Xi's article on fostering trend of taking responsibilities to be published

In the days surrounding the start of the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, Wang Qinyan enters her busiest season each year, working tirelessly in her workshop in Shexian county, Huangshan city, east China's Anhui Province, to fulfill orders for fish-shaped lanterns.

China's annual sessions of its top legislature and political advisory body, known as the "two sessions," are about to kick off in Beijing. 2026, the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, sees the event taking on heightened expectations.

Taicang, with its permanent resident population of less than one million, is a small city on the south bank of Yangtze River estuary. Known as the "hometown of German enterprises" in China, Taicang has gathered over 560 German-funded enterprises so far since the first German company Kern-Liebers settled here in 1993.

From bustling ski slopes in Heilongjiang Province in China's far northeast to booming duty-free shopping in south China's Hainan Province, the country's record-long Spring Festival holiday saw a surge in travel, retail activity and tech-powered consumption, underscoring the country's economic vitality and growing global appeal.

Tourists watch waist drum performance at a night market in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, Feb. 12, 2026. Various festive events are held across China to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year of the Horse.