China to drive economic growth through multifaceted approach: expert

China is committed to driving economic growth through a multifaceted approach that combines domestic and global initiatives to create a more open and innovative economy, said an expert in Beijing on Friday.

As China pursues an innovation-driven growth model, the country's prominence in the global innovation landscape continues to increase.

The Global Innovation Index 2024, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, ranks China 11th among the world's most innovative economies, up one spot from the previous year. This makes China one of the fastest risers over the past decade.

Qu Qiang, a research fellow at the Belt and Road Research Center of Minzu University of China, expects the world's second largest economy to shore up its innovation ecosystem to drive growth and competitiveness, both domestically and internationally.

"A high-tech driven economy, it means it definitely will be outgoing. It definitely will be very open to the outside world, embracing the diversity and internationalization. That's a dual pass, and in order to do that further, I think China would focus on both the domestic and international market. Domestically, I think China will do a lot of reform to accommodate more of the foreign investment and businesses to come into China. For example, we will further lower the threshold for the market entry. We're going to make the rule of law very perfect for the outside investors. Also for the services, I think we will have more streamlined services from the government, as well as for the private sector. You will have the one-stop services for you to solve all kinds of problems, from registration, taxation and to all the legal matters until you can get the profit from the market," he said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) via video link.

"Internationally, I think China will also try to together hand in hand with their international investors and partners to build a bigger cake with each other, have a win-win result, rather than just try to cut a bigger cake for itself. For example, Belt and Road Initiative is one of the examples to make the international cake bigger. So, many of the foreign investors and enterprises can actually, hand in hand with Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, go out and enjoy the growth not only in the Chinese market but also in the Chinese connected market in the international arena. So, I think many of these kinds of opportunities can be the real attractions for the international investors, to have these common prosperities together with China in the next few years," said the expert.

China to drive economic growth through multifaceted approach: expert

Switzerland, known for its pristine lakes and rich tradition of fishing, is facing a significant challenge of plunging fish stocks that could threaten the livelihood of many in the fisheries industry.

In recent years, local fishermen have seen their catches decline drastically, with about 90 percent of the fish consumed in the country now being imported. This shift reflects broader environmental changes impacting Swiss fisheries, and the difficulties local fishermen are enduring are becoming more evident each year.

At seven in the morning, as the first light of dawn begins to break, a handful of fishermen at a dock in Geneva prepare to head out to the lake to check the nets they set the previous day. As the long nets were hauled from the water, the catch of perch was relatively small, but the fishermen were still satisfied, especially since they managed to net two large pike, which would fetch a good price.

Francois Liani, a fisherman of 30 years, said 2024 has been the worst year for fishing with the lowest amount of catch.

"I have never seen anything like this in over 30 years. That's right, 2024 is the worst year in the past 30 years," he said.

Fifty years ago, there were more than 800 professional fishermen in Switzerland. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than 90.

"There are many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is global warming -- it is one of the biggest problems. We have also new mussels that come from the Black Sea on the Eastern Europe that came about five, seven years ago. They have a large impact on the food availability for the fishes," said Maxime Prevedello, communication officer for the French-speaking region of the Swiss Fishing Federation (SFV).

As a result, the growth rate of fish has slowed significantly. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, a professional fisherman was able to catch around 1,000 tons of fish annually. Today, that number has dropped to just around 100 tons -- a mere one-tenth of what it used to be, according to Prevedello.

In the summer of 2024, Switzerland once again endured high temperatures. Native fish species such as perch, grayling, and the Alpine char, which have adapted to cold water, have been particularly affected. According to Switzerland's environmental authorities, 58 percent of the country's native fish species are now classified as endangered.

Swiss fishermen face growing struggle as local fish stocks plunge