Xi hopes Cambodia visit to spearhead progress in building China-Cambodia community with shared future

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he hopes his visit to Cambodia will spearhead progress in building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

Xi made the remarks in a signed article titled "Together We Strive, Together We Thrive: Toward a Stable and Sustainable China-Cambodia Community with a Shared Future in the New Era" published Thursday in Cambodian media outlets Khmer Times, Jian Hua Daily and Fresh News ahead of his arrival in Cambodia for a state visit.

Noting that a China-Cambodia community with a shared future is deeply rooted in the historic legacy of good-neighborly relations, Xi said that the two countries' friendly exchange spans two millennia of their shared history, thanks to the geographical proximity.

A China-Cambodia community with a shared future is also defined by the two countries' mutual commitment to friendship and righteousness, he said, recalling that the friendship was forged by Cambodia's King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai among the elder generations of Chinese leaders.

Xi noted that a China-Cambodia community with a shared future is powered by equality and mutual benefit. For many years, China has been Cambodia's largest trading partner and largest source of investment, and the industrial and supply chain cooperation between the two countries has continued to deepen, he said.

A China-Cambodia community with a shared future is founded upon inclusiveness and mutual learning, Xi said.

Over the past 30 years, China has sent many experts to Cambodia across diverse fields, including archaeology, geological exploration, cultural heritage, history, architecture and the arts. They have helped bring renewed splendo

The MND Urges Relevant Countries not to Turn the Asia-Pacific into a Hunting Ground for Geopolitical Rivalry

Question: It is reported that during the US Secretary of Defense’s visit to Japan, he said Japan as a “warrior country” was “indispensable for tackling Chinese aggression” and complimented the “valor” of Japanese soldiers in the Battle of Iwo Jima. His remarks have aroused controversies in the US. Do you have any comment?

Zhang Xiaogang: History shall not be forgotten, and the right and wrong must not be confused. The international community has long had a fair judgment on who launched wars, aggression and expansion, and who fought for peace during the second World War. This year marks the 80th year of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Some people in the US are making a political stunt by distorting facts and whitewashing Japan’s militarism. It is a betrayal to soldiers who died in fighting fascists and has aroused public anger back in the US. It will surely be opposed by the international community and disdained by history. We urge relevant countries to stop making erroneous comments, stop turning the Asia-Pacific into a hunting ground for geopolitical rivalry, stop stoking bloc politics and military confrontation, and  stop undermining security and well-being of people in the region.

Xi stresses pooling strength to build Beautiful China

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for pooling strength in the building of a Beautiful China and making the country even greener through afforestation efforts.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when attending a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing on Thursday.

Xi and other Party and state leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the tree planting site on the bank of a river in Fengtai District in the morning and planted trees with officials and local people.

At the planting site, Xi waved to the crowd to extend his greetings before picking up a shovel to join the activity. He planted saplings of multiple types of trees.

While planting the trees, he also asked the children at the site about their studies, life and participation in labor and sports. He stressed that a good life comes from hard work, encouraging young children to develop a love for labor and nature, and to actively participate in afforestation and other public welfare activities.

During the event, Xi also talked with officials and local people on site. He noted that the current forest coverage rate in China has surpassed 25 percent, and the country contributes about a quarter of the world's newly increased afforestation areas.

The ecological environment keeps improving, a fact that has been directly and tangibly felt by the people, he said.

Xi noted that in the meantime, the total forest and grassland resources in China are still insufficient, urging efforts to effectively address prominent issues and to do even better year on year in this regard.

Xi emphasized the importance of forest management and improvement of the ecological quality of grasslands, and called for efforts to boost the forestry and grassland-related industries.

Afforestation should deliver more benefits to the people, he stressed.

He added that voluntary tree planting is a nationwide initiative that must be carried on for generations.

Live-fire rocket shooting biggest highlight of ‘Strait Thunder-2025A’ drills: expert

The ground force of the theater command conducted long-range live-fire drills in waters of the East China Sea according to training plans of the "Strait Thunder-2025A" exercise on Wednesday, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, announced on Wednesday.

The drills involve precision strikes on simulated targets of key ports and energy facilities, and have achieved desired effects, Shi said

The WeChat account of the PLA Eastern Theater Command further elaborated on the desired effects of the live-fire shooting: controlling energy lanes, cutting off supply routes, and blocking escape paths, as thunderous strikes as seen in the live-fire shooting will firmly slash the “green terror” path of “independence.”

“The biggest highlight of today’s drills is the long-range live-fire drills, which served as a powerful deterrence against the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces. After years of development, the PLA’s comprehensive capabilities kept on rising, as its ability to fight and win continues to increase, sufficient enough to smash the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces into pieces,” Fu Zhengnan, an expert at the PLA’s Academy of Military Science, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

A video released by the PLA Eastern Theater Command showed that a brigade affiliated with the army of the theater command received orders to advance, as multiple modular rocket launcher systems rapidly mobilized to preset positions.

The unit responsible for the mission has participated in multiple military operations against “Taiwan independence” secessionist forces. It was given the honor of being a model rocket artillery company by the Central Military Commission in July last year.

The modular rocket launcher system is dubbed a “cross-Straits killing machine”, and it has six significant advantages, according to Fu.

First, it has a long range, capable of reaching hundreds of kilometers and covering the entire island of Taiwan. Second, it offers high precision, achieved through advanced guidance technologies that enable a margin of error of less than one meter within in 300 kilometers, making it fully capable of accurately targeting key locations on the island and leaving “Taiwan independence” forces with nowhere to run or hide. Third, it possesses strong firepower, as a single barrage can deliver dozens of munitions of different types, creating powerful fire coverage and destructive effects, deterring “Taiwan independence” forces on the island, Fu said.

Fourth, it has high mobility due to its relatively small size, making it easy to hide and leading to strong survivability on the battlefield. Fifth, it is multipurpose, capable of conducting missions against both sea and land targets simultaneously. Sixth, it offers high cost-efficiency, as its cost is lower than that of conventional missiles, allowing for deployment in large numbers, the expert said.

With the long-range modular rocket launcher systems, the “Strait Thunder-2025A” exercises are characterized by high levels of actual combat orientation, precision strike efficiency and deterrent effect, Fu said, noting that they demonstrate the PLA’s constant preparedness for combat, just like a sharp sword or heavy hammer hovering over the heads of the “Taiwan independence” secessionist forces. This move clearly tells Lai Ching-te and alike that “Taiwan independence” means war, and those who play with fire will get themselves burned.

China faces temperature fluctuation this week: regions drop up to 18 C, some forecast above 30 C

A sharp temperature drop of up to 18 C is forecast in parts of China this week, while some southern regions may see highs above 30 C, the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) said Monday.

In recent days, temperatures across central and eastern China have steadily climbed. During the weekend, many regions recorded daily maximum temperatures around 25 C, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, South China and other regions, reaching highs of 28 to 30 C, National Meteorological Centre said on Monday.

According to the NMC, temperatures in northern China are expected to gradually decline through Wednesday, while southern areas will continue to warm, with some regions potentially hitting temperatures above 30 C.

In Haidian district of Beijing, the temperature on Saturday set a record for the highest temperature in March locally. It reached 30 C, the first time since 1959 that the district has hit this mark in March, local authorities said Monday. This also became the earliest recorded date for a temperature of 30 C, surpassing the previous record of April 8, 2004 in the region, according to Beijing local authorities on Monday.

However, this warming trend is expected to reverse starting March 25, as a strong cold wave moves west to east across most of China. The northern region will experience widespread strong winds and dust storms, according to National Meteorological Centre.

Residents are advised to stay updated on forecasts and take precautions as conditions shift rapidly across different regions.

Multiple banks deploy DeepSeek AI models for customer service, credit approval

China's banks are accelerating efforts to deploy DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) models in multiple business scenarios, with major state-owned and joint-stock banks integrating them into intelligent customer service, operational efficiency and credit approval.

The country's biggest commercial lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), recently completed the localized deployment of the latest open-source DeepSeek AI model, the bank announced on Saturday. The model has been integrated into ICBC's large model matrix framework to enhance intelligence across financial business scenarios. 

According to the bank's statement, ICBC has built a multi-layered framework with multi-modal perception and multi-task collaboration, forming a collaborative application matrix of over 10 large models and more than 2,000 traditional models, enabling optimized coordination among different models.

The bank has already implemented large language models to empower over 20 major business areas, with more than 200 real-world applications, showcasing the strong driving force of AI technology in promoting high-quality development of the financial industry.

In terms of product innovation, ICBC has developed the ChatDealing intelligent dialogue system, reshaping the trading process and significantly increasing transaction volumes.

Centered on the whole credit process, ICBC has developed a dedicated credit approval risk control assistant, which integrates credit policy inquiries, report writing, risk assessment, data analyses and loan approval recommendations. 

Also, in February, the Postal Savings Bank of China announced that, leveraging its own large model, the bank has deployed and integrated the DeepSeek-V3 model and the lightweight DeepSeek-R1 inference model, as reported by the Xinhua Net.

The bank has applied the DeepSeek into its AI Assistant, adding logical reasoning capabilities to enhance service precision. Through functions such as deep analyses, it accurately identifies user's needs and provides personalized and scenario-based service solutions. Leveraging efficient reasoning performance, the bank has accelerated response time and task processing efficiency.

Among joint-stock banks, the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has also deployed the DeepSeek-R1 671B large model, which is embedded in digital assistant applications, enhancing scenarios like intelligent Q&A, financial analyses and report writing, as reported by CNR.

The move by multiple banks to deploy DeepSeek AI models has positive effects on banking operations and digital transformation, such as improving business efficiency and service quality, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Wang added that the introduction of DeepSeek models can enhance risk management capabilities and drive business innovation by improving the efficiency of decision-making.

However, given the high sensitivity of bank customers' information and DeepSeek's reliance on large volumes of data for training, the risk of data leakage increases, Wang said. As AI technologies are widely adopted, banks should ensure that the development, training and application of DeepSeek models comply with relevant laws, regulations and supervisory requirements.

Additionally, in order to enhance the model's interpretability, banks should develop visualization tools to present the decision-making process and rationale of the model in an intuitive way, Wang said. 

He also noted that banks need to strengthen internal talent training by developing systematic programs to improve staff's technical capabilities to keep pace with the speed and efficiency of model iteration.

2,876 Chinese nationals repatriated from Myanmar via Thailand in telecom fraud crackdown: MPS

China's Ministry of Public Security said on Friday that an additional 2,255 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in telecom fraud recently were repatriated to China by Chinese public security authorities through Thailand from Myanmar's Myawaddy region. 

Since the joint operation of repatriating and escorting suspects involved in telecom fraud in Myawaddy, Myanmar, was launched by China, Myanmar and Thailand on February 20, a total of 2,876 Chinese suspects involved in telecom fraud have been escorted back to China, said the ministry on its official Wechat account.

Currently, the ministry has directed public security authorities in East China's Jiangsu Province and Shanghai to fully engage in case investigation operations.

A chartered flight repatriating the first batch of 200 Chinese nationals suspected of being involved in fraud crimes from Myanmar landed in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, via Thailand on February 20. This marks a milestone and remarkable achievement in multinational law-enforcement efforts between China, Thailand and Myanmar to crack down on telecom and cyber fraud, according to the ministry.

Since the beginning of this year, in response to the severe situation of telecom and cyber fraud crimes involving Chinese nationals in Myanmar's Myawaddy region, police forces from China, Myanmar, and Thailand have continuously deepened pragmatic law enforcement cooperation by establishing mechanisms, severing criminal channels and dismantling operation hubs, drastically reducing the operational space for such crimes in the region, said the ministry.

An official from the ministry said that public security authorities will intensify efforts with greater determination to deepen international law enforcement cooperation, further advance joint crackdown operations, resolutely eradicate criminal hubs, spare no effort in apprehending suspects, and safeguard the lives and property of Chinese citizens. 

The public security authorities also warn Chinese telecom and cyber fraud criminals that overseas locations are not beyond the reach of the law, urging them to return to China to surrender at the earliest opportunity and seek lenient treatment.

Delegation of Communist Party of China visits Panama

A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Ma Hui, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, visited Panama from Friday to Saturday, during which they met with leaders of major political parties in Panama and scholars of think tank, CCTV News reported on Sunday.

During the visit, Ma said that China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Panamanian political parties and think tanks to deepen mutual understanding and trust, thereby consolidating public support for China-Panama friendly relations, according to the report.

The Panamanian side expressed its commitment to deepening friendly exchanges, building consensus on cooperation, and promoting the sustained development of Panama-China friendly cause, CCTV reported.