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By He Yin, People’s Daily
“Chinese path to modernization” is a keyword for the international community to understand China.
It was raised and expounded during the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and its rich connotation and significance for the world have been profoundly explained by Chinese President Xi Jinping on a series of bilateral and multilateral occasions.
Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed again the importance of correctly understanding and vigorously advancing Chinese modernization while addressing the opening of a recent study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
International personages called the Chinese path to modernization a major innovation in the development of human society, saying it has provided a brand-new model of modernization for the world and boosted the confidence of more countries in independently exploring their own paths to modernization.
Since the beginning of modern times, modernization has remained the historical trend of world development, and to achieve it is a common aspiration for every nation.
It is a huge achievement of the Chinese people made through countless hardships at an enormous cost under the leadership of the CPC, as well as a path that will turn China into a strong country and lead it to national rejuvenation.
Based on China’s decades of exploration and practice since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, especially since the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, as well as the new breakthroughs made in theory and practice since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC has succeeded in advancing and expanding Chinese modernization.
Chinese modernization is socialist modernization pursued under the leadership of the CPC, and the leadership of the CPC decides the nature of Chinese modernization.
The CPC has led the Chinese people in pioneering a uniquely Chinese path to modernization, which demonstrates the Party’s responsibility in leading the development of the times, its belief in remaining faithful to the people, and its vision of striving for the common good.
The modernization process of a country needs to follow the general rule of modernization, but it shall be suited to its realities and characterized by features unique to its context.
Chinese modernization is characterized by the common features of modernization in all countries and is also unique to the Chinese context.
It is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. These five features, which were recorded in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress, profoundly reveal the connotation of Chinese modernization.
Chinese modernization has become more clear, science-based, and practical, showing a strong appeal in the global sphere.
China has completed a process of industrialization that took developed countries several centuries in the space of mere decades, bringing about the two miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability. This has opened up broad prospects for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and explains why Chinese modernization is so appealing.
Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC and the Chinese people have striven in unity to eradicate absolute poverty and finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, thus completing the First Centenary Goal. These were feats that will be forever recorded in the Chinese nation’s history, and feats that will profoundly influence the world.
What type of modernization a country follows is decided by its history, traditions, social system, development status, external environment, and other factors. Different national conditions lead to different paths to modernization.
Chinese modernization is deeply rooted in the fine traditional Chinese culture, mirrors the advantages of scientific socialism, draws inspiration from all of human civilization’s outstanding achievements, represents the direction of the progress of human civilization, and demonstrates a new vision that’s different from Western modernization. It is a new model for human advancement.
Chinese modernization dispels the myth that “modernization is equal to Westernization,” presents another picture of modernization, expands the channels for developing countries to achieve modernization, and provides a Chinese solution to aid the exploration of a better social system for humanity.
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, noted that Chinese modernization reflects the insight of China into achieving modernization through a new path and offers a new model of modernization for mankind, especially for developing countries.
China will strive to promote the overall progress of mankind through Chinese modernization and create new opportunities for the world through its further development, with a view to adding more stability and certainty to a volatile world, Xi said.
A China marching toward modernization will bring more opportunities to the world, inject stronger momentum for international cooperation, and make greater contributions to human progress!

Jeffrey D. Sachs

On February 21, the UN Security Council held a public meeting on the Nord Stream Pipeline Destruction and its follow-up investigation. I made a video speech at the meeting. The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022 constitutes an act of international terrorism and represents a threat to the peace. It is the responsibility of the UN Security Council to take up the question of who might have carried out the act, in order to bring the perpetrator to international justice, to pursue compensation for the damaged parties, and to prevent future such actions.
The consequences of the destruction of Nord Stream 2 are enormous. They include not only the vast economic losses related to the pipelines themselves , but also the heightened threat to transboundary infrastructure of all kinds: submarine internet cables, international pipelines for gas and hydrogen, transboundary power transmission, offshore wind farms, and more. The global transformation to green energy will require considerable transboundary infrastructure, including in international waters. Countries need to have full confidence that their infrastructure will not be destroyed by third parties. Some European countries have recently expressed concern over the safety of their offshore infrastructure. For all of these reasons, the investigation by the UN Security Council of the Nord Stream explosions is a high global priority.
The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines required a very high degree of planning, expertise, and technological capacity. The Nord Stream 2 pipelines are a marvel of engineering. Each section of pipe is rolled steel of over 4cm thickness, and with a pipeline internal diameter of 1.15 meters. The pipe is encased in concrete of 10.9 cm thickness. The weight of each section of concrete-encased pipe is 24 metric tons. The Nord Stream pipelines contain around 200,000 pipes. The pipelines sit on the sea floor. Destroying a pipeline of heavy rolled steel, encased in concrete, at the depth of 70-90 meters, requires highly advanced technologies for transportation of the explosives, diving to install the explosives, and detonation. To do so undetected, in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden, adds greatly to the complexity of the operation. As a number of senior officials have confirmed, an action of this sort must have been carried out by a state-level actor.
Only a handful of state-level actors have both the technical capacity and access to the Baltic Sea to have carried out this action. A recent report by the Washington Post revealed that the intelligence agencies of the NATO countries have privately concluded that there is no evidence whatsoever that Russia carried out this action. This also comports with the fact that Russia had no obvious motive to carry out this act of terrorism on its own critical infrastructure. Indeed, Russia is likely to bear considerable expenses to repair the pipelines.
Three countries have reportedly carried out investigations of the Nord Stream terrorism: Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. These countries presumably know much about the circumstances of the terrorist attack. Sweden, in particular, which its divers investigated the crime scene. Yet Sweden has kept the results of its investigation secret from the rest of the world. Sweden has refused to share its findings with Russia, and turned down a joint investigation with Denmark and Germany. In the interest of global peace, the UN Security Council should require these countries to immediately turn over the results of their investigations to the UN Security Council.
There is only one detailed account to date of the Nord Stream destruction, the one recently put forward by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, ostensibly based on information leaked to Hersh by an unnamed source. Hersh attributes the Nord Stream destruction to a decision ordered by US President Joe Biden and carried out by US agents in a covert operation that Hersh describes in detail. The White House has described Hersh’s account as “completely and utterly false,” but did not offer any information contradicting Hersh’s account and did not offer any alternative explanation.
Senior US officials made statements before and after the Nord Stream destruction that showed the US animus towards the pipelines. In January 2022, Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland tweeted, “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” On February 7, President Biden said, “If Russia invades… again, then there will be longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.” When asked by the reporter how he would do that, he responded, “I promise you we will be able to do it.” On September 30, 2022 immediately following the terrorist attack on the pipeline, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the destruction of the pipeline is “also a tremendous opportunity. It’s a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy ”. In January 2023, Under-Secretary Nuland declared to Senator Ted Cruz, “I am, and I think the administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.”
Such language is not at all appropriate in the face of international terrorism. I hope that the US together with all other Security Council members will condemn this heinous act of international terrorism and join together in an urgent UNSC-led investigation of this international crime in order to determine the truth. The truth is not yet known by the world, but it is knowable.
More than ever, the world depends on the UN Security Council to do its work to stop war. The world will be safe only when the permanent members work together diplomatically to solve global crises. The UN Security Council provides the unique global venue for that peace-affirming work. More than ever, we need a healthy, functioning UN Security Council carrying out the mission assigned to it by the UN Charter.
A UN Security Council objective investigation of the Nord Stream terrorism, in which all countries contribute what they know, is important for the global confidence in this body and most importantly, for global peace and sustainable development.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
The United States is the most economically polarized among Western countries. It has long been stuck in the conundrum where the rich get richer and the poor become poorer.
According to the latest data from its Census Bureau, the U.S. Gini coefficient hit 0.494 in 2021, setting a new record. The yawning wealth gap has become a chronic malaise of American society, leaving an indelible stain on the country’s democracy and human rights record.
Since the 1970s, income inequality and wealth disparity in the U.S. have continually deepened. According to a Federal Reserve’s latest report, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent reached a record $45.9 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, more than that of the bottom 90 percent combined.
A Bloomberg report said that more and more wealth is getting to the top of the “pyramid,” which is the latest signal of the widening wealth gap in American society.
Currently, 37 million American people are still living below the poverty line. A survey by Pew Research Center suggested that one-in-four U.S. parents say there have been times in the past year when they could not afford food their family needed or to pay their rent or mortgage.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz commented that the U.S. has become a wealthy country full of poor people and a huge gap is dividing its upper class and other classes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified economic inequality in the U.S. Excessive money supply and large-scale fiscal spending drove up stock and housing prices, bringing enormous benefits to wealthier asset owners. According to a Fed report on household wealth, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent increased by more than $12 trillion, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.
Besides, the economic recession triggered by the pandemic has led to massive job losses and further deterioration in the economic situation of low-income earners. The website of The Atlantic said that low-income people in the U.S. would usually delay seeing a doctor when they became ill, not because they did not want to recover, but because they had no money at all.
What’s more ironic is that during the pandemic, it was difficult for those in need to reach the relief measures of the U.S. A UN human rights expert said that U.S. responses to COVID-19 have fallen people in poverty.
The economic polarization has exacerbated social injustice in the U.S.
In the country, access to higher education is disproportionately skewed toward the rich, while the low-income group has no equal access to education. A study found that at 38 elite colleges in the country, more students came from the top 1 percent of the income scale than from the entire bottom 60 percent.
A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that more than 580,000 people were homeless in 2020, with 226,000 sleeping outside, in cars or in abandoned buildings.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest percentiles increased to 15.51 years in 2021.
Problems including growing ethnic conflicts, frequent urban riots and serious violent crimes in the country are all closely related to the widening wealth gap.
The wealth polarization in the U.S is inherent to its own political system and the interests of the capital that its government represents.
Over a hundred years ago, Republican Senator Mark Hanna said of American politics: “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.”
Under the influence of money politics, the American government is more willing to serve a small group of rich people, rather than the interests of the majority of voters.
A study by the American think tank Niskanen Center showed that Members of Congress are usually more responsive to the opinions of the rich than the poor in their districts. Low-income constituents have a hard time holding their representatives accountable.
Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani pointed out that the U.S. is functioning as a plutocracy instead of a democracy. A democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people, while a plutocracy is a government of the one percent, by the one percent, for the one percent, he added.
In the U.S., the world’s number one capitalist country, polarization between the rich and the poor is crying out for attention. U.S. democracy, which cannot find a solution to the wealth gap, is unquestionably hypocritic. The country should reach out to the people at the bottom, face up to the grim reality of the ever-widening wealth gap at home and take earnest measures to solve the problem.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
As the world’s most powerful country, the United States has long been pursuing, maintaining and abusing hegemony under the guise of promoting “democracy,” “freedom,” “human rights” and upholding a “rule-based international order.”
Clinging to the Cold-War mentality, the country has ramped up bloc politics, provoked conflict and confrontation, arbitrarily imposed unilateral sanctions, grossly interfered in other countries’ internal affairs, advanced in infiltration and subversion and willfully waged wars.
The notorious record of the U.S. in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, seriously threatens world peace and stability, and the well-being of all peoples.
Recently, the indifference of U.S. hegemony was once again exposed as Syrian people, who have been severely impacted by deadly earthquakes, failed to receive timely assistance due to U.S. sanctions.
To maintain its hegemony, the U.S. has long been attempting to mold other countries with its own values and political system.
In the name of “promoting democracy,” it has pushed for the “Neo-Monroe Doctrine” in Latin America, instigated “color revolutions” in Eurasia, and orchestrated the “Arab Spring” in West Asia and North Africa, bringing chaos and disaster to many countries.
Over the recent years, it fabricated a false narrative of “democracy versus authoritarianism,” assembled a so-called “value alliance,” and formed exclusive clubs. Such hegemonic practices have created division in regions, stoked confrontation and undermined peace.
The high military spending for long and wanton use of force have indicated the U.S. military hegemony.
The U.S. has about 800 overseas military bases, with 173,000 troops deployed in 159 countries. According to a Tufts University report, the U.S. undertook nearly 400 military interventions globally between 1776 and 2019.
The U.S. military hegemony has led to humanitarian tragedies around the world.
The wars and military operations launched by the country in the name of fighting terrorism have claimed over 900,000 lives. The U.S. has created 37 million refugees around the world. More than 10 million Afghans were displaced. It has also left Libya in incessant civil unrest.
Looting and exploitation with its economic hegemony is a customary trick of the U.S.
By taking advantage of the dollar’s status as the major international reserve currency, it is basically collecting “seigniorage” from around the world. It costs only about 17 cents to produce a 100-dollar bill, but other countries had to pony up 100 dollars of actual goods in order to obtain one.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. abused its global financial hegemony and injected trillions of dollars into the global market, leaving other countries, especially emerging economies, to pay the price.
With its control over international economic and financial organizations, the U.S. imposes additional conditions to their assistance to other countries. In order to reduce obstacles to U.S. capital inflow and speculation, the recipient countries are required to make their economic policies fall in line with America’s strategy.
The United States also suppresses its opponents with economic coercion, doubling down on unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction.”
So far, the U.S. had or has imposed economic sanctions on nearly 40 countries across the world, affecting nearly half of the world’s population. Its economic and financial hegemony has completely become a geopolitical weapon.
The U.S. seeks to deter other countries’ scientific, technological and economic development by wielding monopoly power, suppression measures and technology restrictions in high-tech fields.
It monopolizes intellectual property in the name of protection. Overstretching the concept of national security, the U.S. mobilized state power to suppress and sanction enterprises of other countries. It weaponizes technological issues and uses them as ideological tools.
The U.S. has put “democracy” and “human rights” labels on high-technology, so as to fabricate excuses for its technological blockade against other countries. Besides, it also abuses its technological hegemony by carrying out cyber attacks and eavesdropping.
The U.S. worships hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices, and has long left behind fair competition and win-win cooperation.
Just as French entrepreneur Marc Lassus said in his book The Chip Trap, the U.S. values of the so-called “free market” and “full competition” are pure hypocrisy.
The U.S. has often used cultural tools to strengthen and maintain its hegemony in the world. William Blum, an American expert on U.S. foreign policy, once described ideology as a major force fueling the U.S. ambitions to rule the world.
American values and lifestyle are a tied product to its movies and TV shows, publications, media content, and programs. The country thus shapes a cultural and public opinion space in which American culture reigns and maintains cultural hegemony.
It also pours staggering amounts of public funds into radio and TV networks to support their ideological infiltration. U.S.-dominated Western media has a particularly important role in shaping global public opinion.
The U.S. uses misinformation as a spear to attack other countries, and has built an industrial chain around it: there are groups and individuals making up stories, and peddling them worldwide to mislead public opinion with the support of nearly limitless financial resources.
While a just cause wins its champion wide support, an unjust one condemns its pursuer to be an outcast. The hegemonic, domineering, and bullying practices of using strength to intimidate the weak, taking from others by force and subterfuge, and playing zero-sum games are exerting grave harm. Such practices have drawn growing, intense criticism and opposition from the international community.
The country must critically examine what it has done, let go of its arrogance and prejudice, and quit its hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
Gun violence is one of the acutest social problems in the U.S.
According to the latest data by Gun Violence Archive (GVA), an American nonprofit group with an accompanying website and social media delivery platforms, 72 mass shootings have taken place in the U.S. so far this year.
Frequent shootings have seriously violated people’s right to life, leaving an indelible stain on the country’s human rights record.
The U.S. is the country with the most civilian-held firearms. In 2017, about 393.3 million guns were privately owned in the U.S., which means 120.5 firearms for every 100 people. The country ranks first in the world in terms of both individual gun ownership and the number of guns per capita.
A study reveals that the U.S. is in the midst of a massive gun-buying boom that shows no signs of abating. From 2000 to 2020, the annual production of firearms in the country almost tripled, with a dramatic increase in the past three years in particular.
According to the U.S. National Shooting Sports Foundation, the U.S. conducted 21 million background checks for gun purchases in 2020, surpassing the previous record in 2016 by 5.3 million.
Social problems such as the widening wealth gap, serious racial discrimination, as well as frequent looting and riots have aggravated social insecurity, thus leading to more purchases of guns for self-defense.
Individual ownership of a large number of guns has triggered incessant violence, putting social security in the U.S. at greater risk.
GVA statistics indicate that gun violence has already caused 44,309 deaths in the U.S. in 2022. Over the recent years, the number of mass shootings, or gun violence incidents in which four or more people are injured or killed, has been rising rapidly.
According to GVA, both mass shootings and deaths in the U.S. have surged about fourfold since 2013. More than 600 mass shootings occurred in the country each year since 2020, and the number even reached 692

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
The United States has long been considering itself a “beacon of democracy.” American politicians always lie through their teeth, claiming that “democracies have become stronger, not weaker,” despite the problems that plague their country, such as money politics, political polarization, social divide, wealth gap, racial discrimination and gun violence.
Obviously, American politicians are still in the dream of “a City upon a Hill” even though American democracy is experiencing a continuous decline.
American democracy is a “game of the rich” based on capital, and money remains a “strong currency” in U.S. politics.
American historian Charles Beard once said inexplicitly that the U.S. Constitution is essentially an “economic document.” As a matter of fact, American democracy represents and serves only the interests of a few capitalists. Money politics exists in the country’s election, legislation and governance, which turns economic inequality into political inequality and imperceptibly oppresses and restricts citizens’ right to political participation.
Money politics has pushed the cost of American elections to new highs. The total cost of the 2020 election reach an unprecedented $14 billion, making it the most expensive election in history. According to statistics, winners of 91 percent of U.S. Congressional elections are the candidates with greater financial support. And those so-called representatives of the people, once elected, often serve the interests of their financial backers.
Renowned American scholar Noam Chomsky once pointed out that the U.S. is a “really existing capitalist democracy”, where there is a positive correlation between people’s wealth and their influence on policy-making.
American democracy always flaunts the separation of powers, but it is gradually trapped in a whirlpool of partisanship. American political scientist Francis Fukuyama pointed out that there is an entrenched political paralysis in the U.S.
Political polarization continues to grow as the two parties drift further apart in political agenda and their areas of consensus have reduced significantly. The country is in a vicious circle where Democrats and Republicans dissent from each other and make political dilemmas.
Over the recent years, “vetocracy” has been staged in the U.S. continuously when it comes to the issues of COVID-19 fight, gun violence control and raising debt ceiling.
Both Republicans and Democrats take voting down each other as a weapon, which of course results in weakening governance, sabotaged rule of law, expanding social divide and residents becoming victims.
“The United States has long wasted and exhausted our precious democracy and it is now on the verge of committing suicide,” said former U.S. senator Tom Daschle in a recent article.
The disorder of American democracy has frequently triggered chaos and consumed people’s confidence.
The Capitol riot completely exposed the hypocrisy of American democracy. Systemic racial discrimination has made ethnic minorities in the United States “can’t breathe.” Frequent gun violence is taking away people’s sense of safety. The unequal distribution of economic development results has led to long-term stagnation in people’s income, exacerbating the progress that ” the rich become richer while the poor are made poorer.”
A survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 57 percent of international respondents and 72 percent of Americans believe that democracy in the U.S. has not been a good example for others to follow in recent years. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a Sweden-based think tank, listed the U.S. as a “backsliding democracy” for the first time in 2021.
The problematic American democracy is taking the general public increasingly farther from quality governance. However, the U.S. is not showing any will to get back to the right track.
Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, noted that American democracy, which was once described as a “shining city on a hill,” is now under siege from within.
Facts prove that the U.S. has never been a “good student” in democracy, let alone a “role model.” The hollow slogans of American politicians won’t make the chaotic American democracy any stronger. American politicians, who are addicted to self-deception, make democracy a political tool and weapon, and interfere in other countries domestic affairs, should face up to the structural flaws of the American system and do something that’s good to Americans and the people in the rest of the world.

By Li Zhen
Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities recently released their 2023 government work reports as local “two sessions” were convened across the country.
Apart from reporting their performance in the past year, they also unveiled roadmaps for their development in 2023.
Taking high-quality development as the top priority, local governments will focus on stabilizing expectations, boosting confidence and building strength, and will strive to achieve new highs of development.
In their work reports, local governments stressed prioritizing stability while pursuing progress with regard to economic and social development in 2023 and the next five years. The major economic and social development goals they unveiled were inspiring.
According to statistics, 11 provinces and autonomous regions set their GDP growth targets at around 6 percent, and nine proposed to achieve growth of over 6 percent, including Chongqing municipality, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Hainan province, and Tibet autonomous region.
In particular, Tibet autonomous region, Jiangxi province, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said they would strive for growths of around 8 percent, 7 percent, and 7 percent, respectively.
Hainan’s target was the highest, reaching 9.5 percent. The province also planned to lift its general public budget revenue by around 15 percent, and fixed-asset investment by 12 percent.
These figures mirror the strong resilience, tremendous potential, and great vitality of the Chinese economy, heralding a pickup in China’s economy in the new year.
Local governments demonstrated strong confidence in the development in the next five years. Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui provinces said they would expand their economies to about 7 trillion yuan ($1.02 trillion) in the next five years, while Sichuan has set the number at more than 8 trillion yuan.
Zhejiang province is more ambitious. The province planned to lift its GDP to 12 trillion yuan by 2027, with a per capita GDP of 170,000 yuan and a per capita disposable income of 85,000 yuan.
Many local governments said they would prioritize consumption recovery and expansion this year.
Shanghai will make more efforts to build itself into an international consumption center, vigorously develop “first-launch economy”, night economy, and livestream economy, and foster a batch of featured local landmarks.
Shandong province proposed to implement a “consumption vitalization year” campaign to integrate online and offline businesses and forge a batch of e-commerce industrial belts.
Hainan province will strive to improve the number of visiting tourists and tourism revenue by 20 percent and 25 percent, respectively, and strive for offshore duty-free sales to exceed 80 billion yuan.
With regard to expanding effective investment, northwest China’s Shaanxi province has arranged 640 major projects at the provincial level this year, with a planned annual investment of 480.4 billion yuan. The province will work to expand fixed-asset investment by around 8 percent.
Liaoning province in the northeast of the country will complete the advanced layout of new infrastructure and accelerate the construction of “double gigabit” network infrastructure and charging facilities.
Qinghai province planned to implement over 800 major railway, airport, road, water conservancy, and energy projects, with a total investment of 1.3 trillion yuan.
Being mentioned about 500 times, “high-quality development” remained a buzzword in the government work reports released by the 31 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
Chongqing municipality vowed to expand emerging industries with strategic importance and advance in-depth implementation of the plan on building world-class industrial clusters of intelligent connected vehicles and new energy vehicles.
Jiangxi province rolled out supportive policies for the digital economy, planning to build advanced computing centers to promote digital, network, and intelligent transformation of industries.
Gansu province said it would give more play to its advantages in energy resources this year and build the country’s first batches of major wind-photovoltaic hybrid systems.
Opening up is an important force driving economic and social development. Many provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities take advancing high-level opening up as an important task.
Zhejiang province said it would manage to maintain steady growth in the foreign trade sector and ensure that its exports make up around 14.5 percent of the country’s total. Besides, it will enhance efforts to attract business and investment. According to the province, its actual utilization of foreign capital will exceed $20 billion, and foreign investment will account for over 27 percent of the manufacturing sector.
Yunnan province proposed to accelerate 50 major projects along the China-Laos Railway and align the Lancang-Mekong Express service with China-Europe freight trains and the Lancang-Mekong international shipping route. The province planned to send over 10 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo this year.
Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said it would better build the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt and accelerate the construction of a distribution center for returning China-Europe freight trains, a national-level demonstration base of multimodal transport and a national level demonstration base for the processing of imported resources.