China's 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities opens in Hainan

The 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China opened on Friday night in Sanya, a coastal city of Hainan Province.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, officially declared the Games open.

Nearly 7,000 athletes representing 35 delegations across China will compete in 18 sports and 170 demonstration sports during the nine-day event, which will conclude on November 30.

All equestrian competitions have already been held in July in Zhaosu of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As the 35 delegations entered the stadium, they were accompanied by brief performances highlighting distinctive local and ethnic characteristics. These displays set the stage for an opening ceremony celebrating the rich cultures of China's 56 ethnic groups.

Before the opening ceremony, Wang met with all members of the Games' organizing committee, representatives from various delegations, and athlete representatives.

Wang encouraged them to stay united and forge ahead, strengthening the sense of community for the Chinese nation and carrying forward China’s fine traditional culture.

He also visited the exhibitions on China's ethnic minority traditional sports culture, Hainan's comprehensive reform and opening-up efforts, and the achievements in building a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.

The event was first held in 1953, when nearly 400 athletes from 13 ethnic groups competed in Tianjin's inaugural edition. 29 years later, the 2nd edition was held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The coconut tree climbing race, a newly added event in this year's games, originates from the traditional labor of local ethnic communities, who climb trees to harvest coconuts on the tropical island. Combining rich entertainment with competitiveness, this sport is to debut in the Games.

The tournament aims to foster harmony and cultural integration among China's 56 ethnic groups.

China's 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities opens in Hainan

China on Friday issued the country's first "single consignment note" bill for multimodal container transport, marking the official launch of a new container transport mechanism.

On Friday, a train service originating from Xinjiang arrived at Tianjin Port. The train carried 3,000 tons of aluminum bars, which will be further transported to Guangdong's Dongguan Port by a container ship. This shipment was jointly handled by the China State Railway Urumqi Bureau and a logistics company in Shanghai.

It marks a significant progress in China's railway multimodal transport, achieving a complete "one-time consignment, one document and one container throughout, and one settlement" transport system.

"As the operators of multimodal transport, railway transport enterprises are responsible for the overall planning of the entire transport chain, ensuring a "one-stop" service throughout the journey. According to the first shipment, transportation costs have been reduced by 30 yuan (around 4.14 U.S. dollars) per ton, while the transport time has decreased from the original 22 days to approximately 16 days," said Liu Yang, deputy head of freight department, Urumqi branch, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd..

In the future, the scope of "single consignment note" transport services will gradually expand, effectively lowering overall logistics costs and transport time.

China launches "single consignment note" for multimodal container transport