Latest news with #Ji
Al Anbat News
a day ago
- Business
- Al Anbat News
(China Economic Roundtable) China's economic development zones to further facilitate new quality productive forces
الأنباط - BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) -- China's national economic development zones will continue to play a role in fostering new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, according to an official speaking on the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, the all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. In doing so, efforts will focus on fostering synergy between sci-tech and industrial innovation, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official with China's commerce ministry. China's national-level economic development zones currently host over 700 national incubators and maker spaces as well as more than 18 percent of the country's high-tech enterprises, she said at the roundtable. "We will strive to set up more industrial innovation platforms while building a complete chain for product certification, large-scale production and testing to accelerate technological innovation and application of such advances in national economic development zones," said Ji. She said China will support national economic development zones in carrying out major technological upgrades and large-scale equipment renewals to accelerate the transformation and upgrades of traditional industries. National economic development zones will also develop strategic emerging industries such as biomedicine, new energy, new materials and aerospace, and make forward-looking planning for future industries, according to Ji. In one of the latest policy pushes, China unveiled a work plan earlier this year encouraging national economic development zones to foster new quality productive forces in light of local conditions by establishing more industrial innovation platforms and computing power infrastructure, among other approaches. China established its first national-level economic development zone in the northeastern city of Dalian in 1984. In 2024, the number of such zones reached 232, generating a regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about 2.36 trillion U.S. dollars). Enditem
Borneo Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
China's economic devt zones aim for greater role in reform
This photo shows the recording site of the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. — Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 15, 2025): During the initial years of China's historic journey of reform and opening up over four decades ago, the first 14 national-level economic and technological development zones were established in 12 coastal cities. Today, there is a vast network of 232 such zones right across the country, serving as vital engines of development. In the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, a commerce official, a zone administrator and an executive of a foreign-invested company convened to explore the evolving role of these zones in shaping China's next phase of high-standard opening up, in-depth reform and high-quality development. National economic development zones are not only economic powerhouses but also key windows for global engagement, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official in the Ministry of Commerce's foreign investment department. Notably, such zones are home to more than 60,000 foreign-invested enterprises and around 99,000 firms engaged in foreign trade. In 2024 alone, national economic development zones accounted for about one-quarter of China's utilized foreign investment and trade volume. Collectively, they generated a regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about US$2.36 trillion) and housed over 4.9 million market entities, including 73,000 major industrial enterprises and 85,000 high-tech firms. Looking forward, Ji said these zones need to further improve and innovate in areas ranging from development positioning to institutions in a bid to shoulder greater responsibilities in fostering development and expanding opening up. To this end, the Ministry of Commerce recently unveiled a work plan with 16 targeted policy measures including developing new quality productive forces, elevating economic openness and deepening reforms of management systems. Innovation-driven development China's national economic development zones have started to speed up their innovation efforts, seeking to foster new growth drivers. Suzhou Industrial Park, founded in 1994 in east China's Jiangsu Province as the first inter-governmental cooperation project between China and Singapore, exemplifies this development trend. This industrial park leverages global partnerships and its free trade status in a quest to become a world-class high-tech park. Shen Lei, deputy director of the park's management committee, highlighted its focus on attracting global resources and integrating technological and industrial innovation. National economic development zones now account for 18.3 percent of China's high-tech enterprises and host more than 700 state-level incubators and innovation spaces. 'They boast high industrial concentration and solid manufacturing foundations, making them ideal for developing new quality productive forces tailored to local strengths,' Ji said. These zones have become powerhouses for strategic emerging industries. In southwest China's Sichuan Province, for example, the Yibin zone has built the world's largest single-site power battery production base featuring a 180 GWh capacity. Another zone in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, meanwhile, boasts complete industrial chains from aviation equipment to satellite applications. More efforts will be made to cultivate modern industrial systems in national economic development zones, centered around sectors such as biomedicine, new energy and materials, aerospace, high-end equipment manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI), Ji revealed. Pioneers of opening up Over the past decades, national economic development zones have been trailblazers in institutional innovation, foreign investment and economic growth, setting the pace for China's reform and opening-up endeavors. These zones have explored free trade pilot synergies to foster breakthroughs in areas including resource flows, rights protection and market regulation. Some have also proactively aligned with high-standard international trade rules to enhance their institutional openness, Ji said. 'The strategic location, industrial chains and policy support of these zones make them highly attractive for Panasonic to make investments in China,' said Zhao Bingdi, president of Panasonic China. A 47-year veteran of the Chinese market, Panasonic operates in national economic development zones of eight cities like Beijing, north China's Tianjin and Shanghai. Its 2024 fiscal year sales in China approached 100 billion yuan — nearly a quarter of Panasonic's global revenue. 'China is not just a manufacturing giant but a major consumer and innovation hub, offering vast opportunities for foreign firms,' said Zhao. He added that recent policies supporting technological platforms and the integration between the digital economy and the real economy will facilitate Panasonic's investments in areas ranging from AI to new energy. Experts noted that the latest reform measures concerning China's national economic development zones will provide foreign firms with a higher-level platform, thereby encouraging increased R&D investment and deeper collaboration with local enterprises. Thanks to improving industrial ecosystems, global companies will be able to seize greater opportunities in China's vibrant market. — Xinhua
Borneo Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
China development zones foster coordinated regional development
An aerial drone photo taken on July 3, 2023 shows the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. – Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 15, 2025): China's national economic development zones serve as powerful engines for regional growth, driving industrial advancement across both prosperous and less-developed regions, according to a guest speaker on the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, the all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. The zones play a leading role in their respective provinces or regions. Specialising in core industries, the zones extend developed areas' economic influence and accelerate development in less-developed regions, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official from the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Foreign Investment Administration. Ji noted that the zones function not only as platforms for global openness but also as hubs for orderly cross-regional industrial transfers. While strengthening clustered development of competitive and leading industries, the ministry fully leverages the zones' radiating effects on their host regions, she added. For example, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has proactively expanded its production and supply chains to neighboring areas, enabling local businesses to benefit from its flagship enterprises and achieve mutual growth. The ministry also prioritizes deepening ties between regional industry leaders through the interaction between eastern and western development zones, Ji said. China established its first national-level economic development zone in the northeastern city of Dalian in 1984. By 2024, the number of such zones reached 232, generating a regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about US$2.36 trillion). — Xinhua
Korea Herald
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Reprising role decades later: 'Little Monk' 34 years on
In 'Sammaekyung,' actor revisits role that shaped his life, reimagines it for new generation What does it feel like to return to a role you first played three decades ago? For Ji Chun-seong, it is a mix of responsibility, pressure and deep honor. In 1991, Ji was 25 when he played the career-defining role of the young temple apprentice Do-nyeom in 'A Little Monk,' directed by Park Won-geun. Now, at 59, he returns to the stage as the same character — now aged by both the years and the memory of a life lived in the shadow of that performance. The story picks up right where it left off. 'Back then, after performing in 'A Little Monk,' there was a lot of praise,' Ji recalled during a group interview at the National Theater on Monday. 'It's not an exaggeration to say that the life I've lived since has, in many ways, been shaped by that role. It carried me forward.' Set to premiere at the Myeongdong Theater on July 17, 'Sammaekyung' is a reimagining of the classic 'A Little Monk,' adapted by acclaimed director Lee Cheol-hee. The original play, written in 1939 by Ham Se-deok and first staged by Yu Chi-jin, is a cornerstone of Korea's theatrical history. It tells the story of Do-nyeom, a child monk abandoned by his mother and raised in the seclusion of a mountainside temple. The boy's yearning, the ideological tensions between Buddhist detachment and human desire and the unfolding conflicts between characters ignite the core of the play, posing timeless questions about fate, will and the human condition. In this new version, director Lee places the actor in a play-within-a-play. Standing at the threshold between life and death, the actor resolves to return to the spotlight one final time. This time, he is determined to surrender himself completely to the role. 'Back then, I thought no one could play this role better than me. But now, I realize no actor can ever perfectly become a character,' Ji said. 'There's something universal in that struggle. It's no longer just my story. It's the story of every actor.' Lee said reviving a classic carries a broader mission for him — a responsibility, as a contemporary theater-maker, to preserve, restage and establish Korean stage drama in the zeitgeist. 'I've long wondered why we don't bring back more of the great Korean plays,' Lee said. 'When I read the works of our senior playwrights, I'm struck by the depth with which they delve into the human soul, and the breadth of their perspective on the world. There's something powerful about reintroducing these works to today's audiences — not as mere nostalgia, but as living, breathing art.' 'Sammaekyung' refers to a state of complete immersion, or a meditative trance in which all distractions dissolve and the mind is wholly focused on a single object. It is also a fitting metaphor for the way both the actor and director have approached the production. 'I've been living like a monk for the past three months. It's been the same daily routine of rehearsing and practicing over and over,' Ji said. 'The theater is sacred ground. Unless you give your all, you'll never feel honest facing the audience.' 'I hope each audience member walks away with something different,' the director said. 'But what I considered most important in this production was creating a moment of when the audience might ask themselves, 'When was the last time I burned with such intensity?'' The National Theater Company's 'Sammaekyung' runs from July 17 to Aug. 3. English subtitles will be provided on Thursdays and Sundays, except July 27.
National Geographic
07-07-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
Tsunamis
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 feet (30.5 meters), onto land. These walls of water can cause widespread destruction when they crash ashore. What Causes a Tsunami? These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly, it displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami. Most tsunamis–about 80 percent–happen within the Pacific Ocean's 'Ring of Fire,' a geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common. Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be launched, as they frequently were in Earth's ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite plunging into an ocean. Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hour—about as fast as a jet airplane. At that pace, they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day. And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way. More than 1,500 people died in Rikuzentakata, one of several towns eradicated by a tsunami that hit Japan. In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. The tops of the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously. What Happens When It Hits Land A tsunami's trough, the low point beneath the wave's crest, often reaches shore first. When it does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor and sea floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the wave's crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives. A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations. Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly surging tide that inundates coastal areas. The best defense against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii, maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide. Lightning Strikes A supercell thunderstorm strikes in South Dakota. Among the most severe storms, supercells can bring strong winds, hail, and even tornadoes. (See more extreme weather pictures.) Photograph by Jim Reed, National Geographic
