Belt, Road literary network established in Beijing By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-10 14:00 The Literary Network of the Belt and Road, initiated by the Chinese Writers Association (CWA), was established in Beijing on Sept 7 to introduce Chinese literature to the world and promote regular literary exchanges between China and other countries. Tie Ning, chairwoman of the Chinese Writers Association, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech. Representatives of Chinese writers, including Mao Dun Literature Award winners Liu Zhenyun and Ge Fei and online literature writer Tangjia Sanshao, attended the ceremony, together with the leaders of China Publishing Group, People's Literature Publishing House, People's Literature Magazine, Writers' Publishing House and other publishing organizations. Hu Bangsheng, secretary of the Secretariat of China Writers Association, presided over the ceremony. Alliance members from around the world attended the ceremony online. The Literary Network of the Belt and Road has enjoyed a positive reception among literary organizations and writers in many countries. Joining the network were 30 influential literary organizations from 35 countries – the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Argentina and Chile. 19 representative writers and translators who provide literary translation and localization to promote the communicationfrom all over the world also joined the network. The secretariat of the network is located in the CWA. The official website of the Literary Network of the Belt and Road, launched on the same day, will become a vital platform for members of the organization to communicate and learn from each other. 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.

South Korean cosmetics firm develops in China By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-09 14:00 After building up momentum in China for 26 years, a South Korean manufacturer of makeup brushes is planning to expand its business even further, thanks to favorable policies it enjoys in North China. Based in Qingxian county in Cangzhou, Hebei province, Cangzhou Yongcheng Cosmetic Co will develop its own brand and intends to promote it globally, hoping to become one of the world's leading brands one day, according to its General Manager Bae Sungwon, who comes from South Korea. The company has made high-end makeup brushes for more than two decades, but the products were made for brands in other countries, including the United States and Japan. "We take orders from overseas cosmetic companies and make products for their brands," Bae said. Bae, 48, came to Qingxian in 1998 with his father who invested in a factory there and hired locals to produce makeup brushes. Their company is one of the dozens of South Korean companies that came to Qingxian in the 1990s. "Back then, the county had developed a mature industry of making woolen sweaters, which helped nurtured a bunch of skilled workers familiar with wool techniques that are needed for making brush tips," Bae said, adding that lower-cost labor and a wealth of raw material supplies were also among the reasons they came to the county, which is about 170 kilometers southeast of Beijing and 80 km southwest of Tianjin. In addition, numerous places in China, including Qingxian, rolled out a series of measures at the time to support foreign companies' development, such as preferential taxes, he said. However, Bae and his company had some difficulties at the beginning. "I couldn't say or understand a single Chinese word, and was unaccustomed to the culture," he recalled. "But compared with other countries, China has an advantage for us because people from China's Korean ethnic group who speak Korean could help us translate." More challenging was that overseas customers did not welcome makeup brushes made in China at that time, because the industry's development had just began in the country. "We had to send products to South Korea first and exported them after some final touches were made there," Bae said. Fortunately, the situation changed after about a decade when customers started to realize that a great amount of makeup brushes of high quality were actually being made in China. "Exporting became easier for us and actually very convenient because Qingxian is close to some major ports in North China, including Tianjin," he said. In the 2010s, some skilled workers who had worked at South Korean companies in Qingxian began to register local brands and have seen fruitful results, thanks to their experience and China's high-flying e-commerce economy. "It's very natural that some would like to do their own business after gaining skills and knowledge about makeup brushes," Bae said, adding that there...

China calls for greater BRICS cooperation By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-08 15:00 China's calls for deeper cooperation with BRICS partners, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to help stabilize the global supply chain and drive technological innovations, government officials and industry experts said at a conference on Tuesday, Sept 7. An innovation base for members of the bloc was also unveiled at the conference in Xiamen, Fujian province, with contracts for 28 projects signed, with a total investment of around 13.4 billion yuan (about $2.1 billion). Jin Xin, secretary-general of the China Council for BRICS Think Tank Cooperation, said at the 2021 BRICS Forum on Partnership on New Industrial Revolution that greater cooperation among member states will help global development. "More efforts are needed from BRICS countries to boost their cooperation on technological innovation, which is the fundamental driving force of a number of industries," he said. "With technological improvements, BRICS nations will be able to make a big leap in the reconstruction of the global supply chain and the industry chain." BRICS members should also develop their roles as regional leaders, aid neighboring nations and "boost cooperation with regions like Europe, to inject BRICS momentum into the world's economic development", Jin said. Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing called for strengthening cooperation between China and other BRICS members in smart manufacturing, the industrial internet and green development. "China will push forward a group of demonstration projects on BRICS cooperation and encourage enterprises, scientific research institutions and universities from all countries to jointly build open innovation platforms to promote the application of new technologies," Xiao said at the conference. According to a report on the competitiveness of BRICS nations released by the China Science and Technology Exchange Center on Tuesday, the export volume of high-tech products from BRICS countries totals $6 trillion and accounts for over 25 percent of such products globally. According to the report, BRICS countries' annual research and development investment for scientific and technological innovations accounted for over 16.7 percent of the global total. The comprehensive innovation index of BRICS countries will grow 1.5 percent annually on average in the coming years, the report said. However, the average annual rate is 2.8 percent in G20 economies. The innovation base was approved during the 12th BRICS summit in November and will provide a foothold for members to utilize technological innovation and digital transformation brought by the new industrial revolution. According to the Ministry of Commerce, BRICS countries account for about 42 percent of the world's population, 24 percent of global GDP, 18 percent of global trade and 25 percent of the world's foreign investment on an annual basis. Russian Deputy Ministe...

Xi: Scientific Innovation, big data to facilitate the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-07 14:00 President Xi Jinping called on Monday, Sept 7, on the international community to take advantage of scientific innovation and big data to overcome key difficulties in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Xi made the remark in a congratulatory letter to the inauguration ceremony of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals and the International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Beijing. The research center was pledged by Xi during his speech at the General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly last year. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat in the UN. In 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 sustainable development goals, ranging from ending poverty to tackling climate change. In the letter, Xi said the agenda has offered clear objectives for international development and cooperation. "The world is currently suffering from the great impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, applying scientific and technological innovation and big data will help the international community overcome obstacles and fulfill the 2030 UN agenda around the globe," he said. Xi expressed his hope that different parties and stakeholders around the world can take advantage of the new research center to enhance international cooperation, jointly facilitate the fulfillment of the 2030 UN agenda, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message to the events that information from the research center, which is operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "has enormous potential to help deal with climate change, advance the SDGs and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic". The research center will work alongside with the Regional Hub for Big Data to support the UN Global Platform and build on the momentum generated by the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, he said. "Together, we can mobilize scientific and technological communities to help achieve the sustainable development goals," he added. Guo Huadong, director of the research center and an academician of the CAS, said achieving the sustainable development goals would require overcoming three major obstacles: a lack of data, unequal socioeconomic development between different nations, and the complicated correlations between the goals. "These challenges will require us to find better solutions from science, technology and innovation," Guo said. To handle with these issues, Chinese scientists have been utilizing big data and Earth observation technologies to collect a large quantity of data related to environmental monitoring, forest and water distribution, urbanization, food security, climate and marine resources, as w...

Language skills give South Sudanese doctors a great strength By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-06 16:00 After participating in three months' intensive training in medical Chinese language at Juba Teaching Hospital, Lucia Thomas Loro, a South Sudanese doctor, is confident about interpreting some of the medical terms written in Chinese to patients. Loro, director of nursing and midwifery in Juba Teaching Hospital, who has 17 years' working experience, said she will no longer struggle to read Chinese characters inscribed for medication package inserts. "Chinese will benefit me because we have a Chinese medical team in the hospital, and this language will even help us to interpret medical terms to our patients if they have any questions." Loro, among the more than 40 local medics who completed the Chinese-language course last week, also said she appreciated learning Chinese culture during the training conducted by the eighth batch of Chinese doctors from Anhui province. "I have learnt to appreciate the Chinese people for their culture and humility," said Loro, who suggested that more training courses by Chinese instructors be held to help her and other colleagues become fluent in the language. "Chinese people love their country very much, which we South Sudanese need to learn from and also love our country." Atim Sheril, another South Sudanese doctor, said learning medical Chinese is going to benefit his working relationship with his Chinese counterparts with whom he has been previously communicating through translation into English. Serious lectures "We took very serious lectures in Chinese culture, and it was very nice with all the history of China, and we were informed of some important places in China we can visit if we go there," Sheril said. Evaline Tokwaje Sebit, a health worker at Juba Teaching Hospital who has worked for more than three years, said she has not only learned basic Chinese characters but also a lot about Chinese culture. "The first thing is that it is going to help us a lot in interpreting medical terms which are written mostly in Chinese, so by learning this language we will be able to translate instructions of the Chinese doctors for our people," Sebit said. "We want to encourage them to give us more lessons in Chinese because we want to know more so we can help in so many things in Juba Teaching Hospital." Janet Michael, director general for training and professional development at South Sudan's main referral hospital, congratulated the graduates, saying their language skills will help strengthen the current partnership they have with China. "We are having equipment, medicines with instructions written in Chinese so you will be able to understand and also operate those machines," Michael said. "Learning a language actually gives you confidence wherever you go because if we have some exchange visit with China you already have some basics." This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyr...

Education should make children more interested in studies By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-05 18:00 The ripples of "double reduction" are being felt even a month after it came into operation, as one more private tutoring institute, called Juren－Giant in English, declared bankruptcy on Aug 31, a day before a new school semester start. Why is the tutoring sector reform vital? And what could be the merits and side effects of the reform? Two experts share their views on the issue and here are the excerpts: Preparation schools should change roles to survive The education authorities' move is meant to reduce the total amount of time required to do school homework and ease the burden of on-campus or after-school training programs (or double reduction) on students. Compared with their foreign counterparts, Chinese students spend much more time on their studies. According to a survey conducted by the education guiding committee of the State Council in April, 67 percent of the middle and primary school students didn't get enough sleep, and 17 percent were bogged down by excessive school work. Crammed study schedules not only result in inefficiency but also mean students get less or no time for playing sports or doing physical exercise or taking rest, leading to a rising rate of obesity and myopia among Chinese children. About 20 percent of the children aged between six and 17 years, and 10 percent below six are overweight, according to data presented at a National Health Commission meeting in July. And the Ministry of Education's 2020 statistics showed 52.7 percent of all Chinese students were nearsighted. Earlier, the education authorities tried to ease students' burden by reducing school hours and setting a time limit for doing homework. But such measures didn't produce the desired results, because to make sure that their children scored good marks in exams, parents used to get them enrolled in private test-preparation schools. So the authorities had to tighten regulations on the test-prep sector, which used to make full use of parents' anxiety over their kids' scores to earn profits. Accordingly, the authorities issued a policy document requiring the after-school tutorial institutes to register as nonprofit organizations, and banning all special classes on weekends, after 8:30 pm on weekdays, and during festivals, and summer and winter vacations. Thanks to the policy, students can now breathe a sigh of relief. They will not be pushed to study all the time for tests any more, and invest their free time in hobbies and self-exploration. But as long as test scores are still the key criterion for admission, the need for test-prep classes may not end. Besides, the restrictions on after-school classes could weaken fairness in education, as children of affluent families that can afford private tutors will have a big edge over their less fortunate peers. So there is a need to reform the score-oriented education system. Also, the policy h...

2021 CIFTIS holds key industry forums By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-04 18:00 The China International Fair for Trade in Services began in Beijing on Thursday, Sept 1, with almost 200 forums and promotional activities to be held within its six-day agenda. As this year's only global comprehensive fair centering on trade in services, the fact that the event is being held as scheduled amid the COVID-19 outbreak is of great importance, a senior official said. It shows China's resolution to advance high-level opening-up and the country's commitment to the global fight against the pandemic and promoting a recovery in the global economy. During the event, experts will conduct in-depth discussions on strategic and structural issues related to global trade in services. CIFTIS has developed into the largest comprehensive exhibition in the field of global trade in services and a major platform for China's opening-up, according to Sun Yao, director of the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center and deputy director of Beijing Commerce Bureau. The event is of great importance to promote the construction of a new development pattern and the high-quality development of China's foreign trade, helping the country deepen international cooperation and participate in global economic governance, Sun added. With the theme of working toward a digital future and service-driven development, the 2021 CIFTIS held five summit forums on Friday, Sept 3, along with 193 thematic forums and promotional activities running throughout the event's time frame. Hosts for the five forums include the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Development Research Center of the State Council, the World Tourism Cities Federation, and the Beijing municipal government. During the fair, more than 180 distinguished guests from home and abroad will exchange views on such issues as the high-quality development of trade in services, opening-up and cooperation, new digital ecology and revitalizing world tourism. According to the organizers, among those in attendance are politicians, heads of international organizations, Nobel laureates, academicians, ambassadors to China and executives from the world's top 500 companies and transnational corporations. Big names include German auto giant Daimler, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, Chinese telecom company Huawei and global consulting group Deloitte. International organizations, including the International Intellectual Property Organization, the World Food Programme and the International Banking Federation and World Trade Centers Association, will hold forums on topics like intellectual property rights protection, food supply chains, fintech, ecological protection, sustainable development and healthcare. In addition, a forum on the development, quality certification and cross-border legal services for traditional Chinese medicine will be held by the China Council for the Promotion o...

Upgrades of Tanzania's ports making the grade By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-9-01 14:00 Business at Tanzania's ports is humming in spite of the disruptions to trade because of the coronavirus. That's thanks to modernization work undertaken by Chinese firms. Between February and July, revenue from the country's ports increased from $227 million to $229 million, a statement by the Tanzanian embassy in Israel said on Monday. It gave most of the credit to the upgrades at ports in Dar es Salaam and Mtwara. The Dar es Salaam project involved strengthening and deepening seven of the facility's berths and the construction of a terminal by China Harbour Engineering. The company also worked with China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group to build a 300-meter berth at Mtwara Port, and renovate its cargo yard. The modernization works have seen the cargo handled at the country's ports increase from 7.83 million metric tons between February and July last year to 8.87 million tons for the corresponding period this year. Gerson Msigwa, the government's spokesperson and the director of information services, said the number of ships docking at the country's ports surged from 1,388 to 2,206. "We cannot underestimate the increase in revenue taking into account that some countries are experiencing a significant drop due to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic," he said. He said revenues came from the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara as well as the Great Lakes region of Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa. Msigwa said the upgrading of Dar es Salaam port has seen it host huge vessels such as Panama's Tranquil ACE. The ship can carry 3,743 vehicles. Msigwa said the number of vehicles passing through the Dar es Salaam Port including those on transit increased from 64,209 to 81,016. In spite of the recorded gains, there are some remaining works at the Dar es Salaam facility, including expansion and dredging of the ship entrance channel, turning circle and harbor basin as well as the strengthening and deepening of other berths. Major upgrades are underway at Tanga Port in order for the terminal to handle large vessels and cut down on costs, with the project expected to be completed by October next year. The Tanga port project is aimed at transforming the gateway into a highly competitive terminal to not only serve the country's clients but also those in the Great Lakes and wider East African region. China Harbour Engineering is in charge of the project. According to Msigwa, construction of Karema Port terminal in Lake Tanganyika by the Xiamen Ongoing Construction Group stands at 50 percent and it's expected to be completed by March 2022 and to facilitate communication during the construction, translation and localization are of great importance. 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.