Chinese and African entrepreneurs enthusiastically endorsed the cooperation between China and Africa at the Eighth Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, held in Beijing on Friday. They highlighted the significant contributions of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the social and economic development of African countries.

The conference was a key element of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which ran from Wednesday to Friday. It focused on business partnership and provided a vital platform for business leaders from both sides to exchange insights and promote collaboration.

Representatives from 408 businesses and business associations across 48 African countries registered for Friday's conference, another reflection of the strong interest and desire of the African business community to enhance economic and trade cooperation with China, according to the event's organizer, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Joseph Kahama, secretary general of the Tanzania-China Friendship Promotion Association, met with Chinese business people and exchanged views on cooperation at the conference, showing the opportunity that this platform provided for African business community.

Kahama expressed his appreciation for how the BRI has improved infrastructure in his home country of Tanzania, including the modernized railway system. Additionally, Chinese investments have advanced Tanzania's ICT sector, making communication faster, cheaper, and more efficient, Kahama said.

The BRI has also facilitated people-to-people connections. Through various projects, individuals from different backgrounds have come together, engaged in dialogue, and conducted business, he said.

Kahama is also CEO of a Tanzanian healthcare company. He told the Global Times he was impressed with China being a global leader in healthcare, and noted that China has offered support to Tanzania through its medical teams and pharmaceutical advancements under the BRI. "When discussing China's role in Tanzanian healthcare, it's clear that their contributions have been significant and beneficial," he said.

Kahama is not alone. Olandzobo Nde Maoland, a director at a local bank in Republic of Congo, also shared how he was delighted to come to participate in the business conference.

"I came here to understand the key aspects of the partnership between China and Africa and how to enhance them. Having studied in China, learned Chinese, and currently working with a Chinese company, I recognize that there is always more to learn," Maoland said.

"Observing the rapid development in China, I am eager to apply similar strategies to advance my own country. This is my primary goal," he noted.

Commenting on the BRI, Maoland said that it has already made a notable impact on his country's development. "Chinese companies are involved in numerous projects, such as electricity generation and road construction. With all these, we have witnessed substantial progress and positive changes in our country," he said.

During the conference, Maoland had the opportunity to converse with Chinese businesspeople, and he said he hopes to explore potential business cooperation with them in the future.

Participating in the Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs and the FOCAC Summit is important for private businesses to exchange experiences, Sougueh Houssein Farah, director general of Transvrac SARL, a Djiboutian logistics company, told the Global Times on Friday.

"Africa and China can achieve a truly win-win collaboration. I believe that after this summit, China will help put us on the track of industrialization, which is especially lacking in Africa but which China has been able to achieve rapidly. Therefore, exchanges of experience are important," said Farah.

The BRI has brought significant development changes to Africa. At the same time, it is essential to learn from current experiences and explore ways to better support local development, Li Tie, president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Zambia, told the Global Times at the business conference on Friday.

China advocates small-scale yet impactful projects, and this has been a very positive direction, Li said, giving the example of education and training.

Africa is currently facing severe employment challenges, with young people struggling to find jobs due to a lack of skills. This skill gap has also made it difficult for Chinese companies to find suitable workers when setting up factories in Africa, according to Li.

"We can enhance investment and support in vocational education to help more young African people improve their skills," Li said.

"The interest in our intangible cultural heritage is growing, and tourists flock to our site. Thank you for inspecting electrical hazards and ensuring a safe and reliable power supply for the heritage research base!" On August 27, Li Fei, manager of Xinjiang Desert Art Museum and a Uygur mulberry paper craft inheritor, expressed his gratitude to the members of the service team from State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company.

Xinjiang's Turpan, a key town on the ancient Silk Road, boasts a cultural history spanning over four thousand years. Its numerous and diverse intangible cultural heritages shine brightly like stars.

Among these, the Uygur mulberry paper crafting technique stands out as one of the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage protection projects, with a history of over a thousand years.

In recent years, to promote the development and inheritance of intangible heritage, State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company has prioritized these projects for power security, providing stable and reliable electricity services.

The Sangeqiao Village in Turpan leverages its ancient village setting to promote the mulberry paper intangible heritage project. The village enhances its e-commerce sales center by offering craft training and establishing a mulberry paper exhibition platform, creating an "e-commerce + intangible heritage" industrial base that drives local employment and entrepreneurship, thus using intangible heritage to boost rural revitalization and better promote and preserve its intangible cultural heritage.

As the electricity provider supporting the mulberry paper intangible heritage industry, State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company tailors its power supply plans to the industry's growth and demand, enhancing the grid by upgrading and expanding transformer substation capacities by 6759 kVA, continuously improving the quality of electricity.

A "green channel" has been established to streamline the process for eight electricity customers in the intangible heritage industry, from application, meter installation, connection, to maintenance, simplifying procedures and expediting service to enable earlier and more efficient electricity usage.

Concurrently, the maintenance of power equipment and lines is intensified to promptly address any potential hazards or defects.

In 2023, State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company constructed and renovated 1.56 kilometers of distribution lines and replaced six transformers with a total capacity of 2.4 MVA in Sangeqiao village, not only enhancing the reliability of the power supply but also making the village's distribution network smarter.

Additionally, employees of State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company conducted 18 thermal inspections of lines, cable switchgear, and distribution boxes in Sangeqiao Village, promptly identifying and mitigating any external risks to the lines.

Today, powered by "electric dynamics," the intangible heritage projects in Turpan are thriving, breathing new life and vitality into traditional crafts.

"The village organized training for us in mulberry paper techniques. After mastering it, I began creating crafts and leading tourists in experiencing our intangible heritage. Last year, our family's annual income surpassed 60,000 yuan, a significant improvement from before," said Ayixianmuguli Yili.

In 2023, Sangeqiao village welcomed 74,500 visitors, generating tourism revenue of 164,000 yuan.

In the name of electricity, walking hand in hand with the intangible cultural heritage industry. State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company, aligning with the needs of the mulberry paper industry, earnestly fulfills its social responsibilities, serving through its development and developing through its service, powering the high-quality growth of the intangible cultural heritage industry.

Today, the art of mulberry paper making in Tulufan has revitalized, painting a series of portraits of happiness. 

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) stated that China-US business communities remain key defenders and contributors to bilateral relations despite global challenges, and it is hoped to deepen cooperation with the US business community and strengthen its role as a stabilizing force in China-US relation.
Wang Linjie, spokesperson for the CCPIT, made the remarks on Friday, days after Ren Hongbin, chairman of CCPIT, recently led a Chinese business delegation to the US at the invitation of the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-China Business Council. 

Wang recalled that in 1975, when CCPIT led its first Chinese trade delegation to the US after the Shanghai Communique was signed, the visit had played a key role in normalizing relations between China and the US. 

The two visits, which were separated by nearly 50 years, have fully demonstrated that no matter how the international situation changes, the Chinese and American business communities have always been important contributors to the relations between the two countries, Wang said.

The CCPIT is willing to work with US counterparts and enterprises from the two countries to continue to deepen cooperation and firmly serve as a stabilizing force for bilateral relations, Wang added. 

Wang said that during the four-day visit, the Chinese delegation took part in close to 20 trade-focused events, from expansive forums to close discussions with executives from Fortune 500 companies. They engaged in candid dialogues with the US business and political leaders. 

Those delegates from the US business community said that they are optimistic about the Chinese market, and they said the two sides should meet more, communicate more, and cooperate more. They hope that relations between the two countries will stabilize, improve, and progress.

It is hoped that the US will actively promote trade and investment facilitation, reduce unnecessary restrictive measures on Chinese-funded enterprises, formulate a reasonable foreign investment review list, lower the entry threshold for Chinese-funded enterprises, and provide a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese-invested enterprises in the US, Ren said during the visit. 

Wang highlighted that there is vast potential between the Chinese and American business communities, not only in bilateral fields, but also on multilateral issues, citing an example that the CCPIT and the US business leaders jointly proposed cooperation principles for Asia-Pacific supply chain cooperation at the third session of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) 2024. 

The proposal, advocating for open collaboration and compliance with WTO rules to prevent trade distortions, was a highlight. It showcased strong opposition to supply chain decoupling and underscored robust multilateral cooperation between Chinese and American businesses, according to Wang.

"Despite attempts by some US politicians to undermine the relationship, China and the US remain each other's most vital trade partners. The undeniable economic complementarity between the two nations has forged a unique and unmatched partnership. This relationship is expected to grow stronger over time, even amid political disturbances," Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Friday.

"Even with political interference, trade exchanges, especially in major product categories, will not be significantly diminished," Bian added.

With the sweltering heat of summer gradually fading, the two-month-long summer travel season has come to a triumphant close, marking not just a feast for China's tourism market but also a display of the country's robust economic vitality.

From the bustling scenes at railway hubs to the packed scenic spots, from the soaring domestic tourism data to the influx of foreign visitors, the energy and activity can be felt in every corner of the country.

During the summer travel season from July 1 to August 31, China registered around 10.917 billion passenger trips in inter-regional movement, a daily average of 176 million trips, according to data released by China's Ministry of Transport. In particular, a staggering 887 million railway passenger trips were recorded nationwide, representing a 6.7 percent year-on-year increase and a daily average passenger flow exceeding 14.31 million, a record high, according to data from China Railway. 

These figures also serve as a vivid testament to China's immense potential for domestic demand and thriving consumption dynamics.

Tourism boom

As the summer draws to a close, multiple online travel platforms have released reports revealing substantial growth in both bookings and visitor numbers for summer travel products. 

Spring Travel said in a report sent to the Global Times that the number of domestic travelers during the summer of 2024 exceeded the same period in 2023. 

Data from other platforms such as Fliggy also revealed that both per capita bookings and spending increased year-on-year during the summer, with a more pronounced emphasis on immersive travel experiences.

Xu Fan, a tourism enthusiast from central China's Henan Province, who embarked on a journey to Southwest China's Guizhou Province, told the Global Times he was captivated by local handicrafts and unique souvenirs that encapsulated the essence of Guizhou's traditional heritage. "I was impressed by the diverse range of creative products available, which have expanded beyond traditional clothing and textiles. Some foreign tourists also showed a strong interest in the unique batik crafts, often taking photos and spending time admiring the intricate designs," Xu said.

In the vast desert areas of Northwest China, a romantic encounter with the stars and nature has also emerged as one of those immersive travel experiences. "Desert hotels," which allow visitors to spend the night observing the stars, experienced a year-on-year surge of 270 percent in searches on Meituan in early August. The search for "desert coffee" rose by an astonishing 518 percent.

Meanwhile, frenzy over China's hit game Black Myth: Wukong has also boosted tourism in places like North China's Shanxi Province, as the intertwining of gaming and its real-world settings breathed new life into ancient cultural sites. According to data from Trip.com Group, since the game was launched, the number of ticket orders for Xiaoxitian scenic spot, one of the filming locations, has increased by 261 percent year-on-year.

"The number of tourists has skyrocketed this summer, especially after the launch of the game. We went from about 1,500 visitors a day to over 5,000 in just a matter of days. The influx of tourists continued with visitors purchasing local products and cultural items. There were also some foreign tourists seen in the scenic spots," a staff member of the Xiaoxitian scenic spot told the Global Times on Sunday.

Facilitating policies

The presence of foreign tourists has added a unique dimension to this tourism extravaganza. With visa-free policies in place, China has increasingly become a popular destination for overseas travelers. 

"This is my first time visiting Beijing, and I am amazed by the scale of the city. Taking a taxi is incredibly convenient, something that's quite different from my experience in Perth," a tourist from Australia, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

"Famous attractions like the Temple of Heaven and Nanluoguxiang are bustling with visitors. I'm glad this surge has encouraged businesses to extend their hours and improve their offerings, making my evening strolls and shopping even more enjoyable," he said, adding that he has bought many traditional Beijing pastries and plans to visit Shanghai next.

Data from Trip.com Group showed that inbound travel orders during the summer surged by approximately 70 percent year-on-year, with South Korea topping the list of source countries. Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, Australia, Vietnam, the UK and the Philippines followed behind.

China's first local standards on the setup and management of outdoor smoking areas was enacted in Shanghai on Sunday to regulate outdoor smoking behaviors in the municipality.  

According to Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Shanghai will set up 300 outdoor smoking demonstration sites by the end of 2024 in accordance with the municipality's requirements, chinanews.com reported on Sunday. 

Based on this, Shanghai will further strengthen the advocacy of smoking only at designated areas and avoiding walking while smoking. In addition, the city will strictly enforce a thorough indoor smoking ban and strengthen regulatory enforcement. 

With the summary of Shanghai's long-standing experience in tobacco control management and references of relevant international practices, the standards specify the requirements for the location, facilities, signage and health tips for outdoor smoking areas, and clarifies the management requirements for the daily patrol and inspection as well as maintenance of these areas, according to chinanews.com. 

The implementation of the standard will help guide and regulate outdoor smoking, reduce health risks of outdoor secondhand smoke and protect the public's health. This is a significant step to further improving the effectiveness of smoke-free environment, promoting refined management on urban tobacco control. 

Currently, there are no national standards or regulations on the setup and management of outdoor smoking areas. 

Therefore, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Shanghai has innovatively explored the requirements to provide professional guidance and technical support for the reasonable and standardized setting up and management of outdoor smoking areas. 

Relevant departments also set up health tips about the hazards of tobacco and information on services for giving up smoking at the smoking areas, providing smokers with convenient channels to quit smoking. 

As the 33rd Summer Olympics in Paris draws to a close, the popular youth business reality show Chinese Restaurant 8 returns to France. Its mission is to showcase Chinese cuisine and culture while also promoting the spirit of Chinese sports.

Chinese Restaurant 8 features the theme "Olympic Boost Week" and introduces a series of innovative dishes. The restaurant also hosts an Olympic-themed "Pride of China Knowledge Quiz," offering viewers both entertaining and culturally engaging activities.

The program has specially invited two Olympic athletes, Deng Yaping and Su Bingtian, who display their relaxed and confident demeanor. Through their personal stories, they highlight the legacy of Chinese sports, helping to create a harmonious blend of food and culture.

Chinese track and field athlete Su Bingtian brings hundreds of Chinese Dragon T-shirts to Paris, distributing them to local Chinese restaurant owners and friends who love Chinese culture. These shirts symbolize the wisdom and strength of the Chinese Dragon spirit.

A newly added "Takeaway Food Truck" offers Chinese snacks such as sour plum soup and colorful jelly on the streets of a small town, giving international visitors a unique taste of Chinese cuisine.

The "Cross-City Takeaway Team," consisting of Zhai Xiaowen, Dai Guangtan, Yu Shuxin, and Huang Xiaoming, delivers "spicy hot pot" to the town of Ault in the Somme department of Hauts-de-France.

The interior design of Chinese Restaurant 8 fully embraces Chinese aesthetics, featuring a majestic red dragon wall, porcelain dragon-scale decorations, and a "Panda Corner" photo spot, allowing diners to experience the diverse charm of Chinese culture.

The show also presents gifts such as Sichuan opera face-changing dolls, panda headbands, Chinese fans, dragon beard candy, and Jingdezhen porcelain cups, symbolizing the warm hospitality of the Chinese people and promoting continued friendly exchanges between China and France. The surprise visit of French artist Alain also injects fresh vitality into the China-France friendship.

The show airs on Hunan TV’s Mango TV.

The 23rd "Chinese Bridge" global finals for university students officially commenced in Nanping, East China's Fujian Province, on Friday. Featuring contests and immersive cultural experiences, the competition will span 21 days.

A total of 147 contestants from 130 countries and regions are participating in the competition, which has three phases: the Bridge Round, the Advancement Round, and the Grand Final. 

The Grand Final will take place in early September in Pingtan, where the global champion, continental champions, and winners of the first, second, and third prizes will be selected. Individual awards will also be presented.

The first Bridge Round featured a written exam consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions covering topics such as China's national conditions, geography, history, economy, and culture.

Preliminary rounds were held earlier this year, from February to June. Winners of these rounds, vetted by the organizing committee, have traveled to China to represent their respective regions in the global finals. 

Since its inception in 2002, the "Chinese Bridge" competition has attracted over 1.6 million participants from more than 160 countries and regions, with over 7,000 foreign students invited to China for the global finals, drawing a global viewership of hundreds of millions each year.

It aims to provide a platform for Chinese language learners from around the world to showcase their proficiency, exchange learning experiences, and assess their progress, while building bridges of friendship among participants.

After a concert Monday night at Shanghai Cultural Square theater, renowned Welsh musical theater actor and singer John Owen-Jones met his Chinese fans at the “More than Music” event hosted by the British Consulate-General in Shanghai on Tuesday to share his career experience, and celebrate the rich cultural exchanges between the UK and China.

John Owen-Jones, also known as JOJ, is most famous for his portrayals of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables and the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

Shanghai is the second leg of his China tour covering Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Changsha after a four-year hiatus. Tickets for the one-night Shanghai show sold out in less than seven minutes.

The Global Times reporter witnessed about 2,000 Shanghai audience members actively interacted with JOJ throughout the entire performance, immersing themselves in more than 25 classic musical theater scenes, including Nature Boy, Thunderball, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, This Is the Moment, Proud Lady and Love Changes Everything. 

Besides his long-time partner John Quirk, special guest Chinese soprano Pan Hangwei also performed on stage with JOJ.

“This year I was very much concentrating on using local musicians and local talents, so whenever I travel to a new country, I much prefer to work with local artists because it brings a different dimension to my performance… And I thought it would be a great idea to put together Chinese instruments into the recording, and in that way, we celebrate the two musical cultures and the differences and combine them and make one unique thing,” JOJ told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Speaking of blending Western and Chinese instruments and making a very unique version of the Phantom of the Opera, which they performed during the China tour, JOJ said, “It's always one of the most exciting parts of the show for me because I get to see how the audience reacts to that, because cultural exchange is such a rich tapestry of different things all over the world that we can all learn from each other and make better art and make better music. And that's what's so exciting about being here in China. I think I'd like to explore more, so I definitely would like to integrate, explore more cultural opportunities between where I'm from, where you are from.”

JOJ’s remarks were echoed by the British Consul General in Shanghai Matt Burney. The consul general told the session that “Regardless of where we come from, music is this universal language, and it reminds us of that shared humanity and the things that bind us together emotionally and spiritually. Music really does have the ability to transcend all of the challenges that life presents us. It can take us back to the past, and it can also give us optimism.”

The consul general went on to introduce the “More than Music” campaign. “We wanted to use the media of music and through this project to bring people closer to the UK. We're bringing you a really exciting, UK music campaign that I really do hope that you will engage in and hope that through this campaign you can understand more about British music and British musicians.”

Global financial markets experienced a significant surge on Friday, as stocks, gold, and oil all rallied following US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's clear indication that lower interest rates in the US are imminent.

A long-awaited rate cut by the Fed is expected to reduce the interest rate gap between China and the US, and China's central bank will have greater flexibility in implementing monetary policy, giving more opportunities for Chinese economy, according to experts.

"The time has come for policy to adjust," Powell said in a keynote speech at an annual gathering of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability."

This was seen as his firmest declaration yet that the Fed has finally seen enough reasons to change its stance by cutting rates at their September 17 to 18 meeting.

Investors cheered on the messaging. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 462.3 points on Friday, an increase of 1.14 percent; the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.47 percent; and the S&P 500 Index rose 1.15 percent.

In addition, international oil prices also climbed up collectively, with the October contract for WTI crude oil gaining 2.69 percent to $74.97 per barrel, and the October contract for Brent crude oil rising 2.20 percent to $78.24 per barrel.

The prices of precious metals also increased on Friday as appetite for safe-haven assets strengthened. On COMEX, December gold climbed $32.58, or 1.29 percent, to $2,549.28 an ounce.

As inflation fell fast and US job market added fewer jobs than expected, market expectation for a rate cut has been rising. The US economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than originally reported in the 12-month period through March 2024, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The revision to the nonfarm payroll numbers is the largest since 2009, indicating that the US labor market may not be as strong as expected.

As a result, the probability of a 25 basis-point cut is now 76 percent, while the probability of a 50 basis-point cut is 24 percent, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The Federal Reserve's monetary policy often determines the direction of global monetary policy, however, this time, the US has clearly shifted from being a leader in global monetary policy to a follower, a securities analyst with the surname Chen told the Global Times on Saturday.

In June, the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time since 2019. The Bank of Canada announced two consecutive rate cuts in June and July. The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, also made a rate cut in July. In August, the Bank of England delivered its first interest rate cut in more than four years.

"The Fed has been cautious in signaling a rate cut not only because of the robust performance of US economic data, but also because it hopes to delay capital outflows as much as possible," Chen said, noting that the US economy is grappling with challenges in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, with even the adjustments in the US capital market being influenced by these issues.

But the increasingly strong expectation of rate cuts is already an irreversible trend, as evidenced by the general appreciation of non-dollar currencies, Chen said.

In foreign exchange market, the offshore yuan further appreciated against the US dollar on Friday, up 311 points to 7.1149 yuan per dollar.

Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, suggested that the Fed's expected interest rate cut may offer China economic opportunities beyond just currency appreciation.

For instance, once US rates come down, China's central bank will have more flexibility in monetary policy adjustments, when it comes to bank reserve requirement ratio cut and more interest rate cuts, Xi said.

The Fed's rate cutting typically weakens the US dollar, increasing the possibility of capital inflows into yuan-denominated assets. With the relatively weak growth in consumer price index in China, more capital inflows have the potential to drive assets prices and help counter the risks of deflation, he noted.

China and Bhutan held the 14th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on the China-Bhutan Boundary lssues from Tuesday to Thursday in Thimphu, Bhutan, according to a release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The Chinese delegation was led by Hong Liang, director-general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Letho Tobdhen Tangbi, secretary of the International Boundaries of Bhutan, according to the ministry.

The two sides reviewed the progress made in the China-Bhutan boundary negotiations in recent years and held friendly, frank and constructive discussions on issues of common interest, including the implementation of the Three-Step Roadmap.

Boundary negotiations started in 1984 and lasted for nearly 40 years before the two signed a memorandum of understanding on a Three-Step Roadmap in 2021 to help speed up the delayed boundary talks. 

During the EGM, the two sides also discussed the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement on the Responsibilities and Functions of the Joint Technical Team (JTT) on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the China-Bhutan Boundary during the second meeting of the JTT. The JTT was established during the 13th expert group meeting to assist the expert group in the implementation of the memorandum of understanding.

The discussions were held in a warm and friendly atmosphere in keeping with the ties of friendship and cooperation between China and Bhutan.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the 25th Round of the Boundary Talks between China and Bhutan was held in Beijing in October 2023. The two sides held in-depth discussions on the boundary negotiations and noted the progress made through a series of Expert Group Meetings since the 24th Round of Boundary Talks in 2016.