People's Daily, China

A sea of clouds and mist blanketed a national forest park in Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province, as layers of mountain peaks emerged and receded from view, creating a scene reminiscent of a traditional Chinese ink painting. @AnhuiChina

Vibrant floral installations and lush greenery invite visitors to a summer retreat at a scenic area in Jinzhong, north China's Shanxi Province.

All ten national key scientific and technological infrastructures that have been built and put into operation in Shanghai are now open to public use. These infrastructures, which include the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) and the National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, serve as important engines for the integration of science and technology innovation and industries in the city.

Surrounded by lush, pristine forests, black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys are spotted enjoying a meal in a national park in southwest China's Yunnan Province, offering a captivating glimpse into the lives of these elusive primates.

Summer beauty unfolds as lotus flowers bloom in full splendor at Taiyanggong Park in Beijing.

The core node of China's national supercomputing network has officially come online in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan. Capable of providing more than 100,000 AI computing cards, it is the largest single domestic AI computing power resource pool.

The main shield tunneling work on the world's longest undersea highway tunnel — the second undersea tunnel of Jiaozhou Bay — was completed on Tuesday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The 17.48-km-long tunnel, with a 9.95-km section beneath the sea, has a designed speed of 80 km/h and will facilitate regional travel.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday said the United States has repeatedly courted regional countries and used "cyber security" as an excuse to smear China for geopolitical purposes, and the Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this. Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily news briefing, adding that China has always opposed and cracked down on hacking activities in accordance with the law, and also opposes the dissemination of false information on cyber security for political purposes.

China will continue to actively expand imports and promote the balanced development of imports and exports during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), Lü Daliang, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, said on Tuesday, in response to a question over the outlook for China's trade surplus for the rest of this year, as the country's trade surplus has raised concerns among its trading partners - most notably the EU.

China has set a goal of raising total retail sales of consumer goods to around 60 trillion yuan (roughly $8.8 trillion) by 2030 and further strengthening consumption's role in driving economic growth, according to a government plan on expanding consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). The plan, which was recently approved by the State Council, also aims to significantly increase the ratio of household consumption to GDP and achieve relatively fast growth in total goods and services consumption.

Drones raise farming efficiency, quality in China A drone flies over rice fields at 8 meters per second, sowing rice seeds in the afternoon in Liantang village, Huangpu district, Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. In just 30 minutes, 300 mu (20 hectares) of rice fields are sown. Across the farmland, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, including soil sensors, weather stations, and smart cameras, send data back to the "farm brain" every 15 minutes. "One drone can manage 500 mu of farmland, enabling fully unmanned cultivation," said Gong Jiaqin, co-founder and senior vice president of XAG, an agritech robot maker. Around 3,000 km away in Yuli county, northwest China's Xinjiang, XAG's 3,000-mu smart cotton farm is just as still and silent. There are no workers, only drones autonomously patrolling overhead, while unmanned vehicles move along preset routes, delivering precisely measured water and fertilizer directly to each cotton plant's roots. This is China's first unmanned cotton farm project. When it was launched in 2021, local cotton farmers thought it was impossible for two people to manage 3,000 mu of land. By 2024, however, the farm achieved an average yield of 529 kilograms of seed cotton per mu, with premium cotton accounting for over 96%. Read full: en.people.cn/n3/2026/0708/c…

The 24-km Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a major cross-sea transportation project that opened to traffic in June 2024 in south China's Greater Bay Area, has recently received the First Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award for key technologies, equipment and applications used in the construction of its 6,845-m-long undersea tunnel, the world's longest and widest undersea steel shell-concrete immersed tube tunnel.

Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has seen freight growth following China's zero-tariff policy on products from 53 African countries with diplomatic ties to China, effective from May 1. The SGR operated a total of 3,931 freight trains in the first half of 2026, transporting 4.278 million tonnes of cargo, with average daily cargo volume up 12.3% YoY.

China aims to raise its average life expectancy to 80 years by 2030, from 79.25 years in 2025, under a national health plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). The plan, issued by the State Council, forms part of China's broader efforts to improve public medical services and advance the Healthy China initiative.

Thriving county-level economies showcase the resilience of China's economy As Europe grapples with an intense heatwave, wholesale markets in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province, are entering another peak sales season, according to a recent article published on the website of Spanish newspaper El Mundo. The article noted that a wide range of products made in Yiwu are helping Europeans cope with soaring temperatures. Over the past decades, the city has developed a remarkable ability to turn virtually any consumer trend into a business opportunity, leading many economists to regard it as a barometer of global trade. Yiwu offers a vivid illustration of county-level development in China. As the basic building blocks of the Chinese economy, counties serve not only as key links in integrated urban-rural development, but also as valuable windows through which to observe the vitality and potential of China's economy. In recent years, localities across the country have cultivated distinctive county-level economies based on their comparative advantages, while actively integrating into global industrial and supply chains. Their dynamism continues to grow. Through these examples, the international community not only sees the steady upgrading of China's manufacturing sector but also gains a deeper understanding of the resilience that has enabled the Chinese economy to maintain steady progress amid a challenging external environment. Read full: en.people.cn/n3/2026/0713/c…

Across mountains and seas: China-Africa people-to-people bonds deepen in Guizhou In the summer of 2026, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries, diplomats and friendly personnel from nine African nations traveled to Guizhou, a mountainous province in southwestern China known for its rich ethnic diversity and breathtaking landscapes. There, they embarked on an immersive journey into rural China. The trip was jointly organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the Guizhou Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Guizhou Provincial Sports Bureau, as a key event of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. On the Village Super League pitch in Rongjiang, they played a friendly match against a local amateur team. In Dong ethnic villages, they tried batik craft and witnessed firsthand the care and commitment with which China preserves its ethnic minority cultures, a living heritage passed down through generations. Every conversation and heartfelt interaction draws the Chinese and African peoples ever closer.

China's total goods imports and exports increased by 16.9% YoY to reach 25.47 trillion yuan (about $3.76 trillion) in the first half of 2026, surpassing the 25 trillion yuan mark for the first time for the same period on record, the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday.

China's top economic planner said on Monday that it has allocated 30 million yuan (about $4.4 million) from the central budget to support emergency recovery efforts in north China's Hebei Province, which was recently hit by heavy rainstorms and flooding.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday convened a symposium featuring experts and entrepreneurs to seek their opinions on the current economic situation and economic work in the next stage. Participants said China's economy had remained generally stable in the first half of 2026, with new growth drivers expanding at a faster pace and the momentum for high-quality development continuing to build despite external uncertainties. Read full: en.people.cn/n3/2026/0714/c…