Chilean student calls for energy collaboration with China after witnessing advancements

A Chilean student in China shared how her experience in the country has reshaped her views on new energy and green technology, expressing her profound hope that Chile and China will collaborate toward a cleaner future.

Raquel Herrera is currently studying for her master's degree in business administration (MBA) at Chongqing University in southwest China. Living in China, she has been deeply impressed by the country's advancements in wind energy, where large wind turbines have been constructed from snowy plateaus to coastal cities, marking significant breakthroughs in the field.

"China is one of the leaders in wind energy. In Chile, we do have wind energy but not at the same level as China," said Herrera.

Herrera highlighted the introduction of China's eco-friendly new energy vehicles into the Chilean market, a key collaboration between the two countries in the green energy sector.

In Chile, some major cities have adopted these vehicles for public transit, which has not only improved convenience but also reduced travel costs.

"In our capital Santiago, there is a brand new bus fleet for 2025. All of the buses were made in China. Also in another city, Valparaiso, they are using more and more electric buses that is helping to improve the transport life of the people," said Herrera.

She underscored her hope that Chile and China can strengthen cooperation in the field of wind energy to improve Chile's technologies in this sector, echoing a call on Nov. 15 by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the two countries to expand cooperation into more sustainable areas during his meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

"It would be a very good cooperation to enhance the use of wind energy between Chile and China. Because as I said before at the beginning, China is one of the leaders of wind energy, and it will be very good for Chile to get knowledge from them and learn from them to improve their wind generators in my country," said the student.

Herrera believes that young people should put forward more innovative ideas in environmental protection and discuss solutions to reduce pollution and fight climate change.

"I hope that the younger generation can contribute with fresh and new ideas to improve people's lifestyle in an ethical and eco-friendly way, using technology as the main asset and green energies to reduce the impact in the environment," she said.

Chilean student calls for energy collaboration with China after witnessing advancements

Chilean student calls for energy collaboration with China after witnessing advancements

Application for China's annual tour guide license exam, which began on Saturday, is posting a significant growing momentum in various regions.

The exam consists a written test and an interview. The written part was held on Saturday, and interviews will be concluded before Dec 22, covering policies and regulations, basic knowledge, and service abilities.

For example, the number of candidates who registered for the exam in northwest China's Shaanxi Province this year reached 15,440, an increase of 62.3 percent over last year. A total of 5,363 candidates registered in the northeast China's Jilin Province examination area, an increase of 71.34 percent year on year.

In the past two years, the tourism industry has been gaining momentum, and the cultural tourism industry across cities and tour guide markets have been complimenting each other, said tourism experts.

"This year, the number of people applying for the national tour guide qualification certificate is about 310,000, far exceeding the 200,000 last year. After we have the tour guide qualification certificate, we have the right to apply for a tour guide certificate and then engage in tour guide-related business. Among the 650,000 certified tour guides, 93 percent speak Chinese, 6 percent speak English, and the rest speak minority languages," said Wang Xiaoyu, researcher at the Tourism Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China has fully entered the era of mass tourism, and as the tourism market matures, consumer demand for tour guides is also constantly changing and upgrading, which is mainly reflected in three aspects, according to Wang.

"There are mainly three changes. The first is that our domestic tourism market is actually transforming from sightseeing to theme leisure vacation. At the same time, the tourism service industry is also constantly being customized in small groups, which puts forward new requirements for tour guides, such as customized services and personalized services. Second, the supply and demand of the entire market is actually reversing. Now we need a large number of high-quality tour guide teams to serve the market and serve consumer groups. The third is our online development. The digitalization of the entire cultural and tourism industry, especially the digitalization of tour guide services, is becoming more and more obvious. So it's important to make good use of Internet tools and online new media tools and do a good job in our online tourism promotion and online cultural and tourism services," said Wang.

Application for national tour guide qualification examination posts growth momentum