In January 2023, I took on a faculty position at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. During my first semester, I taught a course on China and the global economy, which aimed to help MBA students from across the world gain a better understanding of China's evolving role in international business and technology affairs. The course went so well that I was asked to teach two sections for the MBA students in the fall and introduce an undergraduate version of the course.

Unfortunately, in August 2023, I resigned from my position at UNC due to irreconcilable differences regarding the university's discouraging approach to engagement with China. The top academic administrators at UNC simply believed that deepening engagement with China would put the integrity of the university's research system in jeopardy and pose unacceptable national security risks.

My problems began when I was invited to speak at the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing in May 2023. To obtain university approval, I had to navigate through a bureaucratic gauntlet that involved a review of my intended trip by the university security office, the office dealing with export controls, the vice provost for global affairs, the university research office and the IT office.

I was told that I could not bring my university-supplied computer to China, nor could I log in to the university email system from China. According to university security officials, since China deploys telecommunications equipment from Huawei, which is not an approved US equipment supplier (for security reasons), I could not access the university IT system while in China. However, despite these restrictions, I was eventually granted approval to travel to China as a keynote speaker. In order to obtain this approval, I had to disclose the details of my invitation, the source of my ticket and local expenses, the content of my presentation, and the expected audience size of 2,500-3,000 people.

The myopic thinking of the administration went even further. In July, the Chinese embassy in DC contacted me to arrange a meeting in North Carolina for a small visiting group of three people from the public affairs section - not the military affairs section or even the science and technology section. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange ideas about the state of China-US relations. This is the type of meeting I had organized on many occasions during my three-plus decades as an academic in the US. There were to be no campus visits to labs or other research facilities, no media and no photos. The Chinese group requested that I invite five to six UNC faculty members who had previous engagements with China so that they could get a broad perspective of opinions about the problems and issues involved in cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.

The morning before the visit, however, I received an urgent call from the UNC Provost reprimanding me for organizing such meetings without top-tier approval from the university, even if the meeting was only to be held in the business school where I had my faculty appointment. While Kenan-Flagler Business School colleagues and administrators were extremely supportive of my activities with China, the same could not be said for the university administration. The provost subsequently sent me a strong written admonishment stating that my contract did not include inviting foreign diplomats to campus. The embassy visit did proceed as planned because there was not enough time to cancel it, but the actions that I seemed to provoke were totally inconsistent with the idea that UNC Chapel Hill is a true global university. 

The final straw in this downward spiral was a decision made by the university that there would be no university-sponsored student trips to China. For both undergraduate and graduate students in the business school, it has become common to participate in a two-to-three-week global immersion experience to highlight the fact that all business is international. Of course, given my four decades of connections in China, I wanted to bring one or two student groups to China to meet both Chinese and international business executives and local officials to learn about doing business in the world's second-largest economy. However, I was told that the university follows the US State Department rating system about country risk and since China was in the Category Three designation, it could not be an approved destination. Category Three means "Do not go if you do not need to go." To the best of my knowledge, no foreign student has ever been restricted from leaving China, but this remains US policy. Accordingly, no trips are recommended to the Chinese mainland or even Hong Kong due to recent developments regarding its national security policy.

For me, this way of approaching engagement with China represents narrow-minded thinking and ignores the reality of China's growing importance in world affairs. The US needs graduates who are knowledgeable about China from their on-the-ground experience - about Chinese culture, society, geography and politics. We also need a cohort of young people who speak Chinese to facilitate better communication. By restricting university interactions with China, UNC and many other public universities in the US are acting in ways that are detrimental to both the interests of the US and the possibility of mending fences with China.

The souring of China-US relations over the last several years has had an important shaping effect on international relations, and the tensions between the two countries have frequently become highly problematic. Nonetheless, we must face reality: There is no global problem out there whose meaningful solution will not require close China-US cooperation. In other words, we must find a better way to work together if there is to be any hope of effectively unraveling the plethora of growing transnational problems we face - climate change, global pandemics, food security, management of AI and water management, to name a few. Universities should be at the forefront of building bridges across borders and cultures, not knocking them down.

Moreover, universities, through the education and training they provide to our young people from across the world, are our best hope of overcoming ethnic and racial bias, socio-cultural misperception, and outdated perspectives that contain antiquated cold war thinking. Fortunately, some universities, especially the private ones in the US, have not succumbed to this type of obsolete thinking. In this regard, the proposal by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2023 for China to host 50,000 American students over five years represents a breath of fresh air. Of course, many details need to be worked out. Let us all hope that reason will prevail and that even universities such as UNC will allow their students to participate in this and other types of related education exchanges and cooperative projects between the two countries.

China exported 5.22 million vehicles in 2023, becoming a leading car exporter in the world. Of all vehicle exports, about one-third were new-energy vehicles (NEVs), totaling 1.773 million units, up 67.1 percent year-on-year, according to statistics the General Administration of Customs released on Friday.

The export figure reflects the remarkable achievements China's auto industry has made in the transition to auto electrification and intelligence, which will also accelerate the transformation process of the global automobile sector, industry insiders said.

Such industrial transition was showcased by the latest high-tech products developed by Chinese carmakers unveiled at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held from January 7 to 10 in Las Vegas.

For example, an affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng revealed its "flying car" concept model at the event. The electric vertical takeoff and landing car will be available for preorder from the fourth quarter of 2024, with the goal of delivering the first shipment by the fourth quarter of 2025, the company said.

The industrial transition to electrification and intelligence also enabled BYD to overtake Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Industrial chain upgrading

An industry insider surnamed Zhang told the Global Times that, currently, almost all China-made cars, especially NEVs, are intelligent ones as they are equipped with smart functions such as autopilot and voice control. "It is somehow embarrassing for Chinese automakers to unveil a new car without intelligent features."

China's auto output exceeded 30.16 million units in 2023, up 11.6 percent year-on-year, and sales exceeded 30.09 million units, up 12 percent, according to data the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released on Thursday. Both output and sales set new records, ranking first in the world for 15 consecutive years, the CAAM said.

In particular, China produced 9.587 million NEVs in 2023, up 35.8 percent year-on-year. Sales of NEVs reached 9.495 million units, up 37.9 percent, making the NEV penetration rate at 31.6 percent, according to the CAAM.

The production of intelligent cars can drive a lot of industries, including software, hardware, chips, sensors, industrial data and more. A car is a larger application terminal than a mobile phone, and can boost the development of many high-tech industries, and vice versa, Zhang said.

A typical smart car is equipped with about 1,700 chips, a manager of a Chinese chip part supplier who works closely with the auto industry told the Global Times.

"The chip industrial chain is a long one. When it combines the automobile industrial chain, you can imagine how many upstream and downstream enterprises are connected and boosted," the manager said on condition of anonymity.

According to a recent report published by AskCI Consulting Co, a Chinese industrial consultancy, China's automotive chip market size was about 79.46 billion yuan ($11.1 billion) in 2022, and is expected to reach 90.54 billion yuan in 2024.

"China's significant uplift in the production and exports of cars means that smart parts and software will be boosted, which will help shore up the position of Chinese automobile part suppliers in the global value chain," the above-quoted Zhang said.

So far, large-scale NEV industrial hubs have been in the making in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, the Pearl River Delta in South China and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle in Southwest China.

These NEV hubs have attracted more than 1,000 domestic and foreign enterprises, forming a complete and organic collaborative industrial chain and supply chain system for NEVs - covering the whole chain of basic materials, parts, and vehicle production.

Leading globally

Industry insiders pointed out that the production and sales of intelligent cars in China, which is now at the forefront of the global market, have fueled the development of the entire industrial chain and related technologies.

Zhang cited LiDAR, dubbed as the "eyes" for cars. Chinese suppliers produce and ship hundreds of thousands of sets every month for domestic and foreign carmakers.

Nearly 600,000 LiDAR units were shipped to passenger vehicles in 2023 in China alone, according to industry media HiEV, up from about 160,000 in 2022.

"The LiDAR market was first led by US suppliers, such as Velodyne. But its marketplace was soon largely replaced by RoboSense Technology Co and Hesai Technology, two Chinese lidar manufacturers. Their success was largely boosted by the massive Chinese auto market," Zhang said, adding that Chinese lidar is now commonly used in foreign car brands too.

RoboSense unveiled the newest in its M Platform line of sensors, which are deployed for advanced driver assistance and autonomy, at this year's CES event.

"As the world's first lidar company to achieve mass production of automotive-grade solid state LiDAR, in parallel with remarkable milestones in production and delivery, CES 2024 is the perfect stage to launch the latest cutting-edge solutions in our M Platform," said Steven Qui, Robosense's CEO and founder, in a statement the company sent to the Global Times.

"Alongside our key partners, RoboSense is providing attendees an inside look into how we are making the commercialization of LiDAR a reality," Qui said.

Hesai, which also participated in the CES 2024, has recently completed the construction of a new research and development (R&D) center of nearly 70,000 square meters in Shanghai for manufacturing named Maxwell, the company told the Global Times.

"Our new Maxwell facility is not a traditional manufacturing facility but an advanced R&D center where we design and build automated lidar production lines, which can then be easily replicated across our global network of manufacturing facilities," said David Li, co-founder and CEO of Hesai.

The facility includes the world's most advanced lidar testing lab and will utilize many smart industrial robots allowing for the automation of over 100 production processes with an automation rate of 90 percent and a 45 second cycle time per lidar unit, according to Hesai.

A Chinese manufacturer of high-precision positioning products told the Global Times that the company is planning to set up new production lines in early 2024 to better supply the domestic and overseas markets, given the fast-developing automobile industry.

"We are upgrading our positioning products to meet automakers' need, especially in level 3 autonomous driving," the manufacturer said.

According to national standards, there are six levels of autonomous driving ranging from level 0 to level 5. Starting from level 3, vehicles are considered conditionally autonomous.

The year 2024 is expected to be the Year One of the explosive development of autonomous driving technology, analysts said.

Although compared to the US, China is a relative latecomer in the field of autonomous driving, China has been catching up very fast and has amassed some comparable strength- vis-à-vis the US - over the past three years, Zhang Xiang, director of the Digital Automotive International Cooperation Research Center at World Digital Economy Forum, told the Global Times.

"The next three years will be a critical period for the commercialization and large-scale application of high-level autonomous driving features in China," Zhang the director said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with visiting Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, agreeing to enhance ties and voicing against "decoupling."

The meeting carries unique significance as it opens a new year of high-level diplomacy between China and the EU in 2024, and can serve as an opportunity for the two sides to continue the momentum of engagement to deepen mutual understanding and expand cooperation, analysts said.

Such contact is even more important when the world is struggling with a sluggish economy, geopolitical uncertainty and regional conflicts, they said.

New momentum

China and Belgium are both beneficiaries of economic globalization and share common interests in resisting protectionism and safeguarding free trade, Xi told De Croo, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China appreciates De Croo's open opposition to the decoupling or severing of industrial and supply chains on many occasions, welcomes Belgian companies to invest in China, and stands ready to provide them with a sound business environment, Xi said, expressing his hope that Belgium will also provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.

Xi said the two sides can combine their respective strengths to expand cooperation in traditional areas such as transportation, logistics and biopharmaceuticals, and explore new growth areas for cooperation such as green development and digital economy.

He called on the two sides to encourage government departments, legislatures, and sub-national areas to strengthen exchanges and dialogue, expand tourism and exchange of students, organize large-scale cultural activities in each other's country, and carry out research on giant panda protection.

Xi said China is willing to strengthen communication with Belgium within multilateral frameworks such as the UN and carry out cooperation on issues such as climate change and biodiversity protection.

De Croo said the Belgium-China relationship is a pacesetter in European countries' ties with China in many aspects, noting that Belgium will continue to abide by the one-China policy, and have candid dialogue with China to deepen understanding and push for continuous development of bilateral relations in political, economic and other fields.

De Croo said Belgium opposes decoupling or severing of industrial and supply chains, welcomes Chinese enterprises to carry out cooperation in Belgium, and hopes to strengthen personnel and cultural exchanges with China.

A number of Belgian entrepreneurs accompanied De Croo on his visit, including industry leaders such as Solvay and Bekaert, said Cao Zhongming, Chinese ambassador to Belgium.

"I believe they will take full advantage of the high-level visit opportunity to engage in in-depth exchanges and collaborative discussions with Chinese officials and the business community to inject new impetus into bilateral economy, trade and investment cooperation," Cao told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.

China and the European Union (EU) have already conducted frequent interactions in 2023. But the visit by the Belgian prime minister carries unique significance as the country is the EU's political heartland and holds the presidency of the Council of the EU for 2024.

During the Friday meeting, while stressing that China maintains long-term consistency in its policy toward Europe, Xi said China has always regarded Europe as a partner and hopes that Europe will play a positive and constructive role as an important force in a multipolar world.

In the face of the changing and volatile international situation, China and Europe need to build more "bridges," he added.

Xi said the two sides should work more closely to promote an equal and orderly global multipolarity and an economic globalization that benefits all, and jointly promote world peace, stability and prosperity.

China is willing to work with the EU to foster progress in China-EU relations in the new year and hopes that Belgium, as the EU rotating presidency, will play a positive role in this regard, Xi added.

De Croo noted that he was deeply impressed by President Xi's vivid description of "bridges" during his visit to Belgium a decade ago.

Amid the changing and turbulent international situation, the world needs China and Europe to work as partners and strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas such as promoting world economic growth, addressing climate change and building a more stable world, De Croo said.

Belgium, as the rotating presidency of the EU, is willing to play an active role in the development of EU-China relations and hopes that this visit will help elevate Belgium-China and EU-China relations, he added.

Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Friday that China-Belgium relations remain more stable with China-EU ties witnessing major changes in the past few years. It is hoped that the country can make positive contributions to resolving some China-EU trade disputes, Cui said.

The expert also underlined that China and EU should communicate on global hot spot issues including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and try to maximize common views to facilitate the settlement of those issues.
Coping with changes

Despite the overall momentum of engagement, noises and waves still persist in China-EU relations. The European Commission initiated an anti-subsidies probe into electric vehicles (EVs) from China in October 2023 and hyped Chinese espionage in recent months.

Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times that trade disputes between China and the EU are nothing new, and there have been many cases of this. However, they have not affected bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the past.

The "spy" claims were mainly hype from some media and right-wing politicians, Zhao said, as he stressed both sides should avoid escalating individual cases in certain fields to the level of overall trend of bilateral ties.

It is irresponsible and shortsighted to conclude that "sound China-EU relations are over" as a result of small skirmishes, Zhao said.

According to analysts, the EU shows duality in dealing with China - emphasizing cooperation while being harsh on values and ideology.

Cui pointed out that Europe has to cling to "political correctness" on "political" topics such as security and human rights. "Improving the EU's public opinion environment [toward China] and dispelling misconceptions requires practical cooperation and remains a challenging task."

China also recognizes that the EU's position - its economic structure and security dependence on the US - means it is difficult to maintain a completely independent policy, and handles disputes with the bloc in a way that is resilient to external disruptions, Cui said.

The EU is encouraged to adjust its mind-set in front of a strong China that is different from Europe in many aspects but is a sincere and trustworthy partner, analysts said.

Through a series of interactions in 2023, China and the EU have reached consensus on the importance of bilateral relations as well as the fact that the relationship is undergoing major changes.

"The crux is how to cope with the changes," Cui said. China copes with them with a positive attitude, believing that changes bring about new opportunities; but the EU tends to see those changes through a negative lens as risks and challenges.

Against the backdrop of a resurgence in European populism and conservatism and the European Parliament elections, the EU is in urgent need of leaders who have the strategic vision and political wisdom to guide the bloc as it goes through this concurrent turbulence, Chinese observers said.

They hope that in 2024, more European politicians can come to visit China, see a real China through their own eyes and engage with China in person, so as to establish a more comprehensive and less biased view of the country on the other end of the Eurasian continent.

As Indonesian President Joko Widodo kicked off his visit to the Philippines with the South China Sea issue on the agenda, Chinese experts believe that as leader of a major country in the region, Widodo will try to talk some sense into his Filipino counterpart to stop instigating tensions in the South China Sea, and that the Code of Conduct cannot be reached without the consensus of all regional countries, which must include China.

After meeting with Widodo on Wednesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said they had a "fruitful and honest discussion" on regional events of mutual interests including developments in the South China Sea, media reported. 

However, the Indonesian side made no such mention of this, saying only that the two countries agreed to "expedite revision of joint border patrol and crossing agreements, also to strengthen the defense cooperation including on military hardware," the Strait Times reported on Wednesday. 

Ahead of Widodo's three-day visit to the Philippines, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday her country is "ready to work together with all ASEAN member states including the Philippines to finalize the [South China Sea] Code of Conduct as soon as possible," Reuters reported.

Widodo's trip to the Philippines demonstrates Indonesia's strong commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the region, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Experts said that the Indonesian president's visit came at a time when the world is in tumult, with the US, Europe and the Middle East being all embroiled in turmoil, while the Philippines is still trying to stir up troubles in the South China Sea that may threaten the hard-won peace and stability in Southeast Asia. 

Indonesia understands the value of peace and the positive relations with China, Gu said, so Widodo will likely engage in talks with Marcos to urge the Philippines to abandon its attempt to seek external interference from countries like the US to try deterring China, as well as call for the formation of a code of conduct that is agreed upon by all regional countries, including China. 

Although China and ASEAN have been working on a South China Sea code of conduct for more than two decades, the Philippines claimed in November 2023 that it is pushing for a separate set of rules and regulations with its neighbors, excluding China.

Gu said Marcos' proposal is simply not possible because many ASEAN member countries would not come on board with a plan that will provoke China. "Most ASEAN members are friendly toward China, as time has proven that closer ties with China will greatly boost their economy, trade and investment and tourism."

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, warned that the Philippines' move is destructive to the unity and cohesion of ASEAN, which are of utmost importance, and could even lead to the division of ASEAN itself. 

Wu criticized the recent provocative actions by the Philippines as "naive" and "veering off track." He noted that China is not the only claimant in the South China Sea, but more importantly, a key player in the negotiations regarding the disputes, and without China's participation, the "code of conduct" has no meaning. 

As the farce of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's absence continues to unfold, the Pentagon revealed on Tuesday local time that the key cabinet member had undergone surgery for prostate cancer and had suffered complications.

Austin sits only below President Joe Biden in the chain of command for the US military and Biden learned about the diagnosis of prostate cancer only on Tuesday, according to the White House.

Days after Austin's unannounced hospitalization shocked the White House, Americans as well as the world, this lag in notifying a serious diagnosis again proves the dysfunction in the US' chain of command and control, Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Austin may have kept his health situation secret for the sake of his own career, but for the administration system, it is a huge loophole, Lü said.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was on vacation in Puerto Rico when she was abruptly told to assume some of Austin's responsibilities on January 2. She was informed of the situation on January 4, the same day as Biden knew.

If Austin can keep his health situation a secret within the cabinet, he can also keep other information secret, Lü noted.

Considering the US is a global power with prominent military presence overseas, such a shortcoming in governance is not only a threat to US security, but also poses a major risk to global security, Lü said.

The Pentagon confirmed that Austin remained hospitalized on Tuesday. A spokesperson did not provide an update for when he would be discharged, but claimed Austin has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor the US Department of Defense's operations, media reported on Wednesday.

Biden also has "complete confidence" in his defense secretary and plans to keep him in his position through his term, according to CNN on Tuesday.

Analysts said Biden may be inclined to keep Austin in the post at first as personnel changes amid whiting-hot presidential election campaigns could impact Democrats negatively, but such "protection" is likely to frustrate American voters and has already incurred fierce attacks from the Republicans.

Lü believes the farce of internal politics will also cause shock waves for US diplomacy.

The incident and potential personnel change adds to uncertainty in US foreign policy, and China, which the US describes as a competitor, has prepare for the uncertainty and future risks. The US' global image is again under question and its allies in different geopolitical blocs, be it QUAD or AUKUS, will have to carefully weigh US promises and actual commitment, Lü noted.

China's services sector continued to revive in December 2023 as its yearlong recovery kept on going, a survey showed on Thursday. The Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI) - a private gauge - expanded at the quickest pace in five months in December to 52.9 from 51.5 in November.

The Caixin PMI surveys cover mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and private-sector companies. The rebound in both the services PMI and the manufacturing PMI demonstrates a continuous pickup for companies at the midstream and downstream of industry chains, and the strong momentum will persist in 2024, analysts said.

The rise in the services PMI for December was the quickest since July, an accompanying press release showed. Companies signaled a solid increase in activity and new business, with the expansion of new business at the quickest pace since May.

The gauge remained in expansion territory throughout all of 2023, signaling a sustained recovery in the services sector, Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, was quoted as saying in the press release. A reading below 50 indicates contraction, while one above 50 indicates expansion.

Wang said that both supply and demand expanded, while external demand continued its upward trajectory for the fourth consecutive month with the reading hitting the highest level since June.

SMEs are the major participants of the services sector with a relatively strong market dynamic. The continuous growth of the services PMI indicated that the recovery of the country's economy, especially the services sector, has been keeping pace, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The continued growth for the PMI reading also showed market demand has been bouncing back as the services sector is the closest to the market, Cong said.

The rebound in both the services and manufacturing PMIs showed that the midstream and downstream of the country's industry chain has continued recovering, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The manufacturing PMI for December, which was released earlier this week, hit a four-month high at 50.8.

The positive figures show that the private sector is making progress, flagging a revival for the market mechanism, Hu said. Market players are willing to rebuild their inventories, representing a further recovery of the country's economic fundamentals.

The consumption boom with bustling travel and spending during the just-concluded New Year's Day holidays was the latest example of the recovery.

During the three-day holidays, a total of 135 million domestic tourist trips were made, up 155.3 percent year-on-year, and total domestic tourism revenue reached 79.73 billion yuan ($11.22 billion), jumping 200.7 percent from the same period in 2023 and 5.6 percent from 2019 before the pandemic, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed.

Transitioning into 2024, experts are optimistic that fresh momentum will emerge amid favorable conditions and support.

"Optimism prevails in the services industry, with enterprises expressing confidence in an improved economic outlook for the coming year. This sentiment was reflected in the gauge for businesses' expectations about future activity, " Wang said.

Hu said that some concerns such as systemic risks related to the real estate sector and local debt have been eliminated, and further macro policies will be rolled out and will produce effects.

Amid the sustained recovery, experts said that challenges linger. For instance, Cong said that companies still face pressure from operating costs and uncertain external demand. More stimulus is likely to be rolled out, he said.

Favorable conditions outweigh unfavorable factors in China's development, and the fundamental trend of the economic recovery and long-term positive outlook has not changed, noted the Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded in December, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The December meeting called for efforts to pursue progress while ensuring stability, consolidate stability through progress, and establish the new before abolishing the old, regarding the economic work for 2024.

Domestic operating systems (OS) are set for an explosive growth in 2024, as the sector's self-reliance efforts show effectiveness amid the intensified US crackdown, industry observers said, and the coming of the Internet of Everything era, where Chinese firms have an advantage, will bolster that trend.

Huawei's HarmonyOS will be one of the main OS to lead that growth, and it will take share away from foreign counterparts, they said.

According to a report by TechInsights, Huawei's HarmonyOS is projected to surpass Apple's iOS as the second-biggest OS in China. The report suggests that HarmonyOS is poised to achieve a milestone in 2024 with the commercial launch of the HarmonyOS NEXT, a revised version that is not compatible with Android.

Despite Huawei's previous challenges related to the supply constraints of the Kirin 9000s chipset, TechInsights anticipates a potential easing of these limitations in the coming months. This could lead to a solid recovery for Huawei in 2024, reshuffling the landscape of the Chinese smartphone OS market and challenging both Apple and Android manufacturers for their market shares.

"The past year was extraordinary and marked the beginning of native HarmonyOS applications. Today, on the first day of 2024, we are entering a crucial year for the comprehensive evolution of the HarmonyOS ecosystem," He Gang, chief operating officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said on Monday.

The Shenzhen-based telecoms giant launched HarmonyOS in August 2019, three months after Google stopped providing its suite of proprietary mobile software services to the company due to US sanctions.

Rather than being a replacement, the company stressed that the OS can also be deployed across multiple devices, including smartphones, computers and other electronic devices.

"The HarmonyOS was designed for the Internet of Everything era. It was launched earlier than expected in 2019 due to the US sanctions, but it also helped the OS gain an early foothold in the highly competitive domestic market," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst and close follower of the company, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The ecosystem of HarmonyOS has gradually taken shape after years of development, spanning all walks of life including transportation, social networking, gaming, office productivity, shopping, lifestyle uses and education, Ma said.

In recent months, several major domestic internet companies and leading enterprises including financial technology giant Ant Group, e-commerce firm JD.com, video gaming giant NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan have announced plans to build new versions of their mobile apps based on HarmonyOS.

On December 6, 2023, McDonald's China and Huawei reached a cooperation agreement, officially announcing that the McDonald's China app will adopt the HarmonyOS NEXT, making it one of the first global multinational chain restaurants to join the ecosystem, McDonald's China said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

Apart from Huawei's HarmonyOS, 2024 is poised to be a breakthrough period for the development of domestic OS in China, Zhang Hong, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday.

One of the main reasons for this development is that the intensified restrictions imposed by the US will accelerate the process of localization in China, placing a dual emphasis on security and development. This trend has spurred a concerted effort to reduce dependence on foreign technologies and foster the growth of Chinese alternatives, Zhang said.

Moreover, the rapid development and usage of smart devices in the nation is expected to enable Chinese companies to further outpace their global counterparts in the Internet of Everything era, Ma said.

Hong Kong residents began lining up in front of polling stations across the city early on Sunday morning as the city kicked off its first large-scale election since the introduction of new electoral reforms, which requires that only patriots can administer the city. Over 1 million voters had cast their votes, equal to a turnout of 24.53 percent as of 19:30 pm.

The 7th District Council (DC) Election is selecting 176 district councilors from district committees and 88 local district councilors from a pool of 399 candidates. Over 600 polling stations were set up across the city to serve about 4.33 million electors, and a total of 18 District Committees constituency polling stations for constituency voters. 

A number of candidates, voters and Hong Kong analysts told the Global Times on the voting day that the election was fiercely competitive and "very colorful." Because every candidate has to be a patriot, it is believed this election will have a positive impact on Hong Kong's future and its governance. 

Vote for better community

At about 8 am on Sunday, Global Times reporters visited several polling stations located on Robinson Road in Hong Kong Island, Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon and other places, seeing that the staff at the polling stations were already ready and waiting at the entrances to the polling stations. 

Large and small signboards and posters for the District Council election were hung up everywhere to guide voters. There were also staff outside the polling station to assist the elderly or other voters in need. Before voting officially started at 8:30 am, voters were already waiting outside the polling station.

At around 9:15 am on Sunday, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee and his wife Janet Lee Lam cast their votes at the polling station at 2 Robinson Road, Raimondi College. 

This year's DC election is of great significance because the district council was hijacked in the past and some district council members openly advocated "Hong Kong independence" and did things that endangered national security, Lee said at a press briefing shortly after he cast his vote. 

"As we improve district governance, the purpose of the entire plan is to return the district council to its original intention, which is to be a non-political organization with patriots' participation as our district councilors and will not betray national interests, Hong Kong interests, and regional interests," Lee said. 

Therefore, everyone must take this DC election seriously, make good use of your vote, and elect a district councilor who, first, loves the country and loves Hong Kong; second, is a district councilor who will serve you well, Lee said, calling on the public to cast their votes on Sunday. 

Lee also noted that under the new electoral system, the government also has a duty performance monitoring system to ensure that the elected district councilors will be competent, meet the needs of the public and achieve the expected work levels.

The restructured DC will be a DC that implements the principle of "only patriots administering Hong Kong." It is the last piece of the puzzle for us to implement this principle and ensure that the entire governance system of Hong Kong complies with the requirements of One Country, Two Systems, Lee said. 

Michael Ngai, a Hong Kong entrepreneur, arrived at the polling station early in the morning and lined up. After voting, he told the Global Times that he was very happy to see that people from different backgrounds and political parties could become candidates in this election. 

"I'm even more happy that all the candidates this time were patriotic, holding the same ideals and having good intentions to serve society," he said, noting that the candidates' professional abilities and their experience and achievements in serving society in the past few years are the basis for choosing whom to vote for.

A major difference for the DC election this year compared to that in 2019 is that candidates are running for the public good now rather than using the DC to push a political agenda, a 46-year-old local resident surnamed Chan told the Global Times at the polling station in Yaumatei Catholic Primary School on Sunday morning, adding that "We hope that they will work to solve our problems and difficulties in the community."

The DC election in 2019 was described as the most chaotic and dangerous election in Hong Kong's history, as some polling stations were encircled by anti-government forces and rioters attacked ordinary residents who voted for pro-establishment candidates. The offices of almost all patriotic candidates were destroyed and set on fire by rioters, and their families and volunteers were targeted or even attacked. 

However, local authorities have not relaxed their vigilance on this year's voting day. The Global Times reporters noticed there were police patrolled outside multiple polling stations to prevent potential disruptive incidents. 

According to local media reports, during the DC election, more than 10,000 police officers were to be dispatched to polling stations, important infrastructure and crowded places across Hong Kong. Each polling station had at least two police officers stationed there. In addition, the anti-terrorism special service team were reportedly conducted "high-profile anti-terrorism patrols" in densely populated areas to prepare for all incidents.

The computer system at polling stations across Hong Kong malfunctioned on Sunday evening, as the electronic voter registration system became temporarily unavailable. Long queues were seen outside the polling stations at some districts due to the malfunction. The Electoral Affairs Commission announced around 10 pm an extension of the voting deadline to the midnight.

Significant election

This DC election is an important part of implementing "only patriots administering Hong Kong" and reshaping Hong Kong's political order and governance structure, Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies who is also a senior policy advisor, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Patriotic groups and individuals have actively participated, and the competition was fierce. In particular, the active participation of many young people with higher academic qualifications was eye-catching, Lau said. 

Before the election, the HKSAR government and patriotic groups actively invested [resources] in publicity and mobilization work, showing "unprecedented unity and cooperation," Lau said. "I believe this will have a positive significance for Hong Kong's future good governance and the stability and long-term implementation of One Country, Two Systems, he added. 

In response to some foreign media's descriptions of this election such as "just a show" or "marginalizing opposition figures," Lau said that a "colorful election" refers to the "colorful colors within the patriotic camp," and does not necessarily have to include candidates who do not accept Hong Kong's new policies. 

Only those who belong to the political order can be considered "colorful" by running for election. From this perspective, the candidates for this election come from different professions, backgrounds and groups, and are indeed quite diverse, he said. 

Over the past few days, the Global Times found that during this DC election, there was indeed fierce competition among different candidates, but at the same time the atmosphere was harmonious, completely different from the 2019 DC election, which was rife with mutual abuse, criticism and serious social confrontation. The main competition now is about "political platform" and their ability to serve the community.

Taking the most competitive Wan Chai constituency as an example, it is surprising that several "competing" candidates met together to canvass for votes on the streets. 

"This DC election is much more intense than the previous term, or even every term," Jeff Wong Sau-tung, a candidate from the district, told the Global Times. 

All candidates are working hard to improve residents' lives, he said. For example, he is committed to work to solve the rat problem in Wan Chai and add more bus lines to the area. 

Another candidate, Nicholas Muk Ka-chun, told the Global Times that in 2019, some candidates did not appear in the community at all on weekdays, but most of the candidates this time have rich service experience in order to win public support. For example, he began to actively participate in the community's anti-epidemic work and distributed supplies to local people in 2020.

The turnout is the focus of attention from all walks of life. In order to encourage more people to vote, in recent days, many officials of the HKSAR government and many celebrities from Hong Kong's political and business circles have come to the streets, restaurants and buildings to distribute leaflets and cheer for the candidates. 

The composition, voter base and voting system of this DC election are different from those of the 2019 District Council election. Therefore, it is not appropriate to directly compare the cumulative turnout rates of the two elections, David Lok, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, told reporters at the polling station in Yaumatei. 

He also said he was confident the election would be conducted in an open, honest, and fair manner, and that the polling and counting of votes would be smooth and completed within a reasonable time.

The turnout in the first four hours was considered to be good. If the overall turnout rate is similar to the voting in the 2021 Legislative Council (LegCo) election, it would be a relatively satisfactory result, former LegCo president Jasper Tsang told reporters on Sunday. 

The social atmosphere in this DC election is completely different from that in 2019. At that time, there was "smoke of wars everywhere" and some people said they were afraid to come out to vote. Now the social atmosphere is peaceful, which is conducive for voters to be willing to come out to vote, Tsang added.  

"The level of voting turnout is not an important indicator to measure the effectiveness of the new election. What is more important is to see the impact of the DC reform on Hong Kong's political stability, governance efficiency, regional governance level and other aspects," Lau said. 

At this stage, opposition forces and their supporters still account for a large number of Hong Kong voters. Opposition forces are not eligible to run because they do not meet the standards of "patriots administering Hong Kong," and the above-mentioned people are resistant to Hong Kong's new political structure. It is not surprising that they adopt a passive boycott of this election, he said. 

However, the expert believes that judging from local elections in other countries around the world and Hong Kong's past DC elections under normal circumstances, it is a good result if the turnout rate is no lower than 25 percent. 

"As patriotic forces continue to grow and Hong Kong's governance gradually achieves results, I believe that the turnout in DC elections will increase in the future," he said. 

Actress Kathy Chow Hoi-mei has died at the age of 57 due to an illness, Chow's studio announced on Tuesday. Netizens were angered by the leak of a screenshot of an electronic medical record believed to have belonged to Chow, allegedly from a hospital in Beijing's Shunyi district. They called for greater respect for the deceased and expressed anger over the leak.

The public security bureau in Shunyi district announced on Thursday that a 36-year-old male suspect surnamed Fu has been placed under administrative detention after he took advantage of his job at a hospital in Shunyi and released a screenshot of a patient’s medical record to WeChat group on Monday for the purpose of showing off, leading to the spread of personal information and creating a bad social impact. 

Fu and the hospital involved will possibly face multiple penalties according to the health administrative punishment rules of Beijing municipality which were revised in January of 2023. 

The hospital may be issued a warning and receive a penalty between 10,000 yuan ($1,394) and 50,000 yuan. The punishment will be publicized for 12 months or longer. Doctors and nurses involved may face suspension or have their medical licenses revoked under severe circumstances. 

The Shunyi district health authority said that it had noticed the situation and an investigation is underway, media reports said on Wednesday. The screenshot of the medical record went viral online on Tuesday night, showing Chow's personal information, treatment time, and other related information, according to media reports.

The results of the investigation will be announced to the public in due course, said the report, citing an employee from the health authority. The police have also started to investigate, according to media reports.

An insider said that two suspects have been handed over to the police, one of whom is an employee at the hospital involved and the other is the employee's friend. The employee has been suspended from work and the hospital is waiting for the result of the police investigation, The Beijing News reported.

The exposure of the medical record caused outrage among many netizens, who expressed their anger: "She has already passed away, and her privacy is being exposed in such a naked manner!" "This is so unethical!" "It disrespects the privacy of the deceased!"

Some netizens asked who could have released the medical record and queried whether it violated laws and regulations.

"I didn't look at it. I hope the relevant medical department will investigate the case. This is a violation of patient privacy," one netizen wrote.

China's top health authority issued a special action plan for patient safety (2023-25) in September, emphasizing the importance of information security and prevention of data leakage, destruction, and loss. It is strictly prohibited for anyone to provide patient diagnosis and treatment information to others or other institutions without authorization.

Chow was a highly talented actress noted for many iconic roles throughout her acting career. The roles that are unforgettable for the post-80s generation include her portrayal of Zhou Zhiruo, one of the lead characters in the wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, by famous Chinese martial arts novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung, more widely known by his pen name Jin Yong.

Chow's talent and dedication to her career made her a respected figure in the industry, and her most famous roles are still cherished by her fans. Chow's passing has been a trending topic on Sina Weibo since Tuesday, with fans and netizens expressing their shock and sadness over her sudden death. Many shared their favorite memories of the actress. Chow's Weibo account has nearly 1 million fans.

Various actors, including her ex-husband Raymond Lui Leung-wai, also paid tribute to her. "I can't calm down for a long time after hearing this news. Thank you for bringing so much beauty to the world. May you continue to laugh in another world," Lui wrote via Weibo.

Severe cold fronts have extended their grip over the majority of China, sending temperatures plunging below freezing and breaking historic extreme low records in multiple places, prompting authorities to deploy preventive arrangements to deal with possible extreme situations.

While experts reminded the public to take preventive measures to protect themselves as well as livestock as some places recorded temperatures below -40 C, they also assured the public there was no need to panic since China has strong capability to cope with extreme weather emergencies.

The past weekend was the coldest in the latter part of the year for a vast area of the country, with 23 provincial capital cities seeing record low temperatures since November, according to weather.com.cn.

The temperature difference between the highs and lows recorded at meteorological stations across China reached 76 C on Saturday, with the highest temperature of 31.8 C recorded in Baoting in South China's Hainan Province and the lowest of -44.2 C recorded in Tulihe township of Yakeshi city in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

A total of 30 national-level meteorological stations in multiple provinces and cities such as Hebei, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin and Liaoning, recorded historic extreme low temperatures for December on Sunday morning, with five stations in Shanxi, Hebei and Liaoning seeing new records since their establishment.

On Sunday, China's capital Beijing also suffered the coldest day of the winter season at -15.5 C. It was the third lowest temperature for the period since 1951, when China started collecting complete and continuous meteorological observation data.

As of 8 am in Beijing, 14 of 20 national meteorological stations saw new records for extreme low temperatures for mid-December.

Over the past few days, snowfalls have swept through the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest desert, in the Tarim Basin in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, covering the sand dunes under a "white coat."

Temperatures in some places in South China's Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plunged 12 to 16 C in one day, leading to freezing rain and roads.

Affected by heavy snow, on Thursday evening, a subway train along the Changping Line in Beijing collided with the rear of a preceding train that had made an emergency stop, resulting in a separation of carriages, according to the preliminary investigation into the accident. A total of 102 people suffered fractures with no fatalities, authorities said on Friday.

In the wake of the accident, the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief in a notification on Sunday urged authorities to strengthen patrols and control of key road sections, inspections of subways, overpasses, underpasses, and roads prone to freezing and accidents to effectively prevent accidents.

Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said that these cold waves have caused a vast area of snowfall, which will have a huge impact on the buildings, traffic and other infrastructure facilities that may affect the normal production and life orders in cities. Besides this, the snow can reflect sunlight and further slower warming during the day.

Especially in areas with extreme cold weather, such as in Inner Mongolia and Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province where temperatures below -40 C have been recorded, great caution should be taken to keep people and livestock warm and prevent damage from freezing, Ma told the Global Times on Sunday.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who is also director of the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief, has required related departments to hold "red-line thinking" and "extreme thinking" to address possible extreme situations.

In a separate notification on Sunday, the commission called for all-out effort to be deployed to prevent and respond to low-temperature, rain, snow and freezing disasters. It emphasized that departments should establish complete emergency command systems to combat extreme weather, strengthen monitoring, warning, and analysis of weather patterns.

The commission said that there is an emergency dispatching mechanism for various energy sources to complement each other and carry out cross-provincial and cross-regional energy dispatching to ensure a steady and orderly supply and demand of energy across the country.

While the impact of this round of cold fronts has basically concluded, a new wave is predicted to sweep from the north toward the south from Monday to Wednesday that will affect the middle and eastern parts of the country, keeping the temperatures in the majority of the country at low levels next week, according to the China's National Meteorological Center (NMC).

It is expected that the lowest temperatures in Beijing will remain below -14 C through Thursday and that temperatures will remain below freezing throughout the following two weeks.

In Northeast China's Jilin Province, it is expected that temperatures in the eastern part of the province, the majority of Tonghua city, Baishan city, and Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve will drop to -32 C, with some parts in the province even dropping to -35 C on Sunday and Monday.

Besides snow storms, the NMC has also forecast rainfall in multiple places, including the northern part of the Xinjiang region, the Jianghuai and Jiangnan regions and southern China.