Gaza's GDP contracts 86 pct amid Israeli attacks

Gaza's gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by 86 percent year on year in the first three months of 2024 amid intensifying Israeli attacks, according to data released by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Thursday.

The PCBS statement shows that the GDP of Palestine in the first quarter of 2024 declined by 35 percent year on year, while that of the Gaza Strip sharply shrank by 86 percent due to ongoing Israeli attacks, indicating that the local economic system has collapsed.

The West Bank also saw a year-on-year contraction by 25 percent.

Palestine's GDP per capita was 491 U.S. dollars in the first three months of 2024, down 36 percent compared to the same period of last year, with that of the Gaza Strip decreased by 86 percent.

The first China Chongqing Science and Technology Film Week is taking place in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, with forums and lectures focusing on the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in the film industry.

The six-day event kicked off on Wednesday in Chongqing's Yongchuan District, gathering experts, academics and leaders in the film and TV industry from home and abroad.

On Thursday, four themed salons were held on hot topics such as sci-tech innovations empowering the film and TV industry, virtual production and the upgrading of the film industry, and the integrated development of generative artificial intelligence, film and TV industry and metaverse.

"Director Guo Fan has said that when making The Wandering Earth 3 and later sequels, he would apply AI into the production of more scenes, including using it to present some movements and spatial relations. So, we all said during the Shanghai International Film Festival that AI is not the future. It is already present," said Yin Hong, vice president of the China Film Association.

In the following panel discussions, the guests shared their views on today and tomorrow's film industry and the development of science and technologies from different perspectives.

"We creators, especially visual creators, will embrace this technology in the years to come. It could be a very good thing," said Huo Tingxiao, president of the China Film Art Direction Academy.

On Thursday evening, a virtual girl group staged a concert on a huge screen at the venue, displaying the charm of cutting-edge technologies to the audience.

The film week also held several lectures on Friday, where film directors Li Lichi, Liu Xiaoshi and many other experts shared their insights on film production and science and technology.

"High-tech tools are surely useful in today's film production, very useful. They will bring disruptive changes to the work of our technical teams. But we have to bear in mind that they are just tools, of which we should be the masters, not slaves," Liu said.

In addition, more than 10 film and sci-tech companies presented their latest filmmaking technologies during the event.