SYNERGY OF YANGTZE DELTA REGION STRESSED

China has vowed to step up the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta in order to make the region the pacesetter of the new development pattern with the domestic market as the mainstay and the domestic and foreign markets complementing each other.

During his inspection tour of Anhui province last week, President Xi Jinping called for a stronger awareness of the status and function of the delta-which involves Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces and Shanghai-in China's economic and social development in order to promote the region's integrated development amid grave and complex domestic and international circumstances.

Xi made the remark while presiding over a symposium on advancing the integrated development of the region in Hefei, capital of Anhui. The symposium was attended by Vice-Premier Han Zheng and other senior officials of the related departments from the central government as well as related provincial-level officials.

Noting that the region should rise to be the trailblazer of China's technological and industrial innovation, Xi said the entire delta region should not only provide quality products but also serve as a source of high-level technologies to support the country's high-quality development.

Xi underscored the need to make faster progress in developing the region to a new height of reform and opening-up. Efforts should be made to improve the business environment in line with world-class standards and attract talent and enterprises from home and abroad with a development environment which has a high level of openness, services, innovation and efficiency, he said.

The president also called for efforts to promote trade and investment facilitation and strive to make the delta region an important bridge between the international and domestic markets.

Xi's remarks came as the country is striving to accelerate the establishment of a "dual circulation" development pattern, in which the domestic economic cycle plays a leading role while the international economic cycle is its extension and supplement. The development pattern aims to cope with an external environment characterized by rising protectionism, a global economic downturn and a shrinking international market.

China unveiled a plan for the integrated development of the delta in December as part of its national strategies for integrated regional development, which also involve integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

GRASSLAND AIDS NATION'S GREEN DEVELOPMENT DRIVE

During the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, in March 2019, President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, participated in a discussion held by deputies from Inner Mongolia.

Xi said the region's environment should be protected firmly and strictly, without any exceptions. He also called for stronger protection efforts in line with the principle of working out measures that suit local conditions.

"We should explore new ways for high-quality development, which prioritize ecological protection and the green economy," Xi said. "More efforts should also be made to protect the ecosystem and guard the beautiful scenery on China's northern border."

China is a country rich in grassland resources. Its natural grasslands, the world's biggest, cover an area of 3.92 million square kilometers-12 percent of the global total-according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The country's grasslands occupy more than 40 percent of its total land area-even larger than the combined area of farmland and forests, said Liu Jiawen, deputy director of the administration's Grassland Surveillance Center.

However, the grasslands suffered from serious overgrazing, leading to degradation and desertification in the 1980s.

Overgrazing, drought and insufficient protection resulted in severe degradation and desertification in Xiliin Gol League. In Saruultuya Gastaa, 70 percent of the grassland suffered from degradation.

To prevent grassland desertification, China's central government has prohibited grazing in some areas and placed limits on the practice in others.

Action taken by the Inner Mongolia Forestry Department in the early 1980s included limiting areas where grazing was allowed and encouraging the feeding of livestock with fodder.

WE WILL SUE TO PROTECT FIRM, SAYS TIKTOK

ByteDance, owner of the popular video platform TikTok, says it will file a lawsuit against the US government to protect its rights and interests.

"Over the past year we have earnestly sought to communicate with the US government and provided solutions regarding its concerns," the company said in a statement on Sunday. "But the US administration disregarded facts, disobeyed necessary legal procedures and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.

"To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded, and that our company and users are treated fairly, we announce that we will officially file a lawsuit to safeguard our interests."

TikTok said it started this move, over which there has been speculation for weeks, because it has no other choice.

US authorities have repeatedly accused TikTok of misusing data from US users since last year, but the company maintains that its data in the US is housed in the country.

"Even though we strongly disagree with the administration's concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution," a TikTok spokesman, Josh Gartner, said earlier, arguing that an executive order issued by President Donald Trump deprived it of due process.

"What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses."

Trump signed the directive on Aug 6 blocking all transactions with Byte-Dance in an effort to "address the national emergency". However, The New York Times reported the following day that even the Central Intelligence Agency assessed that there is no evidence showing China had intercepted TikTok's data or used the app to intrude into users' mobile phones.

Responding to the directive, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said that so-called freedom and security are pretexts for "digital gunboat policy" that some US politicians pursue.

'DUAL CIRCULATION' POLICY TO BOOST ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

China's strategic focus on strengthening self-sufficiency while deepening opening-up will cement its economic resilience and provide global investors with stability despite the lingering uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, analysts said on Sunday.

Their comments were based on the country's recently strengthened commitment to establishing a "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and foreign markets can boost each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

"Dual circulation" is widely seen as the most important policy direction after the well-known supply-side structural reform drive, and will likely serve as the policy framework of the upcoming 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), said Li Lin, chief economist at Beijing-based fintech conglomerate CreditEase.

The pattern focuses on fully utilizing domestic resources to empower the economy while furthering opening-up efforts, which marks a difference from the past development mode featuring rather heavy reliance on external demand and production factors, especially in natural resources and high-end technology, Li said.

At a symposium with entrepreneurs in July, President Xi Jinping explained the consideration behind the proposed new pattern: In the face of an external environment characterized by rising protectionism, a global economic downturn, and a shrinking international market, China must give full play to the advantages of its huge domestic market to boost its economy and the global recovery.

Efforts should be made to elevate the modernization level of the industrial and supply chains, promote scientific and technological innovation, and speed up breakthroughs in core technologies, Xi said.

Cheng Shi, chief economist at corporate financing platform ICBC International, said the "dual circulation" development pattern will help the Chinese economy better defend itself against protracted external uncertainties.

"The focus on improving domestic economic circulation will make China's development less confined to unstable external factors but remain deeply blended with and benefit from international economic exchanges," Cheng said.

On the one hand, by attaching greater importance to expanding domestic demand and addressing weak links in the supply system, the "dual circulation" pattern will make China's economy less dependent on external factors, he said.

China's more resilient economy under the "dual circulation" pattern will help the nation's equities better withstand volatility in overseas markets, analysts said, attracting global investors seeking relatively stable returns.

FLOWER CENTER IN KUNMING BLOOMS AGAIN

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, Yunnan province, springs to life as the work day gets into full swing.

A barometer of China's floral industry, the largest freshly cut flower market in Asia has regained its hustle and bustle as the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control.

By 9 am, vehicles packed with boxes of flowers from across the province have arrived at the Dounan International Flora Auction Trading Center, which is part of the market. The flowers are unloaded, examined, graded and placed in storage racks in preparation for promotions and sales.

At noon, livestreaming hosts employed by dealers across the country begin their work promoting the flowers. They stroll around the market explaining via their mobile phones the features and qualities of the different varieties.

Three hours later, the auction begins and hundreds of flower dealers submit their bids. Every day, about 1 million stems of freshly cut flowers are sold at the auction.

At 4 pm, the main flower market, which has become a popular tourist attraction in Kunming, opens to retailers and ordinary customers.

Around 10 pm, food and fruit vendors start arriving in the streets around the center, setting up stalls and turning the area into a vibrant night market.

At midnight, workers from transport companies are still busy packing flowers into boxes, loading them onto trucks and taking them to the airport and train stations.

The frantic pace continues for another two hours and it's only at about 3 am that the market finally becomes quiet.

However, after a few hours, the flower growers in their trucks start arriving as a new day dawns and the whole process starts again.

CHINA UNVEILS WORLD'S FIRST SELF-DRIVING TRAM

World's first self-driving energy-storage tram that can be used in airport mass rapid transit, or MRT system, has rolled off the production line of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co Ltd.

This high-energy super-capacitor tram has seven carriages and can carry maximum of 500 passengers. Adopting innovative self-driving technology, it can charge completely within 30 seconds, and run five kilometers, with maximum speed of 70 km/h.

The tram will be used at the Kunming Changshui International Airport, said Nie Wenbin, general manager of the research and development department of Urban Rail System under CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co Ltd.

TWO FUGITIVES RETURNED TO CHINA FROM SPAIN

Two fugitives on Interpol's Red Notice list were returned to China from Spain on Sunday with the assistance of the Chinese embassy in Spain and Spanish police.

One of the fugitives, surnamed Qiu, is suspected of embezzlement. The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement issued on Monday that he took advantage of his position and worked with others to change the beneficiary of a client's insurance policy. After applying to terminate the policy, Qiu allegedly transferred the refund to his private account and fled to Spain in April 2012.

The other fugitive, a fraud suspect surnamed Qi, allegedly defrauded victims of money by repeatedly mortgaging fictitious assets. The ministry said Qi fled to Spain in August 2014.

Spanish police arrested Qi in July 2018 and Qiu in September last year after Interpol issued Red Notices for the two men at the request of the Ministry of Public Security. Spain agreed last month to extradite the men to China and they were then handed over to Chinese police.

A ministry official said the extradition of the two men demonstrated the firm determination of the Chinese public security authorities to pursue fugitives from justice. China's public security organs will continue to strengthen international law enforcement cooperation, expand multilateral law enforcement cooperation channels, and promote the work of tracking down fugitives abroad, the official said.

CHENGDU JUMPS IN GLOBAL RANKING

The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) released its latest world cities rankings on August 21, with six Chinese cities ranked in Alpha level, or first-tier city level. Southwestern Chinese city Chengdu, given its high connection with other cities, jumped 12 places from the 2018 ranking to the Beta+ level and took the No 59 spot worldwide.

Created in the Geography Department at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, the GaWC network focuses upon research into the external relations of world cities. China's Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing ranked as Alpha+ cities in this year's rankings, while Guangzhou, Taipei, and Shenzhen were among the Alpha-list.

As the only Chinese city ranked in the Beta+ level, Chengdu's skyrocket rise can be attributed to its strong connection with other cities in China and the globe, said Ben Derudder, associate director at GaWC, to National Business Daily.

Mass infrastructure construction in China has largely increased the country's connectivity with the rest of the world, Derudder said, noting that the dual airports mode in Chengdu will enhance its transportation capability to a large extent.

According to the NBD report, more than 300 Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or branches in Chengdu, making the city high-demanding in international logistics channels. Total import-export volume of Chengdu jumped 23.5 percent in the first half of the year, the highest in growth among cities with total foreign trade value above 10 million yuan ($1.45 million).

Chengdu's Shuangliu International Airport registered about 3,237,000 passengers in June this year, ranking first in passenger volume around the country. Flight movements in that month reached 27,000, topping the nation for two consecutive months.

The city also saw 40.9 percent growth in international trains operation to 1,810 trains during the Jan to June period, with the running of China-Europe railway trains reporting an increase of 57.7 percent.

The city's innovative and livable ability all indicate its positive economic development, said Derudder, adding that the quality of the city's natural endowments will enhance the pleasure of life in Chengdu.

COVID-19 VACCINE GROWN IN INSECT CELLS APPROVED FOR CLINICAL TRIALS

A COVID-19 vaccine grown in insect cells has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration for clinical trials on Friday, Science Daily reported.

The recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University, targets the spike protein receptor-binding domain (S-RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 to produce neutralizing antibodies to block the virus from infecting human cells.

The vaccine is produced using insect cells, a first in China. Genes of the SARS-CoV-2 are inserted to insect cells, which can multiply rapidly in culture solution and function as "factories" to produce high-quality recombinant proteins and purify them for use in the vaccine. This technique can easily realize mass production and bring the product to market faster.

The safety of using insect cells to produce recombinant protein vaccines has been proved. Cervical cancer and flu vaccines produced with this technique have already hit the market in some countries in the Europe and the US.

A research paper on the recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine has been published on Nature magazine in late July. According to the paper, the vaccine has been effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections in tests on animals including monkeys, with no obvious side effects.

As Chengdu sticks to its growth tracks, the city may see positive changes in next GaWC ranking, the associate director added.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do. - John Holt