Foreign news

From A Barren Land To The World’s Largest Man-Made Forest, Saihanba And China’s Ecological Efforts

Published

4 years ago

August 26, 2021

Decades ago, no one would imagine that Saihanba – the once barren land located in north China’s Hebei Province – would turn into the world’s largest man-made forest.

China did it.

Saihanba now sees a forest coverage of 80 percent, which can conserve and purify 137 million cubic meters of water every year, an achievement hailed “great” by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“It is a model in the world’s ecological civilization history,” he said during his recent two-day tour in Hebei.

During his trip, Xi learned about the management and protection of the forest farm, as well as Hebei’s coordinated efforts in conserving its mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands, and desertification control.

The president stressed the importance of developing the green economy and furthering ecological progress, urging to carry on “Saihanba spirit”—a term attributed to generations of workers on the farm who have kept their mission in mind, worked hard and pursued green development.

Xi urged the workers at the Saihanba forest farm to gain a deeper understanding of ecological conservation and continue their hard work for new achievements.

Xi encourages elderlies to stay active in job market

Facing a rapidly aging labor force in a continuously expanding economy, Xi encouraged more elderly folks to “stay active” in the job market when inspecting the Binhe community service center.

Xi suggested those “younger seniors” to participate in duties like community volunteering jobs.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there are currently 264 million people aged 60 and over, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total population. The trend – many say – could potentially pose threats to the world’s second-largest economy.

The country has put it explicitly in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) that it will raise the statutory retirement age “in a gradual, flexible and differentiated manner” to adapt to that “new normal.”

During his visit, Xi also stressed the need to achieve this year’s major goals for the country’s economic and social development.

He underlined the need to achieve a balance between COVID-19 prevention and control and economic and social development, and between development and security, to promote high-quality development, and to strive to fulfill major social and economic targets and tasks for this year to ensure a good start of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

A new development philosophy in an all-round, faithful manner is need to put into practice, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said.

Xi calls for preservation and development of cultural heritage

In the renowned Chengde Mountain Resort – a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site—Xi learned about its history as well as the preservation efforts there.

The resort serves important historic meanings to communication between different ethnic minority groups, adaption of religion and the society, preservation and development of cultural heritage, as well as the peaceful coexistence between human and nature, Xi pointed out.

He also highlighted cultural confidence and the unity between multi-ethnic groups.

The Chinese president then visited Puning Temple, a famous Buddhist temple near the resort, and the Chengde Museum.

Xi: From ‘rural revitalization’ to ‘industry revitalization’

China has always viewed rural vitalization as one of the keys to developing a modern economy, and President Xi took that a step further. He stressed the importance of “industry revitalization.”

Daguikou village—where Xi visited—now grows strawberries, grapes and cherries. Yet fruit was not their first choice.

The village had tried rice, corn and vegetables. But for all sorts of reasons like the lack of water, these products were underproduced. Therefore, villagers couldn’t make money off them. So they turned to growing fruits instead.

Now, growing strawberries has become the main business for the 1,700 residents, with each household making around $15,000 a year.

Xi called on villages to implement tailored methods and find out their distinctive resource in singling out their advantages, while also calling to strengthen rural infrastructure and public service system.

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping learns about the management and protection of the Saihanba forest farm during an inspection tour of the forest farm in north China’s Hebei Province, August 23, 2021. /Xinhua)

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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