People's Daily, China

Border inspection agencies across China recorded nearly 11.28 million entries and exits during the 5-day May Day holiday that ended on Tuesday, with a daily average of 2.256 million, up 3.5% from the same period a year ago. Among them, 1.255 million entries and exits were made by foreigners, up 12.5% YoY, including 436,000 entries made under visa-free policies, up 14.7% YoY, China's National Immigration Administration said Wednesday.

The 522-km-long Tarim Desert Highway, which traverses the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China, has seen its zero-carbon demonstration project generate over 15 million kWh of electricity, equivalent to cutting CO₂ emissions by 14,200 tonnes. The project includes a 436-km shelter belt along the road, covering 3,100 hectares, and features 109 solar-powered pumping stations that provide irrigation water.

Unit 2 of the Taipingling nuclear power project in south China's Guangdong Province completed its initial fuel loading on Sunday. Using "Hualong One," a domestically developed third-generation nuclear power technology, the unit has transitioned to the nuclear commissioning phase. The Taipingling nuclear power project is designed with six Hualong One units, which can generate over 55 billion kWh of electricity a year, equivalent of cutting 50.82 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Stories of High-Quality Development｜Intensive cultivation unlocks the potential of small seeds In October 2024, a wheat variety named "Pubing 03" sold for 6.66 million yuan ($970,000) at the Central Plains Agricultural Valley in central China's Henan Province. Eight months later, its developer had signed contracts with 65 agents, covering 73 counties and districts nationwide, with a key market coverage rate of over 90 percent. Behind this seed lies 38 years of dedication by the research team led by Li Lihui, a researcher at the Institute of Crop Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. As a member of the team, Zhang Jinpeng, a researcher at the Zhongyuan Research Center and the Institute of Crop Sciences, is committed to enabling more high-quality seeds to flourish and bear fruit across even broader lands. Currently, "Pubing 03" has been promoted and applied in provinces such as Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shaanxi. In 2025, Henan Province, with 6.25 percent of the nation's cultivated land, produced 25 percent of the country's wheat and 10 percent of its total grain, supplying 30 million tonnes of raw grain and processed products annually. As a major provincial economic powerhouse, Henan's role as a "ballast stone" is reflected not only in its output but also in the institutional and mechanism innovations it has developed to safeguard national food security. At the Central Plains Agricultural Valley, a seed industry innovation hub spanning 1,612 square kilometers, the province has brought together 17 academicians, 69 innovation teams and more than 470 high-level seed industry professionals. It has built 67 research platforms at the provincial level or above and preserved 200,000 germplasm resources. More importantly, it has developed a "golden triangle" model in which enterprises raise questions, the government sets the agenda and scientists provide answers. The model lets researchers like Li and Zhang focus wholeheartedly on their research and helps top varieties like "Pubing 03" move swiftly from the laboratory to the field. From a single seed to an industry, a major provincial economic powerhouse shoulders significant responsibility — not merely through scale but through the strategic resilience to "hold firm" in key areas and the institutional innovation to "find a way forward." Food security is a matter of utmost national importance. With the commitment of the "Central Plains Granary," Henan has helped keep the nation's rice bowl firmly in hand, offering a vivid example of how a major provincial economic powerhouse can serve as a cornerstone of stability. Narrator: Chen Jianhong, Deputy Mayor of Xinxiang City, Henan Province, Executive Deputy Director of Management Committee of Henan Zhongyuan Nonggu, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Xinxiang Pingyuan Urban-Rural Integration Demonstration Zone

A handover ceremony featuring scanned copies of diplomatic archives related to the Japanese invasion of China was held on Monday at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. These archives, consisting of 42 diplomatic documents totaling 1,993 pages, were collected by French national Bastien Ratat when he was combing through the files at the Center of Diplomatic Archives in Nantes under the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. The documents, primarily in French but also in English, Japanese and Chinese, span the period from 1920 to 1943. Its contents feature the Nanjing Massacre, the link between Japan's aggressive acts and Western interests in China, Japan's invasion and expansion in northeast China and surrounding areas, among others. The materials expose Japan's wartime atrocities, including the Nanjing Massacre, from multiple perspectives.

In the first quarter of 2026, the Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port in east China's Shanghai handled 7.45 million TEUs of container throughput, representing a 9.1% YoY increase. The port's phase IV automated terminal is one of the world's largest single-unit container terminals with advanced integrated automation. It features seven deepwater container berths, 61 automated container yards, as well as designated areas for hazardous materials and oversized containers.

The Chinese capital city of Beijing received 18.83 million tourist visits during the five-day May Day holiday, up 5.1% YoY, with a total tourism revenue expanding 6.6% YoY to hit 22.36 billion yuan (about $3.26 billion), the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said on Tuesday.

China's first privately funded scientific research vessel, R/V Haiying Surveyor, was launched in Wenling, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday. The vessel has a total length of 82 meters, a designed full load displacement of 3,500 tonnes, and a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles. The vessel's backers are 37 fishermen from Wenling.

Small and delicate, the blooms of Chinese violet cress scatter quiet beauty across Beijing—softening street corners and brightening city parks with their petite yet captivating charm.

A heavy-lift multirotor drone was deployed to clean ceramic insulators on transmission lines in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia. While traditional manual cleaning requires power outages and carries high risks, drone-assisted operations save time and labor, enable uninterrupted power supply, and enhance cleaning efficiency.

China’s railways have handled over 117 million passenger trips so far since the May Day travel rush began on April 29, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd on Tuesday.

China's domestically developed unmanned transport system HH-200 is expected to obtain its type certificate by 2027 and may enter commercial operation in late 2027, according to its chief engineer. Featuring advanced, high-safety autonomous flight capabilities, a maximum commercial payload of 1.5 tonnes, a top cruising speed of 310 km/h, and a maximum range of 2,360 km, the HH-200 completed its maiden flight in mid-April this year, which lasted 22 minutes and fulfilled all pre-set test goals, marking a major breakthrough in China's large-scale commercial unmanned transport equipment sector.

China on Monday handed over two batches of humanitarian aid to the Lebanese government to assist people affected by the ongoing conflict. The aid includes emergency food supplies as well as tents, blankets and hygiene items. (Photo: EPA/ATEF SAFADI via CFP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out efforts to search for people who are still unaccounted for and save the injured after an explosion at a fireworks plant in central China's Hunan Province caused heavy casualties on Monday afternoon. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an instruction ordering strengthened risk screening and hazard control in key sectors, enhanced public safety management, and efforts to safeguard people's lives and property. The explosion occurred at around 4:40 p.m. at the plant in Liuyang, a county-level city under Changsha, capital city of Hunan. Xi demanded proper handling of the aftermath and a prompt investigation into the accident, stressing that those responsible must be held accountable. Authorities across regions and departments must draw profound lessons from the accident and reinforce responsibility for workplace safety, Xi stressed. Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged efforts to strengthen workplace safety in key industries and sectors, and resolutely prevent the occurrence of major accidents. The Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched a team to Liuyang to guide the rescue and relief work. Local rescue forces have rushed to the scene to treat the injured and carry out on-site response efforts, which are still underway.

During the Labor Day holiday, Hangzhou, in east China's Zhejiang Province, deployed a fully operational "robot police squadron" to key areas, bolstering the city's traffic management capabilities. Deployed on May 1, the squadron consists of 15 intelligent traffic management robots strategically positioned at key downtown intersections. Their mission is to manage non-motorized vehicle and pedestrian traffic, provide directions, and assist human officers, creating a new model of "human-machine collaboration."

The Beginning of Summer, or Lixia in Chinese, the seventh solar term on the Chinese lunar calendar that marks the beginning of summer, falls on May 5 this year. This solar term marks the transition from spring to summer, characterized by rapidly increasing temperatures and more frequent rainfall. It is also the time for early rice planting in many parts of China.

Delicate pale green cherry blossoms unfurl elegantly on the branches in a time-lapse video.

Soak in the breathtaking morning view of the Hongshankou Great Wall in Zunhua, north China’s Hebei Province, after rainfall.

The world’s largest single-unit 16-megawatt floating offshore wind power platform completed installation in the waters off Yangjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province on Saturday. The platform is composed of three parts: a 16-MW wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 252 meters, a semi-submersible floating platform, and a new mooring system. Once put into operation, the platform can generate about 44.65 million kWh of green electricity annually, enough to power 24,000 households for a year.

Double the charm! Over 1,000 multiple births from around the world took part in a parade during the 20th Mojiang international twins festival in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. The event runs from May 1 to 5.