply chains of the Taiwan island and the Chinese mainland, which will greatly increase TSMC’s Japanese production costs and reduce its competitiveness.

Even if TSMC’s Japanese factories can significantly increase output, they will still face challenges in finding markets under the pressure of the US chip war against China.

It is a reasonable concern that when the originally mutually beneficial semiconductor supply chain in Asia is artificially divided into two by the US – that is, separated from the industrial chain and market in the Chinese mainland – even if TSMC’s performance improves in the short term, this growth is bound to be unsustainable, because the share of the mainland chip market in the global semiconductor sector can’t be – and shouldn’t be – ignored.

Due to China’s strong advantages in emerging industries – artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and electric vehicles, among others – and innovative technology applications, the demand for chips in the vast Chinese mainland market will continue to grow. If TSMC and Japan’s chip-related industries are swayed by the misguided US “decoupling” push, they will definitely miss out on the opportunities in the Chinese mainland market.

Can TSMC’s projects in Japan eliminate the pressure of “decoupling” from the US, achieve a win-win and multi-win situation, and deepen semiconductor industry chain cooperation in Asia? If so, both the Japanese chip industry and TSMC will face bright prospects. It is hoped that Japan’s chip ambitions and the establishment of TSMC’s factory in Japan will not go in the wrong direction of “decoupling.” For the chip sectors in Japan and China’s Taiwan region, depoliticization is the only correct strategy.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]

Second-tier artistic swimming squad grabs 6 golds at World Cup

Photo: Courtesy of organizers

Team China totaled six gold and three silver medals at the Beijing stop of the World Aquatics artistic swimming World Cup, with the young Chinese athletes setting their sights on a major international stage.

Although Team China did not win any gold medals in three events on Sunday, two silver medals are enough to keep the team at the top of the medal table in a competition that attracted nearly 100 elite artistic swimmers from 14 countries and regions.

Among the 11 medal events at stake, host China competed in all the events, but the top-level swimmers of the national team only participated in the Team Free event, while the second-tier national team members competed across the rest of the 10 events.

Sisters Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi, reigning world champions, are the new faces in China’s Team Free squad. Guo Muye, aged 15, is the youngest athlete in the squad but contributed one gold medal in the mixed duet technical with 15-year-old partner Ji Heyue and one silver medal in men’s solo technical.

“For the first-team athletes, it is important to build upon the foundation of the worlds and make adjustments based on the revised rules, including artistic impressions and difficulty of execution,” China’s head coach Zhang Xiaohuan told reporters.

“We are also looking forward to receiving valuable feedback from the judges in this competition. We hope to receive better recognition in terms of artistic impressions.”

Team China achieved its best-ever performance at the worlds this year, winning seven golds, one silver, and one bronze medals across 11 events at the world championships in Doha in February.

As the Olympics approach this year, international events are considered one of the best ways to evaluate athletes’ training results. Zhang remains cautious about China’s prospect at the Paris Olympics.

“Some moves that were possible in Doha will not be seen again,” Zhang told reporters, referring to the rule modifications in the sport. “This change presents a challenge for the team.”

She noted, however, that Chinese athletes are far from getting complacent in the sport.

“Our team currently has a strong sense of crisis and we need to set higher standards for ourselves,” Zhang noted.

“Our main focus at this stage is to improve the quality of our routines under the revised new rules and to prevent injuries and illnesses for the athletes.”

Swimmer Wu Jingyan is among the second-tier squad members who debuted at the World Cup. She told the Global Times that having the opportunity to compete in international competitions motivates her to put even more effort into training.

“It is a great honor to represent China in such an international competition,” the 24-year-old said after Sunday’s Team Acrobatic race. “Participation in the events helped us identify where there is room for improvement, and I think it will boost the whole team to train harder.”

The Water Cube, the venue for swimming events of the 2008 Summer Olympics and redesigned for curling events for the 2022 Winter Olympics, is one of the prominent aquatics venues in China.

The World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 series has four legs this season. After the Beijing event, the series will travel to Paris in France from May 3 to 5, then Markham, Canada, from May 31 to June 2, followed by a Super Final in Budapest, Hungary, from July 5 to 7.

Team China is expected to send their first-team squad to the Paris leg of the event, as the venue of the World Cup event, which was unveiled earlier this week, will also be the venue for the Paris Olympics.

Beijing has previously hosted 35 World Aquatics events, including two editions each of the artistic swimming World Cup events in 2018 and 2019. The city will host the World Aquatics Championships in 2029.