A zoo in Central China's Henan Province has introduced hotel rooms featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that allow guests an up-close view of tigers, sparking public concerns over safety.
Located in Qinyang, Henan Province, the Hesheng Forest Zoo is offering 30 “tiger-view rooms,” with these rooms situated within the tiger observation area, Beijing News reported. In addition to the hotel accommodations, the observation area also contains the tigers' living quarters, which house Siberian tigers, Bengal golden tigers, and white tigers, according to the report.

Guests are able to view two to three tigers through the transparent glass windows from a single room, Beijing Daily reported, citing a staff member from the zoo.

Online booking platforms show that a tiger-view room is a twin-bedded standard room of 25 to 35 square meters, priced at 168 yuan ($24.65) and includes two tickets to the zoo.

This unique accommodation has drawn widespread attention from netizens. Some expressed curiosity and called on those who have stayed there to share their experience, while others raised concerns about the quality of lodging given the low price. 

Several people expressed concern over safety. The zoo addressed the concerns, stating that the viewing area and the tigers’ living quarters are separated by three layers of professional glass, ensuring complete safety, Beijing Daily reported.

According to the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau of Qinyang, the “tiger-view rooms” have met safety standards and passed local inspection, based on information provided by the Xingwan town people's government, the responsible regulatory body, according to Beijing News.

The report also noted that the zoo is a privately operated facility. Corporate information platform Tianyancha shows that the zoo, founded in 2021, is an enterprise primarily engaged in the entertainment business.

Several netizens also raised concerns over whether the operation of the tiger-view rooms will affect the tigers’ daily lives.

Zhang Minghai, director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration Feline Research Center and Professor at the College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, was quoted by Beijing Daily as saying that whether tigers’ daily lives are disrupted mainly depends on whether their activity space is restricted and whether the materials of the barrier facilities could harm the animals.

“If both of these factors are acceptable and the associated facilities meet standards, these ‘tiger-view rooms’ will generally not cause additional adverse effects on the tigers,” Zhang added.

Zhang also said that the protection and utilization of wild animals are mutually reinforcing, with protection as the prerequisite for utilization. “It would be ideal if the revenue generated can be used to improve the tigers’ welfare and form a virtuous cycle,” he said, according to Beijing Daily.

America's ability to understand and manage its most consequential strategic relationship is eroding. Fewer than 2,000 Americans per year are currently estimated to be studying in China compared to 11,000 in 2019, according to a latest report released by the Washington-based non-profit US-China Education Trust (USCET).

If this pattern persists, the critical shortage will become a reality "as today's specialists with deep in-country experience retire without replacement," David M. Lampton, 80 years old, chair of the working group of the report and a renowned "China Hand" in the US, said in the foreword of the report.

At the launching ceremony of the report on March 20, Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China under President Joe Biden, said it would be "a national security imperative," referring to American students studying in China, according to The South China Morning Post.

Not only in the research sphere, in the politics circle, the US is also witnessing a downward trend in the number of officials with practical experiences in dealing with China. "US leaders need to see what's happening in China," read the title of an opinion article published by The New York Times on March 22.

If these trends continue, the US will get ill-informed and disoriented in formulating its China policy, putting the entire American China studies system - which the US itself built after World War II - at risk of generational collapse, warned Mei Yang, an expert in China-US defense and security affairs from The Institute for International Affairs, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen).

Declining China experts

China experts in the US refer to American specialists in overseas China studies with a focus primarily on political science, strategic studies and international relations, and are mainly devoted to research on contemporary and practical issues concerning China, according to Mei.

Among them, some actively participated in the two sides' exchanges and exerted influence in the US' China policies, for example, Henry Kissinger, the eminent US diplomat and strategist who played a pivotal role in shaping China-US relations as he spearheaded the historic normalization process. This group is also dubbed China Hands.
Veteran China Hands like Kissinger usually maintained close connections with various sectors of Chinese society, possessed a solid command of Chinese and conducted regular field research in China. This allowed them to develop a relatively profound understanding of Chinese culture and realities. Even when they held personal differing views, these were rooted in on-the-ground observations of China, with Robert D. Barnett, an affiliate of the Lau China Institute at King's College of London, being one such example, Mei explained.

Other renowned American China Hands include Kenneth Lieberthal, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, and Thomas Christensen, Director of the China and the World Program at Columbia University.

Many veteran China Hands began studying China in the 1960s and 1970s. They saw their research coincide with the gradual normalization of China US relations, as well as China's shift from isolation to reform and opening up and from underdevelopment to progress. Thus, they generally held optimistic and favorable views toward China, Da Wei, director of Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

However, the group of veteran China Hands is facing a risk of a generational gap with no adequate successors to take over. "If we take 1975 as the dividing line, or classify middle-aged and young experts from senior ones by the age of 50, the US has already encountered a serious generational gap among veteran China Hands. Scholars under 50 are few while most scholars over 50 are generally over 70 and facing retirement," Mei told the Global Times.

In 2015, China Foreign Affairs University released a list of influential China Hands in the US, based on their impact on US policy-making, academic influence and social influence. Lampton topped the list, followed by David Shambaugh, the founding Director of the China Policy Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, and Avery Goldstein, the Inaugural Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. The Global Times found that all 10 candidates on the list were born no later than 1975, and eight of them were aged over 70 as of 2026.

The youngest among the top 10 was M. Taylor Fravel, director of MIT Security Studies Program who focuses on international security, China, and East Asia, according to an introduction of him on MIT website. He was reportedly born in 1971.

Beyond general gap risk, veteran China Hands in the US have increasingly returned to academic research at universities, with their students similarly gravitating toward higher education. Consequently, the discourse power over China policy has gradually shifted to think tanks. A growing divide has thus emerged in US' China studies between the university-based "academic camp" and the think tank-led "policy camp," with policy-oriented research from think tanks increasingly gaining the upper hand, Mei said.
According to Mei, the younger generation China experts also present a notable shift in research interest toward military and security issues.

This not only underscores the growing adversarial dynamics in future China-US relations, but also suggests that the new generation of China Hands who will shape the bilateral relationship over an extended period may adopt a more objective, and even detached, attitude toward China. They treat China as a country for calm, dispassionate analysis, rather than a field for in-depth exploration of its historical and cultural connotations, infused with personal sentiment and academic idealism. Against this backdrop, many China Hands are no longer broadly knowledgeable about China; instead, they focus narrowly on specific issues concerning the country, he analyzed.

In this point, Michael S. Chase, former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, whose expertise lies in China's maritime security and military modernization, serves as a typical example.

"While well researched on military reforms and naval capabilities, Chase shows little interest in other dimensions of China. This shows a sharp contrast to his mentor Lampton, who grasps China holistically and practices empathetic understanding. Chase maintains an objective and distant stance," Mei said.

Chilling effect

Apart from the internal elements, the toxic political environment and intensified policies play a more vital role in the declining of America's China experts. "Undoubtedly, a 'chilling effect' has emerged in the US regarding engagement with China. China-US people-to-people and cultural exchanges have been significantly 'securitized,'" Zhao Minghao, an expert at the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, told the Global Times.

According to the USCET report, in the US, federal funding for China-focused study has declined sharply, and many longstanding exchange programs have been suspended. Heightened US university research security rules and new state-level restrictions on university engagement with China have further reduced opportunities for academic travel.

Since the US adopted the "great-power competition" strategy toward China in 2017, the US government has imposed a host of restrictive measures on people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, particularly educational interaction. During that period, the US Department of Justice launched the "China Initiative," and agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted Chinese American scientists with ties to China, Zhao said.

During the Biden administration, while Washington formally scrapped the China Initiative in name, it has continued to restrict China-related cooperation at US universities and research institutions. Under this circumstance, many US colleges and universities have suspended partnerships with Chinese institutions, even explicitly restricting faculty and staff travel to China, and warning American students that visiting or studying in China carries security risks such as "wrongful detention," according to Zhao.
Li Cheng, a Chinese American political science expert and a China Hand listed on the abovementioned list, returned to China in 2023 after living in the US for nearly 40 years. He is now a professor of political science and founding director of the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong.

In an interview with the Lianhe Zaobao in July 2023, Li said that life in the US has grown more uncomfortable for Chinese Americans. He said that he is increasingly asked to clarify which side he represents during public speeches. "When I say 'we,' people ask: Who exactly do you mean by 'we'?" Li was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The "decoupling" from China pushed by the US government in recent years has effectively weakened Americans' access to professional knowledge about China in the name of national security. Any American scholar whose research agenda involves China may face investigations by the federal government, or be denounced by the US officials on social media for assisting China's development. This has further reduced the number of young people coming to China to study the Chinese language and culture, Mei said.

As the USCET report noted, today, American students and scholars are deterred from studying in China because of a widespread perception that such experience will prevent them from obtaining a security clearance for a US government job in the future.

Mei deemed the Trump administration's two terms in office were eight years that witnessed the declining of America's China Hands. He noted that some hardline China experts, such as Miles Yu and Michael Pillsbury (who emphasized the "China threat" rhetoric, claiming that China seeks expansion and to surpass the US), were hired during the Trump administration's first term. However, now, in its second term, even hardline China experts have been excluded from the government's decision-making circle.

Exchanges needed

In the eyes of Da, China is developing and updating its concepts at a rapid pace, yet the current generation of American China Hands lacks on-the-ground experience and is unable to develop a nuanced and accurate understanding of the country.

Universities and institutes in the US have been aware of this crisis and are making sincere efforts to restore bilateral exchanges, including the National Committee on US-China Relations, the Asia Society, and the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Former US Ambassador to China Max Baucus, a native of Montana, has in recent years personally led student delegations from the state on visits to China on multiple occasions, Zhao noted.

The launch of the initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over a five-year period has also helped to boost educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries. As of January 2026, over 40,000 US youth have actively participated in the initiative, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Da called for more favorable policies to make it easier for American students to study and work in China. "Over time, these students will grow into a new generation of China Hands."

This year is a vital year for the China-US relationship with a series of planned interactions between the two sides. We also hope that renewed engagement in the field of education between the two sides will achieve fresh progress as this represents a major and positive development serving the long-term interests of both countries, Zhao said.

China's position is very clear - there are no winners in tariff wars, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday, when asked to comment on remarks by US President Donald Trump on Truth Social that "a Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately."

On April 7, the foothills of the Dabie Mountains in southern Henan were shrouded in mist and covered with fresh greenery, ushering in the prime season for picking and processing Xinyang Maojian — one of China's Top Ten Famous Teas. Stretching across Hanchong in Shangcheng county, Xinyang city, the 10,000-mu tea plantations present a delightful scene of fragrant spring tea, attracting visitors to taste its flavor.

Xinyang Maojian is famous for plump buds, prominent white pekoe, and fresh, crisp taste. The picking windows for pre-Qingming Festival tea and pre-Grain Rain tea are short but the tea is of premium quality. Fresh tea leaves must go through fixation, strip shaping, baking and other processes on the same day to lock in the unique chestnut aroma and fresh, mellow taste of Maojian. With modern tea processing equipment, stable power supply has become critical to ensure stable output and improved quality of spring tea.

As spring tea processing enters its peak period, fixation machines, strip shaping machines and dryers in tea factories run continuously, leading to a rise in electricity load in tea-growing areas. To guarantee uninterrupted spring tea production, State Grid Shangcheng County Power Supply Company acted in strict accordance with the three-year drive to address the root causes of workplace accidents and ensure production safety, and carried out special power inspections for tea plantations and tea enterprises in advance. It conducted thorough checks on power lines, transformers and processing equipment to eliminate potential electrical hazards in a timely manner. Meanwhile, convenient online service channels were launched to provide all-day power support and rapid response, offering reliable electricity support for tea farmers and enterprises to facilitate efficient processing and on-schedule marketing of spring tea.

At present, hundreds of thousands of mu of tea plantations in Shangcheng county are fully harvested. The tea industry has boosted income for tens of thousands of farming households and become a pillar industry for local rural revitalization. Stable and sufficient power supply has accelerated the production of Xinyang Maojian spring tea, enabling the green leaves from southern Henan to spread their fragrance far and wide, benefiting tea farmers in the spring.

At the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese President To Lam will pay a state visit to China from April 14 to 17, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

The announcement was made by Hu Zhaoming, spokesperson for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Vietnamese local media outlet VietNamNet highlighted on Thursday that this marks the first overseas trip by To Lam in his capacity as head of state since being elected President at the first session of the 16th National Assembly, Vietnam's top legislature, on Tuesday.

Chinese observers noted that the official announcement of the visit, which comes shortly after To Lam assumed the office of president, underscores the strong emphasis both sides place on bilateral ties.

This visit not only consolidates the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, but also facilitates cooperation and exchanges across various fields, advancing alignment between the two sides in their respective modernization drives, observers added.

Deeply valued

Nhan Dan Newspaper of Vietnam reported on Thursday that To Lam's wife and a high-level Vietnamese delegation will accompany him on the visit to China.

A Reuters report described To Lam's visit as taking place "as ties between the two nations continue to warm."

Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute at Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Thursday that the visit underscored the distinctive strategic standing between China and Vietnam as socialist neighbors - with China being regarded as the primary partner in ensuring a stable external environment and advancing Vietnam's own development.

Echoing Gu, Ding Duo, a deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, also said that amid the current global geopolitical tensions, this upcoming visit sends a signal that Vietnam's new leadership is unwilling to be swayed by external interference and remains resolutely committed to safeguarding the high-level bilateral relations.

Since the beginning of this year, the two countries have maintained close exchanges across various fields.

From January 29 to 30, Liu Haixing, special envoy of General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping, visited Vietnam, Xinhua reported. Several days later, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Le Hoai Trung, special envoy of General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee To Lam, in Beijing on February 3, per Xinhua.

On March 16, the first ministerial meeting of the China-Vietnam "3+3" strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defense and public security was held in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on March 16. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Minister of National Defense Dong Jun chaired the meeting, together with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, Defense Minister Phan Van Giang and Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang.

Both sides agreed the successful conclusion of the event signifies that China-Vietnam strategic communication and coordination have established a new platform, advanced to a new stage, and been elevated to a new level, according to a release from Chinese Foreign Ministry on March 17.

Ding said To Lam's upcoming visit also clearly conveys the continuity of Vietnam's policy toward China, prioritizing ties with China in the country's diplomacy.

Analysts say a steady stream of exchanges over the past four months, capped by the upcoming visit, underscores both sides' resolve to deepen a China-Vietnam community with a shared future. They expect the high-level trip to unlock further tangible gains in bilateral cooperation.

Practical outcomes expected

Given the substantial similarities in the political systems of the two countries, the visit is expected not only to consolidate bilateral relations but also to enable Vietnam to draw on China's experience in economic development, energy, infrastructure construction and other sectors, Chinese observers noted.

This visit is expected to yield a series of practical outcomes, potentially cooperation in fields such as railways, energy, economy and trade, as well as Science and technology, they said.

Vietnam Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan noted that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has significantly disrupted global oil and gas supply chains, with impacts surpassing previous oil shocks in scale and intensity, VNExpress news reported on April 4.

Ding said as a major country in terms of technology and resources, China could provide power grid interconnection, investment in clean energy projects, as well as technical support for LNG and renewable energy. This can help Vietnam ease supply pressures, stabilize regional supply chains, and prevent disruptions to global manufacturing caused by energy shortages, he added.

BBC reported that a test to To Lam will be whether he can meet the ambitious growth targets he has set his government, at a time when the global economic outlook is so unsettled.

Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam He Wei said that in 2025, the bilateral trade volume between China and Vietnam historically surpassed the $290 billion mark, with China continuing to be Vietnam's largest export market for agricultural and aquatic products, chinanews.com reported on February 12.

Vietnamese fruits and vegetables earned $5.5 billion in foreign exchange from exports to China, greatly contributing to local farmers' income growth and prosperity, He added.

In the first two months of 2026, China was Vietnam's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade turnover reaching $66.7 billion, an increase of 30.2 percent, according to information released on the official website of the Government of Vietnam on Thursday.

Vietnam's exports amounted to $17.4 billion, up 32.5 percent, while its imports reached $49.3 billion, up 29.4 percent, according to the government.

Vietnam's economic development is currently constrained by inadequate infrastructure, an area where China is well positioned to offer substantial support, Gu noted.

Vietnam and China have signed a technical cooperation agreement on planning two standard-gauge railways - Hanoi-Dong Dang and Hai Phong-Ha Long-Mong Cai - marking progress in bilateral railway connectivity, VietNamNet reported on March 25.

Ding said the alignment of railway systems via standard gauge can enhance cross-border logistics efficiency, and when coupled with cooperation on infrastructure such as 5G, it can drive the integration of digital economies, collectively transforming the "hard connectivity" between the two countries into a growth pole for shared development.

Chinese analysts said the two parties, CPC and CPV, are also expected to deepen exchanges on governance through party-to-party channels, sharing experience on reform and development, and anti-corruption efforts. At the same time, broader ties—in areas such as youth engagement, local cooperation, tourism, and cultural exchange—are set to expand, reinforcing the foundation of the bilateral relationship.

Against this backdrop, analysts said closer coordination between China and Vietnam as neighboring socialist countries could help inject greater certainty and stability into regional industrial and supply chains. Such cooperation is also expected to bolster opposition to unilateral pressure and lend momentum to multilateral approaches.

China targets economic growth of 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year and will strive for better in practice, according to a Government Work Report submitted Thursday to the country's top legislature for deliberation.

The annual growth target was unveiled in the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Qiang to the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature, which began its annual session on Thursday morning.

Over the next five years, China expects to keep its GDP growth within an appropriate range, with annual growth rates to be determined in light of actual conditions, according to the report.

This will lay a solid foundation for achieving the goal of doubling China's 2020 per capita GDP by 2035 to reach the level of a moderately developed country, the report said.

The target of 4.5 percent to 5 percent economic growth for 2026, while striving to achieve better results in practice, is intended to strike a balance between what is needed and what is feasible, said Shen Danyang, head of the group responsible for drafting this year's government work report, according to Xinhua.

The setting of the economic growth target for 2026 is "proactive and pragmatic", reflecting a broad assessment of domestic conditions and shifts in the external environment, Shen said.

Analysts said that the target range reflects a more prudent assessment of global uncertainties, and allows greater policy flexibility to focus on high-quality development while still signaling policymakers' confidence in maintaining stable growth in the world's second-largest economy amid rising global risks and turmoil.

Flexibility allowed 

This is not the first time China has set its GDP growth target in the form of a range. For example, in 2016, a target range was set at 6.5 to 7 percent. In 2019, the target was set at 6 to 6.5 percent.

Lawmakers, national political advisors, analysts as well as executives of multinationals said that the targeted growth range is set to ensure the Chinese economy gets off to a good start in the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), and the figure is of paramount importance to pinpointing new growth engines and maintaining stable and sustained economic growth.

NPC deputy Yu Miaojie, president of Liaoning University, told the Global Times on Thursday that a growth target range of 4.5 percent to 5 percent allows greater policy flexibility, enabling localities to focus on high-quality economic growth as their primary goal and, more importantly, place greater focus on people's livelihoods.

"Maintaining an annual economic growth rate within this range reflects the stability of China's economy," Yu said, noting the steady track record of economic growth in the past several years.

Amid escalating geopolitical conflicts and growing global turmoil, China's economy has maintained stable and sustained growth, driven by the country's economic resilience and social stability, Yu said.

Denis Depoux, global managing director of strategy consulting firm Roland Berger, told the Global Times on Thursday that it is crucial to understand that this "growth consensus" is not a sign of weakness but a necessary trade-off to achieve higher-priority objectives.

"In the context of rising global uncertainty, the growth target creates fiscal and political buffers for China to drive reform and address real problems without the pressure of chasing high growth at all costs. It allows for a significant reallocation of capital away from inefficient investments and toward the real needs of the economy, namely technology and people," Depoux said.

Still, China's GDP growth target range, if achieved, would largely surpass the world's average growth rate in 2026 with the world economy facing unprecedented geopolitical and economic challenges and turmoil, analysts said.

China's newly announced growth range for 2026 is a firm answer to the "China peak theory" and the Chinese economy is expected to serve as a source of stability for the global economy, they noted.

Notably, the Chinese economy is projected to grow faster in 2026 than the US, Japan and the Euro area, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the US economy projected to grow 2.4 percent in 2026, 0.7 percent for Japan and 1.3 percent for the Euro area. 

The projected pace would also be among the highest for major economies globally, Shen said.

"The growth target is definitely achievable - the target is set in a very practical and realistic way," Yin Tongyue, a National People's Congress deputy and chairman of Chinese automaker Chery Holding Group Co, told the Global Times as he walked out the Great Hall of the People after listening to the delivery of the Government Work Report in Beijing on Thursday.

Pragmatic approach 

Foreign media outlets closely followed China's GDP growth target, with several reports noting that the target range is the lowest range in decades, but creates flexibility for reforms.

Reuters reported that a "lower growth target gives Beijing more flexibility to implement reforms that make the world's second-largest economy less reliant on exports for growth", while the Guardian reported that the figure "reflects an economic strategy that is shifting away from export-led growth to a model that leaders hope will be more resilient to external shocks."

The Wall Street Journal wrote that the "less ambitious growth target also gives Chinese leaders some room to maneuver the economy through complicated geopolitical terrain" and the unchanged deficit target should "give policymakers ample room to rev up government spending if needed."

This is to do with the stage of economic development, as economic growth cannot sustain a continuously high speed, Qu Yongyi, a researcher with the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a national political advisor, told the Global Times on Thursday. "This target range reflects that the government is not solely pursuing GDP growth but is placing greater emphasis on high-quality development."

Tian Xuan, an NPC deputy and a Boya Distinguished Professor of Finance at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday that the GDP growth target range is not about "slowing down growth" but rather a "recalibration" of the pace of development.

"It represents the optimal solution found between long-term goals and immediate challenges - one that both upholds the baseline needed to achieve the 2035 vision and reflects a pragmatic approach to development," Tian said. "The modest downward adjustment is not a simple numerical change, but a pragmatic step grounded in economic reality and a move tailored precisely to long-term development goals."

The "range-based regulation" sets a lower bound for growth while preserving upward flexibility and sufficient room for policy maneuvering — all to safeguard the certainty of high-quality development. This also means that achieving the target will be anything but easy; it will require sustained and arduous effort, The People's Daily noted in a commentary published on Thursday.

The commentary, titled China has set an economic growth target of 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year. How should we view it, said that to make further progress from an already high level, we must emphasize both quantity and, more importantly, quality. Can we go even faster? It's not that we cannot; it's that we choose not to. The very "first lesson of the new year" stressed curbing impulsive pursuit of governance achievements, carrying profound significance. 

"Pursuing genuine and unvarnished growth, and advancing high-quality, sustainable development." This demonstrates the determination to forge ahead despite pressure and strive for innovation and high quality, it said. 

China slammed protectionist actions by the US and the EU against Chinese car exports on Tuesday, saying that the leapfrog development of China's vehicle industry has provided cost-effective products with high quality to the world.

Division of labor and mutually beneficial collaboration are distinctive features of the auto industry chain, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular press conference. 

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in January, China exported 443,000 vehicles, up by 47.4 percent year-on-year, maintaining rapid growth. The numbers reflected the high-quality development and strong innovation of China's manufacturing industry, Mao noted.

Every one in three exported automobiles from China is an electric model, which contributes significantly to the world's green and low-carbon transition, the spokesperson said.

Protectionist measures taken by relevant countries against China to turn normal trade activities into security and ideological issues, build "small yards with high fences" in the name of "de-risking," and attempt to "trip others up" instead of "running faster" may seem like a win, but they will actually lead to a loss of one's own long-term development and encumber the progress and prosperity of the world, Mao said.

China believes in solidarity, cooperation and openness rather than division, confrontation and isolation. We believe it's important to accommodate the interests of others while pursuing one's own, work for common development while seeking one's own development, create a world-class, market-oriented and law-based environment for global economic and trade cooperation, and make economic globalization more inclusive and beneficial to all, Mao noted.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo issued a warning over the potential national security threats posed by electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured in China, reported Bloomberg in January. This came as the Biden administration considered implementing further tariffs on vehicles imported from the Asian nation.

The rapid growth of China's auto industry and its expanding export scale are bound to draw attention from other countries. Other Chinese industries have been affected by trade protectionism during their export processes, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The EU has launched several investigations against China. Among these, the European Commission is probing a subsidiary of the Chinese rail company CRRC to ascertain if it received subsidies that unfairly allowed it to undercut European competitors. Additionally, an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs commenced in October 2023.

The investigations into China's auto exports by the US and the EU are not conducted from a perspective of global interest but originate from hegemonic and unilateral thinking, said Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who closely follows China-US trade issues, on Tuesday.

China's opening-up has provided opportunities for developing countries worldwide. China's participation in global governance initiatives is based on common values, not just its own interests. This is China's attitude toward globalization, Gao noted.

China's remarkable progress in the clean energy sector in recent years has provided practical resolution in tackling global climate change, and will accelerate international power source transformation, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday, calling on the world to work together in addressing challenges of climate change. 

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the FM, made the remarks during a press conference while responding to media enquiries on China's prospect of realizing scheduled wind and solar power development goal six years in advance, and that 60 percent of global electricity generated by renewable power source will come from China by 2028. 

Wang stressed that power source transformation is the only way to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement and a future of green development and sustainability. "China's clean energy sector has grown to a global leader from a follower in a short time, and made significant contribution to the world's low carbon development." 

By the end of 2023, China's capacity of renewable power generators surpassed half of total power generators. China's new-energy vehicle output and sales hit 9.587 million and 9.495 million in 2023, increasing by 35.8 percent and 37.9 percent year-on-year, respectively. The two figures both accounted for over 60 percent of global volume, and have been keeping the first place for nine consecutive years, said Wang. 

International Energy Agency's Renewables 2023 showed that China's acceleration in renewables was extraordinary. In 2023, China commissioned as much solar PV as the entire world did in 2022, while its wind additions also grew by 66% year-on-year, said the report. 

However, Wang emphasized that the world should work together in achieving the same goal by abandoning protectionism, unilateralism and para-politicization. 

In regard to this, China has actively participated in the construction of clean energy infrastructure in other countries such as solar, wind and hydro power plants in United Arab Emirates, Morocco, South Africa, and Pakistan. 

During the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties which ended in December 2023, all parties of the meeting highly agreed on China's concept and progress in low carbon transformation, and believed that China's practical solutions have important meaning in global green development, Wang stated. 

"China will stick to the strategy to foster a community of life for man and nature, conduct power source transformation steadily, and make greater contribution in tackling global climate change," said Wang. 

Chinese industry insiders and experts are hailing the fruitful achievements between China and Uzbekistan as bilateral ties experience a historic high against the backdrop of the state visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to China, scheduled from Tuesday to Thursday.

There will be more potential in bilateral cooperation, as connectivity between Uzbekistan and Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is expected to strengthen under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), experts said.

"My company is increasing exports of fruits and vegetables such as apples, nectarines and grapes from Xinjiang to Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, and it is estimated that the company's export value to Central Asia climbed to $1.2 billion in 2023, almost doubling from $683 million in 2022," Yu Chengzhong, chairman of local trading agency Horgos Jinyi International Trade Co, told the Global Times.

Besides, "China's new-energy vehicle and large-scale wind power equipment sectors have expanded exports to Uzbekistan in recent years," Yu said.

Yu's booming business with Uzbekistan is expected to continue, as Xinjiang's role as a trade hub and corridor to Central Asian countries - including Uzbekistan - is being further highlighted.

On Monday, just ahead of the Uzbek president's visit, a forum for China-Uzbekistan cooperation promotion was held in Urumqi, capital city of China's Xinjiang, attracting more than 1,300 guests from both sides.

Speaking at the forum, Ma Xingrui, Party secretary of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee, said that Xinjiang is accelerating the construction of the core area of the BRI, actively building the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone with high quality, continuously deepening exchanges with five Central Asian countries, and establishing a bridgehead for China's opening up to the West.

Chinese and Uzbek officials signed 20 cooperation agreements at the opening ceremony of Monday's forum.

Xinjiang has played an important role in strengthening connectivity with the Central Asian region, from political interactions to trade and infrastructure development, said Liu Yu, executive chairman of the Uzbek Chamber of Commerce for Chinese Entrepreneurs.

More than 2,400 Chinese companies are doing business in Uzbekistan, covering various fields including petroleum, railways, agriculture and mechanical equipment, Liu told the Global Times.

In 2023, bilateral trade stood at 98.85 billion yuan ($13.93 billion), a year-on-year increase of 53.2 percent, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed. China's exports to Uzbekistan saw a whopping growth of 76.8 percent year-on-year.

Xinjiang has become a key gateway to the Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan.

"Uzbekistan is a populous country and important economic power in the region… strengthening interactions with China under the BRI, in the growing complexity of the world situation today, has become increasingly important to Uzbekistan, especially when it comes to helping the country play a greater role in world governance," Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Uzbekistan is enhancing its economic and trade connectivity with China by transitioning from being landlocked to becoming land-linked. How to effectively navigate its ties with the development of Xinjiang is the key to this transformation, experts said.

Searches for hotels in Singapore on Chinese online travel platform Qunar.com surged 4 times after China and Singapore announced a 30-day mutual visa exemption arrangement for ordinary passport holders starting from February 9.

Singapore is currently among the top five of popular travel destinations among Chinese tourists ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival holidays which kicks off from February 10, data the company sent to the Global Times showed on Thursday.

According to data VariFlight sent to the Global Times on Thursday, there have been a total of 712 flights flying between the Chinese mainland and Singapore in recent weeks, recovering to 97 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, with more than 100 flights per day.

Tongcheng Travel told the Global Times that Singapore-related searches rose by more than 340 percent on the platform within an hour after the visa-free policy announcement, with the searches for air tickets flying to and back from Singapore jumping by more than 5 times.

Data from the online travel agency Trip.com indicated a rapid surge in real-time search popularity for Singapore. Within 10 minutes of the announcement, the popularity of Singapore-related travel products saw sharp growth of over 30 percent.

On the platform, the search levels among Singaporean tourists for keywords related to China also saw a marked growth of over 20 percent month-on month. According to Trip.com, as of Wednesday, the number of orders by Chinese tourists traveling to Singapore during the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival holidays has grown up by more than 14 times compared to the same period last year.

China and Singapore are mutually significant travel destinations and sources of tourists, Qin Jing, general manager of the Public Affairs Department at Trip.com, told the Global Times in a statement on Thursday.

The people of both countries engage closely in business, tourism, and family visits, and the visa waiver will stimulate interpersonal exchanges between the two nations, promoting growth in the tourism industry, Qin said.