PRESIDENT XI TO DELIVER A SPEECH CELEBRATING SHENZHEN'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY AS SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

President Xi Jinping will attend a grand gathering celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on Wednesday morning.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the meeting, which will be held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.

The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on xinhuanet.com. It will also be rebroadcast simultaneously on major news websites including people.com.cn, cctv.com and china.com.cn, as well as on news apps run by the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television.

DECODING 'DUAL CIRCULATION' STRATEGY

In May, China's central leadership proclaimed that it would "fully develop the advantages of the country's super-large market and the potential for domestic demand to establish a new development pattern featuring domestic and international dual circulations that complement each other".

"Dual circulation" has been the subject of intense discussion within and outside China ever since. Does the announcement signal a fundamental shift in China's growth paradigm or development strategy? Why was this new concept introduced, and what policy changes will it entail?

Initial reform period one of Catch-22

To answer these questions, one should briefly revisit the process of China's reform and opening-up since the late 1970s. Toward the end of that decade, the key hurdle preventing China from taking off economically was a shortage of foreign exchange reserves. Policymakers faced what seemed to be a Catch-22: without foreign reserves, China could not jump-start its exports, and without decent export growth, it could not earn and accumulate the minimum necessary amount of foreign exchange reserves.

In the event, China was lucky. The rise of the original equipment manufacturer (manufacturing inputs) sector in the 1970s gave China a window of opportunity to break through the deadlock. OEM manufacturing began to flourish in China's southeast coastal regions during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

And despite little or no foreign exchange reserves, Chinese OEM enterprises were able to import and process parts and components that were being outsourced by foreign corporations. These final products, with the value added contributed by Chinese enterprises, were then sold in international markets.

FM PROPOSES INITIATIVE TO RESOLVE GULF SECURITY ISSUE

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi unveiled an initiative on Saturday to help resolve security issues facing the Gulf region and the Middle East through political and diplomatic means while also safeguarding the Iran nuclear deal.

During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday in Tengchong, Yunnan province, Wang proposed the establishment of the regional multilateral dialogue platform.

The platform would take into consideration the reasonable security concerns of all parties and facilitate dialogue on an equal footing to enhance mutual understanding, Wang said.

China is open to the form and content of the dialogue and all parties are welcome to join the discussion, Wang added.

There has been a lack of a reliable and normal mechanism and platform on the Iran nuclear deal, and as a major country, China has the responsibility and capability to stabilize and resume order in the Gulf region as well as throughout the Middle East, said Gao Shangtao, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

Such an initiative is an alternative to the "destructive way" pursued by the United States in handling the Iran nuclear issue by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and slapping sanctions on the country, which has affected trade and intensified tensions in the region, Gao said.

It is a constructive idea and a diplomatic effort, he said, adding that the role the platform could play depends on how many countries could promptly participate in it, especially major countries.

Wang stressed that China is always committed to safeguarding the authority and effectiveness of the Iran nuclear deal and opposes any unilateral practices that break it.

The deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015, by Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council−China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States−plus Germany, and the European Union.

He said China will continue to push forward the implementation of the agreement and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and promote a political solution of the Iran nuclear issue.

China is willing to work with Iran and other countries to uphold multilateralism, oppose unilateral bullying, and safeguard international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries, he said.

Zarif said that Iran fully affirms China's role in safeguarding the nuclear deal and is willing to work together with China, Russia and the EU to maintain the effectiveness of the agreement.

Zarif also said that Iran welcomes China's initiative on the regional platform and hopes that relevant parties will show flexibility and jointly maintain regional peace and stability.

OFFICIALS TOLD TO BETTER FIX PROBLEMS

President Xi Jinping has called on young and middle-aged officials to strengthen their capabilities in solving practical problems in order to tackle the current complex situation and complete arduous tasks.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark in a speech in Beijing on Saturday at the opening of a training session for young and middle-aged officials at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

He stressed that advances have always been made throughout history by addressing problems, noting that by leading the people in the revolution, construction and reform, the Party has always focused on solving practical problems in China.

Staying focused on solving problems and making breakthroughs through handling practical problems is one of the most important experiences that enabled the Party and the State to realize historic achievements and changes since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Xi said.

Xi called for concrete achievements in leading the people to achieve prosperity through hard work, stressing better incomes, employment, education, social security, medical insurance, medical services and housing for the people.

External instability and uncertainty are on the rise as the world today experiences major changes unseen in a century, he said.

China has attained major, strategic outcomes in its fight to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but renewed, lasting efforts are required to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating poverty across the country.

Xi said efforts are needed to ensure stability on six fronts−employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and expectations−while maintaining security in six areas−job security, basic living needs, operation of market entities, food and energy, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments.

Xi encouraged officials to face up to problems, be self-motivated and competent, and deliver good results, thus fixing problems and tackling difficulties one after another.

He asked Party organizations at all levels to improve targeted measures for training younger officials and clarify approaches for nurturing talents, therefore making them more capable of solving problems.

CAPTIVE BREEDING OF 45 WILD ANIMALS TO BE PHASED OUT

Captive breeding of 45 types of wild animals, including bamboo rats, will be phased out by the end of this year, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said recently.

The administration recently released a notification classifying 64 wild animals that are banned from consumption in two catalogs to further manage wild animal breeding and guide breeders to explore other business opportunities.

The first catalog includes 45 animals, including bamboo rats, masked palm civets, porcupines and green bamboo snakes, with farms raising them to be closed by the end of this year.

Local forestry departments will only certify a very limited number of farms raising the 45 animals for the purpose of keeping the species alive, the notification said.

Another 19 wild animals, including hedgehogs, guinea pigs, nutrias and cobras, will be allowed to be raised in farms, but stricter regulation of farming and quarantine inspections will be required.

While consumption of the second group of 19 animals is banned, they can be raised for species protection, scientific study, medical use and the pet industry.

The administration urged local forestry and grassland departments to guide farmers to stop captive breeding and finish disposing of their animals by the end of this year.

Gan Yuanchun, a lawyer and an adviser to the Hunan Cuisine Industry Promotion Committee, said many breeders remain worried about economic losses stemming from the ban and the future of their animal-breeding businesses.

"The categorization will serve as a relatively concrete and practical guidance that local authorities can rely on to help breeders leave wild animal breeding," he said.

After the COVID-19 outbreak began late last year, a campaign to ban the eating of wild animals was initiated across the country. On Feb 24, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a resolution banning the trading and consumption of wildlife.

Twenty-five provincial-level regions have launched measures to rectify wild animal breeding and 19 have formulated compensation plans to support farmers who used to raise wild animals, the administration said.

Wild animal breeding has been a key poverty alleviation project in poverty-stricken areas such as parts of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which produces 70 percent of the country's captive-bred snakes and 60 percent of its bamboo rats.

Local authorities have been trying different measures to stop wild animal breeding while also ensuring that farmers' incomes remain sustainable. They include creating new job opportunities, providing skills training, exploring new business opportunities and compensation payments.

In Hezhou, Guangxi, 15 villages that used to raise bamboo rats are shifting their business to the raising of Chinese francolin, a type of game bird, with 110,000 of the birds gradually becoming a major pillar of the local economy.

QINGDAO REPORTS 3 ASYMPTOMATIC CASES

Three asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Qingdao, Shandong province, triggering an emergency response that included nucleic acid testing of all their contacts and disinfection of their living and work places, the city's health authority said on Sunday.

Based on China's criteria for regional coronavirus infection risks, the three cases have not increased Qingdao's risk level, meaning tourists arriving in and leaving the coastal city haven't had to have their health codes changed, experts from the city's health commission said.

After an epidemiological investigation, local experts said the cases were related to wards at the city's pulmonary hospital, where COVID-19 patients who have arrived from overseas are treated in isolation. The hospital has now suspended medical services for people without COVID-19.

Nucleic acid test results on the three asymptomatic patients were positive on Saturday, as were the results of follow-up tests on Sunday. They are under medical observation, the commission said.

One of the three patients, surnamed Han, 58, was admitted to the chest hospital with tuberculosis on Sept 9 and was discharged seven days ago. He went to a hospital near his residence to undergo nucleic acid testing because he planned to return to the chest hospital for a follow-up TB examination on Monday.

The other two patients are a married couple. The wife, a hospital attendant surnamed Jiang, 53, attended to a non-COVID-19 patient at the hospital from July 21 to Sept 29. Her husband, surnamed Shao, 57, is a taxi driver.

Shao told the health authority he wore a mask at work and never talked to passengers. He went to hospital for treatment for a mild stroke on Saturday morning and was required to undergo nucleic acid testing first.

The city has launched an emergency response and traced all people who could have been in close contact with the three patients or their close contacts, and they are undergoing nucleic acid tests.

Hospitals, residential buildings and other places the patients lived and worked have been disinfected.

The center for disease control and prevention in Dalian, Liaoning province, warned city residents not to go to Qingdao unless absolutely necessary. It said residents who have been to Qingdao's Shibei district, where the three patients reside, those who have been in contact with them, patients at Qingdao's chest hospital and overseas returnees who have traveled from Qingdao since Sept 27 should report to their local communities and take necessary preventive measures.

It is the second time Qingdao has reported asymptomatic cases in less than a month. Two stevedores at Qingdao port who had unloaded imported frozen seafood tested positive on Sept 24. A total of 234 people who had been in close contact with them have finished their medical isolation, with negative nucleic acid test results, the city's health authority said on Friday.

OVERSEAS TRANSFERS ADD TO INFECTION RISKS

Transfers at airports overseas may pose a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 as the pandemic continues to evolve and rebound in some parts of the world, experts said.

Compared with a direct flight returning to China, hourslong stopovers at an international airport expose passengers to higher risks of coming into contact with public facilities and people from different countries. Moreover, some international airports do not demand that all passengers have a negative nucleic acid test result for COVID-19, experts said.

"Nations are different in their strength and effectiveness in preventing and controlling the virus' spread, which means at some airports, which can be densely packed, people may stand a higher chance of being infected by the virus," said Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine.

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said previously that flight transfers would increase the chance of infection, mainly owing to close contact with other passengers from different flights and countries, including some patients potentially in the incubation period of the disease.

Statistics from the Shanghai municipal government showed that nearly half of the 102 imported cases of COVID-19 reported in the city last month involved an international flight transfer.

A research paper published in the social sciences journal Risk Analysis showed that public hygiene measures at the world's 10 largest airports, including frequent hand washing and disinfection of public facilities, could reduce the transmission rate of a respiratory pandemic by 37 percent. It said that if such measures were applied to all airports, the rate could decrease by nearly 70 percent.

Experts warned that after touching trays at security checkpoints, ATMs, vending machines, escalator handrails and seat armrests in terminal waiting areas, passengers should wash their hands. They were also urged to wear masks throughout their entire journeys, including in terminals and on shuttle buses during transfers.

Addressing the risk of a respiratory disease virus spreading inside an airplane cabin, the Civil Aviation Administration said the air inside a cabin is refreshed every two to three minutes−even more frequently than in a hospital operating theater or delivery room−and the up-to-down air circulation model in the cabin can reduce the possibility of the virus spreading.

The International Civil Aviation Organization said of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus in 2003 that only those in the two rows in front of and behind a virus carrier in a flight cabin might be infected−but that was only the case when nobody was walking around.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure. - George Carlin