Editor's Note:

China and France, as two old civilizations with a lengthy history, could set an example for the rest of the globe. "The world is currently facing many challenges, and finding solutions requires China and France to play an exemplary role. Instead of making arbitrary judgments to deny each other, we should engage in heartfelt communication and cultural exchange," Eric de La Maisonneuve (Maisonneuve), a French scholar, said recently in a talk with Wang Wen (Wang), a professor and executive dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. The following is an abstract of their recent conversation in Beijing.

Wang: I have many French friends. I have noticed that France, and Europe in general, lacks a sufficient understanding of China, particularly regarding the changes that have taken place in the country over the past 5 to 10 years. During the past decade, China has undergone significant transformations in at least four aspects, which are not well known by France, or Europe. Firstly, the anti-corruption efforts within the Communist Party of China have made significant progress. The Party is now more organized and disciplined than before. Secondly, China has made great strides in the low-carbon industry, positioning itself as a leading force in global carbon emissions reduction. Over 90 percent of the world's photovoltaic industry and over 70 percent of new energy vehicles are produced in China. While Europe has been vocal about reducing carbon emissions in recent years, the actual actions taken have been relatively limited.

Thirdly, China's society has achieved more equal development, including targeted poverty alleviation and the emergence and popularization of the digital economy, which have promoted equal access to social services. In China, services such as food delivery, ride-hailing and home cleaning, which rely on mobile internet, are very affordable, allowing middle-income and low-income individuals and ordinary people to enjoy excellent social services. Consequently, Chinese people are less frustrated and more satisfied. In comparison, the social situation in Europe in recent years has been somewhat lacking and unimpressive.

Lastly, both France and Europeans did not expect that China's foreign strategy would become clearer and more transparent. The world didn't know what China wanted over a decade ago, but now China has clearly stated to the world what it wants.

Maisonneuve: I think you are absolutely right. I believe that the French people are not very aware of these four points you just mentioned. And I think there may be even more changes. In fact, I grew up with the ideology that the Western civilization is the dominant civilization in the world, and at that time, it was indeed the case. However, after coming to China, I discovered that the Chinese civilization may be another option worth analyzing. My perspective on the world has changed. There are many ways to observe the world, and each of them has its own rationality.

In the face of two different ways of viewing the world and governing society, the first choice is to accept and acknowledge that we are different but not opposed to each other; rather, we are complementary and capable of progressing together. The second choice is to refuse to accept this difference and seek to overthrow the other side.

I chose the first approach, but most French people do not understand it. I think the root of this problem may extend beyond the diplomatic level and rise to a philosophical level.

I think of Laozi, as well as Plato and Aristotle in the West. They lived in the same era but were unaware of each other's existence, and their lives were thousands of kilometers apart, yet they had similar thoughts. Now that we are so close and even know each other, why can't we think similarly? The French diplomatic system is a bit outdated now, and it may even be a century behind. The system is unable to handle the relationships between countries and humans.

No one can entirely win in this ideological zero-sum game. Hence, there is no way out. Therefore, we need to find a new way. I firmly agree with some Global South nations that believe the current global governance structure is no longer appropriate for this time period, but what we need to do is change it rather than topple it. Therefore, it is important for us to find a completely new path. One effective way is to have more communication and exchanges, just like what we are doing today.

Wang: I completely agree with your views, but I am confused as to why there are still so many noisy voices in public opinion in France. Of course, France is still better off compared to Germany. Why is there denial of China's experience, ignorance of Chinese history, Chinese solutions and Chinese wisdom in Europe? China has contributed to the improvement of global governance with its solutions. However, it seems that in recent years, Europe has been rejecting China and ignoring Chinese ideas.

Maisonneuve: Regarding the situation you just mentioned, I think both sides may have problems. The premise of communication is humility, and both sides may have been a bit clumsy in their approach. Our two countries should engage in more, cultivating a "friendship between gentlemen," as Confucius said.

Once, when I attended a banquet at the residence of the Chinese ambassador to France, former French foreign minister Hubert Védrine was also present. I suggested to him that it would be better for China and France to start their exchanges not from a political and economic perspective but from a cultural and philosophical perspective. Both China and France have many academies, so I suggested organizing a China-French research institute and inviting 20 top Chinese thinkers and 20 top French thinkers to be in a room for a day to have closed-door discussions. I believe that this kind of exchange of wisdom and culture can establish a good foundation for deeper communication in the future.

The world is currently facing many challenges, and finding solutions necessitates the exemplary role of China and France. Despite the significant differences in population and size between our two countries, we also share many commonalities. We are both ancient civilizations and should become leaders to calm down the chaos in the world. Instead of making arbitrary judgments to deny each other, we should engage in heartfelt communication and cultural exchange. Failure to achieve complementarity in the current world will only result in mutual destruction.

Wang: I am younger than you, but I also feel a tremendous sense of crisis. I once wrote an article in which I referred to the present moment as a time of "five parallel disasters" (war disasters, climate crises, economic crises, social crises and the revolution of intelligence), which is the most dangerous time since World War II. It is extremely rare in human history for these five disasters to occur simultaneously. What's even worse is that, in the face of so many disasters, humanity has not united. China, the US, France, Germany and Europe have not come together but are engaged in endless conflicts, which is deeply regrettable.

Maisonneuve: I believe that climate change is inevitable. We cannot prevent humans from breathing, living, and using certain resources, but we should adapt to it. For example, using human wisdom, including the wisdom of artificial intelligence, to clean the oceans, reduce emissions and mitigate climate change from various aspects. In fact, humans have experienced climate change in the past; in history, we have experienced extreme cold and extreme heat.

I have a specific idea in mind, which involves electrification in Africa. Despite significant investments in Africa, the progress of electrification in the continent has been slow. For instance, during my visit to the Congo, I witnessed the abundance of water resources. If China, France and Europe can cooperate to establish a fund to jointly develop water resources and promote electrification in Africa, I think it would be a good way to reduce emissions, rather than China, the US and Europe competing for market share and engaging in mutual rivalry and defamation.

Wang: You mentioned the suggestion for electrification in Africa. Over the past decade, China has built over 6,000 kilometers of railways, over 10,000 kilometers of roads, more than 80 major infrastructure projects and around 20 ports in Africa. We have done a lot of work in Africa. The suggestion you mentioned about promoting electrification in Africa requires cooperation with France and even the US in practical operations. However, cooperation is currently very difficult, and I feel that both France and the US are guarding against China. How can we overcome these obstacles to improve cooperation?

Maisonneuve: The issue is difficult to solve. From a practical perspective, our political and social systems do have differences, and our ways of viewing the world are also different, which hinders our cooperation. However, I still think that we need to solve this problem on an ideological level. We need to look at it from a more macro perspective of human unity.

I believe that China is a country with strong cultural traditions and family values, but it has also been influenced by the West. However, China has indeed experienced a period of humiliation in modern times. Therefore, China faces a challenge of not returning to the past of humiliation and not completely adopting a Western-style approach. China needs to persist in being China. 

Wang: That's right, China is now being itself. We are forging a completely different path from the past and from the West. This path seems to resemble a new civilization. This may sound slightly arrogant, but I am indeed confident in my own country. In my opinion, this new civilization seems to be more advanced than the existing Western civilization.

From September 19 to 20, the 12th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference (CIPAC) was held under the theme of "Intellectual Property Supporting All-Around Innovation" by the Intellectual Property Publishing House Co, Ltd (IPPH), in Jinan, Shandong Province. 

Encompassing more than 30 activities, the conference opened an exhibition covering an area of more than 8,000 square meters, with the numbers of exhibitors and exhibits both achieving a record high in the history of the CIPAC. After a three-year break, CIPAC returned to vividly tell the world about China's achievements in intellectual property (IP) and actively contribute to China's wisdom toward global IP governance.

The 12th CIPAC set up thematic sessions under the paradigm of 1+13. In the keynote speech section, several participants shared their insights on how IP supports all-round innovation. 

Wang Jianfeng, senior vice president and president of the Public and Government Affairs Department of Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd, introduced in his keynote speech that Huawei has invested more than 977.3 billion yuan ($133.9 billion) in R&D over the past 10 years, with the figure reaching 161.5 billion yuan in 2022, accounting for 25.1 percent of annual revenue, ranking fourth worldwide. Huawei is also the largest open source contributor in Asia, benefiting thousands of developers and users.

The area for the CSG Guangdong Power Grid Corporation, a strategic partner of this annual conference, was crowded during the two-day conference. The company showcased their latest R&D achievements in the field of energy and power science and technology, as well as innovative strength and technological breakthroughs. 

In the past five years, the company has applied for nearly 20,000 new invention patents and granted nearly 14,000 new patents, quickly accumulating the number of patents. It has actively participated in the national patent open licensing pilot program, and 40 high-quality patents have become the first batch of open licensed patents of CSG, accounting for 56 percent of open licenses. 

As the "host" of this annual conference, the award ceremony for the 2023 China-Shandong Driving Force Transition High-Value Patent Cultivation Competition (Xingao Competition) held at the annual conference has also become one of the most concerned parts for innovators in Shandong. 

Over the past four years, the Xingao Competition has attracted a total of 1,112 innovative projects. Through this competition, many participating enterprises have effectively improved their IP management capabilities, promoted the transfer and commercialization of innovation achievements, increased financing channels, and achieved remarkable economic and social benefits.

In fact, from interactive forum sessions to product roadshows and exhibition publicity, highlighting geographical characteristics to empower economic development has become a prominent attraction of this year's annual conference.

The "International Geographical Indication Exhibition Area," with a total of 55 planned booths and an exhibition area of about 2,500 square meters, demonstrates excellent geographical indication products at home and abroad, while providing more exhibition space for premium products from Shandong and Jinan.

South Korea has sought "active cooperation" from the US to resolve uncertainties regarding the upcoming expiry of a year-long waiver that allowed South Korean chipmakers to import US chip-making equipment for their production facilities in China, according to Reuters.

The development highlights the awkward situation faced by South Korea in terms of industrial chain and trade cooperation under US export controls. There is no denying that South Korea's industrial and trade policies have been subject to US influence and pressure, but the country's recent economic woes have made it clear that its cooperation with the US on certain industrial and technological restrictions against China could have serious consequences for its own economy. 

There is growing recognition that economic and trade cooperation between China and South Korea must seek new opportunities and potential to offset the impact of US interference, otherwise it will be hard for the South Korean economy to escape its current predicament. 

Given the shocks the US "decoupling" push has brought to regional trade and supply chain cooperation, the need to avoid cooperation from being hijacked by external forces applies not only to South Korea, but also to the entire East Asian economy.

It is against such a backdrop that senior diplomats from China, South Korea and Japan agreed on Tuesday to maintain communication on holding a leaders' meeting at the earliest opportunity convenient to all three countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday at a regular news briefing that the three countries unanimously believe that carrying out cooperation is in the common interests of the three parties, and they should work together to strengthen practical cooperation in the fields of the people-to-people exchanges, the economy and trade, scientific and technological innovation, sustainable development and public health, among others, to make new progress in trilateral cooperation and new contributions to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

The development certainly sends a positive signal for the trilateral cooperation mechanism. If anything, the potential restart of trilateral high-level meetings will have a positive impact on economic cooperation and political mutual trust among the three sides. 

After years of development, China, Japan and South Korea have formed relatively stable industrial chain and supply chain cooperation, which many see may have the potential to play a more important role in Asian economic integration and even the world economy. 

Unfortunately, the momentum of deepening cooperation among the three countries has been disrupted by external forces in recent years. In order to contain China's development, the US has roped in Japan and South Korea to promote its "decoupling" push from China. 

Moreover, South Korea and Japan have been aligning themselves with the US on a range of economic and security issues, escalating tensions in East Asia and creating obstacles and uncertainties for regional economic cooperation. Under these circumstances, China-Japan-South Korea economic and trade cooperation is at its lowest point in years, with no winner in the regional supply chain disruption.

For instance, South Korea's exports fell 8.4 percent year-on-year to $51.87 billion in August, marking the 11th consecutive month that exports fell on an annual basis, the longest period since January 2020.

The most urgent task facing the three countries is to stabilize supply chains and prevent regional economic exchanges from being driven by external forces to a deadlocked stalemate. 

To reboot the trilateral cooperation momentum, political sincerity to minimize external interference is crucial.

There is no doubt that China, Japan and South Korea have the economic basis of cooperation, and the biggest obstacle is from the geopolitical level, not economic one. Since the US pressure to break the chain may persist for a long time, if the three Asian countries want to stabilize cooperation, they must reach a consensus on how to strengthen internal cooperation, promote regional integration, and strengthen diplomatic coordination and other means to enhance the independence and sustainability of trilateral cooperation.

China, Japan and South Korea are important countries in East Asia, and to cope with challenges in the region, they need to join hands. If they cannot reject the influence of external factors or if they can be easily derailed from the trilateral cooperation track, the peaceful develo

Recently, the 15th Cross-Strait (Binzhou) Sunzi Cultural Forum was held in Huimin county, Binzhou city, East China's Shandong Province. Participants from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, experts and scholars from Sun Tzu's cultural research institutions and universities, people from economic and trade circles, representatives of young students and descendants of Sun Tzu gathered in Sun's hometown to study the wisdom of the soldiers, share the friendship between the two sides, promote cross-straits economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation, and deepen cross-straits integration and development in various fields.  

At the main venue of the event, staff from the State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company, responsible for the equipment, monitored the operation and load of the equipment in real time, and continuously monitored the load and temperatures of the large LED screen power supply branch box at the opening ceremony. The company took the initiative to connect with the organizers of the event, understand the load demand of the event venue and clarify the specific details of power conservation work. At the same time, it set up a power conservation leading group and set up professional and on-site work classes, and drafted power conservation work plan and emergency response plan in advance.

At the same time, State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company organized special inspections, infrared temperature measurement and partial discharge tests on two key substations, one key transmission line and two 10 kV distribution lines critical to the activity; Investigate the hidden dangers of the power supply and distribution facilities of 20 customers' properties, in addition to managing risk. During the event,  a total of 100 personnel and 30 vehicles were deployed, more than 50 meters of temporary cables were laid, and 20 hidden dangers were eliminated, thus successfully completing this task.

China's road and waterway passenger trips logged strong expansion in the first eight months of this year, official data showed.

The country's road transport network handled about 2.97 billion passenger trips during the period, up 19.7 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

A total of 184.14 million passenger trips were made via China's waterways in the same period, skyrocketing 123.3 percent over one year earlier.

In August alone, passenger trips made via China's roads and waterways stood at 416.25 million and 35.93 million, respectively, the data also revealed.

Many cities in China, including Beijing, Central China’s Henan Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are experimenting with the nucleic acid self-testing, with the sampling done by individuals, with health officials responsible for guidance and sample collection.

“It's very convenient to complete nucleic acid tests at home without having to wait in line,” said several residents of Fengtai district in Beijing, describing their previous experience. Some neighborhoods in Beijing’s Fengtai have already launched at home self-testing.

The city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia and Xinxiang in Henan Province have also trialed self-testing in different forms. Residents can test at home through the collection swabs issued by neighborhood officials, or they can collect themselves at the nucleic acid testing stations located in and around residential compounds.

A resident from Inner Mongolia told the media that local residents can obtain cotton swabs at nucleic acid testing stations, and that health officials will help place the swabs into the sample tube after the residents complete their own sampling.

“There are workers on site to guide sampling which is fast and convenient, and it also avoids time wasting and risk of cross-infection,” said a resident who had used the service.

Several neighborhoods in Beijing’s Fengtai began distributing testing reagents to residents early in the morning. “We started distributing sampling tubes at 9:30 am, and collect completed samples at 15:00 pm in the afternoon,” a community worker said.

“The implementation of self-sampling is mainly in consideration of groups who have limited mobility,” a community worker told the media. “The service is focused on providing convenience to children and seniors.”

In addition, more than 300 new nucleic acid sampling machines appeared on the streets of Henan Province’s Xinxiang mainlyin shopping malls, supermarkets, schools and other public places.

These units can carry out testing using a cotton swab to wipe the back of the throat, after the device issued a "test passed" prompt, individuals place the cotton swabs into a waiting test tube.

This kind of machine only needs people to open their mouths at the unit following disinfection and temperature measurement, with a cotton swab to wipe their throats. “This type of test is more suitable for younger people,” a Xinxiang resident noted.

However, some experts also have doubts about whether this measure could be effective. “Nucleic acid testing has a series of collection procedures and specifications, and even some professionally trained medical staff cannot meet the full standards,” a Guangzhou-based medical expert told the Global Times on Sunday.

It is debatable whether requiring these residents to take a self-sampling of nucleic acid without any symptoms would be effective in detecting infections, Yang Zhanqiu, a professor of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times.

China will study the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in avoiding space debris, a significant effort to use orbital resources more effectively and strengthen the control of super-large scale constellations, ensuring the safety of spacecraft in orbit and creating a new technology of rapid intelligent calculation capability for preventing large-scale space debris. 

The project on "intelligent modeling of the complex evolving principle of complex environments for space debris and autonomous monitoring" was launched by the State Key Laboratory of Astronautic Dynamics (ADL), affiliated with the Xi'an Satellite Control Center in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. 

It was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a "New Generation of Artificial Intelligence 2022 Major Program" in Science and Technology Innovation 2030, the Global Times learned from the satellite control center on Wednesday. 

Space debris generated by human activities has become a major obstacle and threat to space exploration. This situation urgently calls for joint efforts by the international community. 

According to researchers, there have been more than 640 events including explosions, disintegrations and collisions resulting in serious consequences during the history of astronautics.

There are more than 30,000 pieces of debris of more than 10 centimeters in space, more than 1 million with sizes ranging from 1-10 centimeters, and hundreds of millions that are just over 1 millimeter in size. 

Space debris research and monitoring face multiple challenges, including an extremely large number of pieces of passing debris at any one time. Difficulties in terms of fast computation and matching make it difficult to predict their speed, direction and fragmentation.

ADL has been engaged in researching space collision avoidance and space debris mitigation. Its new project aims to integrate AI model algorithms and domain knowledge.

"We will take the implementation of the project as an opportunity to actively align national strategic needs and cooperate with domestic competitive units to provide strong technical support for strengthening the nation's space traffic management and contributing to China's building of a space power," Li Hengnian, director of ADL, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

"We will study the AI paradigm of online monitoring of space debris, the evolution of debris environment and space situational awareness," Jiang Yu, chief scientist of the project from ADL, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

The Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft has detached from the China Space Station complex and entered an independent flight phase, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Friday, a move seen by experts as being part of preparations for the upcoming cargo supply run scheduled for early May.

In the next stage, Tianzhou-5 will rendezvous and dock with the space station's forward port after the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft departs from the space station complex, the agency said.

The Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft was launched into orbit on November 12, 2022, from the Wenchang space port in South China's Hainan Province.

It was loaded with supplies for the three crews of the Shenzhou-15 mission, including consumables for their six-month stay in orbit, propellants, and experimental equipment.

It also carried several experimental projects, including an experimental satellite from the Macao Special Administrative Region, a space hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell, and a high-energy particle detection payload.

Space analysts said the move is part of preparations for the next Tianzhou-6 cargo mission, which is scheduled for launch in early to mid-May, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft has a total length of 10.6 meters and weighs 13.5 tons. For the Tianzhou-6 mission, its cargo capacity has been increased from 6.9 tons to 7.4 tons, making it one of the most capable cargo spacecraft in the world.

In previous models, the original cargo compartment had a partially unsealed section, but Tianzhou-6 has moved the equipment from the unsealed section to the propulsion compartment, significantly increasing the space in the cargo compartment and raising the loading volume from 18.1 cubic meters to 22.5 cubic meters, an increase of over 20 percent.

Additionally, Tianzhou-6 will carry 1.75 tons of propellant, about 700 kilograms of which has been prepared for refueling the space station.

Apart from daily supplies, the cargo list for Tianzhou-6 includes an additional set of electric propulsion xenon gas bottles.

These can serve as backup fuel propellant for the space station, and effectively reduce the station's propellant consumption.