The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has set the guideline for China’s development and renewed its commitment to an open economy, which has great significance for the world, China’s top publicity official said on Thursday.

Huang Kunming, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, speaks on Thursday in Beijing about China’s elevated role in the world following the success of last month’s 19th CPC National Congress. Leaders and former leaders from around the world attended “The 19th CPC National Congress: Implications [Photo/China Daily]

Huang Kunming, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in his keynote speech at an international think tank symposium in Beijing.

During the symposium, former top government leaders from countries including Japan, Pakistan and France spoke highly of the significance of the CPC’s 19th National Congress, saying that China has made great contributions to the world through programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and products such as its high-speed railways.

China’s development will bring numerous opportunities for the whole world, and other countries are welcomed to board the fast train of China’s development, said Huang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Huang was elected a member of the Political Bureau at the First Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee last month in his first public speech at an international event since then.

The congress has set the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Huang said, adding that Xi Jinping Thought is the fundamental guide for international communities to understand China.

Huang said that Xi, who was endorsed by the whole Party and is loved by the people for his political wisdom and leadership capability that was demonstrated during the past five years, has become an influential global leader.

Noting that the congress highlighted China’s proposal to build a community of shared future for humankind, Huang said China will stick to its path of peaceful development and push for developing a new type of international relations on the principle of mutual trust, justice and mutual benefit.

China will proactively promote cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative, support a multilateral trade system and continue to maintain and contribute to economic globalization, the publicity leader told the symposium.

The congress also highlighted the importance of fighting corruption with the promise of having zero tolerance toward corrupt activities, Huang said. He said it is not an easy task for the world’s largest political party, with more than 89 million members.

The symposium, themed as “The 19th CPC National Congress: Implications for China and the World”, attracted hundreds of people from around the world, including incumbent and former political figures, politics analysts and think tank researchers.

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda said at the symposium that China has made remarkable achievements in the past decades, during which the country developed its high-speed railway system, with a total length of 20,000 kilometers already built.

Fukuda spoke highly of Xi’s proposal to build a community of shared future for mankind, saying that it means China’s development will not impose any threat to other countries.

Shaukat Aziz, former prime minister of Pakistan, said the Belt and Road Initiative, put forward by Xi in 2013, will bring historic and substantial changes to the world as it “provides new connectivity, open markets, increases trade and creates jobs”.

Aziz told the symposium that the initiative has benefited many countries, including Pakistan, since it has improved the infrastructure and production capacity for developing countries.

Dominique de Villepin, former French prime minister, said that the 19th CPC National Congress “opened a new era”, which gives “strong signal” of continuity in the Chinese leadership.

In his speech, De Villepin recalled Xi’s speech at the Davos World Economic Forum in January, saying that it reminded the world of the benefits of economic globalization and inclusive growth.

Mentioning that China and France opened a cargo rail line between Wuhan in Central China and French city of Lyon last year, De Villepin said the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded numerous fruits on the basis of mutual trust and equality.

Forty million residents in Dezhou City of Shandong Province are benefiting from the water diverted from the Yangtze River through the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

The eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has channeled more than 2 billion cubic meters of water from China’s wetter south to the arid north since November 2013, benefiting 40 million people in Shandong Province, according to the officials from the Shandong South-to-North Water Diversion Construction Bureau.

One villager, Zhang Jinyun, said he feels water quality is better than before when using underground water as drinking and irrigation sources.

“We used to drink the water from underground, which is not good for our health,” he said. “Diseases such as goiters and osteoporosis are quite common among us. But thanks to the project, now we could have the water from the Yangtze River.”

Hu Zhouhan, deputy manager of the China Eastern Route Corporation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, said the surface water has reached the Grade III water quality through water pollution prevention and eco-environment protection along the route.

“The initial phase of the eastern route has achieved progress in satisfying citizens and villagers’ daily water use, as well as the need for agriculture and industry, boosting the economic structural adjustment and upgrading,” Hu said.

The eastern route helps to solve water shortages in Shandong Province. The water diversion project will also supply water to the fertile farm lands in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, consequently supporting the economic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

“Ensuring water quality and controlling pollution are crucial to the success of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project,” said Gao Degang, manager of the Shandong Eastern Route Corporation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. “Shandong has appointed river chiefs along the eastern route to oversee the rivers, lakes and reservoirs.”

Launched in 2002, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is an important strategic measure in redistributing China’s water resources. The project has improved agricultural production as well as river and lake environments by supplying water for farmland irrigation and to drying rivers.

Eighteen people had died as of 6 pm on Wednesday after an expressway pileup of dozens of vehicles in Anhui province, local authorities said.

The crash also injured 21 people, 11 of them seriously. All have been hospitalized, according to a statement posted by the Fuyang public security bureau. More than 30 vehicles, including trucks and buses, crashed around 7:45 am on Wednesday on the expressway section in Fuyang’s Yingshang county, it said. Some caught fire.

Local authorities, including police officers, firefighters, safety supervisors and medical personnel, quickly arrived at the scene, along with government officials of the city and county, the bureau said, adding that the fires had been extinguished by 10:38 am.

A preliminary investigation found the accident was likely caused by morning fog.

Images broadcast on CCTV on Wednesday afternoon showed goods that had been carried by the trucks scattered on the expressway, and some private cars that were smashed.

A netizen named Onlybelief on Sina Weibo, who claimed to be a witness, said heavy fog descended on the expressway suddenly before the accident – so thick that “it was hard to clearly see the road”.

Seven people stood trial for suspected telecommunications fraud that led to the death of a student, authorities in south China’s Guangdong Province said Wednesday.

Five of the defendants sent 780,000 fraudulent text messages, swindling more than 1.1 million yuan (166,200 U.S. dollars) from the public, including 9,800 yuan of tuition fees and living expenses from the victim, surnamed Cai, according to the Intermediate People’s Court of Jieyang City.

Cai later committed suicide by drowning herself in the sea.

The other two defendants are suspected of hiding the illegal activities and the benefits from the fraud, according to the court.

The court will announce a verdict at a later date.

China has published its first land cover atlas, Land Cover Atlas of the People’s Republic of China (1:1,000,000), according to the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Wednesday.

The atlas, in both Chinese and English, provides a comprehensive look at land-surface conditions across China, and records its land cover changes in 1990, 2000, and 2010, a period witnessing rapid economic growth, said the RADI.

Land cover refers to the observable natural and artificial objects on the surface of the Earth.

Land cover changes over time can be regarded as indicators of the natural environment, ecosystem, economic development, and people’s livelihoods, said the RADI.

From data production in 2011 to publication in 2017, over 240 scientists and technicians from the CAS, government offices, and other research organizations worked on the atlas compilation.