The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has picked up four Chinese cities to join its Creative Cities Network (UCCN), the organization said on Tuesday.

Created in 2004, the UCCN is covering seven creative fields, namely Crafts&Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music and Media Arts.

The four Chinese cities, Changsha (media arts), Macao Special Administrative Region (gastronomy), Qingdao (Film) and Wuhan (design) are among 64 cities from 44 countries and regions which join the network.

The UNESCO said on Tuesday that the four Chinese cities were picked for their efforts to “develop and exchange innovative best practices to promote creative industries, strengthen participation in cultural life and integrate culture into sustainable urban development policies.”

The Paris-based UN body said in a statement that “Within the framework of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda, the Network provides a platform for cities to demonstrate culture’s role as an enabler for building sustainable cities.”

Xi Jinping (C), general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, leads other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Keqiang (3rd R), Li Zhanshu (3rd L), Wang Yang (2nd R), Wang Huning (2nd L), Zhao Leji (1st R) and Han Zheng to review the oath of the CPC when visiting the site where the first CPC National Congress was held in 1921, in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 31, 2017. On Tuesday morning, Xi led the other six members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee to the sites where the first CPC National Congress was held. In 1921, the delegates representing about 50 CPC members nationwide convened the first CPC National Congress in late July in Shanghai, but moved to a boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing of east China’s Zhejiang Province due to the harassment of local police. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

In July 1921, 13 individuals met and founded the Communist Party of China (CPC) in a brick-and-wood building in the French concession area of Shanghai.

Ninety-six years later, the new CPC leadership looked back on the Party’s revolutionary past to seek impetus for future endeavors.

On Tuesday morning, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, led the other six members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee to the sites where the first CPC National Congress was held.

Xi said the aim of the tour was to revisit the Party’s past — especially the history of its founding — to learn from the predecessors of revolutionary times and their noble spirit.

The tour should also serve to throw light on the responsibility the current leadership now bears, and strengthen their sense of duty to fulfill targets and missions laid down at the 19th CPC National Congress, he said.

“Only by remaining true to our original aspiration, keeping our mission firmly in mind, and keeping on striving, could the Party stay young and live,” said Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

“As long as the Party and all Chinese people unite and work hard, the great ship of national rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will reach its glorious destination,” he said.

The first stop of the Tuesday visit was Shanghai.

In 1921, the delegates representing about 50 CPC members nationwide convened the first CPC National Congress in late July in Shanghai, but moved to a boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing of east China’s Zhejiang Province due to the harassment of local police.

The meeting site on Xingye Road has been open to public as a museum since 1952.

Xi visited the place three times when he worked in Shanghai.

After visiting a meeting room of the first CPC National Congress, Xi asked for efforts to protect and make good use of the site.

Once called by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong the “maternity ward of the CPC,” the site is also the “spiritual home” of Chinese communists, Xi said.

They also visited exhibitions displaying the founding and development of the CPC.

“We can not forget the road that we have taken no matter how far we march,” Xi said.

“We should often recall and deeply comprehend the cultural relics and scenes on the founding of the CPC so as to decode the CPC’s original aspiration,” he said.

Xi also led Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng to review the oath of the CPC in front of a huge CPC flag, then asked all CPC members to keep firmly in mind the oath and keep in alignment.

On Tuesday afternoon, the CPC leadership visited Jiaxing, following the footsteps of their forerunners.

The leaders visited a replica of the boat on which CPC founders convened their meeting in 1921 — now referred to as the “Red Boat” — and the Nanhu Lake Revolution Museum after a train trip from Shanghai.

The construction of the museum started on June 28, 2006, when Xi laid its cornerstone as then Zhejiang Party chief. However, Tuesday’s visit was Xi’s first visit to the museum since it opened in 2011.

Xi called on CPC members to implement the Red Boat spirit in the new era, which highlights pioneering work, persistence and dedication.

In an address at the end of Tuesday’s tour, Xi called the Shanghai and Jiaxing sites “the places where the CPC’s dream set sail” and “the root of the Party.”

“Our Party was born here, our journey began here, and our rule of the country all dates back to here,” Xi said.

Over the past 96 years, the CPC had united and led the Chinese people to make great achievements, but that undertaking has no end, Xi said.

“The original aspiration of the CPC members must never change,” he said, adding that only in this way could the Party keep on striving and win the hearts of the people.

Noting that the 19th CPC National Congress had outlined targets and missions for the development of the Party and the country, Xi said all CPC members must observe the Party’s fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people and working to improve the lives of the people.

They must keep in mind the noble ideal of Communism and the shared ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, remain humble and prudent, and brave hardships and sacrifices, in order to realize the two Centenary Goals and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Xi said.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and other CPC leaders on Tuesday afternoon visited the site in Jiaxing, east China’s Zhejiang Province, where the first CPC National Congress was held in 1921.

The first CPC National Congress was originally held in the French concession area in Shanghai in July 1921, but moved to a boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing due to an interruption by local police.

Xi and other leaders also visited the Nanhu Lake Revolution Museum.

Twelve delegates attended the first CPC National Congress in July 1921, representing more than 50 CPC members nationwide.

On Oct. 18, more than 2,300 delegates attended the 19th CPC National Congress, representing over 89 million CPC members of the country.

The latest draft law on e-commerce, submitted for the second reading on Tuesday, further clarifies liabilities of e-commerce operators and punishment over infringement of consumer rights.

The bill, submitted at a six-day bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, classifies e-commerce operators into three entities: “those doing business on their own websites, e-commerce platform operators, and stores on e-commerce platforms.”

According to the draft, e-commerce operators should be registered with the industry and commerce administrations, except for those who sell homegrown farm produce or handmade products and others who by law do not need to be registered.

Operators should not infringe consumers’ rights by posting false advertisements, fabricating transaction information or user comments.

They should deliver products and services as promised and bear the risk and liabilities of transportation.

Consumers should be informed of how to cancel their accounts without unreasonable conditions.

When e-commerce platform operators offer search services for consumers, they may display the results according to indicators such as price, sales volume and credit but the results of “paid listings” should be clearly labeled as advertisements.

Platform operators are also required to respond to intellectual property right (IPR) violation. They must cancel, block, disconnect or close transactions of business operators who violate IPRs when they are aware of or should be aware of the offences. Those who do not take necessary actions shall bear joint liabilities.

The bill also paid great attention to dispute settlement. It requires e-commerce operators to establish convenient and efficient channels to handle complaints. During disputes with consumers, they shall provide original transaction information to the court, arbitration authority and other mediation agencies. They will be punished for faking, destroying, tampering with or refusing to hand in such information.

China has the world’s largest e-commerce market with online retail sales reaching nearly 5.2 trillion yuan (755.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 26.2 percent.

The draft was first read by the top legislature in December 2016.

China’s top legislature Tuesday heard draft decisions to apply the newly-adopted National Anthem Law in Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions.

According to the bills, the National Anthem Law, taking effect on Oct. 1, will be included in Annex III of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Annex III of the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, which regulates national laws to be applied in the two regions.

The bills were submitted to the bi-monthly legislative session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which opened Monday.

According to the Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macao SARs, national laws shall not be applied in the two regions, except for those listed in the Annex III.

The NPC Standing Committee may add or delete the laws listed in the Annex III after consulting the committees of the Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macao SARs under the NPC Standing Committee and the SAR governments.

The National Anthem Law is among laws relating to defense, foreign affairs and other matters outside the limits of the autonomy of the two SARs, according to Zhang Rongshun, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

“The NPC Standing Committee consulted the two committees and two SAR governments, all of which agreed that it is in line with the Basic Laws and appropriate to add the National Anthem Law to the Annex III,” he said. “To safeguard the authority of the national anthem – one of the national symbols – is to safeguard the authority of the state, the people and the Chinese nation.”

“In recent years, incidents of disrespecting the national anthem had occurred in Hong Kong, challenging the bottom line of the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ and social morality and triggering rage among Chinese including most Hong Kong residents,” Zhang said. “It is urgent and important to apply the National Anthem Law in Hong Kong, in a bid to prevent and handle such offences.”

The Hong Kong SAR is expected to implement the law by way of local legislation if the decision is adopted.

“The local law on national flag, emblem and anthem, adopted by the Macao SAR in 1999, has played a constructive role in properly using the national anthem, safeguarding national authority and promoting patriotism among local residents,” Zhang said.

Although the local law’s regulations related to the national anthem are in line with the principles of national law, Macao is expected to make improvements if the decision is adopted, according to Zhang.