The recent World Conference on China Studies - Shanghai Forum, which concluded on November 24, was one of the largest gatherings of global "China hands." At the two-day forum, more than 400 Chinese and foreign scholars specializing or interested in China studies discussed their insights on Chinese civilization and China's path of development, as well as their impacts on the current global landscape.

During the forum, some of the overseas scholars, including winners of the 2023 Award for Distinguished Contributions to China Studies, shared their personal China experiences, observations, and understandings of Chinese civilization and China's path with the Global Times.

These "China hands" are witnesses to China's modernization and social development, and play an important role as bridges that link China and the world, observers told the Global Times on Monday.

Witnesses and bridges

The forum announced the winners of the 2023 Award for Distinguished Contributions to China Studies on November 24. They included Timothy Brook, professor emeritus at Department of History, University of British Columbia, Baik Young-seo, professor emeritus at Yonsei University, and Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
Brook and Baik participated in the in-person forum in Shanghai. At an interview on November 23, Brook said that Shanghai "makes him jump." "The Shanghai of today is completely different from that of the 1970s," he told the media in fluent Putonghua. "The city reminds me of New York when I look out of my hotel at the Bund."

Shanghai was one of the starting places that sparked Brook's relationship with China. In 1974, then 23-year-old Brook studied ancient Chinese history and literature at Fudan University as one of the earliest young Canadians to come to China as exchange students. At Fudan, he developed a keen interest in China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and later started his decades of research in Chinese history, particularly into the Ming Dynasty history.

At the forum venue by the Huangpu River, Brook said although he has visited Shanghai many times over the years, he is quite impressed by the development of China's most modernized metropolis during each visit. "I found that Shanghai has 'grown up' to a degree that I've never seen before," he said, as if describing an old friend.

Brook is hailed as one of the best storytellers among North American historians. His many books focusing on China during the period of the Ming Dynasty, such as The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China, open a window for international readers to learn more about Chinese history and civilization.

"I keep writing books about China in order to increase the outside world's understanding of China," Brook told the Global Times.

Brook is among the expanding pool of international scholars in China studies who have, in recent decades, personally experienced China's rapid path to development.
Rachel Murphy, who prefers to go by her Chinese name "Rui Xue (auspicious snow in a literal translation)" in China, was a guest speaker at the forum. As a Chinese Development and Society professor at the University of Oxford and former president of the British Association for Chinese Studies, she has been engaged in China-related research, exploring China's social and cultural changes caused by urbanization, educational development, demographic transition, and state policies.

During the last 20 years, Murphy has travelled to many villages, towns, and cities across China. Her long-term fieldwork makes her an old "China hand."

Murphy marveled at China's tremendous development, especially in the countryside. "China's urbanization is progressing very fast," she told the Global Times during the forum. "The book I wrote [about rural China] before is out of date now."

Murphy shared that a week ahead of the forum, she visited several villages in Anhui Provinces, where she had been to a few years before. She was surprised by the great changes in communication in rural China.

Wi-Fi availability is now commonplace in many villages, enabling "left-behind" children to stay in contact with their migrant worker parents through frequent video calls, said Murphy. She was surprised to see many elderly women like to share their rural lives on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok).

"The speed of technological changes [in China] is truly amazing," Murphy said in Putonghua. "Rural areas included, the ubiquitous nature of 'connection' [across China] is a remarkable achievement."

Among the China studies scholars who attended the forum in Shanghai, Michael Crook, a Chinese Government Friendship Award winner, is a familiar "China hand" to many Chinese people.

Crook's family has been profoundly and closely connected to China. Six generations of his family have worked and lived in China. Born and raised in Beijing, Crook has devoted decades to education in China. Now he teaches children from expatriate families in Beijing Chinese history and culture, acting as a bridge between people in China and the West, especially among the younger generation.

During the forum, Crook told Chinese media that he believes Chinese and Western cultures have their own merits. "They can learn from each other," he said.

A path worthy of reference

Crook was a guest speaker at a sub-forum being held during the Shanghai Forum on November 24. The theme of the sub-forum was "Explorations: Chinese Modernization and China's Path."

Under this theme, many participants of the sub-forum shared their understanding of China's path to modernization, and some highlights of China's path worthy of reference for other countries.

China is a good example of integrating its own development with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNDGs), said economist Ranee Jayamaha, lead consultant for the South Asia-World Bank Group.

She offered how China has launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development together with 31 countries, and closely aligned the initiative with the needs of global green development by investing in renewable energy and adopting comprehensive pollution reduction measures as an example.

This is a good story of China's success in positively influencing world development, Jayamaha commented.

Crook mentioned China's ethnic policies, which he thinks can be referenced by multi-ethnic countries.

In a speech he delivered at the sub-forum, Crook recalled his visit to a school in China's Xizang Autonomous Region in May. The school teaches both Putonghua and Tibetan, and entirely permissible for the latter to be spoken in class. The small case shows China respects and supports its ethnic minorities at the national level, said Crook.

With China's rise and its growing international influence, many countries, especially those in the Global South, are interested in Chine's development, and are looking forward to learning from China's experiences, many attendees of the forum told the Global Times.

And these contemporary "China hands" are making efforts to know more about China, exploring China's development path and sharing their observations and understandings with the world.

China is on a multi-dimensional path of development, Josette Altmann-Borbón, secretary general of Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, said in a speech delivered at the forum's opening ceremony on November 24.

We should fully understand the important role China plays on the global stage, she noted.

Currently, some observers assert that China's economic growth has peaked, drawing parallels to Japan's situation in the 1990s. This implies that China may face a 30-year stagnation, potentially missing the opportunity to surpass the size of the US economy. However, this perspective is a misconception, as it interprets China's cyclical adjustments as indicative of a long-term economic downturn.

In reality, the Chinese government is working toward multiple objectives simultaneously, with economic growth rate being just one of them. While China has set lower goal of economic growth compared with the past, this shift has also created more opportunities to advance other goals. China's economic growth continues to hold significant potential.

China's potential economic growth rate is still estimated to be around 5.5 percent, if not higher. This is attributed to China's high current savings rate, which stands at 45 percent of its GDP. In essence, this substantial savings volume, equivalent to 45 percent of its GDP, will stimulate investment and subsequently fuel growth.

While there is ample opportunity for infrastructure investment in China, domestic investment focus extends beyond just infrastructure. The need for infrastructure improvement in cities located in the central and western regions highlights the room and potential for further infrastructure investments growth.

China is currently increasing its investments in labor productivity. A new concept known as "new quality productive forces" has emerged in China. By fostering these new quality productive forces, there is potential to enhance total factor productivity and enhance the efficiency of overall economic development. This trend partly accounts for the decrease in foreign investment in China, as the country's capital is currently abundant.

In terms of China's savings and consumption, there are also misconceptions. A pivotal moment occurred in 2010. Prior to this year, China experienced a rapid increase in its savings rate, partially attributed to rising incomes. Additionally, excessive exports contributed to significant savings accumulation among the residents, resulting in a higher savings rate and a decline in the consumption ratio.

However, since 2010, the proportion of consumption has actually increased significantly, driven by a strong preference for spending among the population. In fact, between 2010 and 2019, consumption growth in China surpassed income growth over the nine-year period, resulting in a notable increase in the contribution of consumption to the Chinese economy.

Throughout the three-year span of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth has slowed, at the same time, the pace of consumer spending growth also slowed. Nevertheless, in 2023, consumption growth contributed to 82 percent of the total GDP growth, marking a notably high proportion. It is imperative to remain patient concerning the expansion of consumption in China.

There is a misconception that China lacks consumption at present. In my opinion, the current issue in China is more related to investment rather than consumption. Examining China's economic performance last year, weak exports have had a certain impact, but another contributing factor is the insufficient investment. The government is implementing measures to boost investment, which is expected to spur economic growth.

China's impressive progress in technology is noteworthy. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EV), and renewable energy are moving forward rapidly. During a recent visit to iFlytek in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, I observed their highly advanced AI model development, which is nearing the level of the ChatGPT model introduced just six months ago.

In the realm of AI applications, China has surged ahead of many countries and even outpaced the US in certain domains. Intelligent connected vehicles serve as a prime example of this advancement. This year, China plans to expand real world testing for autonomous driving systems. Currently, these systems are limited to specific areas. While some regions in the US are just beginning road trials, China is poised to expand its autonomous driving testing this year. This signifies a crucial year for China's intelligent connected vehicles and for the worldwide advancement of this technology.

In addition to strengthening its advantages in the aforementioned technological fields, China is also at the forefront in various areas. When it comes to cutting-edge technologies for the future, China leads in fields like quantum computing, quantum communication, fusion technology, and more.

I anticipate that the next three decades will be the most exhilarating period in China's history. The last time China held a prominent position as a global technology leader was during the Song Dynasty about a thousand years ago. I am confident that in the next thirty years, China will once again ascend to the peak of global technological advancement.

The article was compiled from a speech of Yao Yang, economist and Boya chair professor at Peking University, at the Ambassador Round Table Dialogue on "China's Economic Outlook" in Beijing on Friday.

China plans to systematically address funding shortages facing some major projects in the course of advancing the national rejuvenation, and it will issue ultra-long special treasury bonds starting this year and over each of the next several years, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in his Government Work Report delivered to the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Tuesday.

The proceeds from the bond issuance will be used to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas. One trillion yuan ($139 billion) of such bonds will be issued in 2024, read the report.

“Additional government investment is needed in many sectors this year. This means that we should further improve the structure of government spending, ensure sufficient funding for major national strategic tasks and efforts to meet the people’s basic living needs, and strictly control general expenditures,” Li said.

“We should appropriately enhance the intensity of our proactive fiscal policy and improve its quality and effectiveness,” Li stressed.

China will set the deficit-to-GDP ratio in 2024 at 3 percent and the government deficit at 4.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 180 billion yuan over the 2023 budget figure.

“It is projected that fiscal revenue will continue to grow in 2024 and we will also have funds transferred from other sources; on this basis, general public expenditures in the government budget are projected to reach 28.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.1 trillion yuan over last year,” Li said.

This year, 3.9 trillion yuan of special-purpose bonds for local governments will be issued, an increase of 100 billion yuan over last year, according to the Government Work Report.

Ultra-long special treasury bonds are a fiscal policy instrument geared towards the long haul. Given their extended maturity, the bonds are predominantly directed towards foundational, large-scale infrastructure projects that address deficiencies and reinforce long-term capabilities, experts said.

This year’s fiscal policy, including the issuance of the ultra-long special treasury bonds, is poised to play a crucial role in supporting stable economic operations and will provide financial backing for some of the key projects in the process of national rejuvenation and the construction of a great country, Yang Chang, chief analyst of Zhongtai Securities, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Issuing the long-term treasury bonds can help avoid large fluctuations in fiscal expenditures. This is particularly important given the current challenges faced by some local governments, which lack stable financial means to promote economic development, especially amid the structural adjustment in local debt and the real estate sector, Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Moreover, China's long-term government bonds are relatively popular among investors. China should take advantage of the current low inflation and low financing costs to ramp up their issuance, Tian said.

“Considering the current risks domestically and internationally, we should be comprehensively prepared. The government could expedite the issuance of the one-trillion-yuan ultra-long special treasury bonds,” Tian said.

In 2023, an additional one trillion yuan of special treasury bonds was issued to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and build up capacity for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief.

Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the second session of the 14th NPC, told at a press conference on Monday that the one-trillion-yuan treasury bond issuance for 2023 has been fully allocated, supporting over 15,000 projects. It will effectively ensure and improve the livelihoods of the people in disaster-affected areas.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto via video link.

Baotou, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which holds over 80 percent of the nation's rare-earth reserves, aims to accelerate rare-earth new material industry and application during 2024. 

According to guidelines issued by the municipal government, Baotou aims to expand the rare-earth industrial scale to 100 billion yuan ($14.08 billion) and establish itself as China's largest rare-earth new material base and the world's leading rare-earth application center, media outlet thepaper.cn reported on Thursday.  

Baotou possesses 83.7 percent of China's rare-earth reserves, accounting for 37.8 percent of the global reserves, according to the report.

According to the guidelines, Baotou will increase the production capacity of rare-earth raw materials, consolidating the city’s position as the world's largest supplier. 

It also emphasizes the need to expand Baotou’s rare-earth magnetic materials industry with increased research and development efforts for high-performance magnetic materials. 

The application of rare earths in various industries should be expanded and deepened, including the development of permanent magnet motors for industrial energy efficient motors, wind power generators, electric motors for new energy vehicles, and specialized motors for robots. 

The city will also step up efforts to accelerate the construction of a rare-earth industry intellectual property operation center and a rare-earth product testing center. The goal is to add 150 new rare-earth patents within the year and lead or participate in the development of three national standards and four industry standards, according to the report, citing the guideline. 

The issuance of the guidelines comes as China’s State Council, the country’s cabinet, in October issued a document to develop Baotou into the largest rare-earth new materials base in China and a globally leading rare-earth application base. 

The document proposed strengthening the development and utilization of strategic resources such as rare earths in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This includes supporting systematic exploration and evaluation, protective development, high-quality utilization, and standardized management of strategic mineral resources in Inner Mongolia.

China has been placing increased importance on the high-quality development of the rare-earth sector.

The State Council stressed at an executive meeting in November that rare earths are strategic mineral resources. It called for enhanced efforts to coordinate the exploration, development, utilization and standardized management of rare earths, to promote the development and application of a new generation of green, efficient mining and related technologies.

Efforts should also be made to crack down on illegal mining and environmental damage, while promoting intelligent and green development of the country's rare earths, according to the meeting.

The alarming conclusion has been drawn from the first-ever IUCN red list assessment of freshwater species, which identifies global heating, pollution, overfishing, and falling water levels as major threats to vital aquatic populations.

A comprehensive study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlights the precarious state of freshwater fish globally, with iconic species such as the Lake Turkana robber and the Mekong giant catfish facing the imminent risk of disappearing.

Of the 14,898 assessed species, a staggering 3,086 are now in danger of vanishing, with nearly one-fifth of all threatened freshwater species directly impacted by climate change-induced factors such as falling water levels and shifting seasons.

The assessment also sheds light on the escalating threats to other species, including mahogany, Atlantic salmon, and green turtles. Big leaf mahogany, a highly sought-after plant commercially, is now classified as endangered due to a 60% decline in numbers over the past 180 years.

Atlantic salmon, once abundant and considered of least concern, is now near threatened, with a 23% global population decline and disappearance from many UK rivers.

Amidst these alarming findings, the report also brings attention to positive conservation efforts. The saiga antelope, moving from critically endangered to near threatened, experienced a remarkable 1,100% population increase in just seven years in Kazakhstan. Similarly, the scimitar-horned oryx, once extinct in Chad due to overhunting, has seen successful reintroduction efforts, leading to a vulnerable classification.

IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak has emphasized the need for coordinated global conservation efforts in the face of the interconnected climate and biodiversity crises.

The report underscored the importance of addressing these issues to ensure the durability of conservation actions.

The assessment also highlights the vulnerability of central south Pacific and east Pacific green turtles, major victims of industrial and artisanal fishing, with rising global temperatures affecting their hatching success and sea temperature fluctuations endangering their nesting sites.

Since 2017, the permanent population of Beijing has been declining for six consecutive years, and the distribution of the population shows a pattern of multiple support points and gradient distribution, while the health and cultural quality of the population ranking among the top in the country, according to the Beijing Administration Institute (BAI) on Saturday.

On Saturday, the "Beijing Population Blue Book: Research Report on Beijing Population Development (2023)" was released by the BAI, analyzing and forecasting Beijing's population trends. It focuses on the population development of Beijing from various perspectives such as preschool education, youth population, childbearing age population, elderly population and the population living in the capital's metropolitan area, in addition to conducting in-depth research on coping with an ageing population.

The permanent population of the capital city was 21.843 million in 2022, with a registered population of 14.277 million, maintaining a steady decline in the size of the permanent population and a continued growth in the registered population.

In addition, in 2022, the birth rate for the city's permanent population continued to decline, and the natural growth rate of the permanent population revealed a negative value synchronized with the national level. In terms of population structure, the aging of the population has become more pronounced, while the proportion of the working-age population is still higher than the national average.

In 2022, the city's permanent population aged 60 and above was 4.651 million, accounting for 21.3 percent of the total population, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average. The size of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has been continuously declining from 2015, reaching 15.902 million in 2022, accounting for 72.8 percent of the total population, also higher than the national average.

In terms of population distribution, the report noted that the regional distribution of the population in the city has remained stable, showing a pattern of multiple support points and gradient distribution. Both the population size and proportion in downtown areas have declined, while the population size and proportion in the urban sub-center and the plain new city have increased. The number of residents living in the city's designated ecological conservation area has fluctuated, and the pattern of population distribution with multiple support points continues to form, which has helped Beijing achieve balanced development in multiple areas.

The report also points out that the health level and cultural quality of the population in this city are among the best in the country. In 2021, the average life expectancy of registered residents stood at 82.47 years, higher than the national average. In 2020, the average years of education for the permanent population aged 15 and above was 12.64 years, far exceeding the national average. In 2022, there were 56,181 people with a college degree or above per 100,000 permanent residents aged 15 and above in Beijing.

The stable size of high-quality labor force has laid a solid foundation for Beijing to build an international science and technology innovation center and high-level talent hub, and promote the deep integration of innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain and talent chain, it noted.

It also added that the city is still in an opportunity window for economic transformation and upgrading, which will not close in the short term. The document recommended greater focus on achieving a balanced population structure, leveraging the dividends of reform and talent, and releasing the dividends of population. In addition, the report also suggests that the city should make good use of the opportunities brought by the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and enhance the vitality of Beijing's population development in building an integrated high-quality development demonstration zone.

The highly watched trial of the anti-China and violence-inciting figure Jimmy Lai on national security charges is set to begin on Monday at West Kowloon Court, toward which some Western media and political figures have launched a public opinion campaign by badmouthing the city's rule of law and the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong. Legal experts said begging external forces to support Lai and undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong are destined to be futile.

These instigations of the Western media, politicians and organizations openly calling for the release of Lai and criticizing the rule of law in Hong Kong are extremely dangerous and irresponsible, some experts said. While some Western politicians and media hail Lai as "an anti-government hero" and "a pro-democracy fighter," such campaign of smearing Hong Kong will also allow local residents to see clearly the true nature of Lai as a proxy for Western interests, they noted.

The Hong Kong Police Force has strengthened their presence near the courthouse, as police officers were seen moving sandbags, tents and other materials from their vehicles to the vicinity of the court, using barricades to separate the queue area for court reporters, and surrounding the exterior of the court with traffic cones, according to local media reports.

The three judges overseeing Lai's trial are Madam Justices Esther Toh Lye-ping and Susana D'Almada Remedios, and Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang, according to Hong Kong media.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung was quoted as saying in the reports that those who enter the court on Monday will be subject to X-ray inspection. The police will enhance patrols around the court and its vicinity, deploying explosive detection dogs to assist in searches.

He also mentioned that in past trials of similar cases, the so-called "court watchers" have harassed prosecution staff, created disturbances with loud noises, and provoked judicial personnel. To address behaviors that may affect the trial, the police have coordinated with the judicial institutions to conduct X-ray inspections on visitors to the court, including defendants, observers, and lawyers. Tang warned that anyone attempting to disrupt the trial or intimidate those involved in the judicial process would be met with decisive law enforcement action.

In the case of Lai, there are four defendants, including Lai himself and three companies related to secessionist Apple Daily. They face four charges, including alleged collusion with foreign forces in violation of the NSL for Hong Kong, and conspiracy to publish seditious publications under the Crimes Ordinance.

The charges related to the NSL for Hong Kong carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while the sedition-related charges have a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.

Before the trial begins, some figures, including Lai's son, have been "making noises" to put certain pressure on the trial. For example, Lai's son, Sebastien Lai, met with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently, and the latter said the UK opposes the NSL for Hong Kong and will continue to stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of Hong Kong.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said, "Jimmy Lai's case is a priority for the UK," which has raised his case on multiple occasions with the Chinese government, most recently when Cameron spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

A representative from the infamous Human Rights Watch also hyped that Beijing seems intent on imprisoning one of its most powerful critics for many years, referring to Lai, possibly for the rest of his life, according to the media report.

Sebastien Lai stated that Jimmy Lai became a British citizen as early as 1994, and he himself is also a British citizen, urging the UK government to pressure the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government to release Jimmy Lai. But are British citizens immune to legal consequences? The rule of law demands that before the law, everyone is equal, and anyone who breaks the law must face the appropriate legal sanctions. Jimmy Lai does not have any privilege that allows him to be above the law, Willy Fu Kin-chi, director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and vice-president of the Hong Kong Basic Law Education Association, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The British officials' blatant intervention in Jimmy Lai's case, which has entered the judicial process, attests to their support for the anti-China instigators, further exposing Jimmy Lai's collusion with foreign forces," Fu said, noting that it also further proves that the HKSAR government's prosecution of Jimmy Lai is entirely lawful, reasonable and legitimate.

The NSL for Hong Kong stipulates very strict legal procedures in terms of legislation, law enforcement, and judicial processes, Louis Chen, a member of the Election Committee and general secretary of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The provisions specifying designated judges and the absence of a jury are stipulations of the law itself and differ significantly from irresponsible Western criticisms that describe the process as a "formality" or "pre-determined," he noted.

"Previous sanctions against trial judges are essentially interference in judicial processes. However, we believe that the trial of Jimmy Lai will become a classic case in upholding national security in Hong Kong, fully reflecting the independence of the Hong Kong judiciary, the spirit of the rule of law, and the professional integrity of Hong Kong judges," Chen said.

Gansu's emergency management bureau said at a press conference on Thursday that the province's earthquake relief work has achieved a phased victory. Behind the victory is the wide use of a range of high-tech equipment to support search and rescue efforts.

Chinese Y-20 military aircraft are being used to transport large rescue vehicles, while the Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is being operated to assist with emergency telecommunication support and disaster reconnaissance tasks.

Public communication networks in the affected areas has been largely restored to normal.

Global Times reporters on the scene witnessed a Y-20 aircraft carrying an emergency command group under PLA Western Theater Command to a disaster site. Military expert Zhang Xuefeng told the Global Times that the Y-20 has a large payload, long range, and a larger cargo hold, making it suitable for transporting larger rescue vehicles.

Zhang noted that setting up the emergency command group on the front line can provide a more accurate and rapid understanding of the situation on the ground, including the terrain, weather, and extent of the disaster in the affected areas, and coordinate and command rescue forces to launch targeted rescue operations on short notice.

On the afternoon of December 19, two helicopters from the PLA 76th Group Army landed on a temporary helipad at a middle school in Jishishan county, the epicenter of the earthquake, carrying out tasks such as aerial reconnaissance, material delivery, and medical evacuation.

Global Times reporters witnessed the wide use of the UAV for lighting at the temporary resettlement sites, which support to ensure all operations could be carried out in an orderly and efficient manner even in the dark.

Several hovering lights are installed in the air. These lighting UAVs are connected to the ground power supply equipment through a cable, allowing them to stay in the air for a long time and provide emergency lighting for large areas at night, making them the "brightest stars in the night sky."

According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, China's tethered UAVs are relatively advanced and are being used for emergency communication.

After a major disaster, especially an earthquake, if conventional communication facilities in the affected areas are destroyed or damaged, these tethered UAVs can be used to establish an emergency communication system, overcoming signal blockage caused by tall buildings, and achieving network communication over distances of 10 to 100 kilometers or more. This enables real-time communication between the rescue site and emergency responders.

The Global Times learned that the UAVs employed in the disaster relief mission this time have a lighting range of up to 8,000 square meters. They can withstand wind speeds of up to level 7, heavy rain of up to level 10, and temperatures as low as -20 C, providing a wide range, high brightness, and uninterrupted lighting support for emergency rescue in the earthquake-stricken area.