China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism opened at foot of Athens Acropolis By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-20 15:00 On last Thursday the China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism launched with a ceremony held at the foot of the Athens Acropolis, as officials of both sides showed confidence in a stronger friendship and further cooperation between the two peoples. The opening ceremony, attended by Greek and Chinese officials, was hosted inside the archaeological site of the Ancient Agora, the commercial, social and political hub of Athens in antiquity, providing a glimpse into the rich program of events to unfold in the coming months. "Guided by the words of Lao Tzu 'a journey of a thousand miles begins with a simple step' and Socrates' saying 'the most valuable acquisition is a good friend,' I wish a good start and best success," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a video message, citing words of wisdom by the two ancient philosophers. Greeks and Chinese will be offered several opportunities this year and the next to communicate and enhance collaboration through a series of exhibitions in museums on both sides, film screenings like the first Greek-Chinese co-production, and many other events, he explained. The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in his video message to the ceremony, adding that the cultural and tourism event will further help enhance mutual understanding, deepen traditional friendship and promote practical cooperation between the two countries. "We highlight the past of our two countries, we shape the present together and we plan for the future," Greek Culture and Sports Minister Lina Mendoni said at the event, outlining a program of planned cultural events and projects. "We treat our traditions with respect, recognizing that culture is the oxygen of our societies, but also the most convenient way for peoples to get closer to each other." During the ceremony, Anna Vasiliki Karapanagiotou, director of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and Wang Qiang, charge d'Affaires minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, inaugurated the digital exhibition "Parallel Space: Meet the Terracotta Warriors in Greece" that is held until Feb. 28, 2022 on the Greek museum's website. "Through advanced digital screens that provide a rich interactive cultural experience, the exhibition will allow Greeks to appreciate the charm of Chinese relics in virtual space-time and understand the course of the excavation, research and protection of the Terracotta Warriors," Li Qun, head of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration which co-organized the exhibition, said in a video message. "This is the result of a creative collaboration that runs during the entire period of COVID-19 and I must say that it kept us active," Karapanagiotou told Xinhua. The opening event at Ancient Agora closed with a performance by art...

HK can prove its mettle in pivotal elections By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-19 11:00 In the early days after Hong Kong returned to the motherland, the central authorities in Beijing adopted a "positive noninterference", or hands-off, approach in the governance of the special administrative region, even though Beijing holds overall jurisdiction over the city by virtue of the resumption of exercising sovereignty over the region. The rationale behind this approach was based on the understanding among central decision-makers that it would boost Hong Kong residents' confidence in the prospects of the newly established special administrative region and State leaders' considerable confidence in the people of Hong Kong's ability to administer the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region well. The National People's Congress passed a decision on March 11 to improve the electoral system of the HKSAR through amendments to Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law. This move does not mean Beijing no longer trusts the people of Hong Kong or has gone back on the promise of "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong", but is because confrontational politics used by anti-China forces has become so destructive in recent years that the HKSAR government could not concentrate on resolving deep-seated social issues hindering Hong Kong's socioeconomic development and efforts to elevate people's livelihoods. The Legislative Council was one of the main battlefields for confrontational politics, which rendered the HKSAR legislature nearly dysfunctional many times and exposed major loopholes in the electoral system that had allowed anti-China groups to infiltrate the governance structure of the HKSAR. The worsening situation left central authorities no choice but to plug the loopholes in the electoral system immediately, to make sure that the precept of "patriots administering Hong Kong" stays effective and that no loopholes stay open for anti-China elements to exploit. In fact, "patriots administering Hong Kong" is not a new requirement or what some detractors have labeled as an "unlawful structure". It is a cornerstone of the "one country, two systems "principle, laid down when this innovative framework was designed. It is a matter of course for the central government to trust only staunch patriots with the administration of Hong Kong. Otherwise, there would be no guarantee that the "one country, two systems" policy is faithfully and consistently implemented. When then-State leader Deng Xiaoping came up with the system innovation in the 1970s and '80s, he made it clear that no anti-China entities would be allowed in the governance structure of the HKSAR. To effectively enforce this bottom line, the improved electoral system includes a Candidate Eligibility Review Committee to keep "fake patriots" out of contention for key public offices. It is a bona fide "first line of defense" against attempts to risk the precept of "patriots administering Hong Kon...

2021 CIIE to bring merits to participants By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-18 15:00 The fourth China International Import Expo, which marked its 50-day countdown on Thursday, Sept 16, is expected to bring more opportunities for all participants with innovative exhibitions and services. The 2021 CIIE will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai) from Nov 5-10. According to the CIIE Bureau, the expo's organizer, preparations for the 2021 expo have progressed well with new highlights. The fourth CIIE will include a business exhibition, a country exhibition, the Hongqiao International Economic Forum and a number of supporting activities and events. Most prominent will be the business exhibition, which will feature a total of six areas: food and agricultural products, automobiles, intelligent industry and information technology, consumer goods, medical equipment and healthcare products, and trade in services. By now, the total booked area of the business exhibition has surpassed 360,000 square meters, according to the organizer. The quality of the exhibition has further improved, and number of enterprises and countries and regions exceed that of the 2020 edition, said Zhou Lingyan, deputy general manager of the Division of Exhibition at the CIIE Bureau. According to Zhou, a large number of Fortune 500 companies and industrial pacesetters will participate in this year's expo, with more than 80 percent of them repeat exhibitors. As warm-up events for the fourth CIIE, two matchmaking meetings for service trade and automobile industries were held at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai) on Thursday. Many industry-leading enterprises participated in the meetings and had exchanges with potential business partners. The organizer has already held a series of supply and demand matchmaking meetings through a combination of online and offline events, covering its six business exhibition areas. More than 200 exhibitors and nearly 500 buyers have participated. Officials from customs and other departments have also been invited to some meetings for policy interpretation. In addition, a total of 17 investment roadshows have been held with about 2,600 buyers involved. The fourth CIIE will set up 13 subsections, including innovation incubation, digital industry, energy low-carbon and environmental protection technology, integrated circuit, public health and epidemic prevention, rehabilitation and elderly care, biomedicine, smart travel, agricultural products, dairy products, beauty and daily chemical products, green smart home appliances as well as sports goods and events. Highly welcomed by exhibitors, these subsections will display the latest products, technologies and services, according to the organizer. To introduce more overseas high-quality resources into the domestic market and further promote the innovation and upgrading of domestic industries, the expo will set up an innovation incubation...

Motto of Beijing Winter Games Aired By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-17 17:00 The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics organizing committee introduced the Games' official motto "Together for a Shared Future" on Friday, Sept 17, appealing mankind to stay united in harmony in the face of common challenges to come. The catchy slogan, together with its Chinese version, was unveiled during a ceremony held at Beijing's Capital Museum with 140 days to go before the 2022 Winter Olympics open in the Chinese capital on Feb 4. The slogan sends a strong message to the world inviting people from different backgrounds to join hands to build a bright future toward unity, peace, progress and inclusiveness, according to the organizing committee's official interpretation. The Beijing 2022 slogan is in correspondence with the newly updated Olympic motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger–Together" that recognizes the unifying power of sport and the significance of solidarity, while expressing the warm wishes of 1.4 billion Chinese people to fight for a better future with open arms, said Beijing organizers. "The unveiling of the slogan will no doubt attract more attention from all over the world to anticipate for and get involved in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics," said Beijing Mayor Chen Jining, also an executive president of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee, during the ceremony on Friday. "At a trying time when the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic is still upon us, the successful hosting of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will encourage people from all corners of the world to stand by each other and push for a bright future hand in hand." The Games motto will be displayed - in both English and Chinese - at all the official venues, on city street decorations and licensed goods to promote the value of the Olympic spirit as well as Beijing's vision of hosting the Games in an open and shared manner. Scheduled from Feb 4-20, the 2022 Winter Olympics will take place across three areas - Beijing downtown, its Yanqing district and co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, with an estimated number of 2,892 athletes competing in 109 medal events. The Paralympic Winter Games will run from March 4-13 with almost 800 para-athletes involved. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

China, ROK vow to elevate bilateral ties By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-16 17:00 Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, Sept 15, emphasized the significance for the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to constantly improve relations and advance the peace process for the Korean Peninsula despite outside interference. Wang made the remarks during a meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in as he paid an official visit to the country. The ROK was the last leg of Wang's six-day visit that concluded on Wednesday. The four-nation trip had brought him to Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore. Wang said that peace on the peninsula is hard-won and should be cherished by all parties with special care. Despite the complicated changes of the situation, the aspiration for peace on the peninsula should never be discarded and efforts to strive for it should persevere, he added. He said that China firmly supports the ROK and the DPRK in overcoming difficulties and getting rid of interferences to improve their relations. China will keep on playing a constructive role in maintaining the peace and stability on the peninsula and establishing lasting peace in the region, he said. Moon said that his country appreciated China's contribution for maintaining the peace on the peninsula and expected China to continue to play a constructive role in realizing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. As next year will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK, Wang called on the two sides to reflect upon the past development of bilateral ties and jointly plan for the future of bilateral cooperation. It has been revealed over the past three decades that the two countries should respect each other's development path and their core interests and concerns, and focus on cooperation to benefit their peoples, he said. According to Wang, the annual two-way trade between the two countries has exceeded $300 billion and the volume of mutual investment has exceeded $1 trillion. Tens of millions of two-way visits are made by the people in both countries every year. Common interests During the meeting with his ROK counterpart Chung Euiyong on Wednesday, Wang urged the two countries to keep expanding common interests, tap the potential for more cooperation and boost bilateral ties to achieve more sustainable development against the background of changes unseen in a century, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting that both countries are supporters of multilateralism and a free-trade system, he called on the two countries to strengthen cooperation on global issues like climate change within multilateral frameworks including the United Nations. Chung said the ROK upholds the principles of openness and transparency, and objects to the politicization of studies into the virus' origins to support international cooperation on the COVID-19 origins tracing work. The two sides also made an a...

What to expect at 14th National Games By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-15 17:00 With China's 14th National Games officially commence in Xi'an on Wednesday, host Shaanxi province is ready to deliver on its promise of staging a "streamlined, safe and splendid" showpiece. Yang Qian, Zhang Yufei, Su Bingtian and Ma Long are going to be the torch bearers at the opening ceremony of the Games, according to a micro blog post by the National Games' organizing committee. Medals are up for grabs in a total of 595 disciplines across 54 sports at the Games, which are billed as a "mini-Olympics" in the country. The majority of the action is taking place in 13 cities in Shaanxi, although six events which have special requirements, such as surfing, are being staged in seven other provinces. Some events were completed before the opening ceremony, but this week the Games will still play host to over 12,000 athletes, 6,000 delegation members, 4,200 technical officials, 15,000 volunteers and 1,500 media workers. Olympic stars The main attractions of the National Games are China's recently returned Tokyo 2020 Olympians.  Yang Qian, who won China's first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 with her victory in the women's 10-meter air rifle, and Quan Hongchan, the Tokyo Olympics women's 10-meter platform champion, are among the 50 Olympic gold medalists to compete at the Games.  One of the most competitive sports at the Games is table tennis, as a total of 15 world champions including Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin are going to compete for gold medals. Another conspicuous competition will be the men's 100-meter track and field event. "Flying Man" Su Bingtian, the first Asian-born sprinter to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m event, is going to compete at the men's 100m at 8:40 pm on Sept 21. A chance for more athletes to display their talent The National Games provides a good chance for athletes to compete at their best level, especially for those who didn't make the Olympics and those who didn't pocket Olympic medals.  For some, winning a national title is more difficult than winning Olympic gold. In the women's 10m air pistol final on Tuesday, Shen Yiyao, representing Shanghai province, won with 241.9 points, while her teammate Jiang Ranxin, bronze medalist in the event and mixed team gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, finished second with 239.6 points. Three Olympic diving champions from Tokyo-Quan Hongchan, Zhang Jiaqi and Chen Yuxi-battled it out for the women's 10-meter platform title on Sunday. "It's so hard for me to catch up with you two," Quan told Zhang and Chen in front of the TV cameras. "But I'm certainly happy to be able to once again stand on the highest podium." The three-way tussle immediately grabbed the public's imagination, with "Battle of the Diving Queens" becoming a trending topic on Chinese social media. More sports for nonprofessional athletes At the 14th National Games, 185 disciplines across 19 sports ...

WHO to assist Africa in monitoring variants By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-14 14:00 In the wake of continued mutations of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization has committed to help African countries scale up genome sequencing in order to detect and monitor new COVID-19 variants for effective response. The WHO has announced that it is setting up the Regional Centre of Excellence for Genomic Surveillance and Bioinformatics, in partnership with the South African National Bioinformatics Institute in Cape Town. The initiative will support 14 southern African countries before expanding to more countries. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, said the center will support the countries scaling up their genome sequencing by fifteenfold monthly. The analysis is expected to shed light on the pathways that COVID-19 is using to spread into communities. "Knowing which variants are circulating and where is critical for informing effective response operations," Moeti said. Financial support In addition to technical support, she said the WHO is providing the project with more than $4.5 million in the first six months. Moeti said Africa lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to sequencing, accounting for only 1 percent of over 3 million COVID-19 sequences conducted worldwide. "The third wave has shown us how variants can hijack the efforts to tame the pandemic. Countries must step up surveillance because without genomic information, variants can spread undetected." WHO's regional center will not only assist the continent in scaling up sequencing and bioinformatics for COVID-19, but also other diseases. Unlike other parts of the world, Africa is prone to outbreaks of emerging and reemerging communicable diseases that have been claiming hundreds of lives annually. Alan Christoffels, director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute, said how Africa responds to COVID-19 through exploiting genomic technology will set a good stage for application in future pandemics and epidemics in the continent. "Our partnership with WHO will help in supporting the analysis within countries so that they could best leverage the skills and training that have been received," Christoffels said. "We are honing countries in the Southern African region with more hands-on assistance to help them carry out and interpret the data that is being produced with the view of building skills that will go beyond the COVID-19 pandemic." This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

Robots making great progress at World Robot Conference By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-13 17:00 All sorts of robots have captured the spotlight in Beijing at the World Robot Conference, showcasing the latest achievements in the robotics industry. Many newly developed robots made their debut at the conference, which runs from Sept 10 to 13 in the capital of China. With the theme "Inject momentum and share results to build a win-win collaborative society", this year's event has attracted over 110 exhibitors from the globe bringing more than 500 new robotics products and solutions. Xin Guobin, vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made the remarks at the 2021 World Robot Conference on Saturday. For eight consecutive years China has been the world's largest market, becoming an important force to support the development of the global robot industry, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Statistics showed the size of the global robot sector increased to $30.6 billion in 2019 from $20.4 billion in 2016, with average annual growth rate of 14.5 percent. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the role of service robots has expanded greatly. Liang Jing, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, said robots' application scenarios have transformed from traditional industrial manufacturing and family services to logistics, storage, community management, catering and entertainment. During the first half of this year, thanks to supportive polices and the overall business environment, the robot industry witnessed rapid growth, bringing huge development space and opportunities for enterprises. This year, China's robot industry is expected to see growth of more than 30 percent, said Hao Yucheng, deputy director of the China Robot Industry Alliance. In economics, industry and society, China has a huge market. Thus, the capital market remains positive on the domestic robot sector, with more rational inflows, Hao added. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.