NEWS

New Welcome Ceremony， New Chinese Image

June 6， Beijing： A state welcome ceremony is held by Chinese President Xi Jinping for Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov outside the east gate of the Great Hall of the People before their formal talks.

To better display the new image of the country in the new era， some changes have been added to the welcome ceremony for foreign leaders visiting China. Highlights include more honor guards， more trumpets playing at the ceremony， new music played by the military band and the newly established female honor guard procession. All these changes make the ceremony more stately， more solemn and more magnificent.

The new welcome ceremony， especially with the newly reformed Honor Guards of the PLA， evidences the fruitful achievements of Chinese military reforms led by Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping.

Chinese Brands at Russia World Cup

June 14， Moscow： A Chinese couple from Jiangxi Province attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup excitedly poses with the mascot on the events opening day.

Although Chinas national team failed to qualify for the World Cup this year， people can still feel China throughout the event thanks to the dominating presence of Chinese brands ranging from elevators， mascots and commemorative coins to crayfish.

According to statistics， some 100，000 Chinese fans visited Russia for the tournament. Following the Chinese tourists， Alibabas digital payment platform Alipay is accepted by more than 4，000 merchants in the country.

For the first time， as many as seven Chinese companies—real estate developer Wanda， home appliance maker Hisense， dairy giant Mengniu， smartphone maker Vivo， technology and entertainment experience company Luci， menswear brand Diking and electric vehicle manufacturer Yadea—successfully bid to become official sponsors of the World Cup.

Dragon Boat Race in Hainan

June 18， Lingao County， Hainan Province： People take part in a dragon boat race to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival， which was on June 18 this year. Dragon boat races with strong local traditional characteristics are quite exciting and tend to attract many tourists from home and abroad.

Over the 30 years of development since Hainan Province was established， maritime sports have developed rapidly on the island， from traditional sailing and windsurfing to new emerging sports like kite surfing and diving. Hainan has already become a water sports paradise.

Relief from Gaokao Stress

June 8， Changsha， Hunan Province： After finishing the last section of the national college entrance examination， students stream out of the testing room like birds. That day， the national college entrance examination， or the gaokao， ended in some places in China.

About 9.75 million students， the highest in eight years， registered for this years examination from June 7 to 8. The two-day exam is regarded by many as a critical turning point in a students life due to its ability to provide a “one-way” ticket to higher education.

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan emphasized fairness as she inspected preparations for the exam.“The gaokao is a crucial system to ensure equality in education，” Sun declared. The gaokao will continue to reform exam content with an emphasis on overall competency， and college enrollment will keep expanding to encourage comprehensive and individualized development of students， she added.