A national flag-raising ceremony was held early Sunday morning at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing to mark the start of the new semester and to celebrate the country's forthcoming 40th Teacher's Day that falls on Sept 10.
Nearly 1,000 teachers and students from higher education institutions in Beijing and other regions, as well as tourists from across the country gathered at the square to watch the ceremony.
"At the very moment the national anthem was played, everyone's love for the country was palpable. As a student in oil and gas field development engineering, we are living in a pivotal era with significant responsibilities. As our country moves toward the Second Centenary Goal, we must focus on securing our energy future, aiming for peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, and contribute our efforts wherever we are needed," said Kang Hanbo, a graduate student at China University of Petroleum (Beijing).
"With the 40th Teacher's Day approaching, I am particularly thrilled and proud to be at Tian'anmen Square as a representative of teachers. I will bring this sense of mission and responsibility back to the campus, and remain committed to cultivating innovative talents with practical skills for our country," said Wang Shangguang, dean of the School of Computer Science of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Tian'anmen Square flag-raising ceremony opens new semester
China's grain output is projected to hit a record high of 700 billion kilograms this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Friday.
At a press conference in Beijing, Zhang Xingwang, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, made the remarks and reported that as of Thursday more than 80 percent of the autumn grain had been reaped across China.
"China will see another year with a bumper grain harvest. The summer grain and early rice had been harvested. The total output of summer grain this year stood at 149.78 billion kilograms, up 3.625 billion kilograms from the previous years, marking the highest increase in the past nine years. And the early rice output amounted to 28.175 billion kilograms, exceeding the threshold of 28 billion kilograms for four consecutive years. The planting area of autumn grain has seen steady growth, with significant improvements in increasing per unit crop yield on a large scale. As of Thursday, the progress of China's autumn grain harvest this year has reached 82.5 percent, marking another season of bountiful harvest. The country's annual grain production is expected to surpass 700 billion kilograms for the first time this year after having remain steady at over 650 billion kilograms for nine consecutive years. Notable progress was made in increasing the cultivation of soybeans and other oil crops. The soybean planting area maintained at over 10 million hectares and its output is expected to remain above 20 million tons. The planting area, per unit area yield and total output of rapeseed have all achieved increases," explained Zhang.
China's 2024 grain output expected to break record 700 billion kg
