Foreign news

Xi in Sichuan: Chinese President visits farmers, cultural relics and college graduates

Published

3 years ago

June 10, 2022

On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The president met with local farmers, college students and toured a famous temple with deep roots in Chinese culture. The visit focused on learning local efforts in ensuring food security, cultural and environmental protection as well as the employment situation for college graduates. Xu XInchen has more.

“President Xi Jinping got off right here.”

Wang Yuanwei is a farmer from the village President Xi Jinping visited in Meishan, Sichuan Province. Wang is very proud that the Chinese President visited his farm.

WANG YUANWEI Farmer “It shows that the state is paying great attention to agriculture.”

Wang owns over 200 hectares of farmland. He uses one third as a test field to try out different types of crops.

In the past seven years, Wang’s harvest grew over 30 percent thanks to this method.

WANG YUANWEI Farmer “We test limited quantities of different seeds and crops to screen out those that are unsuitable. That gives us a collection of seeds that suit Meishan’s weather and soil.”

Wang’s village is called Yong Feng, which means “forever harvest.”

It has over 2,000 households, with an average disposable income of 4,100 dollars, ranking fourth in the province. Moreover, Yong Feng has fully achieved industrialized farming, and it is one of top high-standard farmlands in China, demonstrating a sustainable means for future agricultural development.

Inspecting local efforts in ensuring food security was one of many purposes of Xi’s visit.

The Chinese leader has said food security is a top priority for China and the country aims to build one billion Mu, that’s almost 70 million hectares of high-standard farmland.

To improve people’s quality of life through rural revitalization has been a key development strategy from Xi.

Meishan’s famous Sansu Temple also received a visit.

It is not a place to worship gods but the largest and best protected memorial hall for three scholars.

XU XINCHEN Sansu Temple, Meishan “Nearly 1,000 years ago, this was the residence of three notable literature scholars of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Su Zhe and Su Xun. These scholars showed great sympathy towards the poor. President Xi has also quoted Su Shi many times. For example, in governing a country, do not make trouble willfully, but do not fear trouble if there is any. Xi’s visit to Meishan not only bolstered confidence among the population but also revived enthusiasm in preserving Chinese historical and cultural heritage.”

Preserving cultural heritage and protecting the environment have been key elements in modern China’s pursuit of sustainability.

President Xi also visited Sanjiangkou, where the Jinsha and Minjiang Rivers converge into the Yangtze, to observe the ecological restoration and protection of the Yangtze River Basin.

“Clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver.” A famous quote from the Chinese president has been widely passed on in China, showing increasing attention put on green development.

And fittingly at graduation season, Xi found time to speak with students from Yibin University.

In a country of 1.4 billion people, maintaining rapid economic development needs many more talented young people.

Something the Chinese leader definitely cares about.

XI JINPING Chinese President “I am happy to see all you young people taking bigger responsibilities. I think you should all have this sense of career, responsibility, achievement, and work hard for it.”

Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Sichuan Province.

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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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