China will take multipronged steps, including fiscal, tax and financial policies, to unleash greater domestic demand potential, the State Council — the country's Cabinet — said on Friday.
\nPolicymakers should optimize the implementation mechanism of the consumer goods trade-in program to better leverage its role in expanding domestic demand, according to the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.
\nThe National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, said earlier this month that the fourth and final batch of 69 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds will be allocated in October to support the trade-in program, completing the planned 300 billion yuan total for the whole year.
\nThe program has spurred purchases of more than 109 million home appliances, involving more than 66 million consumers, the Ministry of Commerce said in late July.
\nMoreover, the program has driven sales of more than 74 million digital devices and nearly 9.06 million electric bicycles, the ministry said.
\nHowever, Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, cautioned that as the effectiveness of trade-in programs for boosting durable goods consumption — which kicked off in 2024 — is likely to wane over time, greater efforts should be made to bolster services consumption.
\nPolicymakers could put in place similar incentives earmarked from the fiscal funds to boost consumption in the services sector, as China's current government debt-to-GDP ratio remains relatively low among major economies, Luo added.
\nIn the first half of 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods increased 5 percent year-on-year, while retail sales of services grew 5.3 percent, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
\nTo this end, the Friday meeting also called for efforts to stimulate sports consumption demand, including expanding sports consumption scenarios and encouraging localities to host sporting events.
\nIt was stressed at the meeting that greater emphasis should be placed on mobilizing market forces to drive the development of the sports and recreation sector, expand consumption scale, enhance the vitality of sports business entities and promote high-quality growth of the sector overall.
\nDays ahead of the meeting, the country had unveiled a new loan interest subsidy for businesses in eight eligible categories of the service sectors, including sports, to help them enhance service offerings and spur consumer spending appetites.
\nUnder the initiative, businesses can receive subsidies for loans of up to 1 million yuan. Borrowers will receive a 1 percentage point annual interest rebate for up to one year.
\nwangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "content": "China will take multipronged steps, including fiscal, tax and financial policies, to unleash greater domestic demand potential, the State Council — the country's Cabinet — said on Friday.
\nPolicymakers should optimize the implementation mechanism of the consumer goods trade-in program to better leverage its role in expanding domestic demand, according to the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.
\nThe National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, said earlier this month that the fourth and final batch of 69 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds will be allocated in October to support the trade-in program, completing the planned 300 billion yuan total for the whole year.
\nThe program has spurred purchases of more than 109 million home appliances, involving more than 66 million consumers, the Ministry of Commerce said in late July.
\nMoreover, the program has driven sales of more than 74 million digital devices and nearly 9.06 million electric bicycles, the ministry said.
\nHowever, Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, cautioned that as the effectiveness of trade-in programs for boosting durable goods consumption — which kicked off in 2024 — is likely to wane over time, greater efforts should be made to bolster services consumption.
\nPolicymakers could put in place similar incentives earmarked from the fiscal funds to boost consumption in the services sector, as China's current government debt-to-GDP ratio remains relatively low among major economies, Luo added.
\nIn the first half of 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods increased 5 percent year-on-year, while retail sales of services grew 5.3 percent, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
\nTo this end, the Friday meeting also called for efforts to stimulate sports consumption demand, including expanding sports consumption scenarios and encouraging localities to host sporting events.
\nIt was stressed at the meeting that greater emphasis should be placed on mobilizing market forces to drive the development of the sports and recreation sector, expand consumption scale, enhance the vitality of sports business entities and promote high-quality growth of the sector overall.
\nDays ahead of the meeting, the country had unveiled a new loan interest subsidy for businesses in eight eligible categories of the service sectors, including sports, to help them enhance service offerings and spur consumer spending appetites.
\nUnder the initiative, businesses can receive subsidies for loans of up to 1 million yuan. Borrowers will receive a 1 percentage point annual interest rebate for up to one year.
\nwangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-08/23/content_002_68a8e2a9ed50ccabe15180b7.htm#002CHINA", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "fbe1d6134de0705700a339abcb94196b", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "004COMMENT - From humanoids to parallel intelligence", "description": "Shanghai hosted the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance last month. Earlier this month, Beijing played host to the World Robot Conference and the World Humanoid Robot Games — a dazzling display of China's technological energy, innovation and ambition in the era of "AIR", that is, AI plus robotics.
\nFrom AI to embodied intelligence, these technologies are not just tools but also engines set to transform our world. Open, collaborative global development is one of the best ways intelligent science and technology can benefit humanity and help countries achieve sustainable growth.
\nTesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently said: "The path to solving hunger, disease, and poverty is AI and robotics." But he was only half-right, because AIR represents only a new paradigm for human survival, a kind of "intelligent air" that sentient life cannot do without.
\nThe real showstopper is the humanoid robot. This was reflected at the World Humanoid Robot Games, which featured 26 events and 487 matches, with more than 500 humanoid robots from 127 brands.
\nTeams from 16 countries across five continents, including 192 university squads and 88 corporate teams, competed in the games. According to the International Federation of Robotics' Aug 14, 2025, report, "Vision and Reality", humanoid robots are on track to become "the next big thing in robotics".
\nChina, as the world's largest industrial robotics market, has laid out concrete plans and targets, and begun large-scale production and application. The goals are clear: transformation of manufacturing, embedding robotic intelligence in society, and accelerating the rise of a knowledge-driven, intelligent industrial ecosystem.
\nBut behind the glittering spectacle lies serious engineering. Participants tested hardware platforms, multimodal perceptions, decision-making, execution control, communications and energy management. The arena featured a mix of jaw-dropping leaps, awkward tumbles and occasionally comical missteps. They reminded us that humanoid robotics remains a frontier field, full of experimentation and rapid evolution.
\nThe competition highlighted both the performance limits of individual machines and the immense promise of collaboration. To fully realize this potential, open, shared data and model coordination, cross-platform interaction and multi-robot collective intelligence are essential. And with the end of the games, these skills must migrate from the stadium to the real world — factories, hospitals and homes — where robots can continuously improve safety, adaptability and intelligence.
\nThe games were more than a tournament; they were parallel experiments in motion, bringing together AI computational experiments and embodied agents' prescriptive intelligence. The goal was not merely winning medals but also practical, scenario-driven deployment. Robotics divorced from real-world application risks stagnating in low-level, repetitive development.
\nBy testing humanoids under extremely challenging situations, the games publicly assessed motion control, environmental perception and autonomous navigation, embodying the ACP methodology of parallel intelligence: artificial societies plus computational experiments plus parallel execution. Every physical robot has a digital twin in the virtual world. Pre-game algorithm optimization counts as computational experiment; each graceful jump — or spectacular fall — feeds priceless real-world data. This feedback is prescriptive intelligence, guiding the next iteration toward smarter decisions and more effective actions.
\nThe games also acted as a prism, reflecting the broader ecosystem, economic dynamics and social impact of humanoid robotics. First, they showed that intense competition can expose the industry's Achilles' heel. When a robot falters due to the limit of a gearbox or servo motor, the failure is far more visceral than any report.
\nSecond, the games helped reassure investors, redirecting capital from abstract hype to tangible applications, and making sure that enterprises clear core technical bottlenecks and increase real-world deployment.
\nThird, they proved that robots on the field are athletes, not sci-fi villains. They assuaged the fear that "machines would replace humans" and instead helped many realize the fact that robots will liberate humans from repetitive or dangerous tasks while creating new value and employment opportunities. One minute a robot nails a flawless kick, the next, it trips spectacularly — both moments teach us the importance of persistence, learning and continuous technological development.
\nAnd fourth, the games raised a fundamental question: What does AIR really stand for? As scientists like Geoffrey Hinton caution, without careful guidance, AIR could serve capital rather than humanity. Beyond showcasing the "hard power" of robotics, the games provoke reflection on its soft power — policies, ethics and rules shaping its development. True intelligence is not measured by how fast a robot runs but by our ability to craft a safe, inclusive, and sustainable path through the parallel interaction of virtual and physical worlds.
\nIn this sense, the World Humanoid Robot Games are far more than a competition. They are a thought experiment in action, blending spectacle, strategy and social insight. They demonstrate China's leadership in shaping an AIR era that is not only technologically advanced but also ethically grounded, economically rational and socially beneficial — a world where robots will not replace humans but empower them, and where intelligent machines become a true extension of human capability.
\nThe views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.
\n", @@ -7925,28 +7903,6 @@ "hash": "5fa50925174c2ded650c7598f777a41c", "highlights": [] }, - { - "title": "006WORLD - Shared wartime history unites nations, envoy says", - "description": "Eighty years after China and the United States fought side by side in World War II, Beijing's top envoy in Washington said that the two countries must draw on their shared wartime history and recommit to peaceful coexistence and practical cooperation.
\nAmbassador Xie Feng delivered the message on Wednesday at an art exhibition at the Chinese embassy marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.
\nXie hailed the "heroes" who resisted fascism, from Chinese civilians to foreign volunteers, and recalled how, during what he described as a "decisive war between justice and evil", China and more than 50 nations formed an international anti-fascist front.
\n"The Flying Tigers soared across the sky to intercept Japanese aggressors, and opened up the treacherous 'Hump Route' over the Roof of the World, writing an epic story in pursuit of peace with their lives," he said.
\nIn 1941, volunteer US pilots, known as the Flying Tigers, fought alongside the Chinese against the Japanese in China.
\nThe ambassador praised foreign artists and journalists, including US illustrator Martha Sawyers and photographer Robert Capa, for rallying support for China during the war.
\n"Today, to safeguard the post-war international order and protect the Earth, our only home, we still need such heroes, and should act together for peace and for the future," he said.
\nXie also pointed to the Doolittle Raid of 1942, when US pilots, running low on fuel after completing their attack on Japan, crash-landed in China.
\n"Chinese soldiers and civilians spared no effort to rescue the pilots they had never met before," he said.
\nThat wartime experience left a lasting imprint on bilateral ties.
\n"The friendship between the Chinese and American people was forged amid the trials of blood and fire," Xie said, "and has gained new life and injected fresh impetus into bilateral relations over the years".
\n"It is a constant reminder that China and the US should see each other as a partner and friend, contribute to one another's success and benefit the whole world; that we should never forget what our two people went through together in the era of war, and should never waver in our commitment to peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," he added.
\nThe envoy's message was as much about today as yesterday. The lesson of history, he noted, is that "prejudice, hatred and war will bring nothing but disaster and pain", while cooperation offers the only path forward.
\nCommon interests
\n"Eight decades ago, our two countries fought against fascism side by side and jointly defended peace and justice. Eight decades later, we have more extensive common interests, broader space for cooperation, and more important international obligations," he said.
\nAs the world's two largest economies and as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and the US share a special and significant responsibility for upholding world peace and stability, and promoting global development and prosperity, Xie said.
\nJeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, also emphasized the importance of remembering the wartime bond.
\nEchoing Xie, Greene described the sacrifices made by ordinary Chinese in aiding downed US pilots.
\n"Families risked their lives to hide airmen, dress their wounds and guide them to safety," he said. "Never has one nation's people so consistently risked so much for those of another. This was not merely an alliance. It was humanity at its purest form."
\nDavid Frazer, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, stressed the role of culture in bridging divides today.
\n"Despite the political differences that exist today between our great countries, global appreciation for the arts transcends these differences," he said.
\nMore than 200 guests, including US dignitaries, attended the commemorative exhibition, jointly organized with state broadcaster China Central Television.
\nhuanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
\n", - "content": "Eighty years after China and the United States fought side by side in World War II, Beijing's top envoy in Washington said that the two countries must draw on their shared wartime history and recommit to peaceful coexistence and practical cooperation.
\nAmbassador Xie Feng delivered the message on Wednesday at an art exhibition at the Chinese embassy marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.
\nXie hailed the "heroes" who resisted fascism, from Chinese civilians to foreign volunteers, and recalled how, during what he described as a "decisive war between justice and evil", China and more than 50 nations formed an international anti-fascist front.
\n"The Flying Tigers soared across the sky to intercept Japanese aggressors, and opened up the treacherous 'Hump Route' over the Roof of the World, writing an epic story in pursuit of peace with their lives," he said.
\nIn 1941, volunteer US pilots, known as the Flying Tigers, fought alongside the Chinese against the Japanese in China.
\nThe ambassador praised foreign artists and journalists, including US illustrator Martha Sawyers and photographer Robert Capa, for rallying support for China during the war.
\n"Today, to safeguard the post-war international order and protect the Earth, our only home, we still need such heroes, and should act together for peace and for the future," he said.
\nXie also pointed to the Doolittle Raid of 1942, when US pilots, running low on fuel after completing their attack on Japan, crash-landed in China.
\n"Chinese soldiers and civilians spared no effort to rescue the pilots they had never met before," he said.
\nThat wartime experience left a lasting imprint on bilateral ties.
\n"The friendship between the Chinese and American people was forged amid the trials of blood and fire," Xie said, "and has gained new life and injected fresh impetus into bilateral relations over the years".
\n"It is a constant reminder that China and the US should see each other as a partner and friend, contribute to one another's success and benefit the whole world; that we should never forget what our two people went through together in the era of war, and should never waver in our commitment to peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," he added.
\nThe envoy's message was as much about today as yesterday. The lesson of history, he noted, is that "prejudice, hatred and war will bring nothing but disaster and pain", while cooperation offers the only path forward.
\nCommon interests
\n"Eight decades ago, our two countries fought against fascism side by side and jointly defended peace and justice. Eight decades later, we have more extensive common interests, broader space for cooperation, and more important international obligations," he said.
\nAs the world's two largest economies and as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and the US share a special and significant responsibility for upholding world peace and stability, and promoting global development and prosperity, Xie said.
\nJeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, also emphasized the importance of remembering the wartime bond.
\nEchoing Xie, Greene described the sacrifices made by ordinary Chinese in aiding downed US pilots.
\n"Families risked their lives to hide airmen, dress their wounds and guide them to safety," he said. "Never has one nation's people so consistently risked so much for those of another. This was not merely an alliance. It was humanity at its purest form."
\nDavid Frazer, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, stressed the role of culture in bridging divides today.
\n"Despite the political differences that exist today between our great countries, global appreciation for the arts transcends these differences," he said.
\nMore than 200 guests, including US dignitaries, attended the commemorative exhibition, jointly organized with state broadcaster China Central Television.
\nhuanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-08/23/content_006_68a8e2ebed50ccabe15180c8.htm#006WORLD", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "5a49c3b6d5c68bb1c3ddfd3a121bb2c5", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "009LIFE - Famous Peking duck restaurant serves up a tasty treat in New York", "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-23/009/20250823_009_02_35.png\")
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-23/009/20250823_009_02_20.png\")
The interior of Quanjude in New York with decorations from the previous French fine dining establishment La Grenouille.
\nAfter Quanjude's first failed attempt to enter the US market in Los Angeles some decades ago, it's coming back with a location situated in the vibrant Midtown area of New York City. This time with a different franchise ownership and a Michelin star.
\nLocated in a historical three-story building, the restaurant occupies the former site of the French fine dining establishment La Grenouille, which iDen & Quanjude, a Quanjude franchise under the ownership of Andy Zhang, acquired for $14.3 million.
\nUnder the dim light from crystal wall lamps around the restaurant, there's plush red velvet seats, classic oil paintings and bouquets of fresh flowers.
\nThe general manager of iDen & Quanjude, Wayne Pan, says this location has been a legendary restaurant site in New York with more than 60 years of history that once welcomed icons like David Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Truman Capote. It holds a deep meaning in many New Yorkers' hearts, which is why the original decor from La Grenouille has been preserved.
\nQuanjude is a restaurant chain established in 1864 to serve royalty from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It witnessed and weathered some of the most important historical events including the end of the monarchy in China, World War II, and the founding of the People's Republic of China.
\nOver the past 150 years, its Peking duck has become a national icon, with over 100 locations in China. It was also visited by several US presidents including Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
\nOn its return to the North America market in 2019, Quanjude franchise iDen & Quanjude opened its Vancouver location, which is still going strong. It is also the only Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in Canada, and has received a Michelin star for three straight years.
\nThe food critic from the Michelin Guide said, "It has a pedigree that traces back to an original location in Beijing from 1864, but the latest outpost in Vancouver proves that this legacy hasn't lost any of its luster. Indeed, the gold-accented dining room is a feast for the eyes, blending classic opulence with strikingly modern design."
\nAccording to Pan, the ducks they serve are from a farm in Pennsylvania and are high in fat. All the ducks are fresh and never frozen. "We have high standards on our ducks," Pan says. "They are all the same size, packed six ducks per case, with the duck hair carefully removed, and the skin kept completely intact and undamaged."
\nPan explains that after all the organs are removed, the ducks are rinsed with hot water. Then, a special in-house sauce is applied to enhance the flavor and give them a rich, brown color. Afterward, the ducks are placed in a special drying cabinet for at least two days, which ensures the skin will be extra crispy. The final step involves roasting the ducks in an oven, as fire roasting is prohibited in New York.
\nThen the duck is ready to be served with leeks imported from China, cucumber from Tianjin, paired with sweet bean paste made in house with a recipe from Quanjude in Beijing and wrapped in paper-thin pancakes.
\nOther than the iconic Peking duck, the New York menu features a selection of upscale dishes crafted with premium ingredients such as bird's nest, sea cucumber, fish maw, lobster and geoduck (clams).
\nCurrently, iDen & Quanjude in New York is in a soft opening as, Pan explains, the second and third floors of the restaurant are still being decorated.
\n"I hope Chinese people can experience the taste of home here, because many of us from northern China feel so happy when we eat this duck. I want Chinese people to feel at home, and I also hope Americans can experience the rich culture of Chinese food," says Pan, who also expressed the hope to promote Chinese high-end cuisine.
\nThis is not the first attempt by a Chinese Peking duck restaurant chain to enter the US fine dining market. In 2017, Dadong, another renowned Peking duck chain from China, also ventured into Manhattan with a prime location near Bryant Park. However, Dadong closed its doors just over two years later.
\nThe reviews for the iDen & Quanjude New York location have been mixed. New York Post food critic Steve Cuozzo gave the compliment that, "The bird from Pennsylvania's Jurgielewicz farm was flavor-rich and winningly moist beneath its amber skin", and "the food is as grown-up as the vibe".
\nHowever, it didn't really impress Beijing native Jill Wang, 39, a Peking duck enthusiast, who came after hearing about it on RedNote. She says, "It's too greasy, not crispy enough … I don't think the duck here reached the Quanjude (Beijing) standard."
\nJill Wang's companion, Wei Wang from Shenyang, adds, "I like the environment here. This place used to be a French restaurant and they kept the decoration."
\nHe mentions that he would also like to try out places in Flushing and Washington DC for Peking duck.
\nThe success of iDen & Quanjude in Canada can be attributed to several key factors: its innovative decor featuring traditional Chinese elements, direct endorsement by the Michelin Guide, Quanjude's unrivaled reputation for Peking duck worldwide and the significant Chinese population residing in Vancouver.
\nOnly time will tell if iDen & Quanjude will survive New York's cutthroat dining landscape.
\nbilinlin@chinadailyusa.com
\n", @@ -7969,28 +7925,6 @@ "hash": "f5b1e0688dd67563bc2654d65cfaa87d", "highlights": [] }, - { - "title": "001FRONT - XIZANG BORDER TOWNSHIP THRIVES THANKS TO ADVANCEMENTS, PATRIOTISM", - "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_001_03_525.png\")
Online See more by scanning the code.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_17.png\")
Yangzom (left) and her sister Zhoigar are given a national flag that flew on Kaishan Island, an outpost in the Yellow Sea by national role model Wang Shihua (right) in 2019.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_18.png\")
The two sisters pay their respects to their father.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_22.png\")
Zhoigar holds her grandson and talks to her daughter via a WeChat call on Oct 15 in Yulmed.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_21.png\")
The owner of a convenience store arranges the goods on a shelf.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_16.png\")
Tourists admire the beautiful scenery of Yulmed from the roadside in Shannan, Xizang autonomous region in 2023.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_20.png\")
Wei Xin, a representative of the Hunan aid team, presents Children's Day gifts to students at the primary school in Yulmed on June 1, 2022.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/001/20250822_002_02_19.png\")
Pan Long (left), a doctor from Chuzhou, Anhui province, provides medical checkups to a Tibetan resident in Yulmed on July 20, 2020.
\nWhen Pasang Tsering took a teaching job at the school in Yulmed, Xizang autonomous region, in 2007, he was warned by many people that the living conditions in the township located in the southern foothills of the Himalayas were very tough.
\nBut he was still surprised by the reality of everyday life in what was once the least-populated township in China.
\n"Surrounded by mountains on three sides at an average altitude of more than 5,000 meters, it took me about four days to get to the township from the county seat of Lhunze due to the poor condition of the road," Pasang Tsering said. "I literally had to traverse steep slopes and rugged paths on foot to get to Yulmed. I will never forget that trip."
\nWith an unstable electricity supply from a small hydropower station, even watching TV was a luxury back then. In Yulmed, located in the remote area near the China-India border, communication with the outside world was often cut off, he added.
\nBut things are completely different today. A three-person township decades ago, it is now home to over 200 people and oversees two villages. Pasang Tsering has become the Party chief of one village, also called Yulmed.
\nWith improved infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications, the locals can access the latest information via social media and have online orders delivered to their doorstep, just like people in Beijing, Pasang Tsering said proudly.
\n"If a place like Yulmed can thrive so much in less than two decades, the development of Xizang as a whole is even more extraordinary," he said.
\nPeople have to get through two mountain passes at an altitude above 5,000 meters to get to Yulmed from Lhunze, Shannan city. Besides the stunning view of the snow-capped mountains and grand valleys, the 10-kilovolt power transmission line extended by the State Grid to Yulmed in 2019 along the well-paved road is also hard to miss.
\nThe reconstruction of a 50-kilometer paved road connecting Yulmed to a neighboring township was completed in the same year with investment of over 500 million yuan ($69.67 million) by the state, which stopped it being snowbound every year.
\n"Before the reconstruction of the road, Yulmed would become inaccessible to vehicles when it started to snow in October, until at least the following June. The widened and hardened road has fundamentally changed people's life," Pasang Tsering said.
\nSince 2018, Yulmed has built itself into a prosperous border township with steel-framed houses, an electricity grid, roads, a 5G network, medical care and financial services facilities.
\n"As life in Yulmed has become more convenient than ever, more young people are willing to come and run businesses including shops, restaurants, family inns and teahouses," he said. "The children can also receive good education via online courses, which is something I wouldn't even dare to dream about when I was a teacher."
\nFamily patrols
\nTenzin Samdrup came to Yulmed about 10 years ago, married and had children. The couple run a courier business, which has become increasingly busy.
\nDelivery services can now reach Yulmed after roads were improved, and it's very convenient for residents to buy things online. In the past, people had to travel for days to buy daily necessities from nearby townships, Tenzin Samdrup, 31, said.
\n"Nowadays, there are hundreds of express parcels arriving in Yulmed every day. More and more people are shopping online. It's quite something considering how remote Yulmed is."
\nWith improved infrastructure, tourism is also booming, especially between June and September. By the end of 2024, a total of 55 families in the township had set up homestays to accommodate tourists.
\nRinchen Phuntsog, the township head, said a tourist service and reception center has been built and is expected to begin operating by the end of this year. "It will be helpful to attract tourists and increase the income of our village collective."
\nAlthough the population in Yulmed has continued to grow, between 1964 and 1996 only three people lived in the township — Yangzom, her sister Zhoigar, and their father Sangye Chopa, the former township head.
\nThe family was determined to protect a total of 3,644 square kilometers of township land on the border between China and India.
\nYangzom, 62, began patrolling the border with her father when she was 16 years old. He passed away in 2001, but he instilled in her the attitude that protecting the land beneath your feet is to protect your country, she said. Their old residence has been turned into a museum that faithfully recreates the former poor living conditions of the family.
\n"Many people moved away because life in Yulmed was too tough to endure back then," Yangzom said.
\n"I asked my father why we must stay. He said if people all moved away, the land beneath would be lost, which is something he wouldn't allow. They were his exact words," she said.
\nFather's legacy
\nZhoigar married a herdsman named Pasang who took on the family responsibility of patrolling the border while also herding his yaks. From the outset, he upheld the traditions established by his wife's father.
\n"We wanted people to see that there are Chinese people guarding the border. We all do it from our heart and proudly," he said. "As shown to us by Sangye Chopa, we put the Chinese national flag at key intersections near the border to show our presence, which is very important.
\n"We had to make those flags all by ourselves. Even the red cloth for the flags was hard to source back then, so they were the most valuable things," said Pasang.
\nA giant slogan in red on a hillside that reads our "Home is Yulmed, country is China" once uttered by Sangye Chopa, is now the most famous landmark in the township.
\n"Everyone in the village knows the family and its story. Those words still represent the spirit of the Yulmed people," Pasang Tsering, the teacher, said.
\nSince setting foot in Yulmed, Pasang Tsering has also been taking border patrol trips regularly in the mountains lasting three to five days.
\nThe family's legacy has become well known in China after President Xi Jinping replied to the letter they wrote to him in 2017 introducing Yulmed.
\nXi, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission, acknowledged the family's efforts to safeguard the territory, and thanked them for the loyalty and contributions they have made in the border area.
\n"Without the peace in the territory, there will be no peaceful lives for the millions of families," Xi wrote.
\nXi also expressed his hope that the family would motivate more people to set down roots in the border area and become guardians of the Chinese territory and constructors of a happy hometown.
\nIn 2021, Zhoigar was awarded the July 1 Medal, the highest honor in the Party established by the CPC Central Committee, for her decades-long guarding of the country's territory.
\nSince 2018, Xizang has launched a campaign to develop its 624 villages along the 4,000-kilometer border with India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan, which is of great significance to the long-term peace of the region and China's sovereignty.
\nThe region has ramped up policy support for the project, sped up construction in those border areas, and made extensive efforts to improve the livelihoods of residents living there.
\nNowadays, the border villages in Xizang have been provided with paved roads, while all the border townships in the region are now connected to power networks and mobile internet services.
\nFurthermore, local people's access to safe drinking water has been guaranteed, and public facilities have been further improved to make sure local residents can enjoy education and medical care. Specialty industries have also been developed in the region's border areas to promote prosperity for rural residents.
\nYangzom now mainly runs a homestay and takes care of her naughty grandson who she believes spends too much time watching cartoons on an electronic tablet.
\n"I am sure my father would be very happy to see how Yulmed has been developed and transformed," she said, "and I have nothing to worry about now since the younger generation of villagers can have a good life here."
\n"More importantly, they all understand the importance of protecting the homeland, just like we do," she said.
\ncuijia@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "content": "Online See more by scanning the code.
\nYangzom (left) and her sister Zhoigar are given a national flag that flew on Kaishan Island, an outpost in the Yellow Sea by national role model Wang Shihua (right) in 2019.
\nThe two sisters pay their respects to their father.
\nZhoigar holds her grandson and talks to her daughter via a WeChat call on Oct 15 in Yulmed.
\nThe owner of a convenience store arranges the goods on a shelf.
\nTourists admire the beautiful scenery of Yulmed from the roadside in Shannan, Xizang autonomous region in 2023.
\nWei Xin, a representative of the Hunan aid team, presents Children's Day gifts to students at the primary school in Yulmed on June 1, 2022.
\nPan Long (left), a doctor from Chuzhou, Anhui province, provides medical checkups to a Tibetan resident in Yulmed on July 20, 2020.
\nWhen Pasang Tsering took a teaching job at the school in Yulmed, Xizang autonomous region, in 2007, he was warned by many people that the living conditions in the township located in the southern foothills of the Himalayas were very tough.
\nBut he was still surprised by the reality of everyday life in what was once the least-populated township in China.
\n"Surrounded by mountains on three sides at an average altitude of more than 5,000 meters, it took me about four days to get to the township from the county seat of Lhunze due to the poor condition of the road," Pasang Tsering said. "I literally had to traverse steep slopes and rugged paths on foot to get to Yulmed. I will never forget that trip."
\nWith an unstable electricity supply from a small hydropower station, even watching TV was a luxury back then. In Yulmed, located in the remote area near the China-India border, communication with the outside world was often cut off, he added.
\nBut things are completely different today. A three-person township decades ago, it is now home to over 200 people and oversees two villages. Pasang Tsering has become the Party chief of one village, also called Yulmed.
\nWith improved infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications, the locals can access the latest information via social media and have online orders delivered to their doorstep, just like people in Beijing, Pasang Tsering said proudly.
\n"If a place like Yulmed can thrive so much in less than two decades, the development of Xizang as a whole is even more extraordinary," he said.
\nPeople have to get through two mountain passes at an altitude above 5,000 meters to get to Yulmed from Lhunze, Shannan city. Besides the stunning view of the snow-capped mountains and grand valleys, the 10-kilovolt power transmission line extended by the State Grid to Yulmed in 2019 along the well-paved road is also hard to miss.
\nThe reconstruction of a 50-kilometer paved road connecting Yulmed to a neighboring township was completed in the same year with investment of over 500 million yuan ($69.67 million) by the state, which stopped it being snowbound every year.
\n"Before the reconstruction of the road, Yulmed would become inaccessible to vehicles when it started to snow in October, until at least the following June. The widened and hardened road has fundamentally changed people's life," Pasang Tsering said.
\nSince 2018, Yulmed has built itself into a prosperous border township with steel-framed houses, an electricity grid, roads, a 5G network, medical care and financial services facilities.
\n"As life in Yulmed has become more convenient than ever, more young people are willing to come and run businesses including shops, restaurants, family inns and teahouses," he said. "The children can also receive good education via online courses, which is something I wouldn't even dare to dream about when I was a teacher."
\nFamily patrols
\nTenzin Samdrup came to Yulmed about 10 years ago, married and had children. The couple run a courier business, which has become increasingly busy.
\nDelivery services can now reach Yulmed after roads were improved, and it's very convenient for residents to buy things online. In the past, people had to travel for days to buy daily necessities from nearby townships, Tenzin Samdrup, 31, said.
\n"Nowadays, there are hundreds of express parcels arriving in Yulmed every day. More and more people are shopping online. It's quite something considering how remote Yulmed is."
\nWith improved infrastructure, tourism is also booming, especially between June and September. By the end of 2024, a total of 55 families in the township had set up homestays to accommodate tourists.
\nRinchen Phuntsog, the township head, said a tourist service and reception center has been built and is expected to begin operating by the end of this year. "It will be helpful to attract tourists and increase the income of our village collective."
\nAlthough the population in Yulmed has continued to grow, between 1964 and 1996 only three people lived in the township — Yangzom, her sister Zhoigar, and their father Sangye Chopa, the former township head.
\nThe family was determined to protect a total of 3,644 square kilometers of township land on the border between China and India.
\nYangzom, 62, began patrolling the border with her father when she was 16 years old. He passed away in 2001, but he instilled in her the attitude that protecting the land beneath your feet is to protect your country, she said. Their old residence has been turned into a museum that faithfully recreates the former poor living conditions of the family.
\n"Many people moved away because life in Yulmed was too tough to endure back then," Yangzom said.
\n"I asked my father why we must stay. He said if people all moved away, the land beneath would be lost, which is something he wouldn't allow. They were his exact words," she said.
\nFather's legacy
\nZhoigar married a herdsman named Pasang who took on the family responsibility of patrolling the border while also herding his yaks. From the outset, he upheld the traditions established by his wife's father.
\n"We wanted people to see that there are Chinese people guarding the border. We all do it from our heart and proudly," he said. "As shown to us by Sangye Chopa, we put the Chinese national flag at key intersections near the border to show our presence, which is very important.
\n"We had to make those flags all by ourselves. Even the red cloth for the flags was hard to source back then, so they were the most valuable things," said Pasang.
\nA giant slogan in red on a hillside that reads our "Home is Yulmed, country is China" once uttered by Sangye Chopa, is now the most famous landmark in the township.
\n"Everyone in the village knows the family and its story. Those words still represent the spirit of the Yulmed people," Pasang Tsering, the teacher, said.
\nSince setting foot in Yulmed, Pasang Tsering has also been taking border patrol trips regularly in the mountains lasting three to five days.
\nThe family's legacy has become well known in China after President Xi Jinping replied to the letter they wrote to him in 2017 introducing Yulmed.
\nXi, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission, acknowledged the family's efforts to safeguard the territory, and thanked them for the loyalty and contributions they have made in the border area.
\n"Without the peace in the territory, there will be no peaceful lives for the millions of families," Xi wrote.
\nXi also expressed his hope that the family would motivate more people to set down roots in the border area and become guardians of the Chinese territory and constructors of a happy hometown.
\nIn 2021, Zhoigar was awarded the July 1 Medal, the highest honor in the Party established by the CPC Central Committee, for her decades-long guarding of the country's territory.
\nSince 2018, Xizang has launched a campaign to develop its 624 villages along the 4,000-kilometer border with India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan, which is of great significance to the long-term peace of the region and China's sovereignty.
\nThe region has ramped up policy support for the project, sped up construction in those border areas, and made extensive efforts to improve the livelihoods of residents living there.
\nNowadays, the border villages in Xizang have been provided with paved roads, while all the border townships in the region are now connected to power networks and mobile internet services.
\nFurthermore, local people's access to safe drinking water has been guaranteed, and public facilities have been further improved to make sure local residents can enjoy education and medical care. Specialty industries have also been developed in the region's border areas to promote prosperity for rural residents.
\nYangzom now mainly runs a homestay and takes care of her naughty grandson who she believes spends too much time watching cartoons on an electronic tablet.
\n"I am sure my father would be very happy to see how Yulmed has been developed and transformed," she said, "and I have nothing to worry about now since the younger generation of villagers can have a good life here."
\n"More importantly, they all understand the importance of protecting the homeland, just like we do," she said.
\ncuijia@chinadaily.com.cn
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-08/22/content_001_68a79374ed50ccabe1517f3f.htm#001FRONT", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "67368c6129305200a5e671343738cc1f", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "005CHINA - Tajik geologist finds home in border region", "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/005/20250822_005_02_21.png\")
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/005/20250822_005_02_14.png\")
Dzhovid Yogibekov delivers a speech on anti-desertification at a symposium held by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
\nFor nearly 10 years, Tajik geologist Dzhovid Yogibekov has made his life in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where his studies have grown into a deep connection with local society.
\nIn 2016, at the suggestion of his professor in Tajikistan, Yogibekov applied to study for a master's degree in geology at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was his first time setting foot in the region.
\nXinjiang, which borders Tajikistan, is easily accessible from his home country. Yogibekov said he could reach Tajikistan in just a few hours via the Karasu Port in Kashgar, which makes it more convenient for him to study in the region.
\nAfter completing his master's degree, Yogibekov decided to remain in Xinjiang to pursue a doctorate.
\n"There is no restriction to study, the experiment facilities are well-equipped and the research team is well-organized," he said.
\nSince 2016, he has witnessed rapid urban growth and technological advances, particularly in the fight against desertification.
\n"One of the main aspects that surprised me was how fast China is developing and how people are devoting themselves to the popularization of science, technology and the landscaping of desert regions," he said.
\nHe credited these efforts with helping control sandstorms and improve air quality, which in turn has created better living conditions.
\nYogibekov noted that international students and teachers are increasingly coming to Xinjiang to share knowledge, further enriching the academic environment.
\nOutside of research, he took part in tree-planting efforts in Urumqi for three years.
\n"I was amazed by the way people are afforesting deserts," he said, emphasizing that ecological transformation requires a multidisciplinary approach, including geology.
\nHe pointed to China's "Great Green Wall" — the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program designed to slow the Gobi Desert's expansion — as a model that could benefit other countries, including Tajikistan.
\nYogibekov's life in Xinjiang has also been shaped by cultural ties. While Tajikistan's Persian-Tajik language and traditions differ from those of Uygur and Han communities, he has connected closely with Xinjiang's ethnic Tajik population.
\n"Their languages are identical to those of Tajikistan's Pamir region, and their dress and dance styles are exactly the same," he said.
\nChina is making efforts to preserve the cultures of all its ethnic groups, he added.
\nYogibekov said he sees himself as a bridge between China and Tajikistan.
\n"Student exchanges are key to mutual understanding," he said.
\nDespite differences among countries and ethnicities," human nature is the same," he said, adding that learning local languages and cultures is vital to reducing misunderstandings.
\n", @@ -8013,28 +7947,6 @@ "hash": "26e3d1d8fa251f8160c3591613529a1c", "highlights": [] }, - { - "title": "008COMMENT - Openness and cooperation key for AI development", - "description": "Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence is reshaping human civilization through a chain reaction of "technological breakthroughs-industrial integration-social restructuring". AI has evolved from a single technological tool into a core engine driving economic, social and cultural transformation. Qi Guojun, a distinguished scientist of the Association for Computing Machinery and professor at Westlake University, spoke to Chinanews.com about the changes that AI would bring about in the economy and whether the global dialogue on AI is about competition or coexistence. Below are excerpts from the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.
\nThere is not sufficient evidence or scientific consensus to suggest that AI will develop self-awareness. Such ideas remain largely within the realm of science fiction. Nevertheless, development of the technology does present new challenges, although such issues are not unique to AI. The emergence of any new technology, such as the internet, has historically been accompanied by problems such as piracy and spread of harmful content in the case of the internet.
\nBut the overall positive impact of AI on society far outweighs the negative. AI brings significant value by advancing productivity, expanding application scenarios, creating new categories of employment and optimizing industrial structures. Indeed, there are already many cases of the positive impact of AI. For example, AI is widely applied in customer service, which has improved productivity. While this has put pressure on employment, it has also generated new and higher-paying jobs in the data industry. In creative sectors, such as digital humans, animation and art production, AI has replaced more than 90 percent of repetitive work. The advertising industry and data-processing-related sectors have also undergone major changes.
\nLooking ahead, AI will play a powerful role in improving productivity across all industries. Much like the first stage of internet development, which initially boosted productivity, the next stage may see the rise of new enterprises that are native to the AI ecosystem. Within the next five years, large-scale enterprises borne from AI will emerge, with the potential to exert a profound influence on the global economy for the next 20-30 years.
\nAs for the future dialogue on AI, it will involve both competition and coexistence, but coexistence will outweigh competition. In this context, two dimensions of competition, speed and openness, are particularly critical.
\nWith regard to speed, the AI industry shares similarities with the internet sector. Because technological exchanges are frequent, no one can monopolize technology for long. The true advantage lies in scale, where speed and openness determine success. Whoever moves faster can attract more users, acquire more data and iterate their models more efficiently, creating a positive feedback loop, the so-called flywheel effect. Once the flywheel turns, both scale and influence will continue to expand.
\nIf a model is used on a small scale, it will not be able to attract enough users to form a sustainable commercial cycle. Without growth in data and users, it cannot fully understand user intentions and application scenarios, making it difficult for it to improve performance. This is why AI development must move toward greater openness, encouraging more users to participate in order to generate positive feedback. This is the essence of open competition in AI.
\nSuccessful internet and IT enterprises are inevitably global, or at least exert significant cross-border influence. In the process, mutual reinforcement creates a relationship of coexistence. For instance, cooperation can be carried out in areas such as data governance and AI ethical standards. AI's positive spillover effects will extend worldwide, with technology sharing becoming a natural outcome.
\nAcademic exchange also strengthens coexistence. The AI field is highly open, with a large volume of new research shared in academic journals, at conferences and on open platforms. Through these exchanges, knowledge is disseminated, new ideas are shared and technological progress gets accelerated.
\n", - "content": "Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence is reshaping human civilization through a chain reaction of "technological breakthroughs-industrial integration-social restructuring". AI has evolved from a single technological tool into a core engine driving economic, social and cultural transformation. Qi Guojun, a distinguished scientist of the Association for Computing Machinery and professor at Westlake University, spoke to Chinanews.com about the changes that AI would bring about in the economy and whether the global dialogue on AI is about competition or coexistence. Below are excerpts from the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.
\nThere is not sufficient evidence or scientific consensus to suggest that AI will develop self-awareness. Such ideas remain largely within the realm of science fiction. Nevertheless, development of the technology does present new challenges, although such issues are not unique to AI. The emergence of any new technology, such as the internet, has historically been accompanied by problems such as piracy and spread of harmful content in the case of the internet.
\nBut the overall positive impact of AI on society far outweighs the negative. AI brings significant value by advancing productivity, expanding application scenarios, creating new categories of employment and optimizing industrial structures. Indeed, there are already many cases of the positive impact of AI. For example, AI is widely applied in customer service, which has improved productivity. While this has put pressure on employment, it has also generated new and higher-paying jobs in the data industry. In creative sectors, such as digital humans, animation and art production, AI has replaced more than 90 percent of repetitive work. The advertising industry and data-processing-related sectors have also undergone major changes.
\nLooking ahead, AI will play a powerful role in improving productivity across all industries. Much like the first stage of internet development, which initially boosted productivity, the next stage may see the rise of new enterprises that are native to the AI ecosystem. Within the next five years, large-scale enterprises borne from AI will emerge, with the potential to exert a profound influence on the global economy for the next 20-30 years.
\nAs for the future dialogue on AI, it will involve both competition and coexistence, but coexistence will outweigh competition. In this context, two dimensions of competition, speed and openness, are particularly critical.
\nWith regard to speed, the AI industry shares similarities with the internet sector. Because technological exchanges are frequent, no one can monopolize technology for long. The true advantage lies in scale, where speed and openness determine success. Whoever moves faster can attract more users, acquire more data and iterate their models more efficiently, creating a positive feedback loop, the so-called flywheel effect. Once the flywheel turns, both scale and influence will continue to expand.
\nIf a model is used on a small scale, it will not be able to attract enough users to form a sustainable commercial cycle. Without growth in data and users, it cannot fully understand user intentions and application scenarios, making it difficult for it to improve performance. This is why AI development must move toward greater openness, encouraging more users to participate in order to generate positive feedback. This is the essence of open competition in AI.
\nSuccessful internet and IT enterprises are inevitably global, or at least exert significant cross-border influence. In the process, mutual reinforcement creates a relationship of coexistence. For instance, cooperation can be carried out in areas such as data governance and AI ethical standards. AI's positive spillover effects will extend worldwide, with technology sharing becoming a natural outcome.
\nAcademic exchange also strengthens coexistence. The AI field is highly open, with a large volume of new research shared in academic journals, at conferences and on open platforms. Through these exchanges, knowledge is disseminated, new ideas are shared and technological progress gets accelerated.
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-08/22/content_008_68a793c8ed50ccabe1517f55.htm#008COMMENT", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "27293aa331827fe2b00c0a875553a6bb", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "010WORLD - Courtroom test", "description": "![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/010/20250822_010_05_89944.png\")
Suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on Thursday to attend a hearing over a case seeking her dismissal over alleged ethics violations.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/012/20250822_012_01_14308.png\")
Lumber is cut at a saw mill near Sooke, British Columbia, Canada, on April 11. The US is poised to more than double duties on Canadian softwood lumber, putting more pressure on US' material costs.
\n![](\"https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/resfile/2025-08-22/012/20250822_012_01_61308.png\")
\nThe United States has more than doubled the countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber to over 35 percent, a move economists say will raise construction costs and further strain housing affordability.
\nThe US Department of Commerce said earlier this month that it will more than double the countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports, raising them to 14.6 percent from 6.7 percent, after determining Canadian producers receive unfair subsidies.
\nThe increase comes on top of a recent rise in antidumping duties to 20.5 percent, bringing the total duty on Canadian softwood to nearly 35.2 percent.
\nThe US move will raise construction costs and add to inflationary pressures, according to Brian Bethune, a professor of economics at Boston College.
\nHe said the higher costs will be "extremely difficult to offset", especially as they come alongside higher prices for steel and aluminum.
\n"All of these factors will negatively impact affordability," he told China Daily.
\nBethune noted that the duties will take time to appear in official inflation data. "The tariffs first have to feed through into housing construction costs, and then into rents and owners' equivalent rent, which drive shelter costs."
\n"The lag, however, could be up to a year, so we won't see much of an impact until mid-2026," he said.
\nThe National Association of Home Builders, in an Aug 8 statement, said the higher duties would worsen affordability problems.
\n"For years, NAHB has been leading the fight against lumber tariffs because of their detrimental effect on housing affordability," the group said in a statement. "In effect, the lumber tariffs act as a tax on American builders, home buyers and consumers.
\n"With housing affordability already near a historic low, NAHB continues to call on the administration to carefully consider how placing additional tariffs on lumber and other building materials will raise housing prices and impact housing supply," the statement said.
\n"The impact of the duties is being shared by businesses (exporters, importers) and consumers. So far, most of the impact, approximately two-thirds, has been absorbed by US importing businesses with lower profit margins," Bethune said.
\n"Only 15 percent has been passed on to consumers. However, the pass-through to consumers will likely increase over time," he said.
\nOn the supply side, he said US producers will not be able to fully fill the gap left by Canadian lumber.
\n"US producers may have some capacity to increase production, but the supply response is limited by the availability of accessible timber resources," Bethune said.
\n"Beyond the impact on (Canadian) facilities, I would expect a curtailment in production, where higher cost firms may either take temporary downtime or permanently shutter some more mills," said Harry Nelson, an associate professor of forestry at the University of British Columbia.
\nHe said that Canada, and the province of British Columbia in particular, has long been the higher-cost supplier to the US market.
\nIn an Aug 8 statement responding to the US decision, the BC Lumber Trade Council said the move would have negative consequences on both sides of the border.
\n"It places unnecessary strain on forestry-dependent regions in Canada while driving up construction costs for American builders and families," said Kurt Niquidet, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.
\nHe added that without a negotiated settlement, the council will continue to work with the Canadian government and industry partners to defend Canadian interests "through all available legal channels, including proceedings under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement".
\nNelson said the outlook depends on the broader US economy.
\n"As the US market is what sets lumber prices overall, the higher the tariffs, the lower Canadian lumber prices will be relative to the US."
\nFor Canadian consumers, Nelson sees both direct and indirect impacts. "First, the duties create a wedge between domestic and export prices," he told China Daily.
\n"The bigger the tariffs, the more likely the greater that wedge will be."
\nThe indirect effect, he added, comes from the broader economy. "If overall tariffs and economic uncertainty lead to lower economic activity, housing starts generally in both the US and Canada will come down … and lumber prices overall will trend lower."
\nLooking ahead, Nelson said Canada needs a more deliberate diversification strategy. "We are too reliant on one partner and one product," he said.
\n" (We need) a well thought-out trade diversification strategy where we invest in building a brand for Canadian wood and wood products around quality and building stable relationships with other trading partners," he said.
\ngaoyang@chinadailyusa.com
\n", - "content": "Lumber is cut at a saw mill near Sooke, British Columbia, Canada, on April 11. The US is poised to more than double duties on Canadian softwood lumber, putting more pressure on US' material costs.
\n\nThe United States has more than doubled the countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber to over 35 percent, a move economists say will raise construction costs and further strain housing affordability.
\nThe US Department of Commerce said earlier this month that it will more than double the countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports, raising them to 14.6 percent from 6.7 percent, after determining Canadian producers receive unfair subsidies.
\nThe increase comes on top of a recent rise in antidumping duties to 20.5 percent, bringing the total duty on Canadian softwood to nearly 35.2 percent.
\nThe US move will raise construction costs and add to inflationary pressures, according to Brian Bethune, a professor of economics at Boston College.
\nHe said the higher costs will be "extremely difficult to offset", especially as they come alongside higher prices for steel and aluminum.
\n"All of these factors will negatively impact affordability," he told China Daily.
\nBethune noted that the duties will take time to appear in official inflation data. "The tariffs first have to feed through into housing construction costs, and then into rents and owners' equivalent rent, which drive shelter costs."
\n"The lag, however, could be up to a year, so we won't see much of an impact until mid-2026," he said.
\nThe National Association of Home Builders, in an Aug 8 statement, said the higher duties would worsen affordability problems.
\n"For years, NAHB has been leading the fight against lumber tariffs because of their detrimental effect on housing affordability," the group said in a statement. "In effect, the lumber tariffs act as a tax on American builders, home buyers and consumers.
\n"With housing affordability already near a historic low, NAHB continues to call on the administration to carefully consider how placing additional tariffs on lumber and other building materials will raise housing prices and impact housing supply," the statement said.
\n"The impact of the duties is being shared by businesses (exporters, importers) and consumers. So far, most of the impact, approximately two-thirds, has been absorbed by US importing businesses with lower profit margins," Bethune said.
\n"Only 15 percent has been passed on to consumers. However, the pass-through to consumers will likely increase over time," he said.
\nOn the supply side, he said US producers will not be able to fully fill the gap left by Canadian lumber.
\n"US producers may have some capacity to increase production, but the supply response is limited by the availability of accessible timber resources," Bethune said.
\n"Beyond the impact on (Canadian) facilities, I would expect a curtailment in production, where higher cost firms may either take temporary downtime or permanently shutter some more mills," said Harry Nelson, an associate professor of forestry at the University of British Columbia.
\nHe said that Canada, and the province of British Columbia in particular, has long been the higher-cost supplier to the US market.
\nIn an Aug 8 statement responding to the US decision, the BC Lumber Trade Council said the move would have negative consequences on both sides of the border.
\n"It places unnecessary strain on forestry-dependent regions in Canada while driving up construction costs for American builders and families," said Kurt Niquidet, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.
\nHe added that without a negotiated settlement, the council will continue to work with the Canadian government and industry partners to defend Canadian interests "through all available legal channels, including proceedings under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement".
\nNelson said the outlook depends on the broader US economy.
\n"As the US market is what sets lumber prices overall, the higher the tariffs, the lower Canadian lumber prices will be relative to the US."
\nFor Canadian consumers, Nelson sees both direct and indirect impacts. "First, the duties create a wedge between domestic and export prices," he told China Daily.
\n"The bigger the tariffs, the more likely the greater that wedge will be."
\nThe indirect effect, he added, comes from the broader economy. "If overall tariffs and economic uncertainty lead to lower economic activity, housing starts generally in both the US and Canada will come down … and lumber prices overall will trend lower."
\nLooking ahead, Nelson said Canada needs a more deliberate diversification strategy. "We are too reliant on one partner and one product," he said.
\n" (We need) a well thought-out trade diversification strategy where we invest in building a brand for Canadian wood and wood products around quality and building stable relationships with other trading partners," he said.
\ngaoyang@chinadailyusa.com
\n", - "category": "", - "link": "https://mobile.chinadaily.com.cn/cn/html5/2025-08/22/content_012_68a7940ded50ccabe1517f65.htm#012WORLD", - "creator": "", - "pubDate": "Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:21:05 +0000", - "enclosure": "", - "enclosureType": "", - "image": "", - "id": "", - "language": "", - "folder": "双语", - "feed": "ChinaDaily", - "read": false, - "favorite": false, - "created": false, - "tags": [], - "hash": "40176c6001ad58b0955afb45a076d05c", - "highlights": [] - }, { "title": "013BUSINESS - Briefly", "description": "Yuan strengthens to 7.1287 against USD
\nThe central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 97 pips to 7.1287 against the US dollar on Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.
\nShanxi reports more raw coal production
\nCoal-rich province of Shanxi reported 756.44 million metric tons of raw coal production in the first seven months, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, according to local authorities. As the country's top coal producer, Shanxi contributed 27.2 percent of China's total output during this period.
\n",