Xi stresses political guidance, innovation in military modernization

An aerial drone photo taken on July 30, 2026 shows a freight train of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor waiting for departure at Yuzui Station in Chongqing, southwest China. A total of 961 rail freight train trips were operated from Chongqing via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the first half of the year, up 25.6 percent year on year.

On July 16, many residents of Shimin Xincun residential community in Bansongyuan Road subdistrict, Huangpu district, Shanghai, gathered at a convenience vegetable stall set up by the local Party-mass service center to buy fresh produce. Just across the wall stood four newly built residential buildings.

The vast blue "ocean" before me is where I work. More than 10 million photovoltaic panels stretch across this area, forming a sprawling "blue sea" that covers 12,000 hectares, an area equivalent to more than 16,000 international standard football pitches. Located southeast of Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, this area lies on the edge of the Mu Us Desert. For years, it was a barren expanse of Gobi wasteland.

Rimaz Dakhilallah Aljohani (C) tries welding at the Tianjin Intelligent Manufacturing Branch of Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. (COOEC) in Tianjin, north China, July 9, 2026. Rimaz Dakhilallah Aljohani, a 22-year-old junior majoring in petroleum engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia, began a two-month internship and training program Tianjin during the summer vacation.

Inside a dust-free, noise-free smart workshop beside Taihu Lake in east China's Jiangsu Province, technicians in anti-static suits assemble satellites on automated production lines.