Typhoon Khanun made landfall early Monday morning in Xuwen county, Guangdong Province.

The 20th typhoon this year has drenched parts of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hainan and Taiwan.

Electricity supplier Southern Grid in Haikou said the utility were fully prepared for any possible rush repairs following the typhoon.

In neighboring Fujian Province, about 17,000 ships with over 28,000 crew members have returned to port and over 4,000 coastal residents were evacuated before the storm arrived.

Khanun is expected to land on the northwest side of Hainan Island today.

A book of extracts from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s discourses on the construction of socialist culture was recently published by the Central Party Literature Press and has been distributed across the country.

The book, featuring eight themes, includes 361 pieces of discourse extracted from over 70 speeches, reports, instructions and congratulatory letters by Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The discourses date from Nov. 15, 2012 to July 26, 2017. Many of them are being published for the first time.

This book, together with nine previously published collections of Xi’s discourses on the construction of socialist economy, politics, society, ecological progress, among other areas, offers a complete series of works for CPC members to study Xi’s thoughts and strategies.

A recent survey showed overseas-educated Chinese still prefer to work in China’s first-tier cities after returning to the country.

About 18.6 percent of respondents returning from overseas chose to work in Beijing, followed by Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen with 15.6 percent, 13.4 percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the survey jointly released by China’s major job search websites and a study abroad agency.

Emerging cities such as Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Suzhou are also popular among returned Chinese looking to find work.

Jobs in finance, IT, telecommunication, electronics and internet sectors as well as in education, are the top choices for returnees, while internet, finance, real estate, education and training, and machinery manufacturing sectors have stronger demand for returnees, according to the survey.

Nearly 50 percent of respondents have done some form of career planning before studying abroad or during their study abroad, the survey said.

China is currently in the middle of its biggest ever influx of returning overseas-educated graduates.

According to another survey released on Aug. 30 by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a major Chinese think tank, more than 2.65 million Chinese who studied overseas had returned to China as of the end of 2016.

In 2016 alone, more than 432,000 foreign-educated Chinese had returned to the country, up 58.48 percent from that in 2012.

The eyes of the world will turn to China as the Communist Party of China (CPC) will hold its 19th national congress, at which the CPC will unveil new leadership and set a blueprint for national development for the next five years and beyond.

Analysts said that comprehensive, strategic and foresighted guidelines are expected to be raised at the congress. China is aiming for a “moderately prosperous society” and a modern socialist country while moving toward the world’s center stage.

The congress comes at a critical time for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, under which China has witnessed an economic miracle and accomplished even impossible missions.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics

When many Western countries continue to stagnate, China has grown and remained stable. This is due to the strong leadership of the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is markedly different from the Western system, in which multiple parties hold office in turn, often bickering on their way to power.

“Since the 12th CPC National Congress in 1982, the CPC has always held high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This is what the Party has learned over the past four decades,” said Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

China has become the world’s second-largest economy after decades of rapid economic growth. China’s GDP expanded by an average annual rate of 7.2 percent during 2013-2016, compared with 2.6-percent average global growth and the 4-percent growth of developing economies.

Chen Shuguang, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said that one of the major advantages of the Chinese political system is its ability to formulate long-term development plans and implement them in an effective manner.

The CPC has maintained consistency in its commitment and policy-making while adapting to changing domestic and international conditions, Chen said.

The International Monetary Fund raised Tuesday its forecast for China’s economic growth to 6.8 percent this year, reflecting the country’s stronger-than-expected economic performance and its efforts in deepening economic reform.

Under current circumstances, the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics entails pushing forward the “Four Comprehensives” as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new development stage, said Xin.

The “Four Comprehensives” refers to a four-pronged strategy to create a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform, advance rule of law and strengthen Party governance.

China’s great achievements in socialism with Chinese characteristics do not only mean that socialism has gained strong vitality in China, but has also expanded the pathway to modernization for developing countries around the world, said President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Two centenary goals

Completing the building of a moderately prosperous society by 2020 is a promise the CPC has made to the people.

Improvement of people’s livelihood has always been high on the agenda of the central authorities. The per-capita disposable income of all residents rose from 7,311 yuan (about US$1,111) in 2012 to 23,821 yuan in 2016, an annual increase of 7.4 percent. The figure for the first half of 2017 rose 7.3 percent year on year.

China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty in the past 30 years. In the coming three years, another 40 million will be added to the list, meaning 20 people are lifted out of poverty each minute.

The central authorities have said that not a single family living in poverty will be left behind on the path to combating poverty.

After a moderately prosperous society is achieved by 2020, the whole Party and people of various ethnic groups nationwide will be motivated to build a modernized socialist country by 2049, the centenary of the People’s Republic of China.

“It is harder to achieve the second centenary goal than the first, as no country has ever realized modernization at the primary stage of socialism,” Xin said, adding that China is confident and capable of achieving the goal.

Strict Party governance

Since its 18th national congress in 2012, the CPC has shown it is serious about strict Party governance and tackling corruption. Experts said the CPC will continue its anti-corruption drive with more weight on prevention and education.

“For the next five years to come, the CPC will continue its efforts in anti-corruption while attaching equal or more importance to preventing the emergence of corruption,” Xin said, adding that a sound political ecology will be cultivated and more attention will be given to ideological education.

In December 2012, the central authorities issued the “eight-point rules,” requiring government officials to strictly practice frugality and clean up undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance. Practices such as the use of public funds to buy gifts, hold banquets and pay for holidays have since been strictly banned.

Now, the anti-graft drive has gained crushing momentum. Since 2012, the Party has investigated more than 280 senior officials, including Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Sun Zhengcai and Ling Jihua.

The strict governance of the Party will always be an ongoing process, Xi said, stressing that the future of a political party or a regime is ultimately determined by whether the people are for or against it.

Diplomacy highlighting win-win cooperation

China will continue to actively participate in global governance reform and contribute Chinese wisdom to the world.

Xi has proposed forging a community of shared destiny for mankind, as well as establishing a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core.

The vision of building a community of shared future for humanity holds that all countries, big or small, are equal in terms of their right to development and political status, making a more harmonious and equal world possible.

This proposal, together with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, was incorporated into UN Security Council resolutions.

This vision, derived from traditional Chinese culture, presents Chinese wisdom for the world, Xin said.

China’s average contribution to world growth in 2013-2016 was about 30 percent, the largest among all countries and higher than the total contribution from the United States, the eurozone and Japan.

Currently, as anti-globalization rears its head and some Western political systems suffer setbacks, China is sure to play its due role in promoting trade liberalization and economic globalization, as well as advancing global governance and multilateralism.

Sixty-six giraffes arrived in central China’s Henan Province in the early hours of Sunday, on a chartered flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, according to local sources.

The giraffes, 22 males and 44 females, are all around two years old. Adult giraffes of this species can grow to 5.2 meters tall.

The animals will go through a health check and be quarantined for 45 days in the city of Jiaozuo, before being sent to zoos across China to meet visitors.

In August last year, Xinzheng International Airport in Zhengzhou, Henan’s capital, received 63 giraffes from South Africa.

According to the Henan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Zhengzhou has received close to 10,000 imported animals since 2015, including giraffes and zebras from South Africa, polar bears from Russia, alpacas from Chile and dolphins from Japan.