Hainan sweeps men, women's titles in coconut tree climbing

The Hainan team swept both the men's and women's titles in the debuted coconut tree climbing competition at the China's biggest ethnic sports event on Sunday.

This outcome is unsurprising, given that the sport originated in the province as a common practice for picking coconuts.

Held in the city of Sanya, the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China saw the debut of coconut tree climbing.

Participants are required to ascend a rather narrow-looking piece of timber in the quickest time and hit the button at the top. It is a race against time and a battle of techniques. And since this sport's most important apparatus is unique to Hainan Province, it is no wonder that the hosts are pretty good at it.

Luo Jun of the Li ethnic group won the men's title in a time of 6.188 seconds, and Fu Shijun, whose ethnicity is Han, won the women's title in 6.663 seconds. Both are from Hainan and delighted to have the chance to show their abilities in front of a home crowd and promote their sport.

"I'm definitely excited. It never occurred to me that I should win the title, but unexpectedly, I really made it. I'm very excited and thrilled. All of us in Hainan would climb up the three to pick coconuts if we want drink fresh coconut juice. Now thanks to the game, more has come to know the sport of coconut tree climbing, which is good to promote Hainan's traditional sports," said Luo.

"I'm a sprinter, and I believe my training has helped build my explosive power, which gives me an advantage in climbing. When I was younger, I always wanted to climb trees and pick coconuts to drink fresh coconut juice, but I didn't have the strength to do it. Now that I'm stronger, I decided to try the sport and fulfill that childhood dream. Winning the first-ever title at home feels incredible, especially because I can bring glory to Hainan," said Fu.

The National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities, held every four years since its inception in 1953, is primarily focused on mass sports activities. Therefore, the participants are mainly non-professional athletes.

The event, which opened last Friday, will run until this coming Saturday.

Hainan sweeps men, women's titles in coconut tree climbing

Hungary's Minister for National Economy, Marton Nagy, has reiterated the country's opposition to the European Union's additional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs).

On Oct 29, the EU announced a controversial decision to impose tariffs of up to 45.3 percent on Chinese EVs for at least five years.

On Nov 8, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said China and the EU had made progress in negotiations on a proposed price commitment plan concerning Chinese EVs.

"We are not believing in protectionism, we are not believing in blocks. We believe in free trade, free competition, which makes all mankind more developed, our economies more developed, and therefore we are strongly against it with other four countries. So therefore,this is how the European Union is divided, because these are very tough questions. Fortunately, the Chinese companies were clever enough to think before the tariffs that localization is a good business," said Marton Nagy in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Nov 21.

Hungary maintains opposition to EU's additional tariffs on Chinese EVs: minister