By Zhang Mengxu, People’s Daily

A recent video titled “China Quietly Saved the World Last Month,” published by former New York Times columnist Max Fisher, has resonated widely on international social media.  

In the video, Fisher points to a map of global tanker routes and notes that the most striking development is not which countries are rushing to buy oil, but which are holding back. The video has been viewed more than 6 million times, with thousands of comments describing China’s response as “clear-headed” and “prudent.”

The Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy transportation, has faced sustained pressure in recent weeks, driving up the risk premium on international crude oil. 

Under conventional market logic, when geopolitical tensions heighten supply concerns, major consuming countries tend to accelerate purchases and build inventories. A widening supply-demand gap then pushes oil prices higher, with rising energy costs contributing to global inflation. 

Following the latest escalation of tensions in the Middle East, fears mounted that a rebound in energy prices could undermine the global economic recovery. Expectations of a race to secure oil supplies briefly swept through commodity markets.

China’s market, however, has offered a different response. Domestic refiners adjusted their production schedules in line with market conditions, slowing new purchases of high-priced crude in an orderly and flexible manner and thereby easing the pace of import growth from the demand side. 

In a remarkably measured approach, China effectively acted as a “buffer” for strained global supply and demand. The Wall Street Journal noted that China’s reduced oil imports have provided important support for an already pressured global economy. France’s Le Figaro said this marked the second time since the 2008 global financial crisis that China played a key role in supporting global economic stability.

For years, efforts to cope with oil crises have focused primarily on the supply side, leaving major consuming countries vulnerable to price volatility. This latest experience, however, shows that a huge consumer market can also serve as a buffer by adjusting production capacity and managing inventories, becoming an important force in maintaining market balance. 

Reuters reported that China’s reduced crude purchases since the escalation of tensions in the Middle East have, to a considerable extent, offset the impact of supply disruptions. The Financial Times likewise commented that China is becoming a key variable influencing the balance of the global oil market.

What enabled China to take a different path? The answer lies in strategic foresight.

During previous periods of prolonged low international oil prices, China steadily advanced its commercial inventory system, gradually building substantial reserves. 

As oil prices rose in the current cycle, the domestic market slowed its usual pace of adding to commercial inventories, drawing on stocks accumulated earlier to replace some high-priced imports. 

This approach ensured the basic operational needs of domestic refineries while avoiding further tightening of supply and demand through competition for oil at elevated prices.

Sufficient reserves provides a direct foundation for China to adjust the pace of its imports with flexibility.

Through years of sustained effort, China has developed an efficient system for the turnover of commercial inventories and has continued to diversify its sources of crude oil imports, including from countries and regions such as Brazil and Africa. This has reduced its reliance on any single transportation route. 

More importantly, its market-oriented refining and petrochemical sector has become increasingly mature, enabling companies to respond quickly to price and risk signals and adjust procurement and production plans accordingly. 

This diversified and resilient energy supply system gives China greater room to maneuver when geopolitical disruptions occur.

From a longer-term perspective, what is truly reshaping the logic of energy is the green transition now advancing in greater depth. According to the International Energy Agency, electric vehicles alone helped China displace the equivalent of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in the second quarter of this year, far exceeding the market’s previous expectations. China’s rapid development of new energy is not only reshaping its own energy mix, but also quietly changing the underlying dynamics of the global energy market.

China has evolved from a passive recipient of global energy price fluctuations into a more proactive stabilizing force in the global market. Behind this transformation lies a consistent and prudent approach to energy development: keeping China’s energy supply firmly in its own hands and using the certainty of its own development to cope with uncertainties in the external environment. 

That, in itself, is one of the most concrete and lasting contributions China can make to global market stability.

By Liu Quan, Zhu Jiaqi, Liang Nan, People’s Daily

The Pinglu Canal, the first major river-to-sea canal project planned and coordinated at the national level since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, is scheduled to open to navigation on September 16, 2026. Construction began on Aug. 28, 2022, with a total investment of about 72.7 billion yuan (about $10.83 billion).

Stretching 134.2 kilometers, the canal starts at the mouth of the Pingtang River in the Xijin Reservoir area of Hengzhou, Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. It runs south through Luwu town in Lingshan county, Qinzhou, before connecting with the Qinjiang River and flowing into the Beibu Gulf. Designed to Class I inland waterway standards, it is China’s highest-grade navigable canal, capable of accommodating vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes.

Once operational, the canal will shorten the inland waterway route for cargo from southwest China to the sea by more than 560 kilometers compared to traditional routes. It will also significantly reduce shipping distances to major ASEAN ports, lower overall logistics costs by 18 to 30 percent, and save more than 5 billion yuan in transportation costs each year.

The Pinglu Canal features 104 bridges along its route, including 27 crossing the canal itself, as well as numerous supporting structures such as trestle bridges, temporary bridges, and pedestrian bridges that have been rebuilt or newly constructed. This extensive network has earned the project the nickname “Hundred-Bridge Project.” These bridges do more than connect the two banks of the canal; they also reflect the region’s cultural heritage, improve local livelihoods, and demonstrate a commitment to harmony between people and nature.

In Qinzhou, where the canal meets the sea, the Zicai Bridge officially opened to traffic on April 28.

“The original Zicai Bridge lacked the navigational clearance required for 5,000-tonne vessels on the canal and had to be removed,” said Yuan Mingyang, deputy director of the engineering management department at Guangxi Pinglu Canal Construction Co., Ltd., the builder of the canal under Pinglu Canal Group. “However, as a self-anchored suspension bridge with a complex load-bearing structure, improper demolition could have caused it to collapse.”

To dismantle the bridge safely, the project team invited experts to conduct simulations using digital twin and BIM (Building Information Modeling) technologies. They ultimately adopted a reverse dismantling method. “Taking the bridge apart in the reverse order of its construction. The demolition alone took more than half a year,” Yuan said.

Another notable structure, the Qinjiang Bridge on the G75 Lanhai Expressway, is the world’s largest-span and heaviest concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge to be lifted as a single unit. At peak times, it previously handled more than 100,000 vehicle trips per day. To minimize disruption, the construction team used the old bridge as a platform for transporting construction materials.

“Half of the bridge was enclosed with scaffolding and protective nets for construction, while the other half remained open to traffic — a rare approach in conventional bridge construction,” said Kuang Zhiqiang, a person in charge of the bridge’s construction. The team also employed an overall lifting technique: assembling bridge components on the ground before lifting them into place. Installation was completed in just 16 hours.

“The Pinglu Canal is a complex, integrated project involving multiple disciplines, including waterways, hubs, slopes, bridges, and ecology. The entire project was divided into more than 180 construction sections, with over 20,000 workers involved at peak periods. It posed major challenges in organization and coordination,” said Cheng Yaofei, chairman of Guangxi Pinglu Canal Construction Co., Ltd.

As China’s first smart canal featuring full life-cycle management, the Pinglu Canal’s digital twin platform integrates multidimensional data on weather, hydrology, construction schedules to simulate operations in advance and automatically generate optimal construction plans. For example, one side of the waterway is drained for earth excavation and foundation work. Once that side is completed, work shifts to the other. This carefully staggered approach, both in time and space, has helped minimize interference between construction activities.

The project stands as a testament to development driven by a deep commitment to people’s well-being.

The site of Qinjiang Bridge was once home to the Qinjiang No. 1 Bridge, built in 1958 as Qinzhou’s first urban bridge. Local residents had deep emotional ties to it. To preserve the city’s collective memory, the proposal to retain the old bridge piers was adopted. Today, the new bridge incorporates the preserved piers and provides space for public activities beneath it. A miniature replica of the old bridge has also been rebuilt upstream.

From Qinzhou Oyster Plaza, visitors can see a graceful white bridge spanning the Pinglu Canal: the Beibu Gulf Bridge, voted by the public as the “most beautiful bridge” along the canal. Traffic flows across the bridge, while mangroves thrive beneath it. As a vital coastal wetland ecosystem, mangroves serve as an important barrier for coastal ecological protection.

During construction, the project team adjusted the location of the temporary traffic bridge for the Beibu Gulf Bridge based on recommendations from forestry authorities, avoiding areas with concentrated mangrove growth. Protective measures, including the installation of barriers, were also taken to prevent industrial wastewater and construction waste from entering the mangrove areas, safeguarding the coastal ecosystem.

From the planning stage, the Pinglu Canal embraced the concept of a “green canal,” integrating environmental protection throughout the entire project. Efforts have been made to preserve ecosystems along the canal and protect biodiversity.

No asphalt, no road markings — just a thick layer of soil covering the bridge deck. This is the most distinctive bridge along the Pinglu Canal: an ecological corridor bridge. It is China’s first bridge built exclusively as a wildlife crossing over a canal.

The bridge deck recreates the original forest environment, providing shade, food and shelter for wildlife. It allows native species such as spotted linsangs, leopard cats and Pallas’s squirrels to move safely through the area, striking a balance between infrastructure development and ecological conservation.

By Chen Yixian, People’s Daily

This summer, a residential community in Xuzhou, east China’s Jiangsu province, drew attention for its innovative approach to cooling. Even when outdoor temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius, residents can keep their air conditioners off while maintaining indoor temperatures of around 25 degrees Celsius. 

The secret lies beneath their feet.

China University of Mining and Technology, in collaboration with a local company, has tapped into a “natural cooling source” hidden in nearby abandoned mines. The water in these mines remains at around 19 degrees Celsius year-round. It is pumped into residents’ homes through  existing heating pipes, providing cooling through radiant floor systems.

China’s action plan for achieving peak carbon emissions during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030) calls for accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of heating and cooling systems. Cities across the country are now exploring district cooling as part of this effort.

District cooling works much like district heating, except that chilled water circulates through the pipes instead of hot water. In some district cooling systems, chilled water produced at a central cooling plant is delivered through underground pipe networks to buildings, where fan-coil units distribute cool air indoors.

Compared with conventional air conditioning, district cooling offers several clear advantages. It improves cooling efficiency, reduces costs, and saves valuable building space. It also eliminates the noise generated by outdoor air conditioning units and, in some cases, avoids the discomfort of  cold air blowing directly onto people, making it more comfortable for users.

However, whether district cooling can be adopted more widely depends on one key principle: solutions must be tailored to local conditions.

In Xuzhou, mine water provides a ready-made cooling source, eliminating the need to consume additional electricity to produce chilled water. The existing pipes can also be used for both heating and cooling, so there is no need for extensive renovation or new wiring and piping. This saves time, effort, and money.

Such natural cooling sources, however, are not available everywhere. Where the available source is too limited, it may not be able to meet substantial cooling demand. In Wuhan, Hubei province, and Nanjing, Jiangsu province, two district cooling projects have helped reduce carbon emissions and improve people’s well-being. Their smart solution lies in using the Yangtze River as a “natural air conditioner.”

The concept of “resources,” of course, is not fixed. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, reclaimed water from a wastewater treatment plant provides continuous cooling for about 300,000 square meters of buildings in an industrial park. By improving technology and rethinking how resources are used, more resources that once were idle can be put to work.

The availability of resources is not the only consideration. Environmental sustainability and economic viability are equally important when developing district cooling systems.

Delivering cooling is far more challenging than delivering heat. District heating systems can generally cover a radius of more than 20 kilometers, while district cooling usually works within a radius of no more than 1.5 kilometers, beyond which energy losses rise sharply.

The world’s largest district cooling system is located in Qianhai, Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong province. Six cooling plants are already in operation. Once operating at full capacity, the system is expected to reduce refrigerant use by 13.74 tons, with contracted cooling coverage exceeding 5.78 million square meters.

Why is such a huge district cooling system located in Qianhai? Its average annual temperature is above 23 degrees Celsius, and the area is home to a large number of office buildings, major commercial complexes and hotels — all steady and substantial consumers of cooling.

Thanks to economies of scale, district cooling can deliver significant energy savings and carbon reductions, and it has enormous potential. However, if equipment sits idle after a system is built, it can also result in substantial waste. This makes careful assessment and sound decision-making essential. Planning should take all relevant factors into account from the outset.

In the first half of this year, China’s exports of air conditioners to the European Union reached a record high, with export value up 43.2 percent year on year.

European cities have many historical buildings and complex installation conditions. To meet these needs, Chinese companies have developed energy-efficient, low-noise portable split air conditioners that can be plugged in and used immediately. The products have proved highly popular.

The localization embedded in these products and services reflects the wisdom of respecting both the laws of nature and the needs of users. It’s just another example of tailoring solutions to local conditions.

The carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals are China’s solemn commitment to the international community. Why can China be trusted to deliver on its words and fulfill its commitments?

The answer lies in the many pieces of the green development puzzle — from green buildings and low-carbon energy to smarter ways of using resources — all built on the principles of taking realities into account, pursuing steady progress and finding innovative solutions.