China's Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship separated from the space station combination on Sunday, and the astronauts aboard -- Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu -- are returning to Earth, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Xi urges building strong, modernized airborne force

Yvon Le Maho, a renowned French expert on biodiversity who received the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award, expressed his admiration for the advancements in basic research in China during a recent exclusive interview with the Global Times. He also called on China and France to strengthen their cooperation on biodiversity.

"I have been recommending to potential researchers that they consider visiting China instead of the US. My suggestion is for China to sponsor and invite more young researchers for short stays to explore new laboratories and engage with students. This could attract young talent to China," he stated.

The esteemed scholar has been invited to attend the 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum (WSTDF), which was held in Beijing from October 22 to 24. Maho emphasized the forum's significance in fostering exchanges among global experts and industry pioneers.

On October 23, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang addressed a group of foreign scientists including Maho, emphasizing that China will steadfastly advocate and practice open, fair, just and non-discriminatory international cooperation in the field of science and technology, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Deepened international exchange and cooperation, and the promotion of sustainable development through sci-tech innovation are urgently needed to address important global issues, and to meet the expectations of the global sci-tech community and people in all countries, said Ding, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The foreign scientists voiced their firm support for openness and cooperation, expressing their willingness to deepen exchange with China, produce more innovative results through partnership, and work together to promote global sustainable development.

Reflecting on his encounter with the Chinese Vice Premier, Maho expressed his admiration for the impressive level of scientific expertise within the Chinese government, noting that many leaders have a scientific background. "This is truly remarkable. Chinese leaders demonstrated a significant interest in our discussions, which I found exceptional."
Maho applauded the WSTDF, as it brings together numerous scientists and facilitates valuable exchanges with Chinese researchers. "For example, during welcome banquet on October 22, I had an engaging conversation with the president of a major Chinese automotive company, who has played a crucial role in the development of electric vehicles in China. As someone working in the field of biodiversity, it was fantastic to discuss important issues with him," he shared with the Global Times.

Maho also highlighted that each time leaders from China and France meet, they issue a statement prioritizing university collaboration, which he commended.

During French President Macron's visit to China in November 2019, he referred to the Beijing Call for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change, released following discussions between the two heads of state, stating that France and China can take a leading role in addressing these critical issues.

Maho shared his ongoing efforts to establish a network dedicated to biodiversity. With strong support from the leaders of both countries, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and France's primary research organization have agreed to create a network that connects Chinese and French scientists focused on this vital area. "In three weeks, we will welcome Chinese scientists to France, where they will tour our laboratories and universities. This is a significant step in advancing our collaborative initiatives," he stated.

In February 2024, Maho was honored with the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest honor bestowed upon foreigners for their exceptional contributions to reform and development in China. The 2023 award was presented to 50 experts from 26 countries on February 4.

In recent years, Maho has been dedicated to fostering exchanges and cooperation in biodiversity research between China and France, encouraging mutual inspiration among researchers. He shared with the Global Times that audiences have shown great interest in his presentations on using technology to study biodiversity, such as employing robots to observe penguins, during his lectures at various Chinese universities.

"This integration of technology and biodiversity research is still relatively uncommon, and I believe we were among the pioneers in using robots for such studies. For example, we produced a film titled 'Spy in the Huddle,' which illustrates how we employed robots to observe penguins huddling together," Maho explained.

He cautioned that biodiversity is under threat, as evidenced by the decline of certain species. "We must recognize the significance of plants and insects in China, as their decline could have serious repercussions for food security." He emphasized, "Regardless of geopolitical tensions, preserving biodiversity is essential for the future of upcoming generations and is a key strategy for tackling climate change. There are compelling reasons for a consensus on prioritizing biodiversity, even amid occasional challenges in cooperation due to geopolitical issues."

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Beijing on Tuesday.

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted overwhelmingly an annual resolution urging the United States to end its long-standing economic and trade embargo against Cuba.

The resolution garnered support from 187 states, with only the United States and Israel casting against it and Moldova abstaining.

The General Assembly reaffirmed the principles of the sovereign equality of states, non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs. It reiterated its call for all states to refrain from promulgating or applying restrictive laws and measures in line with their obligations under the UN Charter and international law.

Though non-binding, the result reflects the United States' isolation regarding its long-standing embargo policy, first imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by former leader Fidel Castro.

"How long will this go on?" Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla asked the assembly, condemning the blockade against his country as "commercial warfare" and "a crime of genocide."

Since 2019, the United States has adopted harsher economic measures designed to prevent the supply of fuel and spare parts needed to maintain Cuba's power plants and electric grid. "President Joe Biden's administration tends to claim that its policy is to help and support the Cuban people," Rodriguez said, asking "who would believe such an assertion?"

He said the blockade is "a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of our people" and "the most encompassing, comprehensive and longest-standing system of unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country."

Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has annually adopted a resolution demanding an end to unilateral U.S. restrictions on Cuba, with the document having the support of a majority of UN member states.

The high-level development of Russia-China ties will unleash more chances for cooperation at subnational levels between the two countries, Rustam Minnikhanov, head of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The 16th BRICS summit, which is being held in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, "presents Tatarstan with a chance to showcase its strengths, demonstrate its competitive advantages, and highlight its potential to contribute to Russia-China relations," said Minnikhanov.

According to Minnikhanov, Tatarstan is actively contributing to the advancement of Russia-China cooperation. The region has signed agreements with multiple Chinese provinces, and Kazan maintains sister-city relations with several Chinese cities.

Highlighting Tatarstan's growing trade with China, Minnikhanov said that by the end of last year, the trade turnover doubled to over 3 billion U.S. dollars, with around 60 percent of Tatarstan's imports coming from China.

"Of course, trade and economic relations are crucial ... Our growing trade and plans are primarily focused on Eastern countries, especially China," he said.

He also pointed out that several joint economic projects with Chinese companies are currently underway in Tatarstan, with ample opportunities for cooperation, particularly in the logistics sector.

As part of the Belt and Road Initiative and its integration with the Eurasian Economic Union, work is in progress to establish international transport and logistics corridors, he added.

At the end of last year, the M-12 Moscow-Kazan expressway was launched, becoming part of the Europe-China transport route. Furthermore, direct flights between Kazan and Shanghai commenced in late September, he noted.

Tatarstan is also committed to enhancing humanitarian, cultural, scientific, educational, and tourism exchanges with China, he said.

"I am confident that the BRICS summit in Kazan will be successful at a high level," Minnikhanov said.

Chinese and foreign scientists and entrepreneurs held lively discussions regarding technology trends in the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry during the 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum (WSTDF), which held from October 22 to 24 in Beijing. They called for international cooperation to take full advantage of benefits from the development of the AI industry while enhancing global governance on AI development.
Qiao Hong, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the State Key Laboratory of Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Systems, highlighted 10 trends in the AI industry at a thematic session titled AI Governance Innovation: Building an International Trust Foundation for Cultivating the Ecology of Science and Technology Governance (INTELLIGENCE), during the WSTDF on Wednesday.

AI has become an important driving force in today's technological revolution. It is changing our ways of living and working at an unprecedented speed. From smart manufacturing, smart cities, and healthcare, to financial services, the applications of AI are essentially ubiquitous, with a profound and extensive impact. The subsequent question we face is, in which direction will AI develop? Qiao said at the session.

The first trend outlined by Qiao is small data and high-quality data.

The importance of data to AI cannot be overstated. If the data is toxic, it will fail to lead to a stable result; if the data is too big, it will consume too much in terms of computing resources; not to mention the privacy leakage risk related to data, Qiao stressed.

"In this context, how can we reduce the use of data, ensure its quality, and minimize its impact on people's lives? These have all become very core issues," Qiao said.

Other trends and AI-related challenges Qiao mentioned include embodied AI and generative AI. "As a whole, the development of AI is advancing technological and social transformation at an unprecedented pace. We see limitless possibilities and potential in cutting-edge fields such as AI, large models, embodied intelligence, and generative AI. These advancements bring us greater convenience and a more efficient life, drive our innovation and development, and inspire us with bigger dreams. Let us look forward together to a future filled with opportunities and challenges," Qiao concluded.

At the thematic session on AI, Wang Haifeng, Chief Technology Officer of Baidu and head of the National Engineering Research Center of Deep Learning Technology and Application, also shared his insights into the trends and developments of AI technologies and industry.

Wang believes that large models bring hope for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in terms of the generality of AI technology and the comprehensiveness of AI capabilities.

In terms of generality, large models are becoming increasingly effective at addressing various tasks, languages, modalities, and scenarios. In terms of comprehensiveness, understanding, generating, reasoning, and memory are the four foundational capabilities of AI. The stronger these four abilities are, the closer we get to achieving AGI, Wang told the Global Times.

According to Wang, Baidu's generative AI product ERNIE Bot (also known as Wenxin Yiyan) has accumulated more than 300 million users with daily usage hitting 700 million and an average daily processing of over one trillion text tokens.

The recent announcement of the 2024 Nobel Prizes marked a historic moment, as both awards in Physics and Chemistry went to achievements related to AI, heralding the dawn of an AI-driven era in scientific discovery.

Wang predicts that, as AI continues to engage with and empower various industries, future Nobel Prizes will increasingly recognize contributions related to AI. "This prestigious acknowledgment will draw greater attention and resources to the field, further accelerating the rapid advancement of AI technology. Ultimately, this progress will yield more sophisticated technologies that enhance human life and promote societal advancement," he said.

Wang also highlighted China's distinct advantage in possessing a vast industrial system that offers a wealth of application scenarios for the deployment of AI.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the scale of China's core AI industry was an estimated 600 billion yuan ($84 billion) by the end of 2023, supported by over 4,500 enterprises.

This positions China as having the largest application market and the most diverse range of application scenarios in the world, along with unique strengths in AI applications and business models, Wang noted.

While hailing the benefits brought about by AI, Chinese and foreign experts also emphasized the need for the world to cooperate to promote global management of AI-related risks and challenges.

"The most important thing is that AI should not be utilized in the wrong manner. We can draw parallels to the time when nuclear physics was first discovered; initially, there was great excitement. However, the development of nuclear weapons led to devastating consequences, such as the Holocaust, which left a bitter legacy worldwide. Therefore, we must approach AI with caution and adhere to ethical guidelines to prevent similar outcomes," Ashok Kumar Basa, Executive Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, told the Global Times.

"The power of AI is immense," said Huang Tiejun, Chairman of Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and Professor of the School of Computer Science, Peking University. Echoing Basa, Huang also stressed that "If AI is not jointly mastered by all of humanity, it will exacerbate the wealth gap and inequality issues. On the other hand, there is currently a possibility that AI could surpass human intelligence. It is essential for the international community to collaboratively explore governance solutions for artificial intelligence and to research technical means for its regulation."

Thus the WSTDF 2024 serves as a valuable opportunity to promote international exchange and cooperation.

"Through open communication, barriers will gradually be broken down, and more and more consensus will be formed," Huang said. "We need to join hands to address risks and challenges, as this concerns the common interests of all humanity."

China’s major e-commerce platform JD.com on Wednesday refuted defamatory rumors about the personal lives of its founder Liu Qiangdong and his wife Zhang Zetian. The couple have filed a police report, and the case is currently under investigation, according to a statement released by the company’s official Weibo account on Wednesday.

The statement refuted the rumor about Zhang’s alleged involvement with the “Illuminati,” saying that a number of organized accounts have been actively spreading these false claims and fabricating tens of thousands of fake information online in a short period.

The conspiracy theory about the “Illuminati” has been spreading around the world for over years, claiming it to be a secret society made up of powerful individuals.

The controversy came after Zhang was seen wearing an eye-shaped brooch during an art exhibition for Tsinghua University alumni in London.

Zhou Junwu, a lawyer, released a statement via Sina Weibo on Wednesday, stating that he has been entrusted by Liu and Zhang to handle the legal issues surrounding the recent online rumors. 

After verifying with Zhang, the brooch Zhang wore at the exhibition was purely chosen to complement the event and her overall attire. The brooch’s design, origin, and other elements are entirely unrelated to any organization, the lawyer statement noted. 

Zhang’s stylist has also publicly refuted the rumor, according to the statement.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday expressed his opposition to tariff conflicts while delivering a statement to the press in Brussels.

Scholz stressed that such conflicts lead nowhere and emphasized the importance of using the World Trade Organization to resolve trade disputes.

Speaking on the sidelines of the European Council meeting, Scholz reiterated his stance against escalating tariff tensions with China, a point he also made in a speech to the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, the previous day.

He noted that major German carmakers, along with 17 EU countries, oppose the imposition of tariffs on China.

While highlighting the need for Germany to boost its competitiveness in the electric vehicle market, Scholz emphasized that this should not be achieved through tariffs. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here Friday that China stands ready to work with Singapore to jointly advance their respective modernization process.

Li made the remarks during his meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on the sidelines of the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation held in Vientiane.

Li said that for a long time, China and Singapore have maintained close and good high-level exchanges, the leaders of the two countries have exchanged in-depth views on strategic issues related to the long-term interests of both sides and discussed development plans.

"This is a unique advantage and important guarantee for China and Singapore to promote the development of bilateral relations," Li said, noting China is willing to continue this fine tradition with the Singaporean side, strengthen strategic communication and coordination, firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests, continue to build a solid foundation of political mutual trust, and grasp the correct direction of bilateral relations.

Noting that both countries are at a critical stage of development and next year will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Li said China is willing to take this opportunity with Singapore to enhance synergy in development, give full play to complementary advantages, and join Singapore to guide their all-round cooperation in a high-quality fashion and with foresight.

The two sides should strengthen economic and trade ties, actively explore more converging interests and growth areas of cooperation, expand cooperation in cutting-edge areas such as advanced manufacturing, digital economy and artificial intelligence, deepen exchanges and cooperation in education, culture and tourism, youth and at sub-national levels to better promote common development, said Li.

China is ready to strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation with Singapore, adhere to openness and inclusiveness, firmly promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, accelerate regional economic integration, and jointly safeguard peace and stability of Asia, he said.

Wong said that the current development momentum of Singapore-China relations is sound, and cooperation in various fields has made considerable progress, which is highly in line with the positioning of Singapore-China all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership.

Singapore firmly pursues the one-China policy, opposes "Taiwan independence" and will not be used by any "Taiwan independence" forces, Wong said, noting that Singapore is willing to keep close high-level exchanges with China, continuously enhance mutual trust, promote cooperation in economy and trade, digital economy, third-party market and other fields, and enhance people-to-people exchanges.

Singapore supports China's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and stands ready to maintain communication and coordination with China on international multilateral affairs, jointly oppose protectionism and make greater contributions to promoting regional peace, stability and prosperity, Wong said.