Snow removal efforts are in full swing to ensure safe travel as many parts of Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province, see their first snowfall of this winter on Tuesday.
Tieli City experienced its first large-scale snowfall of the winter on Tuesday, with temperatures dropping to minus 12 degrees Celsius. In response, the municipal environmental sanitation department deployed over 300 snow removal workers and more than 30 vehicles and machines to clear snow from key roads and streets in the city.
As the snowfall intensified throughout Tuesday, snow removal efforts were carried out in an urgent yet orderly manner in Shuangyashan City's Baoqing County, with large snow-clearing vehicles deployed overnight.
"The environmental sanitation service center of our county has deployed 12 snow plows in three teams to clear the main and secondary roads. We aim to complete the task before 03:00 to ensure the safety of local residents' travel," said Shao Benguo, a staff member at the center.
Additionally, in response to snow accumulation and icy conditions due to the snowfall and cold wave, Mishan City promptly initiated snow removal and anti-skid treatments on the roads on Tuesday evening.
Snow removal underway as Heilongjiang sees first snowfall of winter
China has made fresh pledges on further opening its vast market and sharing more opportunities with the world as the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) is going on in Shanghai under the theme of "New Era, Shared Future," according to a commentary released by the China Media Group (CMG) on Tuesday.
An edited English-language version of the commentary is as follows:
Running from November 5 to 10, the seventh CIIE has attracted approximately 1,500 leaders and representatives from 152 countries, regions and international organizations to attend its opening ceremony.
A total of 3,496 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions are taking part in the business exhibition which covers more than 360,000 square meters, while a record number of 297 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders are attending the expo, marking a historic high.
Both the numbers of countries or regions and enterprises attending the expo this year exceeded those of the previous editions.
Among all the participants, 186 enterprises and institutions have attended all the seven editions of CIIE.
All these figures confirm the "magnetic attraction" of the Chinese market and the CIIE, and also demonstrate the common will of all parties to open up, cooperate, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
First launched in 2018, the CIIE, viewed as the world's first national expo dedicated to imports, has now become a window for China to build a new development pattern, a platform to promote high-level opening up, and a global public good shared by the world.
Toshinobu Umetsu, president and CEO of Shiseido China, whose company has attended the expo for several times, lauded the spillover effect of CIIE which gets their new technologies, brands and products widely noticed and recognized by consumers and successfully turns the "exhibits" into "consumer goods".
Data shows that in the first six editions of CIIE, nearly 2,500 representative new products, technologies, and services were unveiled, with a cumulative intended transaction value exceeding 420 billion U.S. dollars, creating great development opportunities for multinational companies.
For most foreign-funded enterprises, the first thing they pay attention to is the vast Chinese market, along with complete industrial systems, perfect infrastructure, human resources, continuously optimized business environment and expanding high-level openness.
Fang Juntao, senior vice president of Nestle Greater China, said that China has always been a fertile ground for foreign investment.
While the People's Republic of China celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, and the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in July 2024 stressed further deepening reform and opening-up to promote Chinese modernization, this year's CIIE also brings new ideas and opportunities.
At the expo, China said it will continue to expand institutional opening up, actively promote alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules, keep working to upgrade pilot free trade zones and further open its vast market, turning Chinese enormous market into enormous opportunities for the world.
Alex Gu, senior vice president of Medtronic and president of Medtronic Greater China, noted that through the CIIE platform, they have seen the unlimited opportunities in the Chinese market and deepened good cooperative relations with all walks of life.
As China is accelerating its pace of developing new quality productive forces, this year's expo also displays more new achievements in the field.
More than 400 new products, new technologies and new services are set to be unveiled during the expo, like the air taxi, milk tea made with AI technologies, and biological agents that can enhance plant photosynthesis. The technology section features a dedicated area for new materials for the first time.
Marc Horn, executive vice president of German conglomerate Merck KGaA, said that China's development of new quality productive forces not only contributes to the long-term and healthy development of China's economy, but also injects new vitality into the process of globalization and the wave of technological revolution.
June Chang, president of Boston Scientific in Greater China, said that they have felt more enthusiasm and desire for innovation in the Chinese market which gets them more determined to increase investment in China.
From a broader perspective, at a time when the world's economic recovery is sluggish and some countries are engaging in "decoupling and disruption of industrial and supply chains" and building "small yards with high fences", the CIIE has set up a valuable platform for building an open global economy, pooled consensus on win-win cooperation among all parties, brought new impetus to the common development of China and Global South countries and effectively hedged against protectionism.
In fact, since its first edition, the CIIE has provided convenience for the least developed countries to participate in the exhibition by providing various benefits such as booth construction and exhibit transportation.
At this year's expo, the organizers offered more than 120 free exhibition booths for vendors from 37 least-developed countries to participate in the expo, expanded and upgraded the African products area.
These allow more developing countries to participate in the process of economic globalization that benefits everyone and enables people of all countries to enjoy development results more equitably.
China's new pledges on further opening its vast market showcased at ongoing CIIE
