By Liu He, People’s Daily

The hall of the Chinese Cultural Center in Berlin was filled with anticipation. Many local residents arrived early to hear German writers Volker Haering and Christian Y. Schmidt share the story of their bicycle journey retracing the route of the Long March (1934-1936), a military maneuver by the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army that later became a defining chapter in modern Chinese history.

In 2023 and 2024, the two men set out from Ruijin, east China’s Jiangxi province. Cycling westward and then northward, they followed the path taken by the Central Red Army, eventually reaching Wuqi county in Yan’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, after more than four months on the road.

“If you don’t understand the spirit of the Long March, you cannot truly understand China.”

Haering still vividly remembers hearing those words more than two decades ago from a veteran Red Army soldier.

“From that moment on, I knew I had to make this journey myself,” he said with conviction.

Following in the footsteps of the Red Army

The pair began their story at Jiajin Mountain in Sichuan Province, known locally as the “Mountain of Death.”

In June 1935, the Central Red Army arrived at its foot — the first snow-covered mountain they encountered during the Long March.

“As we climbed higher, the vegetation gradually disappeared. Steep cliffs stretched into the distance, and icy winds mixed with rain and snow cut through us,” Haering recalled.

Schmidt, then 67 years old, suffered severe altitude sickness and could only continue with medication. By the time the two cyclists reached the 4,114-meter pass, they were completely exhausted.

“Ninety-one years ago, Red Army soldiers — wearing thin cotton uniforms and straw sandals, while under enemy pursuit — crossed these snow-covered mountains over seven days and nights,” Haering said. “We were riding electric bicycles and dressed in modern outdoor gear, yet we felt we had reached our physical limits.”

Schmidt agreed. “Only after experiencing it yourself can you truly understand how dangerous the snow mountains were, and only then can you fully appreciate the Red Army’s resilience and courage.”

Haering first learned about the Long March at the age of 15 and was deeply fascinated by its history. Over the following decades, he read extensively about its history.

What has enabled the spirit of the Long March to inspire generations of Chinese people?

Driven by that question, Haering, at age 54, embarked on the journey with his friend Schmidt.

The nearly 7,000-kilometer trip was far more than an adventure. It became a test of both physical endurance and determination.

During freezing nights, they often struggled to sleep. In western Sichuan province, bitter cold, strong headwinds, high altitudes, and continuous mountain roads made even downhill riding extremely difficult. In the latter half of the trip, their electric bicycles also suffered frequent mechanical failures.

Haering told People’s Daily that cycling the route helped him better understand the hardships the Red Army endured, and also gave him a greater appreciation of China’s transformation over the decades.

Encounters along the Route

If the snow mountains, grasslands and gorges revealed the harsh realities of the Long March, the people they met along the route showed them another side of China.

“We’re constantly invited to meals,” Haering joked. As they cycled through China, once locals learned they were retracing the Long March, initial reserve and wariness quickly gave way to hospitality and respect.

In a small-town restaurant, while the two were eating, a group of curious children gathered around their table. Before long, the children had become their Chinese-language teachers, patiently helping them practice pronunciation.

“The children’s smiling faces remain among the most touching memories of the entire trip,” Haering recalled.

In Xichang, Sichuan province, an experienced bicycle shop owner surnamed Dai, who had run   his business for more than 30 years, helped replace their chains and tires and offered practical cycling advice. In Yan’an, an English-speaking local tour guide surnamed Li showed them around many revolutionary heritage sites.

Sharing China’s story through personal experience

“Meeting so many kind and genuine Chinese people was the greatest reward of the journey,” Haering said.

In October 2025, the two published the book Der lange Fahrrad-Marsch: 7.000 Kilometer durch das Reich der Mitte in Germany.

They subsequently held book-sharing events in Hamburg, Leipzig, Berlin, and other German cities, where many readers lined up with copies, waiting for the authors’ signatures.

“Books and articles alone are not enough if you want to help Western audiences truly understand China. First-hand experience is essential,” Haering said.

He noted that since China expanded its visa-free entry policies, increasing numbers of overseas tourists and content creators have traveled to China, documenting what they see through photos and videos.

“That is a very positive change,” he said. “When people see China with their own eyes, they can form their own judgments.”

This was far from Haering’s first effort to introduce China to Western audiences.

When he first visited China in the 1990s, he knew little about the country. More than three decades later, he has cycled over 60,000 kilometers across China, leading numerous cycling tours through both cities and rural areas. Among his friends, he has become known as a “China expert.”

During their journey across the Dadu River in Sichuan, Haering saw many newly built dams, while elevated bridges and high-speed rail lines were under construction. 

Infrastructure in China has improved tremendously, he said. “Today, digital technologies such as mobile payment and electronic maps have become deeply integrated into every aspect of travel, making journeys much more convenient.”

Schmidt shared the same impression. He recalled that traveling to remote areas, especially plateau regions, once involved long and difficult journeys. Today, China’s expanding high-speed rail network has made many destinations far more accessible.

When asked how he understands the spirit of the Long March, Haering said it lies in the strength of unity and the unwavering commitment to a shared goal.

“It is a spirit of solidarity,” he added. “When people share the same purpose, work together, and pool their efforts toward a common goal, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.”

He believes that this spirit continues to shape today’s China. “Drawing strength from the spirit of the Long March to overcome challenges, deliver concrete results, and pursue long-term development is, in my view, one of the important reasons behind China’s remarkable achievements,” Haering said.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

From Sept. 23 to 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump. The visit reinforced longstanding friendship, expanded areas of mutual cooperation, and advanced the shared prosperity of both countries’ peoples. 

The two heads of state held candid, in-depth discussions on key bilateral and global issues, reaching a series of new agreements. Their meeting enriched the substance of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability and provided new strategic guidance for bilateral ties. 

The international community generally believes that the meeting between the two presidents in Washington sent “a clear signal of predictability” amid global uncertainties. The meeting is expected not only to bolster the welfare of citizens in both countries but also to strengthen prospects for international peace and sustainable development.

This rapid succession of presidential visits — occurring within a span of less than six months — is unprecedented in the long history of China-U.S. relations.  

The two heads of state have maintained close exchanges and fostered a pattern of interaction marked by mutual respect and sincerity, which has become the most valuable strategic asset in China-U.S. relations. Over the past year, they have sustained regular communication through multiple channels, jointly steering the course of the China-U.S. relationship. 

During Trump’s visit to China this May, the two heads of state agreed to build a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability. This new positioning reflects the realities of China-U.S. relations while expressing aspirations for their future. It marks an important step toward finding the right way for China and the United States to get along, and has been widely welcomed by the peoples of both countries and the international community.

During his visit to the United States this time, Xi urged the two sides to translate that vision into action. He made clear that China and the United States should, and fully can, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through practical cooperation, help each other succeed through healthy competition, properly manage differences by seeking common ground while respecting differences, and build peace by fostering mutual trust, so that a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability can better benefit the two peoples and people around the world.

This important statement charted a clear course for turning the vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability into action and injected fresh impetus into the long-term development of bilateral ties.

China and the United States have deeply intertwined interests and vast potential for cooperation. Cooperation is a two-way street. A stable China-U.S. economic and trade relationship requires both expanding the list of cooperation, and shortening the list of problems. 

Ahead of the meeting between the two heads of state, Chinese and U.S. economic and trade teams held a new round of consultations and reached new agreements. These outcomes offer timely benefits for businesses and consumers in both nations, while contributing to global economic stability. 

It once again shows that the essence of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and that in the face of differences and frictions, equal-footed consultation is the only right choice. 

As long as both sides uphold the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit, they can find a way to resolve their problems and thus keep China-U.S. economic and trade relations stable and moving in a positive direction.

Defining principles and respecting bottom lines is an important prerequisite for building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. 

There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. China’s position on safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity is clear. China hopes the U.S. side will adhere to the correct position of opposing “Taiwan independence,” and handle the Taiwan question with prudence to lay a solid foundation for bilateral strategic cooperation and the development of China-U.S. ties.

Facing the changes in the world, in the times, and of historical significance today, China and the United States, as two major countries, shoulder a historic responsibility of advancing human development and progress.

Both China and the United States are leading nations in artificial intelligence (AI). While they compete in AI, they have even more reasons to cooperate, Xi said, urging the two sides to leverage respective strengths in AI rather than guard against each other.

The two sides can continue to engage in dialogue on AI, exchange views on its risks and benefits, and work together to prevent the misuse and abuse of AI. They should also maintain human control over AI technologies. A people-centered approach should be upheld, and AI should be developed for the positive and for good, so that AI will serve human progress.

Calling AI the technology that bears on the future of humanity, Trump said the United States and China should maintain dialogue and strengthen cooperation on AI.

The two presidents agreed to support each other in successfully hosting the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and the G20 Summit, aiming to amplify collaborative efforts in tackling transnational challenges and strengthening multilateral governance.

Working together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of the two countries and the whole world is precisely what should be part of efforts to build a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.

This year marks a pivotal juncture for both China and the United States, placing bilateral relations at a new historical threshold. The two sides should demonstrate the sense of responsibility expected of major countries, respond to the aspirations of their peoples and the trend of the times, and jointly implement the important consensuses reached by the two heads of state. 

They should turn the vision of a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability into action and work toward a relationship featuring cooperation as the mainstay, moderate competition, manageable differences, and promises of peace, so that they can find the right path for the two great countries to get along on this planet they both call home.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

By Jin Sheping, People’s Daily

Globally, one in three cars sold today is manufactured in China. Since 2013, sales of new energy vehicles in China have surged more than 930-fold, while their share of the auto market has grown more than 590-fold, giving rise to a rapidly expanding emerging industry worth trillions of yuan.

The automotive sector exemplifies the broader growth and upgrading of China’s advanced manufacturing sector.

China’s manufacturing value added has ranked first in the world for 16 consecutive years, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the global total. 

Over the past decade, value-added output in high-tech and equipment manufacturing has grown at average annual rates of approximately 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively. 

China now holds a leading global position in sectors such as photovoltaics, telecommunications, high-speed rail, and shipbuilding, while robotics, AI, and innovative pharmaceuticals are accelerating rapidly. 

As the Chinese economy pivots toward innovation-driven, high-quality growth, advanced manufacturing has become a central pillar of this transition. 

Against a backdrop of unprecedented global shifts and a new wave of industrial transformation, China is navigating a pivotal phase of economic restructuring. To ensure long-term stability and sustainability, the country is doubling down on the expansion and refinement of its advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Even a single sheet of ultra-thin steel foil illustrates the sophistication of China’s manufacturing evolution.

In Shanxi province, a subsidiary of Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. produces precision stainless steel strips through fully automated processes — rolling, cleaning, polishing, leveling, slitting, and packaging. These materials, colloquially known as “hand-rip steel,” have seen their minimum thickness reduced from 0.02 mm to 0.015 mm. Having moved seamlessly from research and development to full-scale commercial production, these high-end alloys now trade at prices rivaling precious metals. 

To sustain this progress, China is targeting the core drivers of “advanced” manufacturing, strategically moving beyond mid-stream assembly to capture greater value at both ends of the global supply chain — from innovation and design to branding and services.

Intelligence is reshaping China’s industrial landscape. 

Leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies, the country has established over 56,000 basic-level smart factories, over 9,000 advanced-level smart factories and more than 500 excellence-level smart factories, while cultivating 15 flagship smart factories. Integrated with next-generation AI, big data analytics, and cloud infrastructure, these operations place China at the vanguard of global industrial digitization. 

Global innovation in AI is now entering an exceptionally active period. Focusing on intelligent transformation, China is making next-generation intelligent manufacturing a key direction, advancing the “AI + manufacturing” initiative in greater depth and promoting comprehensive digital and intelligent transformation across more industries and enterprises.

Sustainability is equally critical to unlocking new growth trajectories. 

Green development has become a hallmark of advanced manufacturing. China now hosts over 8,000 nationally recognized green factories, while sectors such as solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and energy-saving and environmental equipment have secured early-mover advantages in emerging competitive markets.

Guided by a firm commitment to ecological conservation, China is simultaneously advancing green industrial upgrading, technological innovation, and structural optimization. This integrated approach is steadily reinforcing the country’s competitive edge in clean technology and sustainable industries.

New growth drivers for industry are also cultivated through deepening integration.

Cross-sector integration is another vital catalyst for industrial advancement. Take AI-powered eyewear, for instance: it merges machine learning, micro-sensors, and wireless connectivity to deliver real-time translation, navigation, and voice recognition.  

Similarly, Luogang Park in Hefei, Anhui province, serves as a living testbed, hosting over ten distinct application scenarios — from cultural tourism to high-speed rail inspection — where emerging technologies can prove their commercial viability.

Recent years have witnessed significant breakthroughs across information technology, advanced materials, and biotechnology. These innovations are increasingly converging, giving rise to highly integrated products and multifaceted application ecosystems. 

Through strategic integration, China is fostering closer ties between advanced manufacturing and modern service industries. This synergy accelerates the commercialization of novel technologies and use cases, elevating value creation across the entire production chain, stimulating cross-industry spillovers, and injecting sustained dynamism into the broader economy.

Expanding advanced manufacturing requires a coordinated, systemic approach. China is implementing targeted policies and institutional frameworks designed to translate strategic objectives into measurable outcomes. 

Fundamental research remains the foundation of scientific progress and technological problem-solving. Recognizing that modern manufacturing depends on robust scientific backing, China is refining its research architecture and ramping up funding to bolster foundational science and original innovation. 

Concurrently, the country is intensifying efforts to overcome bottlenecks in critical and core technologies. By accelerating the translation of research findings into commercial applications, China is helping innovative solutions transition from laboratories to production lines and consumer markets, thereby converting scientific breakthroughs into tangible economic productivity.

Ultimately, the success of this industrial transformation hinges on millions of enterprises. The challenge lies in unlocking the full creative and operational potential of diverse market participants.

To address this, China is aligning market efficiency with strategic government guidance, refining institutional frameworks to ensure coherence across fiscal, tax, financial, industrial, and science-and-technology policies. High-value resources — including capital, skilled talent, and data — are being strategically channeled into advanced manufacturing. By cultivating a business environment that is market-driven, rule-based, and aligned with international standards, China aims to build a resilient, innovation-friendly ecosystem capable of sustaining long-term industrial advancement.