Five days and six nights, three countries and four cities, over 30 bilateral or multilateral activities… these figures encapsulate Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Europe, the first of its kind in five years.

Chinese national flags adorned the cities, with crowds eagerly welcoming President Xi. The Global Times reporters observed these details during the visit, highlighting the anticipation in the continent to strengthen friendship and cooperation between China and the three countries of France, Serbia, and Hungary. People across the continent hoped that the visit would pave the way for stronger ties between China and the three countries, as well as with Europe as a whole.

During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that President Xi's recent state visits have solidified China's relations with the three European countries and relaunched China-EU cooperation.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, described Xi's Europe trip as a journey to carry forward friendship, enhance mutual trust, boost confidence and chart the course for the future.
Personal touch

French President Emmanuel Macron invited Xi to meet at the Pyrenees Mountains, a mountainous area in southern France which is close to the home of Macron's maternal grandmother.

It seems that it has become a routine that the two heads of state treat each other with something beyond the courtesy of a normal state visit. In March 2019, in the French city of Nice, Macron received Xi at Villa Kerylos, a century-old house overlooking the Mediterranean. Later that year, President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan met with Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron in the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai.

In April 2023 when the Chinese and French top leaders met for informal talks in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province, they listened to the guqin (Chinese zither) melody "High Mountain and Flowing Water" at Baiyun Hall.

This year, on a cold snowy spring day, the two leaders continued to write the story of "High Mountain and Flowing Water," showing the world that despite China and France being an Eastern power and a Western power respectively, they can still cooperate on bilateral, regional and world affairs.

A local resident from a town near the Pyrenees is no stranger to China. He told the Global Times that his niece used to study in Shanghai and now works at a multinational company that has many businesses in China. A cyclist at the Pyrenees Mountains, who cannot speak English very well, said "friendship" when asked about the meeting between Xi and Macron at the mountain.

Xi's visit coincided with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Thanks to former French president general Charles de Gaulle's grand vision and his advocacy for French autonomy, he made this bold decision 60 years ago, making France the first Western country to establish official ties with China.

In 2014, when Xi visited France, he went to the Charles de Gaulle Foundation. This time, the Global Times paid a visit there and had director of the foundation to recall Xi's visit 10 years ago and what prompted general de Gaulle to make the decision.

"President Xi laid a wreath in honor of General de Gaulle in the office where he worked from 1947 to 1958. Gifts were exchanged," Antoine Broussy, director of the foundation, told the Global Times, and showed a guest book on which President Xi wrote: "Paying Tribute to the Great Man and Composing a New Chapter in Chinese and French History."

In a showroom on the ground floor of the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, a bronze half-body statue of de Gaulle stands. He looks contemplative, apparently observing the historical trajectory of China-France relations.
Steel-clad friends

During his stay in Serbia, a country Xi visited eight years ago, the Chinese president presented a special gift to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic - steel models in the shape of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade.

The models were made from steel produced by the HBIS Smederevo steel plant, or Hesteel Serbia, a century-old factory which was invigorated through close cooperation between China and Serbia.

Xi visited the plant in June 2016, months after China's Hesteel Group purchased this venture on the verge of closure and the future of its more than 5,000 employees was unsettled.

Xi interacted with the workers and encouraged them to work hard to bring benefits to local residents. Factory workers presented a round plate with the silhouette of the steel plant to Xi as a gift.

The visit significantly boosted the morale of all the workers, and encouraged the Chinese executive team to optimize production and management. Smiles returned to the faces of Serbian workers as they felt secure and began to "plan for the future."

Hesteel Serbia now has become a major exporter in the Balkan country and a crucial taxpayer. Its success is an embodiment of the "ironclad" friendship between China and Serbia.

Before his state visit this time, Xi replied to a letter written by Serbian steelworkers who shared the progress the steel plant had achieved and expressed their appreciation for Xi's care and support.

When presenting the steel models to Vucic on Wednesday, Xi said we are now "steel-clad friends with even stronger ties than iron-clad friends."

In a signed article by Xi published on Serbian local media outlet Politika before his arrival, he wrote "the China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots," citing NATO's flagrant bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia on May 7, 1999.

In his first public event during the 2016 visit, Xi and Serbian leaders paid homage to three Chinese martyrs in the bombing at a memorial erected on the site where the embassy once stood.

Now standing on the site is the China Cultural Center, for which Xi laid the foundation stone in 2016. This site has now gained a new life while retaining the sentiment of friendship.

Carefully decorated with Chinese elements, the center offers courses on Chinese, calligraphy, Tai Chi, and guzheng, a traditional musical instrument. The center also holds a library which has a collection ranging from language learning materials and dictionaries, to popular novels and classics.

Various cultural events are held here, and the center issues commemorative stamps with Serbian Post biannually, the Global Times learned from the center.

Many locals also come to the center for classes out of interest, gain better knowledge of China and Chinese culture.

Milica Milovic, the first Serbian employee at the center, told the Global Times that working at the center is really a pride as she is now part of the strong China-Serbia friendship.

This ironclad friendship has become deeper and deeper through efforts of every ordinary Chinese and Serbian who are contributing to bilateral exchanges and friendliness.

A East-West model

Upon President Xi's arrival in Budapest, the final stop on his five-day European visit, Chinese national flags were placed next to Hungarian flags on the Elisabeth Bridge in this beautiful capital.

Xi previously visited Hungary in 2009. Some things have changed, while some have not. The Danube River still flows silently and gently, witnessing the development of relations between China and Hungary. During Xi's visit this time, the two countries elevated bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.

What deeply impressed President Xi during his state visit to Hungary, he said, was a Hungarian girl who presented flowers to him when he landed in Budapest. She was the same girl who presented flowers to Xi 15 years ago. The president recollected that encounter: "You've grown up. You were only this tall back then," he said, making a gesture with his hand.

The girl can speak fluent Chinese. So can many young Hungarians, who have cultivated a strong interest in China and the Chinese language as exchanges between China and Hungary have flourished over the last couple of years. In Buda Castle, the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian Kings, nearly half of the tourists come from China, and they have a tourist guide who can speak Chinese very well.

Many Hungarians who speak fluent Chinese learned the language at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest. Established in 2004, the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school is a 12-year all-through public school that teaches in both Chinese and Hungarian.

In October 2009, Xi, then Chinese vice president, visited the school during his visit to Hungary. Today, a group photo of Xi and the school's students and teachers, as well as Xi's reply letter to the students in early 2023, hangs on the wall in the school's hallway.

Xin Hua, director and chair professor of the Center for European Union Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times that an important reason that China and Hungary can develop friendly ties is that the two countries have similar historical and cultural traditions.

"Welcome home!" Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban greeted Xi at the airport. The next day, Xi was received with a military ceremony in the Lion Courtyard of Buda Castle.

In an interview with Chinese media, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban explained what "home" means.

"We are settled here in the West, but the origin is very important. So, we know that relatives are somewhere, they are far away. So, when somebody from the East is coming to Hungary, especially with the high civilization for several thousands of years as China, it always has a special emotional element of that meeting," Orban said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Budapest on Wednesday for a state visit to Hungary.

China and France on Monday released a joint declaration on artificial intelligence (AI) and global governance during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to France, with the two heads of state agreeing to take measures to work closer on addressing AI risks, strengthening cooperation and global governance of AI to promote "secure, reliable, and trustworthy AI."

The declaration, consisting of 10 sub-agreements, said that President Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron firmly believe the importance of continued dialogue between the two countries in providing lasting solutions to global challenges and have decided to strengthen China-France relations as a driving force for international governance in addressing global challenges.

It is an add-on agreement following the consensus reached in the China-France Joint Declaration on April 7, 2023. 

The declaration noted that China and France both fully acknowledge the crucial role of AI in development and innovation, the profound impact of its rapid development, as well as the potential and existing risks associated with this technology. 

Thus, the two sides unanimously believe that promoting the development and security of AI and pushing for appropriate international governance is crucial, and are committed to taking effective measures to address these risks associated with this technology. 

Both are on the same page over the basic rules for AI governance. They agreed to take into account the flexibility required for the rapid development of technology, while providing necessary protection for personal data, the rights of users, and the rights of users whose works are used by AI.

They also commit to promoting secure, reliable, and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, adhering to the principle of "AI for good." 

Another keyword mentioned in the declaration is "cooperation." The declaration said that international cooperation in AI governance will rely on work conducted at the United Nations level and China and France will help strengthen the network capabilities of all countries, especially developing countries, to address various network threats related to AI development, and bridge the digital divide among developing countries.

China is willing to participate in the AI summit that France will host in 2025 and related preparatory work. China also invites France to participate in a high-level meeting on global governance of AI for World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). 

The WAIC is China's top-level AI event held in Shanghai each year. This year's event will take place from July 4 to 6.

Last year, on the field of AI governance, China, together with more than 20 countries, signed the "Bletchley Declaration" on November 1.

Cuba announces unilateral visa exemption for Chinese citizens holding ordinary passport

Sharing the joy with the Chinese mainland on celebrating the 2024 May Day holidays that start Wednesday, China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has launched diverse range of cultural events to promote local tourism over the five-day holiday. 

At 8pm on Wednesday, a firework show celebrating the holidays will take place over in Hong Kong’s signature Victoria Harbour near Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. The fireworks will be launched 100 meters above the water. It will reveal a special scene, which golden lights rendering the sky with interspersed patterns like “HK.” 

Cultural researcher Song Weiping, told the Global Times that large-scale public events  not only “add a sense of ceremony to the holiday season,” but also become a strategy that promotes the city on social media in a positive light. 

“Beautiful images of fireworks show the beauty of Hong Kong and its landmarks. They can draw more people to travel to the city,” Song added. According to  the local immigration department, it is estimated that a total of 5.9 million people will enter Hong Kong between April 30 to May 5.

The West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong’s most well-known area for cultural activities and exhibitions, has also rolled out several tourist events including a campaign called “WestK Outdoor Vibes.” 

“WestK Outdoor Vibes” ties up the district’s different cultural facilities together like the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) and the museum M+ to offer coupons and other diverse activities to visitors. 

As the district’ most popular tourist destination, the HKPM has extended opening hours to 8pm throughout for five days. Prior to the current campaign, the museum had already organized a special exhibition with its Chinese mainland counterpart the Palace Museum displaying relics from China’s Yuanmingyuan. 

“The HKPM’s special exhibition is an effective way to promote traditional Chinese culture to the world. Other countries like Russia also share the holiday break, so there are also international visitors seeking to experience Chinese culture in Hong Kong,” Song said. 

As of January 2024, the museum has hosted around over two million visitors, to which cultural creative industry expert Yao Yu told the Global Times that Chinese mainland tourists contributed “massively” to this number especially during the three golden seasons of the Chinese Spring Festival, the May Day holidays and National Day holidays in October. 

To better engage Chinese mainland tourists, especially young people, several “offline and online” campaigns are also launched across the city. In the West Kowloon Cultural District, visitors will be able to receive cultural gifts when sharing their selfies on lifestyle platform Little Red Book, also known as Xiaohongshu. 

Catching up with the popularity of “city walk,” several locations including Yuen Po Street Garden in Mong Kok have been installed with visual displays encouraging visitors to take photographs and share them on social media. 

Ma Weiya, a mainland resident, told the Global Times that she has been waiting to visit Hong Kong especially due to the convenient travelling policy. She said that visiting Hong Kong nowadays is as easy as booking a ticket to her home in Chengdu in Sichuan province. 

“The joint effort has increased the exchanges between people in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland,” Song told the Global Times. During the May Day holidays in 2023, Hong Kong welcomed 723,000 visitors, of which 86 percent were from the Chinese mainland. 

“We are expected to see this total number to increase by more than 20 percent this year,” Yao told the Global Times. 

The mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Georgia will take effect on May 28, according to the Chinese Embassy in Georgia. Holders of valid ordinary passports from Georgia or China will be allowed visa-free entry, exit, or transit. They can stay for up to 30 days per visit and a total of 90 days within any 180-day period.

The Chang'e-6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket combination has been vertically transported to the Wenchang Space Launch Site in South China's Hainan Province. The launch is scheduled to take place in early May, the Global Times learned from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Saturday.

After arriving at the launch site in January and March respectively, the Chang'e-6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket have successively completed assembly, testing, and other preparatory work, CNSA said in the statement.

Subsequently, various functional checks, joint tests, propellant loading, and other tasks will be carried out according to the plan.

The mission will be the world's first ever attempt to collect material from the dark side of the moon and return it to Earth for further study.

The scale of such samples retrieved from the moon would be around 2,000 grams, Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, previously revealed. The epic Chang'e-5 mission retrieved 1,731 grams.

The US has been desperate to get its hands on these precious samples. Sidestepping the Wolf Amendment, for the first time, NASA has greenlit space agency-funded researchers to apply for access to China's lunar samples returned to Earth via Chang'e-5. It said in a statement that the samples are "expected to provide valuable new scientific insight on the geological history of the moon, which could provide new understanding of the Earth-moon system and potentially inform NASA's future lunar exploration plans."

As part of the key constellation supporting the Chang'e series of lunar exploration tasks, China launched the Queqiao-2 relay communication satellite on March 20 for communications between the far side of the moon and the Earth. Some 20 days later, the CNSA announced the complete success of the Queqiao-2 mission after it completed a series of in-orbit communication tests.
The Chang'e-6 mission is part of China's Phase-4 lunar exploration program, which will carry out new planetary exploration missions and further upgrade the country's space launch capabilities in the next 15 years. Landing a Chinese national on the moon is expected to happen before 2030.

Wu disclosed on this year's China Space Day that the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), co-led by China and Russia, will be built in two phases, consisting of sections on the lunar surface, the lunar orbit and on Earth.

The first phase of the ILRS construction project will see a basic station built by 2035 in the lunar south pole region, equipped with comprehensive scientific facilities with complete basic functions and supporting elements to carry out regular scientific experiments.

The second phase will see expansion of the station, set for completion by 2045, with a moon-orbiting space station as the hub and facilities featuring complete functions.

Three new members - Nicaragua, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, and the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences - signed up for the ILRS program, as announced by CNSA on Wednesday.

So far, nearly 20 countries and organizations have joined the ILRS, including US Hawaii-based International Lunar Observatory Association, Swiss company Nano-SPACE for Cooperation, and France's Thales Group.

China will welcome 50 countries, 500 international research institutions and 5,000 overseas researchers who will join the ILRS program, according to the CNSA.

Wu also disclosed China's ambitious Mars plan. "China plans to launch the Tianwen-2 mission around 2025 to conduct a flyby exploration and sample return from a small asteroid about 40 million kilometers from Earth. Around 2030, the Tianwen-3 mission is planned to be launched to carry out a Mars sample return mission," said Wu. " China is expected to become the first country to return samples from Mars."

China's Space Endeavors Benefit the World Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

The most recent group of 135 suspects involved in illegal cross-border gambling and fraud were escorted back to China from Cambodia by two chartered planes on Sunday, marking the last group of 680 suspects apprehended by Cambodian police. 

The planes arrived in Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. 

The Chinese and Cambodian police organized a joint operation to crack down on crimes related to gambling and fraud, apprehending a group of suspects, and starting from April 12, Hubei public security officials organized multiple charter flights to repatriate the individuals in groups. 

Currently, the Ministry of Public Security has deployed the Hubei police to carry out the investigation and handling of the suspects.

In response to prominent illegal activities such as cross-border gambling and telecommunications fraud that have been of serious public concern, public security organs in China have continued to deepen international law enforcement cooperation, dismantled a large number of cross-border criminal gangs, and arrested a large number of criminals. 

Since the beginning of 2024, related authorities have repatriated tens of thousands of suspects involved in illegal cross-border gambling and fraud crimes from countries such as Myanmar, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. 

Wang Xiaowei, an associate professor at the People's Public Security University of China, told media that such crime gangs usually hide overseas, making it difficult for the police to investigate, collect evidence and make arrests. An effective crackdown on such crimes requires international law enforcement cooperation with relevant countries. 

The criminal chain of cross-border tele-fraud is long and often covers multiple countries, making international cooperation and coordination more complicated, said Wang, adding that challenges are greater for tackling international tele-fraud cases because it is hard to probe, collect evidence and present legal proof.  

Public security authorities will maintain a high-pressure crackdown on such illegal crimes to safeguard the lives and property of the people. They also remind the general public to enhance awareness, resist going abroad for gambling or participate in online gambling, be highly vigilant of the new methods and cross-border gambling and tele-fraud crimes, and effectively safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests. 

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday unveiled detailed plans for the upcoming Ninth Space Day of China. The event will fall on April 24 and Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province will be the main venue. 

Jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the CNSA, the Hubei Provincial Government, the Wuhan Municipal Government, and Wuhan University, the main events of this year's Space Day in Wuhan would display to the world the impressive achievements China has accomplished in the last year, while offering clues about exciting future plans in the country's ambitious quest to explore the universe, according to CNSA officials at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. 

In 2023, China carried out 67 successful orbital launches, setting a new historic record, Lü Bo, a CNSA official said at the press conference. 

Reviewing the remarkable year of 2023, Lü highlighted China's space industry achievements by listing how the largest thrust 700-ton liquid rocket engine in Asia had successfully undergone testing and is now in operation; the Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 manned spaceflight missions were great successes; and the Remote Sensing-40 satellite was successfully launched, which will provide a more comprehensive and precise scientific basis for China's geological exploration, meteorological research, environmental protection, and advancement in other fields. 

The application for lunar research samples from the Chang'e-5 mission has been opened to the world, sharing the achievements with the international community; the international version of the National Remote Sensing Data and Application Service Platform has also been released, aiding the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the promotion of building a global community with a shared future in outer space, he said.

China's space development is set for an even busier 2024, with Chang'e-6 - the first of China's Phase-4 lunar probe missions - being expected to be launched. The mission would be a moon sample retrieval mission targeting the far side of the Earth's natural satellite. Moreover, China Manned Space will see the launches of Shenzhou-18 and -19 crewed spaceflight missions, according to the CNSA official. 

China will announce the plans for the Chang'e-7 lunar probe mission and the international payload onboard the spacecraft during this year's Space Day of China activities in Wuhan on April 24, witnessed by relevant officials from Chinese government agencies, scholars, and researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, universities, space firms, as well as guests from more than 50 countries, regions, and international organizations, Lü revealed. 

China designated April 24 as the Space Day of China in 2016 to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970. According to statistics obtained by the Global Times from the organizers, a series of nearly 500 space-themed activities will be held by relevant departments, universities, and associations on April 24. 

Aerospace academicians, experts and astronauts will visit schools to give science lectures. Relevant aerospace exhibitions and facilities will be opened to the public and students of all levels. Aerospace-themed films and TV programs, as well as science TV programs and series will also be broadcast during the aerospace event period this year.

The Space Day of China has increasingly become a platform for the country to reach out to the world with openness and sincerity, to boost international cooperation in the space domain. 

This year's Space Day of China will include the first-ever China-Latin American and Caribbean States Space Cooperation Forum and release the Wuhan Declaration, the Global Times has learned from organizers on Wednesday. 

Some 100 delegates from 26 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and eight international organizations are expected to attend the forum hosted by the CNSA, the Hubei Provincial Government, as well as the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The forum aims to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of China and Latin America, enrich cooperation within the framework of the China-Latin America Forum, and promote the construction of a China-Latin America community of shared future through high-quality aerospace cooperation, according to the CNSA. 

The meeting will invite government officials from China, Latin American, and Caribbean countries, as well as representatives from industries, research entities, and the private sector, to discuss building aerospace partnerships and sharing space technology for the benefit of humanity. Together, they will establish a high-end platform for international aerospace cooperation between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The forum will consist of an opening ceremony on April 24 in Wuhan, a main forum, and four sub-forums, focusing on areas such as space infrastructure to support sustainable socio-economic development, deep space exploration, and space science, the innovative development of the aerospace industrial chain, global governance of outer space, and capacity building in outer space. 

Wuhan is known for being a crucial hub for China's commercial space industry, and in recent years, the city has become home to the country's first modern rocket industrial base, which possesses the capability of manufacturing, assembly, and testing 20 rockets annually. The city has also built the country's first small-scale satellite manufacturing line, capable of manufacturing more than 240 satellites a year.