Foreign news
Ecological Development Picks Up Steam In China’s Fujian Province, As Agricultural Talents Sent To Villages For Farming Tips
From expanding the use of reusable energy and desert greening to setting a concrete target for China’s CO2 emission peak, the country is making its “green development” drive crystal clear as it tops Beijing’s next five-year plan.
In east China’s Fujian Province, where Chinese President Xi Jinping had spent over 17 years, locals are hugely benefiting from tea plantations.
On Monday, President Xi revisited the area during a four-day inspection tour. He inspected an ecological tea garden in Xingcun Township in Nanping City, in the first tour after the adoption of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035.
Agricultural talents sent to villages for rural revitalization
Thanks to the advice given by agricultural talents sent to villages, rapeseed is now growing alongside tea plants in an effective strategy to increase soil fertility while ensuring the preservation of biodiversity and the entire ecological chain.
Agricultural talents, also called “technological commissioners,” was an idea introduced by the then governor to Fujian Province in a 2002 article, which called for bonding officials and farmers. In the article, Xi pointed out that it’s “beneficial” to “explore innovative working mechanisms in villages.”
In October 2019, Xi again stressed the importance of “technology commissioners” to the country’s realization of rural revitalization at a summary meeting on the 20 years’ implementation of the technology commissioner system in Beijing.
“In the past, the tea industry was a pillar in your fight against poverty, and it should become a pillar industry of rural vitalization in the future,” Xi said on Monday at the tea farm. Fujian is a major tea production base in China, with the main categories being oolong tea, green tea and black tea.
To understand local efforts in ecological protection from a broader view, Xi also visited an intelligent management center at the Wuyishan National Park the same day.
During his visit to the park, he encountered a group of tourists. “You can enjoy the mountain scenery in Wuyishan, and enjoy the seascape in Xiamen City (Fujian’s provincial capital city),” he told the group.
Cultural confidence: 5,000 years of civilization
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday highlighted cultural confidence during a visit to a park dedicated to Zhu Xi, a renowned Chinese philosopher of the 12th century.
“Without the 5,000-year-long Chinese civilization, how could we have found the road to achieve today’s success,” Xi said when he visited the park in the city of Wuyishan, east China’s Fujian Province.
“Taking the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must continue to adapt Marxism to China’s conditions,” Xi noted.
Special attention should be paid to tapping the essence of the 5,000-year-long Chinese civilization, promoting fine traditional culture, integrating its essence with the Marxist stance, viewpoint and methodology, and unswervingly following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi said.
As one of the main ancient Confucian scholars, Zhu Xi was famous for his expositions on Confucian classics. He put forward concepts such as “the people are the foundation of a nation,” embodying the people-based philosophy in ancient China.
(With input from Xinhua)
Featured
Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria
African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.
The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.
Africa’s Heavy Burden
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.
Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.
Taxing for Health Futures
The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.
According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.
The new financing mechanism proposes:
Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items
Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions
A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue
“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”
Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.
Leaders Call for Urgent Action
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.
“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.
From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.
Private Sector and Global Support
Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.
The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:
“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”
Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria
Abuja, Nigeria – African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.
The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.
Africa’s Heavy Burden
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.
Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.
Taxing for Health Futures
The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.
According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.
The new financing mechanism proposes:
Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items
Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions
A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue
“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”
Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.
Leaders Call for Urgent Action
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.
“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.
From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.
Private Sector and Global Support
Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.
The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:
“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”
The Big Push: From Talk to Action
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.
With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.
“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”
Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.
With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.
“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”
Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
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