Flame lighting ritual kicked off countdown to 2022 Games By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-19 14:00 Amid radiant sunshine and a reverent hush, the flame for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was lit in Greece on Monday, Oct 18, starting the final countdown to the Chinese capital's encore as a Games host. After a series of traditional ceremonies at the site, Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou－portraying a high priestess－knelt before a parabolic mirror and gathered the sun's rays into a bloom of flame in front of the Temple of Hera in Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games. She also ignited worldwide anticipation for the opening of the winter sports event on Feb 4 in Beijing. Although skies were cloudy for a dress rehearsal the previous day, the sunshine broke out just in time on Monday to guarantee a smooth operation of the sacred ritual witnessed by dignitaries, including Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and IOC Vice-President Yu Zaiqing, who also is a vice-president of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee. Yu, on behalf of Chinese organizers, sent a warm welcome to the world, inviting international winter sports athletes to visit Beijing in just over 100 days. "The Olympic flame embodies our unswerving pursuit of excellence … and it sheds light on our journey ahead, to overcome difficulties with greater solidarity and closer cooperation," Yu said. "The lighting of the flame today, carried by the torch of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, will connect two ancient cultures in Greece and China again, and will rekindle Olympic passion and dreams among 1.4 billion Chinese people," he added. Bach, citing the importance of the Olympics' return to China, hailed the Beijing event as a game changer for the international winter sports community. "The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will connect the Chinese people with the world, bringing to life China's vision to engage 300 million people with sport on snow and ice, changing winter sport forever. The entire world will see this passion when China welcomes the best winter sport athletes," Bach said in a speech before the flame was lit. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ceremony was held without spectators under a plan that also saw the traditional multiday relay in Greece replaced by a brief relay just in Olympia. After the Olympic flame was lit, Greek skier Ioannis Antoniou, an Olympian who was the first torchbearer for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, revisited the role by carrying the torch while running the first leg of the brief relay. The flame was then passed to Chinese Olympian Li Jiajun, a winner of five medals (two silver and three bronze) in short-track speed skating at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Games. "As a former winter sports athlete, it's such a great honor and a sacred mission to come to Greece and take part in the ceremony as a torchbearer," said Li, who retired at 31 after the 2006 Wi...

UK shivers at the coming winter energy crisis as gas prices soar By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-18 14:00 As the world emerges from the pandemic and major economies start to recover, the demand for energy has shot up across continental Europe and the United Kingdom. European gas prices have risen almost 600 percent this year, fueled by low inventories and surging demand in Asia and elsewhere as economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis, Reuters reported earlier this month. Russia has also been sending less natural gas to Europe, with some analysts saying it is restricting supplies for political reasons in order to push European governments to approve the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which critics fear will give Moscow too much leverage over the continent. Samir Dani, professor of management operations at Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, said Russia has also had gas production problems. "Russia itself also faced problems because of very harsh winters, they have depleted a lot of their gas resources, and, due to the pandemic, they also faced maintenance issues, so they haven't been able to ramp up production and supply," Dani said. Russia offers about 5 percent of the UK's gas, but is the majority provider of the resource for the rest of Europe. In the UK, domestic gas production accounts for 40 to 43 percent of the country's total supply, with the remainder imported from countries like Norway and the Netherlands. Other factors also include demand for natural gas from China as the country steps up its plans for renewable energy. As wholesale energy prices have soared, a number of energy companies in Britain have faced financial difficulties with some collapsing under the crisis. Dani said another issue is the UK government's opening up the gas market, which allowed a lot of smaller players to come into the market. These smaller players relied on the spot market for gas, but locked in customers by offering long-term gas prices. "As soon as the spot prices go up, most of these smaller suppliers are faced with tremendous losses, they just cannot cope with it, and that is why a lot of energy firms are folding," Dani said. Taofeeq Ibn-Mohammed, assistant professor and head of sustainability research at the University of Warwick, said: "A short-term solution is for the government to offer support to energy companies to avoid their complete collapse. This will include intervention options such as subsidies and capping of energy prices and profits to shield the consumer from the bigger impact of the crisis." The lack of large-scale gas storage facilities in Britain has also added to the problem, after Centrica plant closed its site in 2017 when it was deemed unsafe. "The UK has also reduced its gas storage capacity for winter requirements across the country to only 5 days, down from 15 days previously. So that can cause a big problem during winter and now as the winter is setting in, there is going to be a hug...

Bullet train arrived at China-Laos Railway Vientiane Station By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-17 16:00 The streamlined "China-standard" bullet train, or electric multiple unit (EMU) train, for the China-Laos railway arrived at the newly built China-Laos Railway Vientiane Station on Saturday, Oct 17. The EMU train was officially delivered to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., a joint venture based in the Lao capital Vientiane in charge of the railway's construction and operation, at a handover ceremony held in the station with the attendance of Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong and Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Viengsavath Siphandone. The EMU, named Lane Xang, is to be put into the upcoming railway trial run. Laos was once called the Lane Xang (million elephants) Kingdom. Lane Xang, also known as Lancang, the name of the upper section of the Mekong River in China, symbolizes the China-Laos relationship as good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners. Ambassador Jiang said in his speech at the Saturday ceremony that Laos receives the first modern train in her history today is decisive progress in the construction of the China-Laos railway, and it is also a landmark achievement of the strategic docking between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. "According to the current progress of construction, the Lao side proposed the coming Lao National Day (Dec. 2) as the target node to achieve official opening, and we are encouraged and willing to work with the Lao side to realize it," the Chinese ambassador said. Jiang said that after the opening of the China-Laos Railway, the journey time from Vientiane to the China-Laos border will be shortened from two days to three hours, and that to Kunming can be just overnight, which means a leapfrog development in the connectivity between China and Laos. The China State Railway Group directed the design and manufacture companies to actively adapt to cross-border transport situations, fully satisfy the needs of the user, and make necessary improvements. With advanced technology, the Lane Xang EMU is safe, comfortable and reliable with large passenger capacity but low operating costs, and fully meets the main performance indicators required by the China-Laos railway operation. The Lane Xang EMU is painted in the Lao flag colors of red, blue, and white. The interior design integrates elements of traditional Chinese and Lao cultures, embodying the Lao people's vision of a better life and the friendship between the two peoples. According to the China State Railway Group, the Lane Xang train, with the maximum operating speed of 160 km per hour, consists of nine carriages, including a locomotive, a dining coach, a first-class and six second-class coaches, and offers altogether 720 seats. The air-conditioned carriages are spacious with comfortable seats installed with power...

Climate impact visible in most land on Earth By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-15 15:00 At least 85 percent of the global population could be experiencing the impact of climate change, according to a study. Researchers used machine learning to analyze an estimated 100,000 studies of climate-related impact published between 1951 and 2018 and paired the analysis with data on human-caused changes in temperature and precipitation. Their results were published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. They found that there are temperature or precipitation trends that are at least partially attributable to human-influenced climate change visible on 80 percent of the world's land, where 85 percent of the global population lives. "We have a huge evidence base now that documents how climate change is affecting our societies and our ecosystems," said lead author Max Callaghan, a researcher at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Germany, according to The Washington Post. This study stresses an "attribution gap" between countries in the global North and South. The climate impact will be felt the strongest in the least developed countries, but little is known about what those effects will look like, Callaghan told ABC News. "In high-income countries, almost all of those people live in an area where there is also lots of evidence about how that warming trend affects other systems," he said. "But in low-income countries ... there is little evidence about how that warming trend is affecting other things." For instance, Callaghan said that trends in temperature and rainfall in Africa could be linked to climate change. "Developing countries are at the forefront of climate impacts, but we can see in our study there are real blind spots when it comes to climate impact data," contributing author Shruti Nath said, according to a news release by Mercator. "Most of the areas where we are not able to connect the dots attribution-wise are in Africa. This has real implications for adaptation planning and access to funding in these places," he said. Friederike Otto, co-lead of the World Weather Attribution initiative, who wasn't involved with the new climate impact research, said the study's estimate is likely too low, CNN reported. "The study focused on changes in mean temperature and precipitation, rather than extremes, but we know that heat extremes are changing faster than mean temperatures, and that heat extremes are increasing almost everywhere," Otto told CNN. "It is likely that nearly everyone in the world now experiences changes in extreme weather as a result of human greenhouse gas emissions." The findings come amid a major push to get countries to achieve more ambitious climate goals ahead of a United Nations summit in Glasgow, Scotland, next month. One of the issues that will be discussed at the UN climate meeting is the amount of funding that developed nations can pledge to help the global South...

Leaders strengthen Sino-German ties By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-14 14:00 The sound development of Sino-German relations over the past years has demonstrated that countries can avert zero-sum games to realize mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, Oct 13. Xi made the remark in a video meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This followed a telephone conversation between them on Sept 10, and was regarded as a farewell meeting between the two leaders as Merkel intends to soon conclude her 16 years in office as German chancellor. During the meeting, Xi expressed his appreciation for Merkel's contributions to the development of China-Germany and China-European Union relations, and he expressed his hope that Merkel could continue to support the development of those ties. He talked about the communications between him and Merkel on bilateral ties, major regional and international issues, and the sharing of governance experience, saying that they have jointly pushed forward China-Germany relations and also boosted the countries' partnership to deal with global challenges. Both countries have leveraged their own economic strengths to seek mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, which benefited their respective development, Xi said. Noting that next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Germany, Xi said that it is critically significant to steer the right course as to where bilateral ties are heading. China views its ties with Germany from a strategic and long-term perspective, he said, and it stands ready to maintain high-level exchanges with Germany, continue to bolster mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges, and further tap potential for bilateral pragmatic cooperation in various fields. Referring to China-EU ties, Xi said that it is their common aspiration to pursue peace and development. Both China and the EU uphold multilateralism, and support the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, he said, and they both maintain that their common interests outweigh their differences. Xi noted that the world is at a crucial period in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting economic recovery, and it faces increasing challenges and rising uncertainty and instability. Considering this situation, Xi said that China and the EU, as vital players in international affairs, need to shoulder their responsibilities to strengthen solidarity and cooperation. Both sides should treat each other in an overall and objective manner and tackle their differences in a rational and constructive way, he said. Xi expressed his hope that the EU could adhere to an independent position, truly uphold its interests and the solidarity of the international community, and work along with China and other countries to jointly promote global peace and development. Merkel－who has visited China 12 times during her tenure as ch...

Global financiers think over COP26 fuel targets By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-13 11:00 Less than one month before the start of the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, leading international banks are reportedly showing reluctance to sign up to the most direct way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. In April this year, the former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, set up a group called the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz), which received support from almost 300 global financial bodies with combined assets of $90 trillion. But just weeks away from the start of the gathering of world leaders, which United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres has called "a critical milestone in our efforts to avert climate catastrophe", the Financial Times reports that Gfanz negotiators have failed to convince many major banks to put an end to financing new fossil fuel exploration projects. Instead, many of the 59 banks are more interested in trying to achieve targets set by global warming scenarios presented by the UN-backed International Panel on Climate Change, which although it has much in common with the Gfanz report, allows for continued financing of such projects. Carney's plan follows guidelines published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in May this year, but a source close to the bank discussions told the FT that organizations were reluctant to sign up for them as "they think it's a fairy tale". More pressure has been put on Carney by the publication of a letter in several newspapers around the world, including the FT, written on behalf of around 90 climate groups, urging him "to stop greenwashing financial institutions that continue to invest in expanding fossil fuel infrastructure" by failing to win them over to the IEA proposals. "There is growing concern that in the run-up to the conference, financial institutions are using industry initiatives like Gfanz as cover for their continued support for coal, oil and gas expansion," explained the letter. Richard Brooks, climate finance director at Canada-based environmental protest organization Stand.earth, said Gfanz's work was almost being counter-productive. "The membership requirements for these net zero initiatives are set too low and as a result these alliances are doing the opposite of what they're supposed to," he said. "Rather than forcing banks and other financial institutions to step up their climate action, they're giving them the cover to continue their dirty financing of fossil fuel companies. We are running out of time and can't waste it on more greenwashing talk." In a recent speech in his native Canada, Carney also spoke of the need for economies to take preemptive action in addressing the human fall-out of the move towards a greener economic future, by helping workers whose jobs will be impacted. " (We need to ensure) that the resources of a country, Canada in this case, can be properly dedicated to re...

Africa and China to deepen cooperation in the digital economy By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-12 11:00 Africa and China are all set to deepen cooperation in the digital economy. The development comes at a critical juncture for Africa, which must urgently take advantage of new and emerging digital technologies to industrialize, pursue inclusive growth and attract foreign direct investment. The pandemic has significantly accelerated the application of artificial intelligence and the internet of things. The Brookings Institution recently pointed out that the information and communications technology sector in Africa contributes $144 billion in economic value (8.5 percent of the GDP of sub-Saharan Africa) with increased technology transfer and job creation. However, it also pointed out that "without attempts to move beyond existing models of innovation, entrepreneurship and digital growth on the continent, African businesses risk falling further behind". Africa increasingly sees the digital economy as a key to its economic recovery. With the share of the continent's population under the age of 20 having expanded by more than 25 percent over the past decade, it is important that young people are offered the tools to be successful in a digital-first economy. But the African Development Bank has highlighted that only when Africa closes the existing education gap and sets the continent up for a "digital overhaul", will it reap the benefits of new technologies. In fact, such a revamp of Africa's education system would translate into increased productivity and output for the continent as a whole. Among the African Union Agenda 2063's laudable aspirations is to strive for "well educated citizens and a skills revolution underpinned by science and technology and innovation". Africa wants its people to be "digital citizens", with a skilled and empowered work force and the youth, in particular, enjoying the transformative benefits of employment in a new world of work. In fact, it was vital that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his recent role as the chairman of the AU, consistently highlighted the significance of the development of an appropriate continental strategy for Africa's digital transformation. The new technology revolution represents, President Ramaphosa said, one of the "greatest and most fundamental tectonic shifts of our times with huge new opportunities for the enhancement of people's lives". Furthermore he said that South Africa and Africa should prepare to take a "great quantum leap" into the future to make sure that technological advances also benefit Africa and all its people. If Africa's potential workforce is effectively paired with the needed infrastructure and skills for innovation and technology use, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 presents a massive opportunity for growth. Africa is aware that China possesses a formidable and growing digital economy, which has fueled innovation and production in the co...

President promoted ecological civilization for sustainable development By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-11 15:00 The UN Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, is held in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, from Monday to Friday and continue in the first half of next year under the theme of "Ecological Civilization－Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth". Let's review what President Xi Jinping has said on biodiversity at first. --Biodiversity affects the well-being of humanity and provides the very basis for the human race to surviveand thrive. --Developing countries' concern over funding, technology and capacity-building should be accommodated. --To enhance biodiversity conservation and global environmental governance requires sustained efforts by all parties. Environmental improvement in China under the ecological civilization promoted by President Xi Jinping is proof the philosophy can be an effective way forward for the world's sustainable development, experts said. The philosophy highlights harmonious coexistence of man and nature and is a workable alternative to capitalism, they said. The remarks came ahead of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Qian Yong, director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, said it's the first global UN conference with ecological civilization as a theme. This alone showed the international significance of the Thought. Inaugurated in July at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment office in Beijing, the center is tasked with researching not only theories relating to the philosophy, but also its practice. Since the dawn of industrial civilization, mankind has created massive material wealth. However, it has come at a cost of exploitation of natural resources, resulting in increasing conflicts between man and nature, Qian said. "In light of the serious challenges presented by industrialization such as environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation, the Chinese government has been advocating and working to advance ecological civilization," he said. The development of China's ecological civilization has gained momentum since Xi became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012. "Both ecological civilization construction and the institutional system for environmental protection have been advanced in the country in an accelerated manner since then," Qian said. Qian pointed to a number of key statistics to show the achievements China has made in environmental management. As of the end of 2020, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in China had been reduced by 48.4 percent from the 2005 level, bettering the target of 40 to 45 percent. China has seen its forest areas expand for 30 straight years, contributing to one-fourth of the growth in the world's afforested area. On average, desert land in the country decreases by 2,424 square kilometers every ye...