Danish badminton superstar Viktor Axelsen is aiming for gold at the Paris Olympics, with expectations soaring as he prepares to face Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in a crucial match on Wednesday.
The Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Champion spoke with China Global Television Network (CGTN), emphasizing the importance of focusing on one match at a time as the pressure mounts ahead of tomorrow's match.
"I feel pretty good right now. I had some injuries this year, but right now I feel okay. I also think I have trained very well," said Axelsen.
Talking of his Chinese-speaking ability, Axelsen said he learned Chinese in search of more opportunities in the badminton-loving nation. Now, he boasts more than a million followers on Chinese social media platform Douyin.
"I think China is a very interesting country. Additionally, I think Chinese players are really strong. I feel I can learn a lot [from them.] Moreover, I know badminton is a very popular sport in China. So, I told myself that if I can speak Chinese, it might bring me many opportunities and allow me to learn a lot," said the player.
"My goal is to win the gold medal. However, I think the competition is very fierce, with many strong opponents. So, for me, the most important thing is to focus all my attention on each match because the Olympics come with a lot of pressure. Therefore, I don't want to think too far ahead. I need to take it one step at a time and then hope I can achieve good results," he said.
Danish badminton player aims for gold at Paris Olympics
China and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), pledged to enhance sustainable development cooperation at a Thursday conference in Tianjin, ahead of this year's SCO summit.
As the rotating chair for this year, China is to host the SCO summit in Tianjin this autumn. The China-SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development is one of the activities organized during a promotion event from Wednesday to Friday. It aims to promote cooperation in fields like infrastructure, energy, mining and petrifaction.
Nearly 400 guests, including government officials and enterprises from SCO member states attended the opening session.
"In 2024, China's trade volume with SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners reached a record high of 890 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 14.4 percent of China's total foreign trade volume, fully demonstrating the tremendous vitality and broad prospects of trade development within the region," said Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, at the conference.
As China has extensive experience in promoting sustainable development, attendees from SCO member states expressed hope to strengthen cooperation with China across various sectors, said SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan.
"China plays a very, very important, significant role in sustainable development, as I said, so we are expecting that in the sustainable development context, all member states have lot to gain and learn from China on its achievements in various areas, like agricultural industries, energy, high tech, information technology, and robot AI," he said.
By the end of 2024, China's investment stocks in SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners have exceeded 140 billion U.S. dollars, with the total value of contracts signed by Chinese enterprises in these countries exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars and the completed turnover surpassing 680 billion U.S. dollars.
In 2024, about 19,000 China-Europe freight train ran through the SCO region, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent and significantly promoting regional connectivity and economic development.
China, SCO member states pledge deeper sustainable development cooperation
