Drainage of 210-million-cubic-meter standing water in the flooded Tuanzhou dike region due to spillover from the rain effected Dongting Lake in Central China’s Hunan Province fully started on Tuesday morning, after the breached dike was successfully repaired late on Monday night, thanks to on-site rescuers racing against time to plug the 226-meter breach within 77 hours, well ahead of schedule. 

Drainage equipment was promptly dispatched and deployed to the flooded Tuanzhou township, Huarong county in Hunan Province. As of Tuesday morning, a variety of submersible equipment, electric pumps, along with other necessary drainage tools had been delivered to the Tuanzhou embankment to carry out drainage operations. 

At around 7 am on Tuesday, a team specializing in handling waterlogging from the Hunan provincial firefighting and rescue force arrived at the Tuanzhou embankment to start drainage work.

China’s National Fire and Rescue Administration also dispatched firefighting and rescue forces from Central China’s Hubei Province, Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality and Guizhou Province to the scene on Tuesday morning to provide cross-provincial support. 

Drainage work deployment began on late Monday night to lower the level of the standing water within the flooded Tuanzhou dike region, in order to reduce the flood control pressure on a 14.35-kilometer-long embankment. 

Multiple cases of dike piping were identified along the embankment on Monday morning, with more than 300 armed police officers, firefighters, and other rescue personnel urgently dispatched to address the situation, effectively and promptly controlling the piping hazard. 

As of Monday evening, a total of 24 hazardous incidents such as piping and water seepage reported along the embankment had all been resolved, Zhu Dongtie, director of Hunan Provincial Department of Water Resources said during a press briefing on Monday evening, noting that as the time extends, the pressure on the embankment will increase considerably.

On late Monday night at 10:31 pm, rescue personnel successfully sealed the breached dike at China’s second-largest freshwater lake, from which a total of 210 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to the volume of water of 15 West Lakes, remained within the Tuanzhou dike region, flooding 47.64 square kilometers out of the region, forcing six villages and one community with a total of 7,680 residents to vacate their homes. 

In order to alleviate the flood defense pressure on “the second line of defense” and quickly restore normal activity within the flooded Tuanzhou dike region, there remains an urgent need to lower the water level inside the embankment and discharge remaining floodwater. 

Experts suggested that the daily drop in water level should not exceed 30 centimeters in a bid to drain the standing water as quickly as possible meanwhile ensuring the safety of the dike, Central China Television (CCTV) reported on Monday. 

Calculated according to the area of 50 square kilometers of Tuanzhou dike region, the daily volume of drainage is estimated to be around 15 million cubic meters of water. Since the terrain of Tuanzhou dike region is characterized by being higher on both sides and lower in the middle, the standing water in the higher terrain will be drained faster while water pooling in lower terrain will be drained more slowly, with approximately a total of 17 days needed to drain all the water in the region, according to CCTV. 

China’s Ministry of Water Resources has required to thoroughly implement all follow-up response measures including continuously analyzing and assessing potential risks such as the prolonged high-water levels as well as the piping, seepage and slope failures at the Dongting dike and other dikes. 
Local officials also reminded the public to remain vigilant for new flood warnings during the drainage process, noting that emergency response tasks remain complex and challenging. 

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's second 10,000 ton-class hospital ship recently embarked on a voyage to islands and reefs in the South China Sea to conduct medical rounds and rescue exercises, with experts saying on Thursday that the vessel will enhance the PLA Navy's logistics capabilities and provide extra public security goods to the international community.

The hospital ship Silkroad Ark set out from a naval port in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province on Wednesday to conduct medial rounds in the South China Sea, including islands and reefs of Xisha Qundao (also known as Xisha Islands) and Nansha Qundao (also known as Nansha Islands) such as Yongxing Dao (also known as Yongxing Island) and Yongshu Jiao (also known as Yongshu Reef), as well as islands and reefs along the southern coast of the mainland, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Thursday.

During the voyage, troops stationed on islands and reefs will board the hospital ship to receive diagnoses and treatment, and the ship's medical staff will also disembark from the ship to make rounds of visits to the troops' combat positions, CCTV reported.

The vessel will also conduct exercises for rescuing the wounded at sea, the report said.

The mission demonstrates that the Silkroad Ark is now in active service with the PLA Navy, observers said.

The Silkroad Ark is the second 10,000 ton-class far-seas capable hospital ship domestically developed by China, after the Peace Ark. The Silkroad Ark shares the same design as the Peace Ark but has a larger displacement and a longer endurance, according to CCTV.

In wartime, it will conduct maritime rescue and evacuation missions, while in peacetime, it will engage in medical rounds for residents and troops on islands and reefs, deliver international humanitarian aid services, join major disaster relief and emergency medical rescue operations, as well as participate in foreign military medical exchange and cooperation missions, CCTV reported.

Amid tensions in the South China Sea, the Silkroad Ark's voyage will provide strong logistics support and boost the morale of Chinese frontline personnel, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

The move will also demonstrate China's actual jurisdiction and control over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, the expert said.

Chinese military expert Zhang Junshe told the Global Times on Thursday that the Silkroad Ark and the Peace Ark will enable the PLA Navy to deploy two hospital ships in two different regions, contributing to overall combat readiness.

Both vessels are far seas-capable, meaning that they can sail to other parts of the world and provide humanitarian aid, fulfilling China's international obligations as a responsible major country, Zhang said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Umaro Sissoco Embalo, president of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, in Beijing on Wednesday.

China's stable economic growth and opening-up will continue to make the country an engine for global growth and promising destination for foreign investment. China welcomes foreign enterprises to continue to invest in the country, deepen their presence and be successful, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.

The remarks came following the European Commission recently upgrading its forecast for China's 2024 economic growth to 4.8 percent, up by 0.2 percentage points compared with its previous projection.

In the first quarter of the year, the Chinese economy got off to a strong start, with GDP growth hitting 5.3 percent year-on-year. In April, the country's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the domestic manufacturing sector was reported at 50.4. Last month, the country's foreign trade soared 8 percent to 3.64 trillion yuan, hitting a new high compared with corresponding historical period, official data showed.

The upward recovery momentum has made the international community positive on the Chinese economy and increase investment in China. Recently, international financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS have upgraded their forecasts for China's economic growth this year.

The Asian Development Bank data estimated China will account for 46 percent of growth in developing Asia in 2024-25.

Foreign investors' confidence in China is on the rise. The country improved its ranking as an attractive destination to invest over the next three years, jumping to the third place from the seventh in 2023, and continuing to lead emerging markets, according to a report recently released by consulting firm Kearney.

China seeks development amid continued opening-up, and welcomes the world to share China's opportunities, Wang said at a regular press conference. China's stable economic growth and continuous opening-up will make the country a global economic growth engine and a promising investment for companies from all countries, said the spokesperson.

While external forces have complicated relations among China, Japan and South Korea, the new challenges facing regional economic development have also spurred them to seek new avenues for cooperation in the current global political and economic landscape. This has been a key factor in the increasing signs of warming trilateral cooperation.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Japan Business Federation and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade plan to co-host a trilateral business summit later this month in Seoul, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.

The gathering has been held since 2009 with the goal of expanding Northeast Asian economic cooperation and exchanges. Most recently, the event was held in 2019 in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Although the resumption of the gathering has not been officially confirmed, the eagerness of South Korea to advance trilateral cooperation is palpable. However, the future of trilateral cooperation will ultimately depend on the determination of Japan and South Korea to expand their cooperation and their ability to resist pressure from the US.

There is no question that China, Japan and South Korea possess the necessary foundation for economic and trade cooperation. Enhancing economic cooperation among the three countries is not only essential for regional development, but will also be crucial in promoting peace and prosperity in East Asia and globally. However, it is geopolitical factors, rather than economic considerations, that have impeded their collaboration.

As a result of the recent "decoupling" push by the US, Japan and South Korea, as key Asian allies of the US, have aligned their stance with the US on various issues, including taking a tough approach toward China in areas such as supply chains, science and technology. However, this misjudgment has had a significant impact on their own economies and trade.

For instance, South Korea's exports decreased 7.4 percent year-on-year in 2023, and it also recorded a trade deficit of $18 billion with China in 2023, its first such bilateral shortfall with China in 31 years, according to media reports.

Facing growing economic pressure and risks from following the US "decoupling" push, Japan and South Korea appear to be reassessing the significance of their relationships with China and are more inclined to enhance communication with China.

However, to achieve effective trilateral communication and cooperation, Japan and South Korea need not only to demonstrate sincerity in improving relations, but more importantly, the three parties need to find innovative ways to collaborate amid the US push for "decoupling" and "breaking chains," as failure to do so will result in consequences for all parties involved.

Enhancing mutual trust and promoting cooperation can only be achieved through the establishment of more frequent dialogue and communication mechanisms. In order to resist US pressure, China, Japan and South Korea could lessen their reliance on a single external market by enhancing cooperation within a multilateral framework. One way to achieve this is by expediting negotiations for the China-Japan-South Korea free trade agreement to broaden collaboration in trade, investment, technology exchanges and environmental protection. Additionally, cooperation could be bolstered within the ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea mechanism to promote the growth of the entire region.

In terms of mitigating risks, China, Japan and South Korea could focus on diversifying their supply chains by identifying alternative sources and improving the connectivity of their internal supply chains.

Additionally, they can address external pressures through policy coordination and information sharing, while also fostering cultural and talent exchanges to seek mutually beneficial solutions that uphold their respective national interests.

Moreover, the three can strengthen cooperation in some non-sensitive or non-strategic areas, such as environmental protection, climate change, renewable energy and public health.

Only by working together can the three countries achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. There is no alternative. Despite the challenges, it is crucial to resist the pressure by the US as a way to promote cooperation and avoid losses by the three parties. As East Asia remains the most vital engine of the global economy, the way in which these three countries collaborate will significantly influence global development.

EHang Holdings, an autonomous aerial vehicle technology company based in China, announced on Monday that its pilotless electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft EH216-S successfully completed its first passenger-carrying demonstration flight in Abu Dhabi, marking the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Middle East. 

The EH216 series pilotless eVTOL aircraft performed several autonomous flights at the Emirates Falcons Aviation Club in Al Ali, Abu Dhabi with the approval by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE. 

"After obtaining approval for the demo flights carrying passengers and completing the inaugural flight, we will closely collaborate with the GCAA and the Civil Aviation Administration of China to accelerate the commercialization of our unmanned aircraft in the UAE. This will mark a significant milestone for Abu Dhabi and the global air mobility industry," Hu Huazhi, chief executive of EHang, was quoted as saying in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

EHang's inaugural manned flight of the eVTOL in the UAE not only signifies the advancement of China's drone technology but also underscores growing international cooperation in the field of low-altitude economy.

China's low-altitude economy has been included in the new quality productive forces, according to the Government Work Report for 2024.

The EHang Intelligent EH216-S stands as the world's pioneering eVTOL aircraft to obtain all three certifications - Type Certificate (TC), Airworthiness Certificate (AC), and Production Certificate (PC). Capable of fully recharged within two hours, the EH216-S boasts a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour, with a flight endurance of 25 minutes and a designed range of 30 kilometers.

The pilotless eVTOL aircraft feature a compact fuselage, high redundancy design and intelligent cluster management, enabling safety and efficiency as well as scalable operations, in order to provide safe, autonomous, and eco-friendly air mobility.

Additionally, the EH216-F (for high-rise firefighting) and EH216-L (for aerial logistics) demonstrated their debut flights in the UAE too, showcasing a diverse range of UAM use scenarios of the pilotless eVTOL aircraft.

A technician inspects an automated production line at a local new-energy technology company in Gaoyou city, East China's Jiangsu Province, on May 12, 2024. In recent years, Jiangsu has become a major production base of solar photovoltaic panels that sell well at home and abroad. Photo: VCG

Weighing a total of 31.5 kilograms, the sixth batch of scientific samples that was returned to Earth by China’s Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship has been delivered to scientists in Beijing on Wednesday. A day prior to that, the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. 

The new batch of space samples include 32 types of life experimental specimens like human osteoblasts, a major substance for bone formation, protein crystals and organic molecules. 

Another 18 types of material samples such as high-temperature and extravehicular exposed materials are all contributed to this new batch of off world discoveries. The samples collected will serve around 23 different scientific projects.  

On Wednesday, the precious scientific cargo was handed to researchers at the Technology and Engineering Centre for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Science. A process of biological analysis including the transcriptome sequencing and proteomic researches will now be carried out by experts. 

A study of biological mechanisms of cells in a microgravity environment was conducted to assist better understand disease prevention and intervention. Future analysis on collected protein samples may also provide scientific support for new medicine and vaccine development.  

Technical staff from the space program also expect that collected material samples from space can enhance China’s researches on optimizing resource utilization of lunar soil. 

China’s Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship mission marks a new chapter in human-space success following the spacecraft’s taikonauts returning in good health. The taikonauts, Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin had been in orbit for 187 days before returning to earth. 

Amid the Shenzhou-17 mission, taikonauts completed the first extravehicular maintenance task in the history of China’s space program. 

“I believe that the shenzhou-18 crew will succeed us to complete the follow-up mission successfully. I am more convinced that in the near future, we will not only return to the space, but also let the Chinese space exploration go deeper and deeper. China’s aerospace industry is always worth looking forward to,” Tang Hongbo told media. 

Global hot tourist destinations will welcome a large number of Chinese tourists during the upcoming May Day holidays from May 1 to May 5. The return of Chinese tourists will greatly boost local economic growth through travel spending, analysts said, noting that China, with its growing consumption power, remains a major contributor to global growth.

China is one of the largest tourist sources and host countries in the world, and the expected boom in China's outbound and inbound tourism will continue to play a crucial role in the economic recovery of global tourism, industry observers said.

On several travel platforms, outbound travel bookings for the May Day holidays increased significantly, even on the high base set last year, with some services witnessing an increase of nearly 100 percent.

Bookings for international hotels, air tickets, car rentals and other bookings have far exceeded that during the May Day holidays in 2023, according to a report by Fliggy, a domestic travel platform under Alibaba, sent to the Global Times. 

So far, the number of outbound cruise trip bookings has increased by more than 16 times year-on-year, and the products of some routes have been sold out on Fliggy. Ticket bookings for overseas amusement parks and scenic spots grew more than 90 percent. 

Meanwhile, there has been a rapid increase in bookings for local travel experiences, such as snorkelling in Thailand's Similan Islands to see the underwater world and hot air balloon rides in Turkey, on Fliggy.

Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the US, France, Vietnam and other countries are among the hottest outbound destinations for Chinese tourists during the May Day holidays, according to a report by Trip.com Group sent to the Global Times.

Thanks to the resumption of international routes and the improvement of flight supply, the outbound travel cost performance is higher than the May Day holidays in 2023.  The per capita purchase price of international air tickets fell by 19 percent year-on-year on Fliggy.

Many airliners have announced an increase in capacity for international routes. China Southern Airlines has launched a new route from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Riyadh and increased the frequency of flights between Beijing's Daxing and Macao to once a day. China Eastern Airlines has resumed the route from Daxing to Kuala Lumpur, while China United Airlines plans to open international routes to Russia, Japan and South Korea during the peak season. South Korea's Jeju Airlines has settled in Daxing airport, providing more choices for passengers.

The Global Times learned from Beijing Daxing International Airport that the average number of daily inbound and outbound passenger trips at the airport is expected to exceed 14,000 during the May Day holidays. 

Global tourism market boosted

Chinese outbound and inbound tourism is expected to accelerate in 2024, due to visa facilitation and improved air capacity, according to a forecast report released in January by UN Tourism, a United Nations agency responsible for tourism.

On Monday, China's Embassy in Georgia announced that the mutual visa waiver agreement between the two countries will come into effect on May 28, expanding the number of China's visa-free partners.

So far, China has concluded visa-free agreements with more than 150 countries covering different passports. 

Since the beginning of 2024, China's tourism sector has soared compared with the average level of the international market, and there are great expectations both at home and abroad for China's tourism market, analysts noted.

According to a forecast by the China Tourism Academy, the number of outbound trips by Chinese tourists will reach 130 million in 2024. 

This figure is close to the number of Chinese outbound tourist trips in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, which stood at 155 million. 

Chinese tourists spent $133.8 billion on outbound tourism in 2019, with per capita consumption of $863, ranking first in the world in outbound tourism expenditure, accounting for 23.8 percent of global total, according to statistics from UN Tourism.

Analysts said that China could regain the crown of tourism expenditure in 2024. The 2019 figures clearly show why global tourism markets are eager for the return of Chinese tourists. China remains an engine and a contributor to global economic growth. 

According to official data, China's contribution to global economic growth is approximately 30 percent, underscoring the country's central role in the world's economic system.

"With their strong spending power, Chinese outbound tourists will significantly boost the global tourism market," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang also noted that tourism is not a one-time consumption activity, and will drive the development of a series of related industries, such as catering, entertainment and retail. 

"This spillover effect can further magnify the driving role of tourism on economic growth through consumption," said Wang.

Momentum of consumption

Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times that consumer spending could hit a new high during the May Day holidays in China, boosted by several shopping festivals and trade-in activities, which will further boost the country's economic growth.

"Consumption is a key link in domestic economic circulation and an important engine of economic growth," Zhang Lingyun, a member of the academic committee of the China Tourism Academy, told the Global Times on Monday.

Experts said that there is still potential for further growth in consumption after a nearly 5 percent growth in the first quarter, and the momentum of consumption will provide new impetus to the economic growth of the world's second-largest economy and refute "Peak China" narrative hyped by some Western observers and media.

According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's total retail sales of consumer goods rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to 12.03 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) in the first quarter of 2024, indicating a steady expansion in consumption after a surge during the Spring Festival holidays in February.

"What boosted China's strong consumption power is government policy promotion and social security. To meet people's aspirations for a better life, China is shifting to a consumption-oriented economy," said Zhang.

Analysts also pointed out that the increase in consumption reflected spending power. In the first quarter, the per capita disposable income nationwide was 11,539 yuan, a nominal increase of 6.2 percent over the same period in 2023, and a real increase of 6.2 percent after deducting price factors, according to the NBS.

The increase in disposable income comes from China's stable economy, which also explains why the yuan maintains its resilience in the foreign exchange market, while multiple currencies including the yen, won and rupee continue to depreciate against the US dollar.

Dozens of foreign diplomats commended the expertise and efficiency of China's grassroots lawmaking process, while rejecting the notion that the Western model is the only form of democracy, as they visited a local legislative liaison station in Beijing on Friday.

On Friday afternoon, ambassadors and diplomats from 36 countries visited a local legislative liaison station in Beijing's Chaoyang District, where they held meetings with grassroots lawmakers and observed a fundamental step of China's whole-process people's democracy.

The Nanmofang Township Legislative Liaison Station visited by the foreign envoys is one of the 43 legislative liaison stations in Chaoyang District, and is one of the most grassroots institutions in the Chinese legislative system. Established by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Chaoyang District, it is where grassroots deputies discuss legislative drafts and collect suggestions from the public.

During the visit, the foreign diplomats audited a consultation meeting on the Law on Deputies to the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses, which was attended by grassroots deputies from all walks of life.

After the consultation meeting, they took part in a symposium with the deputies and officials from the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Chaoyang District, sharing their views, questions and observations of China's grassroots legislative process.

The ambassadors interviewed by the Global Times said that it is their first time to observe China's whole-process people's democracy at the grassroots level, and they are impressed by the level of expertise and efficiency, and diversity in participation.

"This is the first time that I've had the privilege and the opportunity to observe a lower level of the People's Congress," Michael Campbell, Nicaragua's Ambassador to China, told the Global Times after the event. "We've had the chance to see that the whole-process people's democracy model has been improving, which is very important."

Campbell said he was impressed by the diversity in the grassroots legislation in terms of the backgrounds of the participants. "You have professors, you have doctors, you have lawyers … Everybody was debating on the same bill that will eventually go to the upper level," he said. "When the bill reaches the national level, it already has the suggestions of all walks of life. So when it's finally approved, everybody is willing to implement it."

Campbell, who has also been invited to the national two sessions - the annual legislative and political consultative sessions - in March, believes that China's whole-process people's democracy will continue to strengthen and improve, as everybody has their voice to make China better.
China has more than 2.77 million lawmakers at five levels of legislative bodies. Among them, there are less than 3,000 national deputies, while county and township-level deputies account for about 95 percent of the total number of lawmakers. The vast majority of these grassroots deputies, or 94.5 percent of the total, are directly elected.

Abu Bakarr Karim, the Sierra Leone Ambassador to China, and Anne Lafortune, Seychelles Ambassador to China, both described what they witnessed as "impressive."

"You can actually see the level of consultation that takes place at the grassroots level," Karim told the Global Times. "I was impressed by the level of expertise."

Karim noted that he would like to communicate with his local parliament back in his country about his observations and discuss whether they can learn more from it.

Lafortune said she was always aware of China's whole-process democracy but has never seen it up close as she did during the visit.

"I was impressed by the different ways that the grassroots people are able to voice their opinion," she said. "It has shown that China is really committed to making sure its people are actually heard."

Lafortune noted that there are many models of effective democracy, and each country can see their own way to approach it. "China is moving forward. This version apparently fits China," she said.

Campbell, the Nicaraguan Ambassador, noted that it is obvious that the "Western model of democracy" is not the only definition of democracy.

"It is one of the greatest mistakes that the West is making right now - instead of investing in their model, they are busy promoting false narratives related to the democracy of other countries," he told the Global Times. "Each country has to decide what is most appropriate for them."

One of the most important things about China is that it respects the democracy model of other countries, he said, while Western democracy is promoting interventionism, warmongering and false narratives.