General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pak Thae Song, premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Beijing on Friday.

Pak is also a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and vice president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK.

The DPP authorities have turned a deaf ear to the infringement of China's rights and interests by Japan and the Philippines, while turning a blind eye to the damage done to the interests of people on the island. Instead, they have seized the opportunity to aggressively spread the fallacies of "Taiwan independence" separatism and incite anti-China sentiment, said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, on Thursday. They have become accomplices of external forces in undermining the overall interests of the Chinese nation, and such despicable and shameless acts will inevitably be rejected by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, she noted. 

Zhu made the remarks when asked to comment on Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's recent claim that the Chinese mainland coast guard's recent law enforcement patrols in waters east of Taiwan island had “undermined peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and the rules-based international order.”

Zhu noted there is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China. China has exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the waters east of Taiwan island. Japan and the Philippines have unilaterally initiated “maritime delimitation negotiations” in the relevant waters by bypassing China, which seriously violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations, gravely infringes upon China's maritime rights and interests, and is completely illegal and invalid. 

The Chinese mainland coast guard's law enforcement patrols in the relevant waters are a lawful exercise of jurisdiction in accordance with the law and a legitimate move to safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. They are also a necessary response to Japan and the Philippines' unilateral initiation of “maritime delimitation negotiations” in the area that bypass China and infringe upon China's maritime rights and interests, Zhu said.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, conferred the July 1 Medal, the Party's highest honor, on model CPC members at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing on Wednesday morning.

The second batch of in-orbit test results from the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft test vehicle was released on Monday, covering fields including precise measurement in space, cost-saving and efficiency-enhancing technologies for space missions, future space hospital, and biological cultivation in orbit, which provide technical support for the application of new space technologies, according to CCTV News.

The test vehicle was launched into orbit on March 30 aboard a Lijian-2 Y1 carrier rocket. Developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS), the vehicle has a total mass of 4.2 tons, carries one ton of scientific payloads, and has a three-year in-orbit operational life, according to the Xinhua News Agency in April.

Among the latest in-orbit test results, the cost-saving and efficiency-enhancing technologies for space missions focus on developing support equipment for maintaining spacecraft in orbit and supporting astronauts' daily work and living in the space environment, according to CCTV News on Monday.

The test vehicle carried an upgraded vapor-compression space refrigerator, a key piece of equipment designed to preserve astronauts' food and temperature-sensitive biological samples for future space missions. During the in-orbit tests, the refrigerator overcame the challenge of gas-liquid separation and stable compressor operation in microgravity, providing a cost-effective solution to cold-chain logistics aboard the space station and future extraterrestrial refrigeration applications.

A comprehensive healthcare support system will be indispensable if humans are to live in space for extended periods or eventually establish space bases. This is the central focus of the future space hospital project, the report noted.

According to CCTV News, space biological cultivation has been a key priority for China's life science research conducted on the Tiangong space station over the past two years. A host of in-orbit experiments involving zebrafish, hornwort, and space mice have been completed previously. Multiple technical verifications in relevant fields were carried out during the on-orbit tests aboard the test vehicle this time.

Chinese researchers have also developed an electromyography monitoring device that addresses the limitations of conventional astronaut muscle monitoring, which relies on manual operation and cannot provide continuous measurements. Equipped with a domestically developed neural chip, the device demonstrated for the first time in orbit the feasibility of continuously collecting and transmitting weak muscle electrical signals in real time.

In addition, the handheld blood cell analyzer eliminates dependence on large medical equipment and ground instruction, providing critical technical support for establishing a real-time human health assessment and support system under complex space environments.

Chang Liang, chief designer of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, stated that the test flight is intended to conduct comprehensive in-orbit testing for the flight model spacecraft and verify a host of key technologies including sealed cabin and propulsion systems. All these tests have laid a solid technical foundation for the flight model of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.

It is expected that the flight model of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft will be launched in early 2027 and officially dock with the Tiangong space station, Chang said. Moving forward, it will act as an important supplement to Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, undertaking relatively low-cost cargo transportation and other missions for China's space station. At present, the development of the flight model of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft is steadily advancing, per CCTV.

As a severe heatwave continues to grip much of Europe, extreme temperatures are disrupting daily life across major countries, with transport infrastructure strained, cultural landmarks adjusting operating hours, and urban spaces increasingly turning into heat shelters under record-high temperatures.

The controversy escalated after media reports said that in the European Commission's Brussels headquarters, air-conditioning was reduced on lower floors while senior offices remained cooled, prompting internal criticism and accusations of a "feudal" arrangement.

The incident has become a symbolic flashpoint in a broader argument over inequality, climate policy, and Europe's preparedness for increasingly frequent extreme heat events, which triggered heated discussions on international social media platforms, with some netizens beginning to draw comparisons between China and Europe and hailing the country's achievements in infrastructure construction and governance capabilities.

While a French expert said the heatwave illustrates the importance of long-term industrial planning and pragmatic cooperation with China, a Chinese expert said it also highlights China's governance philosophy of "putting the people at the center," noting that what Europe needs now is not just an air conditioner, but also the country's accumulated experience in urban infrastructure development.

Heated stress

In Germany, sections of its famous A2 motorway were forced to close after concrete road surfaces buckled under extreme heat, according to German daily Bild. France also reportedly forced the early closure of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, two of Paris's most visited tourist attractions, as authorities grappled with soaring temperatures that have disrupted daily life across the country. In Italy, tourists visiting Rome's Colosseum were seen enduring prolonged exposure to intense heat with limited shade relief in surrounding public areas.

BBC also Wednesday reported that an event due to be held in central London about how the world can adapt to extreme heat has been cancelled due to soaring temperatures. The soaring temperatures have led to hundreds of school closures, or partial closures, across London and southern England.

On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, trendy videos show residents demonstrating extreme heat effects at home in France, including attempts to cook food such as bacon and eggs using rooftop or balcony surfaces under direct sunlight.

Footage on social media shows shoppers in a French store elbowing their way through the crowd and clambering over one another to snatch portable air conditioners and fans from the shelves. Within seconds, the display had been stripped nearly bare, per the New York Post.

Leading Chinese air conditioner manufacturers are working around the clock to keep up with soaring demand for portable split air conditioners in Europe.

Chinese air conditioner manufacturer Midea told the Global Times on Saturday that the company's air conditioner plant in Shunde, South China's Guangdong Province, is currently working around the clock to ramp up production of its PortaSplit models.

The units are being rushed to Europe via China-Europe freight trains in a bid to catch what remains of the peak summer season, the company said in a statement.

In addition to Midea, major Chinese home appliance brands including Gree and TCL have also ramped up production of similar portable air conditioners, according to media reports.

Gree told the Global Times in a Sunday statement that this year, the company's actual air-conditioning sales from January to June increased by more than 40 percent year-on-year in these markets. Portable air conditioners, which are easy to install, have been in extremely high demand, and distributors across Europe have already nearly run out of stock of portable units.

Using Chinese cooling appliance to help address the local heat stress, Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of Paris' 17th arrondissement released a video on X on Wednesday, showing that he has begun deploying China-made air conditioners to public schools as France faces an intense heatwave that has pushed classroom temperatures to as high as 44 C.

The mayor said in the video that there would be 50 air conditioners to by deployed in schools. The video showed that the air conditioners were productions of Chinese company Haier.

"The growing demand for Chinese air conditioners in Europe reflects real consumer needs rather than political ideology. People choose products that are affordable, innovative and available," Pierre Picquart, an expert in geopolitics and human geography from the University of Paris-VIII, told the Global Times on Sunday. "This is not only about air conditioners. It illustrates the importance of long-term industrial planning, innovation and the ability to anticipate future demand."

Time magazine, in an article titled "Why Is Europe so ill-equipped to handle heatwaves?" pointed out that "Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world - it's the fastest warming continent in the world and the second fastest region after the Arctic." However, "old buildings were not designed to include cooling, and the region's once-mild climate meant there was no need for air conditioners (AC)."

Bao Yuanyuan, a chief forecaster at China's National Meteorological Center, told the Global Times that the reason Europe's heatwaves have generated stronger social attention and impact lies primarily in the region's poor infrastructure resilience.

Most residential buildings, offices and even metro systems in central and western Europe were originally designed for cold protection rather than heat adaptation, and air-conditioning penetration remains low. As a result, when temperatures exceed 40 C, indoor environments in many European buildings can easily develop a "heat-trapping greenhouse" effect, Bao said.

The gap between the more frequent extreme heat and lack of AC or cooling systems escalated sharply inside EU institutions during the peak of the heatwave.

According to POLITICO Europe, on Saturday, the European Commission shut down air-conditioning in the lower floors of its Brussels headquarters while upper floors - including offices used by senior officials - remained cooled.

The report cited internal staff frustration, with one employee describing the arrangement as "feudalism," highlighting perceived inequality in access to basic comfort during extreme heat.

In France, the air-conditioning issue has become a political fault line. According to the NYT, in France, far-right politicians who have advocated cutting net zero initiatives hope to gain from the heatwave, using it to accuse the government of failing to make the country more resilient, but also as a cultural issue against the hard left, which has often opposed the use of air-conditioning on environmental grounds.

The French government, however, has repeatedly pushed back against the notion that widespread air-conditioning is a good solution, as it could further increase outdoor temperatures by releasing heat into the streets, POLITICO Europe reported on Thursday.

Jiang Feng, a senior researcher at Shanghai International Studies University and president of the Shanghai Regional Studies Association, told the Global Times that European left- and right-wing politicians are locked in disputes. Each side deliberately steers the issue in a direction that benefits itself, making the rapid resolution of real problems increasingly complex. It is very difficult for the governments to quickly make decisions and implement them on the ground — the idea of "just getting it done" has become extremely challenging. This has become a highly prominent political phenomenon in Europe today.

The scorching summer heat only makes people physically uncomfortable, but the white-hot political situation fills people with indignation. This basically sums up Europe's current dilemma of "double heat," Jiang noted.

China's cool in comparison

Against the backdrop of scotching heat in Europe while limited access to the air-conditioning appliance, the heatwave has triggered widespread online discussion on international social media platforms, where comparisons between Europe and China have become increasingly visible.

On social media platforms such as X, users have highlighted differences in everyday heat resilience. Many posts point out that in China, air conditioning is widely available in residential buildings, offices, public transport and commercial infrastructure, allowing cities to maintain relatively stable indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.

While such commentary is informal and varied, a recurring narrative is that China's rapid urbanization has produced a more scalable cooling infrastructure in major cities, particularly in megacities facing increasingly frequent heatwaves.

X user Aubin DIDON wrote in her post on Sunday that "China has equipped its residential complexes with misting systems. Activated during heatwaves, they lower the air temperature in outdoor spaces by 3 to 6 degrees Celsius. In the West, you're told that you must learn to live with the heatwave and that air conditioning is bad."

"China has an ingenious way of keeping the temperature down outdoor evaporative mist cooling systems spray ultra-fine water droplets into the air that evaporate quickly, absorbing heat," Mario Nawfal wrote on X.

X-user Ketul Parmar wrote in the post that "Europeans can't afford Air Conditioners, so they have to sleep in public places. What kind of developed states is there? China which according to Europeans a developing country is much better."

Even more to the point, X user Christineza said that "Europeans don't want a trade war with China, they want ACs made by a Chinese company, desperately."

Chen Hong, Director of Country and Region Studies Institute, School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University, who just returned to China after a trip to Sweden, shared with the Global Times on Sunday that "although I didn't experience extreme heat, temperatures still reached 30 C. What struck me deeply was that many hotels had clearly inadequate air conditioning - some didn't even have proper air conditioning at all. This forms a sharp contrast with many cities in China."

In China, large-scale cooling facilities have become a standard part of modern urban infrastructure — whether in hotels, shopping malls, high-speed rail, subways, schools, or hospitals. People take it for granted and rarely pay special attention to it. But in Europe, one realizes that this is actually a very important public service capability, he explained.

"Europe should look beyond ideological debates and strengthen its own long-term competitiveness while developing pragmatic cooperation with China," Pierre Picquart noted.

"What Europe needs is not just an air conditioner, but also China's accumulated experience in urban infrastructure development. This includes power grid construction, energy-efficient building renovations, cooling systems for public transportation, and urban governance capabilities for dealing with extreme weather," Chen said.

From joining dragon boat race to making the sticky zongzi, a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, international tourists across China joined local residents in celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival in 2026, offering a glimpse into how centuries-old traditions continue to resonate with people from around the world today.

In Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province, a dragon boat drifting course famous for its sharp turns and high degree of difficulty not only attracted domestic visitors but also welcomed its first overseas team.

According to CCTV News, the captain of New Zealand's Four Seasons Dragon Boat Team said his knees and calves were sore after the race, "but it actually felt pretty good." "We're getting better and better. This is something very unusual for us, and it's amazing. We really love it," he said.

The excitement was shared by many other overseas visitors who found themselves drawn to both the festive atmosphere and the local culture for Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 19 this year, with the holidays spanning until Sunday.

A British tourist who has visited China multiple times, said the country's diverse festivals have become one of the main reasons he keeps returning. He noted that China has a rich culinary culture and a wide variety of festivals, each with its own characteristics. Especially in southern China, Guangdong is a very special place with a profound history and a very open environment.

Another international dragon boat tournament held in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong, brought together more than 3,800 athletes from 105 teams representing 20 countries and regions to compete on the Pearl River.

According to chinanews.com, by the end of Saturday, the Guangzhou Baiyun border inspection station processed more than 20,000 inbound foreign travelers during the holiday period, a 35 percent increase year-on-year. The top three source countries were Malaysia, Singapore and Russia. Among them, around 9,700 eligible foreign travelers entered Guangzhou through visa-free and transit visa exemption policies.

AP News also reported on the enthusiasm surrounding the festival, noting that "the more than 2,000-year-old holiday is best known for its sporting events, but its origins are rooted in ancient beliefs about health, protection and harmony with nature."

While AP focused on the festival's history and cultural significance in the long-form report, CNN focused on a more futuristic scene: humanoid robots joining dragon boat races in China.

The coverage prompted discussions among overseas audiences. "You touch on something that most in the West are only marginally aware of. There were once scores of cultural groups in China, each with their own traditions and unique culture," a netizen using the name JackO wrote in the comments section of the AP's report.

Beyond headline-grabbing dragon boat races, many foreign visitors encountered Chinese traditions in more intimate and unexpected ways.

Finn, a tourist from the Netherlands, experienced this firsthand while traveling in Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan Province during the holidays. He unexpectedly came across a Dragon Boat Festival activity at a local museum, where visitors could wear traditional Chinese attire and make five-colored bracelets.

Traditionally woven from blue, red, white, black and yellow threads, the bracelets symbolize praying for good fortune and wishing for peace and good health, making them one of the festival's iconic cultural symbols.

"At first, I wasn't sure whether the bracelet had some kind of religious meaning because many local people wearing them were dressed in traditional Chinese clothing," Finn told the Global Times.

"Later, local residents warmly placed the bracelet on my wrist and offered me their blessings. That's when I learned it was related to the festival and represented wishes for peace and safety," he said.

For US tourist Omar, meanwhile, what stood out most was not a particular activity, but the sense of continuity he observed across different cities.

"In my country, people from different religious backgrounds celebrate different festivals in different ways. But in recent days, I visited Southwest China's Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing, and I found that people everywhere eat zongzi for the holidays. It seems to have become a shared custom," Omar told the Global Times.

He said he was also surprised by the affordability of food in China, which, in his view, helps make it easier for traditional customs to be preserved and passed down through generations.

"People are incredibly warm and friendly. In Beijing, I saw someone sitting on a bench by the roadside eating zongzi. I was simply curious, and they ended up giving me an entire bag," he said.

A "rising sun" flag - long seen by many as a symbol of lingering Japanese militarism - appeared in the stands during the Japan vs. Tunisia match, also the 1,000th match in World Cup history, which sparked backlashes in countries including China and South Korea and prompted Jun Zhengping, a commentary studio with the People's Liberation Army Daily, to publish an article condemning such acts as "World Cup stadium is not a shrine for militarism."

The "rising sun" flag is a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression and colonial rule, as it was used by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II when they invaded countries in Asia Pacific including China, South Korea and the Philippines.

According to relevant FIFA regulations, any political, offensive, or discriminatory items are prohibited inside stadiums, including flags, banners, slogans, and clothing. Japanese fans had attempted to bring the "rising sun" into stadiums during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and security staff immediately intervened and prevented Japanese fans from waving the flag inside the stadium, per media reports.

On Monday, the official video account of the Jun Zhengping Studio released a commentary titled "World Cup stadium is not a shrine for militarism."

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico, the "rising sun" flag - stamped with the mark of Japanese militarism - has repeatedly appeared inside and around stadiums during Japan's matches. This "war criminal flag," once stained with the blood of aggression, is what the FIFA regulations explicitly prohibited, the commentary said.

Some Japanese fans have deliberately used the "rising sun" flag as a cheering prop, openly violating event management rules. This not only reflects a disregard for the history of aggression, but also hurts the feelings of people in victim countries, exposing the ambiguity and leniency in Japanese society toward its militarist past, the commentary noted.

Football stadiums leave no room for remnants of militarism. Any form of cheering behavior that violates rules and disrespects history should be firmly opposed, according to the commentary.

Editor's Note:

The year 2026 marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan dedicates a chapter to "accelerating the green transition across the board and building a Beautiful China."

From the guiding philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," to the strategic guidance of China's "dual carbon" goals, and further to the systematic arrangements for comprehensive green transition, China has, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, accelerated its green and low-carbon transition and continued to improve the quality of its ecological environment.

The book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes a number of President Xi's important ideas on ecological conservation. These ideas profoundly reflect the inheritance, enrichment and development of the theoretical framework for ecological civilization construction, as well as the continuity, elevation and focus of its goals and tasks.

Volume V of the book series includes "The Beautiful China Initiative" as a dedicated topic, systematically expounding the thinking and arrangements for building a Beautiful China.

In the 25th installment of the special series "Decoding the Book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times, along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, continues to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to focus on the theme of "accelerating the green transition across the board and building a Beautiful China." Together, they explore the vivid practices through which China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, applies the concept of green development throughout the process of economic and social development, and discuss its major practical significance and contemporary value.

In the 25th article of the "Translators' Voices" column, the Global Times (GT) reporters Wang Wenwen and Liu Xuandi interviewed José Medeiros da Silva (Medeiros da Silva), a Brazilian professor at Zhejiang International Studies University. Medeiros da Silva was a member of the translation team of the Portuguese edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China.

GT: In the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi put forward important thoughts on ecological civilization, among which the "two mountains" concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" has become a guiding principle for China's ecological civilization development. How do you understand the profound meaning of this concept? What kind of path to modernization has China taken under its guidance?

Medeiros da Silva: The "two mountains" concept is one of the most representative expressions of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. At its core lies the recognition that economic prosperity, quality of life, and lasting social development ultimately depend on preserving the natural conditions that sustain life. More than an environmental policy, it represents a shift in perspective: Ecological protection is no longer viewed as a constraint on growth but as an essential condition for achieving higher-quality development.

This understanding has become one of the foundations of China's efforts to build an ecological civilization. On this basis, the country has been pursuing a path of modernization that seeks to move beyond the traditional divide between economic development and environmental protection, integrating high-quality growth, rural revitalization, green transition, technological innovation, and common prosperity. The goal is not simply to expand material wealth but to build a more balanced, sustainable, and harmonious society. In this sense, China's modernization seeks to demonstrate that economic development, social well-being, and ecological protection can advance together in ways that are mutually reinforcing.

I was able to observe this integration firsthand during a visit to Anji County in East China's Zhejiang Province. As I walked through its landscapes, I was reminded of traditional Chinese shanshui paintings, where mountains, rivers, and human beings exist in a state of harmony. In Anji, this aesthetic sensibility takes on a contemporary and tangible form. Common prosperity is not merely an ideal. It is visible in the villages' architecture, in the quality of life enjoyed by local residents, and in the way the local economy has been reorganized around natural resources. The experience allowed me to see how cultural heritage, ecological stewardship, and modernization can coexist and strengthen one another. It also showed that such achievements require not only goodwill, but also strategic vision, political commitment, and sustained investment over time.

For this reason, I believe that the "two mountains" concept transcends the Chinese context. At a time marked by climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss, and the challenges of sustainable development, it offers a valuable point of reference for countries seeking to reconcile economic growth with environmental protection - not as opposing goals, but as complementary dimensions of the same development project. Its most enduring contribution may be its demonstration that building a sustainable future requires not only technological progress, but also a deeper transformation in the way we understand the relationship between humanity and nature. Ultimately, it calls for reflection on the broader path of human civilization in the 21st century.

GT: In Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi stated that "green growth should be a defining feature of high-quality development, and new quality productive forces are intrinsically green." How do you understand the dialectical relationship between high-quality development and high-standard environmental protection reflected in this statement? What implications does it offer for other countries pursuing modernization and green transformation?

Medeiros da Silva: President Xi's statement suggests that environmental concerns are no longer a peripheral issue, but have become an integral part of the very logic of innovation, productivity, and value creation.

The dialectical relationship embedded in this statement operates on two complementary levels. First, it affirms that quality and sustainability are inseparable. A development model that degrades ecosystems, depletes natural resources, or transfers environmental costs to future generations can hardly be considered truly high-quality development. Second, it points to a transformation in the very foundations of production. New quality productive forces are driven by scientific innovation, artificial intelligence, digitalization, clean energy, and low-carbon technologies. These forces not only reduce environmental impacts, but also transform sustainability into a source of innovation, responsibility, advanced productive capacity, and long-term prosperity.

This helps explain why China treats green development as a core component of its modernization strategy. Investments in renewable energy, the circular economy, smart infrastructure, and advanced technologies are not viewed as concessions to environmentalism, but as key drivers of a more resilient, innovative, and future-oriented economy. In this sense, the green transition is not merely an environmental agenda. It is also a strategy for industrial upgrading, strengthening productive capabilities, and creating new sectors with higher added value.

For other countries, China's experience offers a valuable point of reference - not as a model to be mechanically replicated, but as an invitation to develop their own approaches, capable of combining innovation, ecological responsibility, and shared prosperity. In an increasingly interconnected world, this perspective broadens the possibilities for cooperation and mutual learning in addressing the common challenges facing humanity.

GT: 2026 marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). The outline of the plan lists "major new strides in advancing the Beautiful China initiative" as one of the major objectives for economic and social development during this period. How do you view China's integration of ecological civilization and green development goals into its long-term national development planning? How would you assess the importance of such policy continuity and implementation in achieving coordinated progress between economic growth and environmental protection?

Medeiros da Silva: The integration of ecological civilization and green development goals into the 15th Five-Year Plan shows how mature these issues have become within China's modernization process. They have become structural components of the country's broader development strategy. I find it particularly significant that the construction of a Beautiful China has been placed among the central objectives of economic and social planning for the period from 2026 to 2030.

What impresses me most is China's ability to combine long-term vision with practical implementation. The country has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to translate broad strategic objectives into public policies, investments, institutional mechanisms, and progressively achievable goals. Five-year plans play a crucial role in this process because they translate long-term national aspirations into concrete priorities, policy frameworks, and measurable objectives.

From this perspective, the incorporation of the green transition and the Beautiful China Initiative into the 15th Five-Year Plan illustrates the interconnected nature of several key concepts shaping contemporary China, including ecological civilization, green development, common prosperity, and new quality productive forces. Rather than isolated ideas, these concepts form an integrated framework that seeks to guide the construction of a more innovative, balanced, and sustainable society.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions of China's experience is the demonstration that building an ecologically sustainable society depends not only on setting ambitious goals, but also on maintaining strategic direction and continuity of purpose over time. When it comes to the relationship between development and nature, decades matter more than political cycles.

GT: In Volume V, President Xi pointed out that "a sound ecosystem is essential for civilization to prosper. We must work together to promote harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, build a community of all life on Earth, and create a clean and beautiful world for us all." In your view, what significance does Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization hold for addressing current global sustainable development challenges and advancing global ecological civilization?

Medeiros da Silva: As Xi often emphasizes, there is only one Earth in the universe. The idea of building a community with a shared future for humanity - a vision that emphasizes the interconnected destinies and responsibilities of all peoples - invites us to recognize an increasingly evident reality: The major ecological challenges of our time transcend national borders and affect all of humanity, albeit in different ways.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water scarcity, and ocean pollution are not challenges that any single country or civilization can solve alone. They require new forms of cooperation, dialogue, and shared responsibility. In this context, the value of a national experience lies not only in its domestic achievements. It also lies in its capacity to contribute to a broader reservoir of ideas, reflections, and practical solutions available to humanity as a whole.

I see the aspiration to build a clean and beautiful world not merely as an environmental goal, but as a civilizational horizon. Its deeper significance lies in its potential to foster collaboration, mutual learning, and more harmonious coexistence among nations. In an increasingly interconnected world, a community of life on Earth should not be understood as the project of any single nation, but as a shared undertaking of humanity as a whole.

Chinese scientists have developed a machine learning-based typhoon rapid intensification forecasting model which has been deployed and tested in operational use at the National Meteorological Center and the Hong Kong Observatory, marking a significant breakthrough for China in the field of forecasting sudden changes in tropical cyclone rapid intensity which has long remained a major challenge worldwide, the Global Times learned from the developer of the model on Wednesday. 

Meteorologists define typhoon rapid intensification as a process in which a typhoon's intensity increases by more than 15 meters per second within 24 hours, or by more than 10 meters per second within 12 hours. Such changes are highly destructive. 

Super typhoons including Rammasun in 2014 and Yagi in 2024 all rapidly intensified before making landfall, resulting in heavy casualties and significant economic losses, China Science Daily reported. 

The machine learning-based typhoon rapid intensification forecasting model developed by the research team led by Li Qinglan, a researcher at Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the first in China to be put into operational use for 24-hour typhoon rapid intensification forecasting, with a 12-hour forecasting model also launched, marking the integration of independently developed domestic AI typhoon rapid intensification forecasting technology into the national meteorological system.

According to Li, typhoon rapid intensification is hard to anticipate, making timely preparedness and response difficult. 

Typhoon intensity evolution is governed by inner-core structure and the underlying sea-land surface conditions, making intensity forecast even more challenging. 

Traditional numerical models cannot accurately represent the evolution of typhoon intensity due to resolution and parameterization limits. As a result, typhoon intensity forecast, particularly rapid intensification, remains a long-standing challenge, Li told the Global Times. 

Li noted that typhoons often develop a symmetric ring-shaped inner core before rapid intensification. A more uniform and symmetrical typhoon inner-core structure signals a higher chance of rapid intensification.

In recent years, artificial intelligence and machine learning, which excel at processing large datasets and uncovering complex nonlinear relationships, have emerged as key technologies for improving tropical cyclone forecasting, Shenzhen Evening News reported. 

The team combined four machine learning algorithms including Decision Trees, Random Forests, AdaBoost, and LightGBM into an ensemble system that forecasts rapid intensification to improve prediction accuracy, according to Li. 

The model was tested against all North Atlantic 24-hour tropical cyclone rapid intensification cases from 2016 to 2020 and it has achieved higher detection rates and lower false alarms, showing strong operational performance compared with the US National Hurricane Center's best system, Li said.

China Meteorological Administration released on April 1 its climate trend forecast for the main flood season from June to August this year. The administration expects 24 to 26 typhoons will form over the Northwest Pacific and the South China Sea in 2026, with 7 to 9 making landfall in China - higher than the long-term average. Typhoon tracks are expected to be mainly westward and northwestward, primarily affecting the coastal regions of East China and South China, with overall stronger-than-normal intensity, CCTV News reported on April 1. 

China believes that on the US-Iran talks, there must be no turning back, still less a return to the use of force, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday in a phone call with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.