By Liu Shaohua, People’s Daily

China’s rapidly growing e-sports industry is transforming entertainment consumption but also creating diverse range of new jobs. As the sector continues to expand, it is emerging as a key driver of the digital economy and opening up diverse career paths for young people.

A prominent example is Xu Bicheng, known globally by his screen name “Yinuo,” who won an e-sports gold medal at the Arena of Valor Asian Games Version. He first realized his exceptional gaming talent while still in school. In 2019, his club was acquired by a professional gaming club, marking his entry into the fast-evolving world of competitive gaming.

Today, China’s e-sports industry has grown into a vast ecosystem. According to a 2025 report on China’s e-sports industry released by the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, the sector has become a major engine driving digital culture and new forms of consumption. In 2025, China remained the world’s largest e-sports market, with total industry revenue reaching 29.33 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) and a user base of 495 million.

At the heart of this ecosystem are professional players and streamers. In 2019, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially recognized e-sports players and event managers as new professions.

Unlike casual gaming, professional e-sports is highly structured and competitive. Teams operate with dedicated staff, including head coaches, coaches, and managers. Similar to professional football leagues, the King Pro League (KPL) features only 18 franchised teams, making opportunities for professional players extremely limited.

Yinuo exemplifies this new wave of digital athletes, commanding a massive following among youth. On Chinese short video platform Douyin, he has over 8.4 million followers and 280 million likes, while his Weibo microblog attracts more than 5.3 million followers. His livestreamed matches routinely attract hundreds of thousands of viewers.

The growing influence of e-sports is increasingly recognized by academics. Huang Xinyuan, a professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China, noted that e-sports has become integral to young people’s lifestyles. In 2017, the university became the first in China to launch an undergraduate program in e-sports. 

“E-sports is no longer just entertainment. It represents a way of life,” Huang said, recalling the electrifying atmosphere at live competitions.

The industry’s reach continues to expand both online and offline. In 2023, e-sports debuted as an official medal event at the Asian Games. In 2025, the KPL Grand Finals drew over 62,000 in-person attendees, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest live audience ever at an single e-sports event.

Looking ahead, e-sports will play an even bigger role. The upcoming 2026 Asian Games will feature 11 e-sports events, an increase from seven at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou in 2023.

Behind the scenes, a growing workforce supports live streaming and event broadcasting. Statistics show that live streaming is the primary revenue source for the industry, generating over 23.7 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 80.81 percent of total revenue.

At the same time, the integration of e-sports with sectors such as culture, tourism, and technology is creating hybrid jobs. Opportunities now span event operations, content creation, data analysis, commentary and hosting, venue management, and merchandise development, forming a employment ecosystem worth tens of billions of yuan across the value chain.

From full-time employment to flexible gig work, e-sports-related careers have become a major option for younger generations. 

A 2024 report on the development of e-sports-related jobs showed that the industry had more than 650,000 full-time positions in 2024, with about 80 percent located in first-tier and emerging first-tier cities. Meanwhile, flexible roles such as “e-sports instructors” are expanding rapidly, providing new digital employment opportunities for young people.

Education is evolving to meet industry demand. In 2017, “electronic competitive sports and management” was listed as new major for vocational schools. Eight years later, China introduced “game art design” as a new undergraduate major. So far, 139 universities across the country offer e-sports-related programs, training more than 40,000 students annually and building a steady pipeline of talent.

Enterprises are also actively involved. According to a representative from the e-sports division of Chinese tech giant Tencent, which also runs many online games in China, initiatives such as talent reserve programs and joint training schemes with universities aim to align education with industry needs. “We hope to transform the popularity of e-sports events into a sustained talent dividend through a mature ecosystem,” the representative noted.

Local governments are also stepping up support. Guangzhou in east China’s Guangdong province aims to become one of the world’s most influential e-sports cities by 2030. Shanghai plans to build globally recognized branded tournaments and attract top international events. Xiamen in Fujian province has introduced policy measures to promote high-quality development of the gaming industry.

Both on and off the screen, China’s e-sports industry is thriving — fueling innovation, creating jobs, and shaping a new generation of digital careers.

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

Nestled along China’s northern border, Inner Mongolia autonomous region boasts a unique geographical advantage: it spans northeast, north and northwest China, connects eight provincial-level regions within the country, and serves as a vital gateway linking China to Europe and Asia.

Recently, China’s State Council issued an overall plan for China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), bringing the total number of China’s pilot FTZs to 23 and further improving the overall layout of its FTZ network.

Yuan Xiaoming, assistant minister of commerce, stated that the overall plan supports the Inner Mongolia FTZ in leveraging its geographical advantages to fully utilize both domestic and international markets and resources. It prioritizes seven key areas, including developing major trade hubs, enhancing bilateral investment quality, deepening domestic and international connectivity, and facilitating the cross-border flow of production factors.

The blueprint outlines 19 reform measures, such as upgrading goods trade structures and strengthening international logistics services. Its vision is to build the FTZ into an information exchange hub, a transportation and logistics center, a platform for factor and resource allocation, a hub for scientific and technological innovation, and an industrial cooperation center in key fields, thereby linking domestic and international markets while driving regional growth.

Efforts will focus on developing northern international transport corridors to expand global connectivity. In 2025, cargo throughput at Inner Mongolia’s land ports reached 132 million tons, up 8.3 percent year on year and exceeding 100 million tons for three consecutive years.

The overall plan proposes upgrading port infrastructure, strengthening international logistics services such as aviation, postal delivery, and China-Europe freight trains, and exploring smart new cross-border transport corridors, including those featuring autonomous driving.

The FTZ is expected to enhance the development of an open economy and help strengthen China’s domestic economic cycle. In 2025, Inner Mongolia handled 9,557 China-Europe freight train trips, a year-on-year increase of 16.9 percent, accounting for nearly half of the national total. There remains significant room to improve its role in serving the domestic economy and upgrading from a “corridor economy” to a “hub economy” and an “industrial economy.” 

The overall plan calls for deeper reforms to integrate domestic and foreign trade, promoting development in border areas, and improving the well-being of people in border and ethnic regions.

It will also promote coordinated regional development and mutually reinforcing  domestic-international connectivity.

The FTZ will accelerate implementation of the land-sea intermodal “express rail clearance” model, facilitating resource sharing between Inner Mongolia’s Manzhouli Port and coastal ports including Dalian Port and Qinhuangdao Port, so as to optimize logistics networks.

Cross-border cooperation with neighboring countries will expand in agriculture, energy, and ecological governance to build transnational industrial chains. Tailored institutional innovations will strengthen Belt and Road cooperation in infrastructure connectivity, standards alignment, and cultural exchanges, better positioning itself as China’s bridgehead for northern opening up.

“In 2025, Inner Mongolia’s total foreign trade grew 6.4 percent, and notably, border residents’ mutual trade surged by 65.4 percent year on year. These figures demonstrate a solid foundation for developing Inner Mongolia into a highland of opening up along the border,” said Luo Qing, director general of the Department of Commerce of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. 

The plan includes high-value institutional reforms to upgrade goods trade, revitalize services trade, and foster innovative development of border residents’ trade.

Inner Mongolia is rich in natural resources. How can these advantages be transformed into dividends for modern industrial development?

As a national leader in agriculture, with grain output exceeding 40 billion kilograms for two consecutive years and ranking first nationwide in beef, mutton, and milk production, Inner Mongolia is solidly positioned as a “granary,” “meat base,” and “dairy hub.” It aims to build a major national base for agricultural and livestock products. The overall plan outlines measures to develop eco-friendly agriculture and animal husbandry, promote green food certification, and introduce high-quality breeds and resources.

In the energy and minerals sector, Inner Mongolia leads the country in installed capacity for new energy, coal production capacity, total power generation capacity, electricity transmitted to other regions, and reserves of 20 key minerals. Its technically exploitable wind energy resources account for about 57 percent of the national total, while solar resources make up about 21 percent.

The overall plan proposes improving policies for the consumption and utilization of green electricity, promoting trading of green electricity certificates, and refining standards for equipment recycling to upgrade the energy sector.

At the same time, Inner Mongolia is actively fostering future-oriented industries. As a national hub in China’s integrated computing power network, the region led the country in both total computing power and intelligent computing capacity in 2025. 

The overall plan outlines pilot initiatives including building edge computing centers, conducting AI large model training and applications, and expanding green computing scenarios. These will enable the FTZ to deliver fast, efficient computing services to a wider market.

Furthermore, Inner Mongolia is exploring new growth areas such as biomanufacturing and developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, turning its geographic strengths into opening up advantages and policy benefits into real economic momentum.

By Huang Xiaohui, People’s Daily

Carbon emissions are closely tied to everyday life and lie at the heart of global climate governance. For decades, most accounting systems have followed the methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which attributes emissions to the place of production — who produces, who accounts for the emissions. However, this production-based approach often overlooks the role of consumption.

“The majority of global carbon accounting systems prioritize the production perspective, overlooking consumption,” said Wei Wei, deputy director of the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

He noted that the field has long faced challenges such as inconsistent data standards, lengthy accounting cycles, delayed updates, and limited transparency. Achieving a more scientific and equitable method for calculating carbon emissions remains a shared global challenge.

On April 8, the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute unveiled a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence model designed to track carbon emissions across global production-side, consumption-side, and natural sources. It marks a new breakthrough in China’s efforts in this field and offers a “China solution” to longstanding global challenges in carbon accounting.

Accurate carbon accounting is fundamental. Greenhouse gas emissions are a major driver of climate change. Accurate carbon accounting serves as a key basis for fulfilling international climate commitments, underpinning global carbon pricing and influencing countries’ industrial development and competitiveness.

Traditional systems have notable limitations. For example, in 2024, wind turbines and photovoltaic products exported by China generated about 2 million tons of carbon emissions during the production phase, yet delivered approximately 350 million tons of emission reduction benefits globally during their operational phase. 

“Without a full-cycle accounting approach from production to consumption, such significant contributions remain invisible,” said Lai Xiaoming, chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange.

“The world urgently needs a more scientific and equitable accounting system, one that not only clarifies ‘who emits,’ but also ‘for whom emissions occur,'” Wei said. 

“The new model was developed precisely in response to this need. Rather than overturning existing international frameworks, it builds on the scientific consensus of the IPCC and makes carbon accounting more comprehensive, dynamic, and intelligent,” he added.

Yet calculating carbon emissions in such a comprehensive way is no easy task.

Wei identified four major challenges: the complexity of industrial sectors and high technical barriers; diverse and fragmented data sources with varying update frequencies; long accounting cycles and high labor costs in traditional methods; and insufficient precision, spatial-temporal resolution, and coordination across different accounting approaches. 

Powered by artificial intelligence, the new model addresses these challenges through an integrated three-level architecture of data, algorithms, and computing power.

At the data level, the research team independently developed eight core datasets covering key dimensions such as production-side, consumption-side, natural sources, and carbon tracing. Through collaboration with government departments, industry organizations, and enterprises, the system enables high-frequency data updates and deep integration. It has already aggregated 208 terabytes of multi-format carbon data, forming a high-quality, multidimensional “carbon knowledge base.”

At the algorithm level, the model incorporates a domain-specific large language model with 32 billion parameters, along with conversational and programming interfaces linked to an intelligent database. On this foundation, five specialized intelligent agents have been developed, capable of tasks such as digital simulation and optimization of industrial system processes, trade carbon transfer accounting, life cycle assessment, natural source accounting, and uncertainty analysis.

At the computing level, a high-performance internal server cluster works in coordination with external computing centers to optimize resource allocation and ensure flexible supply. Complex calculations that once took weeks or even months can now be completed in minutes.

According to Wei, the model is the first to integrate production-side, consumption-side, and natural sources into a unified, panoramic framework, enabling systematic and coordinated accounting across multiple methodologies.

The model has already demonstrated its value in several key application scenarios, supporting China’s role in global climate governance and its transition toward green and low-carbon development.

Zhang Xian, director of the Division of Global Environment at the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21, noted that the model’s industrial intelligent agent functions like a “digital twin factory,” simulating carbon emission scenarios under different production processes and energy structures. This helps enterprises identify key areas for emission reduction and plan their transition pathways.

Based on the new model, recalculations for 2022 show that when consumption and trade-related carbon transfers are taken into account, greenhouse gas emissions of China, the United States, and Japan were adjusted by -17.7 percent, +15.2 percent, and +7.2 percent respectively, compared with traditional production-side accounting under the IPCC framework. 

These adjustments more accurately reflect carbon emission responsibilities across global supply chains and provide a scientific basis for building a fairer and more balanced international responsibility-sharing mechanism.

The “global carbon ledger” calls for a more precise and equitable “scientific balance.” On that balance, the right to development and the responsibility to protect the planet can be more clearly measured.