How is Shanghai leading the charge in China’s AI revolution?
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Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an AI hub in Shanghai, emphasizing the city's role in leading both AI development and governance. China passes its first law focused on supporting private businesses. Meanwhile, new numbers out of the Taiwan region show public trust in the United States is dropping fast.

Welcome to Road Today, a news program with a different perspective. I'm Ge'Anna in Beijing. To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today.

Today we begin with Chinese President Xi Jinping's latest visit to a cutting-edge AI incubator in Shanghai. During the visit, President Xi called on Shanghai to play a leading role in both AI development and governance. The Chinese leader stopped by the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center where more than 100 AI startups are being incubated. He joined a saloon discussion with young researchers on the future of next-generation intelligent agents.

Xi Jinping described AI as a young industry, one that he believes belongs to young people and will be the key to China's modernization and national rejuvenation. This visit follows a high-level study session on AI held just days ago in Beijing, where the Chinese president called for gaining a head start in this strategic sector. So to delve into this visit and what it signals for China's broader AI development, let's

Let's have Dr. Yao Shujie, Chang Kong Professor of Economics at Chongqing University. Welcome, Professor. Thank you.

China has steadily built a strategic framework for its AI development. How do you assess the strategic significance of President Xi Jinping's recent inspection tour in shaping the trajectory of China's AI development, especially amid intensifying global AI competition today? Xi Jinping's tour and inspection to Shanghai actually attract lots of attention at home and abroad.

It signifies that the president and also the party in the countries, the government of China is highly conscientious of the importance of AI development and the relationship between AI and economic growth.

I think AI has become the key driver of technological innovation in the new era, particularly in the 20th century. It is the core technology of the first industrialization in the world. I think big data, blockchain, internet plus, they are all driven by AI technology. So the big country,

with AI technology is going to become the key elements of competitiveness in the global economy. I mean big country because big country have lots of financial power, technological innovation capability, but more importantly is the application of AI into the real economy.

Because the wider the economy scope and also the bigger the territory, the more population you have, AI would have a much better benefit in terms of driving the economy development and social change.

China is certainly considered as a big country, only the population is over 1.4 billion people, but also GDP is second in the world. So China provided a fairly wide field of AI application and benefit in terms of school economy and territory economy.

To get the AI development as the key driver for the next stage of high-quality economic growth is a very important focus.

Professor, China has made impressive progress in the AI sector, leading the road in research paper output, achieving cheap breakthroughs and rapidly commercializing large models. What would you say are the core strengths of China's AI ecosystem today? And compared to global frontrunners, what gaps or weaknesses still need to be addressed? Surely there are strengths and weaknesses for the Chinese AI development.

In terms of the strengths, I think there are a number of factors. First of all, China, after almost half a decade of rapid economic development and opening, China has been accumulating lots of human resources, which is called the talent or human capital. People receiving higher education, especially in the computer and related technology sector.

And secondly, China's economy is now getting stronger and stronger. So it has a huge amount of capital investment resources. And certainly, I think China has made huge advantage in terms of the computer and manufacturing sector, the infrastructure, information, internet plus and internet of things.

So this created a solid foundation for the development of AI and also the application to the real economy. I mean, in terms of the gap, I think China has made huge advances, but in some special areas, for example, like the high-end chips and also the computer CPU, GPU, all those are more or less controlled by the technology.

top end manufacturers in the world. China is reducing the gap, but China is still unable to make the breakthrough in the very high-end technological change.

And also the design and the production of small chips, high power chips, which are important for AI development. So China still has some gaps and also some weaknesses in this area. But because, as I mentioned, China has a lot of strength, I think it's making heavy investments.

into this area to reduce the gaps. So I think sooner or later, China should be and will be and will be able to be the frontrunner of AI development because of the potential economy of scale and the economy of scope I just mentioned. When facing these challenges mentioned, how do you view Shanghai's unique role in this context?

Because the city's AI sector grew by over 13% in the first quarter of the year, becoming a key driver of local GDP. As China's economic, financial and trade hub, what unique advantages does Shanghai have in building itself into a world-class innovation powerhouse?

Well, Shanghai is the most advanced developed metropolitan city in China. It has a lot of endowment, competitive advantage endowment, particularly human capital. Shanghai has the most advanced research institutions and also universities such as Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong and also the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai branch.

These are the solid foundation. The other thing is Shanghai is a very commercialized, very open city, and it's very prosperous. Per capita GDP in Shanghai is parallel to the so-called developed countries at the moment now. So Shanghai has lots of human and physical capital resources for investment.

the infrastructure, Shanghai's industrial sector is getting, - moving from the lower end to the higher end, - leading the country for export and for producing - the most sophisticated and advanced, you know, technical equipment. And also the research innovation infrastructure in Shanghai - is probably second to none within China.

So, Shanghai used to be an economic powerhouse, but I think gradually, Shanghai has changed from not just the economic powerhouse, but also to the technological innovation powerhouse.

in China. So the impact of Shanghai on the nearby Yangtze River Delta area as well as the rest country is making Shanghai is ever more important as the driving force

of economic development and technological innovation. Professor, building on that, just four days after the recent high-level study session on AI, President Xi visited the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, an incubator for over 100 enterprises. Could you give us a sense of how this incubator operates and why it's seen as such a game-changer for China's AI ambitions?

Yes, because AI is a relatively new technology and in the future it's got to be the leading technological innovation. Surrounding AI, there should be a lot of enterprises, high-tech enterprises, who are producing different parts of the complicated AI ecosystem.

So there got to be some high-tech enterprises clustering into some particular area, such as the Shanghai development area, the Pudong area. And after the Polybio study meeting on the AI, I think it sent out a very strong signal

to the country. Not only the central government leadership is paying significant attention to the significance of AI development, but also it has a very conducive attitude towards society, towards the scientists and also the infrastructure. I mean, they invited some top scientists to discuss

or give an explanation to the meaning of AI and how AI could evolve in the country. And now this is the lecture given at Zhongnanhai, but also Xi Jinping himself as a top leader of China, he paid a visit to Shanghai just to make sure that these kinds of AI concept, development concept and strategy could be implemented

you know, fairly effectively and as timely as possible, taking Shanghai as a good example. But I think the rest of the country will follow. Then finally, as AI technology evolves rapidly and global competition intensifies, do you think China can also serve as a partner for the global south in this space?

And have we already seen examples of such cooperation or knowledge sharing with developing countries today?

Yes, I think China first of all it got to be fairly strong itself in terms of AI technological breakthrough and establish the country as the AI innovation hub in the world. But at the same time China should also help the South. The South countries, especially those countries along the Bail and Law Initiative. We already see some very encouraging example in this respect. For example,

The latest in a forum, the Sino African Development Forum, there is some announcement about how to build up the AI platform and also the AI development center in Africa. China is probably in the near future going to establish 20

big data and digital platform in Africa to help the local people and also the local enterprises to apply AI technology into the real industrial sector. Another example, even Guangxi Autonomous Legion have established a linkage with Laos.

Laos is a small country toward the south of China in Indochina. The economy development there is still relatively low, but the digital economy is getting more and more important. So the Sino-Laos Digital Center is being established, which is going to demonstrate how AI could be used.

into the agriculture, industrial and other service sector - in the relatively less developed countries such as Laos.

And once these examples are successful, I think it will be duplicated to different countries in the South. Thanks, Professor. That was Dr. Yao Shujie, Chang Kong Professor of Economics at Chongqing University. Coming up, China passes its first law focused on supporting private businesses. This is Road Today. Stay with us.

A mischievous little monster packed in mystery boxes is setting off a global craze from Asia to North America. La Boo Boo, the fluffy toothy toy from China, is sending fans camping out overnight and driving resale prices sky high.

How did a China-made plush toy punch through the thick wall of tariffs and land in America's hottest news stores, opening one after another across the country? What's behind the China-made toy's unstoppable rise? Check out this week's Chat Lounge, wherever you listen to podcasts, and CDTN Radio. ♪

Welcome back to Road Today. China has passed its first foundational law aimed at boosting the private sector, a major step to reinforce confidence in a key engine of the Chinese economy. The new law, which takes effect on May 20, lays out policies to ensure fair competition, encourage investment and financing, and drive technological innovation. It signals strong institutional support for private businesses.

By the end of March, China was home to more than 57 million registered private enterprises. Altogether, they contributed around 60% of the national GDP and 80% of urban jobs. So for more on this, let's have Professor Zhang Gong from the University of International Business and Economics. Thanks for joining us, Professor. It's great to be here. Thank you.

Professor, given the current complex domestic and global economic landscape, how crucial is this law in stabilizing expectations and boosting confidence among private enterprises?

My understanding is that this piece of legislation has been in discussion for quite some time, and it's great to see it finally gets passed and take effect to be a piece of law. I think this is very important in terms of elevating the status, or actually not just elevating, but also officially recognizing

the status of private enterprises in China. I think this piece says very clearly, this is an private sector, it's an indispensable part of China's economic system and their rights needs to be protected. So, you know, it's a good piece of law, I hope,

And I think what's particularly important in this piece is the section regarding the protection of rights for the private companies. I think it goes into very much detail about

various means and ways of protecting their rights. Professor, the law includes provisions aimed at ensuring fair competition and improving the investment and the financing environment. How significant are these measures in addressing long-standing challenges faced by private businesses today, such as market access barriers and difficulties in securing financing?

Yeah, the way I look at it is that it's kind of like a combination of some sort of legal stuff, but also sort of policy advocacy things as well. And this is, of course, in a very Chinese characteristic, I would say. But the areas you just mentioned regarding competition, access to credit,

These are extremely important areas. And I think these are the areas that are particularly in need of attention from the central government. Because looking back, you know, these are precisely the areas that are

Quite a bit of problems have been found related to private companies and we need to address these issues. Let's delve a bit further into the strategy of innovation-driven development because the law also contains institutional mechanisms to support scientific and technological innovation. How might these measures help private enterprises build core competitiveness and play a stronger role in fostering new quality productive forces?

Well, the private sector is already an important contributing factor, a contributing force to China's innovation drive. We all understand very well that innovation is extremely important against the backdrop of this power competition between the United States and China.

it stands at front and center of the this competition so i think these private companies have made great strides over the years in terms of you know making breakthroughs in innovations coming up with great products on and also expanding

quite aggressively overseas. I think the success of a national economy, of course, is a story of success of the private sector as well. There are many, many examples of great private companies like Huawei, like BYD, like Geely. These are all great examples of private companies and they're extremely innovative. Even on a global scale,

And I think this piece of legislation adds to that momentum and contains various provisions to further support

the innovation drive on the part of the private sector. Professor, we know high quality development of the private sector depends on strong talent support. With evolving trends in workforce mobility, how can both government and enterprises collaborate to create a more attractive talent ecosystem and provide the intellectual capital needed for private sector growth?

Well, I think a good labor market very much changes some fair and open competition. I think as long as you know talents are allowed to be moving free, there's mobility in the labor market.

The market itself will take care of, you know, allocating the best talents to the best resources, best places. So I think, you know, this is essentially very much about, you know, the wonders of the free market. And there's got to be legal measures, legal protections to facilitate and also defend and protect the

this workings of the free market. Professor, let's talk about the global competitiveness of China's private enterprises, because at present, the private sector faces various difficulties. Externally, the rise of unilateralism and trade protectionism, with some countries building small yards with high fences and imposing tariffs is disrupting global trade.

And we know that private sector, you know, private companies account for more than half of China's import and export volume. So many exporters or supply chain firms are directly affected by this. And internally, China is in a critical phase of economic transition and upgrading.

Given these challenges, how can the government and society work together to help private enterprises boost their global competitiveness?

Yeah, well, we are facing a very difficult situation. I mean, the protectionist move on the part of Washington is certainly imposing a toll on China's economy, particularly the private sector. You know, after all, we have over $400 billion of exports to the United States market and will be hundreds and

thousands of companies being affected by this sort of disruptive change here. So I think our government needs to help a lot of these companies and finding ways to reorient their target markets either to domestic as well as to some other foreign markets overseas

So, you know, the Chinese government has been noted for adopting strong policies of helping the private sector. And this is one area that it can do more. It needs to be, things needs to be done more in a timely fashion, in my view.

So moving forward, I think at least this piece of legislation comes at a time when the private sector or the bulk of the private sector is facing a huge challenge. And hopefully in one way or another, at least from the legal perspective,

this law can contribute to the issue of weathering through this big storm right now. It's often said that when the private economy is stable, the broader economy is stable. And when it thrives, so does the overall economy. Could you help us unpack that connection a bit more? And what role does the private sector play in general in driving China's economic growth, especially as we look into 2025?

Well, this is absolutely true. I think even in today's Chinese economy, the private sector is still larger than a state sector. I mean, we have about 100 state-owned enterprises controlled by the central government and a couple of hundreds provincial, municipal-level state-owned enterprises. But the rest, the vast majority of companies are private companies. So just in terms of the economic turnover, I think the

Still, the state sectors, I would say, that was in comparison with the private sector. And the second thing is that the private sector is full of a lot of those small and medium-sized businesses. These are the workhorses of creating jobs. Yes, indeed. Thanks, Professor Jong-Gon. You're listening to World Today. We'll be back. ♪

Welcome back to Road Today with me, Ge'anna, in Beijing. A sharp warning from Beijing today as public trust in the United States appears to be eroding in the Taiwan region. A spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office cited a broking institution pool showing a 20% drop in positive views of the U.S. among Taiwan residents.

Zhu Fenglan said the number reflects a growing realization that the United States is prioritizing its own interests, not Taiwan's. He described Taiwan as a mere pawn in Washington's strategy to contain the mainland and warned it would be discarded once no longer useful.

So to talk more on this, joining us on the line is Dr. Liu Kuangyu, researcher at Institute of Taiwan Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Thanks for joining us.

Good evening, this is Kuang Yu. Recent polls show that the percentage of people in Taiwan who view the U.S. as untrustworthy or very untrustworthy has risen by nearly 14 percentage points, while those with a positive, a very positive view of the United States has dropped by over 20%. How do you interpret this shift in public sentiment? And why do you think more and more people in Taiwan are losing faith in the United States?

Well, we know that for many years there's been a misconception or sort of myth in Taiwan society about being so-called pro-American and dependent on the United States. However, recent changes in cross relations and international dynamics have significantly impacted the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan. We can see that this poll reflects such sort of a shift in the perceptions, which can be analyzed from, I think, maybe three perspectives. So first,

First, in the short term, there was a series of U.S. unfriendly actions by the Trump administration, including political support for Taiwan independence, military demands for protection fees, and economic and technological coercion and efforts to hollow out Taiwan's industries. Those have caused stagnation.

very strong public resentment on the island. They have become sort of like a final straw that breaks the camel's back. And second, looking at a longer term perspective, the core of doubting America actually lies in the question whether the U.S. will so-called militarily defend Taiwan. With reviewing the past year's

we can see it's evident that the Taiwanese public skepticism towards the U.S. has been increasing annually, which stems primarily from witnessing the irresponsible and failed U.S. actions in geopolitical crises such as Ukraine and Afghanistan, which have awakened more Taiwanese people to the reality that they can no longer fantasize about U.S. military intervention. And third, I think there is a structural factor that

which includes the decline of U.S. domestic political stability, economic disorder, and moral decay, which have tarnished the once glorious so-called American dream. And now the U.S. can no longer project a so-called beacon of democracy onto Taiwan and internationally American hegemonic crises, particularly when contrasted

with the rise of Chinese mainland making it increasingly difficult for people on the island to continue to so-called follow the U.S. And the same thing actually happening all places all around the world, not just Taiwan. Speaking of unfriendly actions from Washington, let's dive further into this. According to the spokesperson Zhu Fenglian, the U.S. is pressuring Taiwan in four key ways.

First, by forcing core industries like TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, to relocate operations to the United States. Second, by urging the DPP authorities to boost defense spending and buy more American weapons with taxpayers' money.

Third, by encouraging militarization of the whole island, including turning youth into soldiers. And fourth, by imposing high tariffs on the island, a blow to major industries. So how do you assess these U.S. actions and where might this trajectory lead the region?

We can say the four categories of US actions towards Taiwan under the Trump administration, they represent actually a sort of policy framework towards Taiwan, which comprises three components. The first is the policy statements on the US Department of State website towards Taiwan, particularly the removal of phrases such as the US does not support Taiwan independence. And second paper is the policy positions

articulated by the AIT, which is American Institute in Taiwan, centered on advancing Trump's mercantilist agenda, which prioritized tangible interests by reducing Taiwan's economic, industrial, and capital accumulation, using them to serve the U.S. goals, which is actually turning Taiwan into a sort of tool for the mega agenda. And third paper is the interim

U.S. National Defense Strategy Guidance, which emphasized on arming Taiwan and ramping up deterrence to obstruct China's reunification. So in essence, all these papers, they show that the U.S. approach to Taiwan combines encouraging separatism and undermining China's reunification while exploiting Taiwan as a resource to extract benefits, real benefits as possible. And so towards Taiwan, this manifests as a

actually a predatory strategy, which is like draining the pond to catch all the fish and abandoning all the presence of so-called shared values and using coercive activities to maximize its gains from Taiwan. So simultaneously, the U.S. pressures and incites the segments of Taiwan population, especially the youth, to act like some sort of pawns or to sacrifice for the U.S.,

strategy to coerce Taiwan. Speaking of that, the spokesperson also warned that the U.S. treats Taiwan as a tool to contain the mainland, while the DPP willing plays the role of a pawn. Once Taiwan loses its strategic value, the U.S. will likely discard it. What do you make of this judgment? How will the region be treated at that point by Washington, in your opinion?

Yeah, actually the US Trump administration's actions are continuously validating these judgments of the bending Taiwan narratives. In fact, while within the involving US assumptions about Taiwan, strategies like impoverishing or entrapping or destabilizing Taiwan are not the ultimate goals, but actually the means.

to serve the strategy deployment of American first or make America great again, which laying groundwork for further discarding and abandoning Taiwan. For example, we can see the move to relocate TSMC reflects not only the US capitalist empire is greed, but also actually a shift Americans latest strategy calculus regarding the Taiwan Strait, which actually we can see from the recent US political and academic circles,

They themselves actually raised these debates about abandoning Taiwan. This stems from the realization of China's reunification is actually inevitable and unstoppable. So they argue that Taiwan now is not a vital U.S. interest and the U.S. should not gamble on unwinnable wars. Instead, U.S. aims to accelerate the realization of its strategic interest in Taiwan Strait.

They try to get all the interest back to America and while preparing for the so-called proxy war to raise the bargaining chips against Chinese mainland. So this hidden logic underpins US efforts to justify its provocation, such as so-called blow up

the TSMC or to let the capital and industry flee the Taiwan Strait, flee from the Strait and into America. So actually, I think they are paving the way for the statements like the so-called the U.S. will abandon Taiwan after achieving semiconductor self-sufficiency by 2029. Those sort of political statements.

One last question. Speaking of U.S. factor, Philippine media recently reported that Manila government has relaxed restrictions on official interactions with Taiwan, including allowing Philippine officials to visit the island. How do you view this growing provocation from the Philippines? Do you believe Washington is playing a role behind these things? Yeah.

On a Taiwan question, the previous Philippine government maintained a pretty relatively restrained position. But since the inauguration of Marcos Jr., there have been repeated incidents of negative rhetoric and actions behind these relentless maneuvering

lies a great procural arrangement between Manila and Washington. Actually, even before Donald Trump's presidency, elements within this team, they have been proposing leveraging the Philippines to contain China in the Asian Pacific and to let them cooperate more with the Taiwan DPP administration. And then the DPP administration later echoed this by intensifying bilateral ties with Manila under the directive of U.S. strategy.

US strategic. So current state developments, I think they indicate Manila's political provocations are merely the first step. The deeper US Philippine collusions like, I think they lie in the military domains. Since Marcos took office, the Philippines have been added four US new military access

sides within their theoretical orientations towards the Taiwan Straits. These locations of the annual body cannon joint military exercises have also progressively shifted closer to the Taiwan Strait, signaling an intensified US-Philippine coordination on the Taiwan-related so-called war preparations, which I think is the future point to watch.

Thanks, Kuan-yu, for insightful analysis. That was Liu Kuan-yu, researcher at Institute of Taiwan Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This is RIO Today. We'll be back. Hello, my name is Alessandro Golombievsk Teixeira. I'm a professor of public policy management at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I am a great listener of The Wall Today. In my opinion, The Wall Today is one of the best China radio programs.

In the world today, we can get the best news and analysis in what is happening now in the world. So please come to join us. Now we're looking at what's shaping up to be a travel boom this May Day holiday in China. Leading travel platform Ctrip has reported a 100% week-on-week rise in domestic hotel surges, with over 80% of bookings for cross-city stays.

Domestic air travel is also taking off literally. Flight bookings are up nearly 23% compared to last year, with hotspots like Xishuangbanna, Lijiang and Lhasa topping the charts. And it's not just wasting China. International travel is seeing a bounce too. Bookings for overseas flights are up 24% from a year ago, with Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia being the top destinations.

China also expects to average over 2 billion daily border crossing during the five-day May Day holiday, representing a 27% increase from last year. For more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Professor Qu Qiang, fellow of Belt and Road Research Center at Minsu University of China. So, Professor Qu Qiang, thank you very much for joining us. Talking about the May Day holiday tourism market, what is driving this surge in numbers, do you think?

Well, I think there are many reasons for the domestic market. I think people really love to travel around recently. I think the consumption market and its structure has been really changed after the 2022. And I think that what we call the culture, education and experiencing, you know, spending has become the major trend in people's, you know, daily life. That's the reason why ever since the 2022, you know,

We've been seeing that in the long holiday period of time, Chinese tourist numbers and also GDP numbers has been growing very, very fast. And also for the outbound tourists, I think Chinese government really adopted many policies to welcome in tourists to come into China, but meanwhile to provide many conveniences for the domestic consumers and travelers to go out. For example, right now, you've been taking a look at the numbers

at the customs. Every day we're going to have more than 2 million people traveling back on a force and this is like more than 27% of the gross

And, you know, basically it's because that we have the visa-free policies for the international travelers for them to come into China. 72 hours of the visa-free stay, it becomes a major, you know, lure for them to come into China. For example, there is a TikToker influencer called Speed.

uh he came into china and to do a lot of video shot to become many many you know uh attractions for the overseas viewers for the becoming of china and you just come here and download an app and you know download the e-wallet and then you're good to go nothing else you need to prepare very good quality of service and food and hotels and very very safe extremely safe environment becomes you know

you know guarantee for people to come into china and also if you take a look at the all kinds of the culture and entertainment you know that the people would like to see uh also um

it will make them want to come to China and also for Chinese travelers in the regional and market for example like the Malaysia for example like Singapore Thailand all this country has also been providing China reciprocal policies of visa-free and Chinese travelers really feel very very easy to go out China so I think all these kind of the revival

in the domestic and also international tourism market enabled this people traveling flow. And cross-border flight bookings rose some 24% from last year with Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia being the top destinations. So why do you think are these countries and regions so hot for China's outbound tourism? Well,

So I think number one is because what I mentioned about the handiness of the traveling, the visa-free policies become the really important reason probably for Western audience, you probably don't understand that much because you're off passport. You used to enjoy that kind of handiness for a very long time. But for Chinese travelers, we usually go to the embassies to travel.

book all kinds of visas. Well, even though they only take you like half day for your work, but still it becomes a really important trouble because you only have like five day or seven day holidays. You don't want to waste another extra half days for booking the visas. Now it's totally free. You just grab your passport and you can go out. Secondly, about e-commerce and also the online services.

Now through the e-booking services or e-hotel services, basically only like I just mentioned, you only need a handphone, you only need some apps and then you're free to go. Very easy and also certainly is about the cultural similarity and also the distance. It's very easy to travel to Japan, South Korea and also ASEAN nations because it's very near. You only take like three hours or four hours to just go there. It's basically like traveling to a longer distance within China.

So very easy to do so and easy for the planning for the schedule and also it's going to be budget friendly. So I think that's a reason why people would like to go there. And also there's another plus. Basically, ASEAN nations and also Japan and South Korea are safer.

I have some friends traveling to European Union, traveling to United States. Oh, gosh, that was quite a mess. Stealing, arson, vandalism, and also the grand blackout in the power. It really created the nightmare for all the travelers. So Chinese people just don't want to go through that kind of the ordeal. They just want some easy, comfortable life, easygoing.

during the holiday. They just don't want to cheer up with their family. So I think that's a reason why the far eastern area of Asia become the top destination for Chinese travelers. And what are the new trends for domestic tourism during the May Day holiday? Well, I think it just adds to mention the culture expanding, education expanding, as well as for the exhibition or what we call in total,

The experiencing spandex has become the main trend. Like we used to talk about this before, during the past 10 years, people's behavior in these long holidays used to be buy, buy, buy, just to buy things. The Gucci bag, you know, the...

Louis Vuitton is the things you would like to see. Go to Shenzhen, go to Shanghai, go to Hong Kong. But now it's not the thing anymore. People don't want to label them with that. People just want to experience, want to learn, want to enrich themselves and nurture their own soul and their children. So people choose to go to the concert, go to the museum, go to the exhibitions, and also travel to China.

Far away cities and towns, not only Beijing and Shanghai, but people more and more tend to go to the third tier, fourth tier cities. Small, far away, exotic, but also with its own culture. Some people even go to the mountainous area, go to the isolated villages and the townships in the far away places to see how

people are having their life there and experience this enrichness, experiencing this diversity and the unity of the Chinese culture. So I think that becomes a new trend, but don't get it wrong. It's not only a good, you know, model for tourism, but also very good,

business as well, because with this kind of experiencing tourism, very, very large, you know, network or value chain will be formed. You're talking about transportation, you're talking about caterers, you're talking about service providers and also all kinds of infrastructures. So this has become the new drive for our holiday economy. And so how much of an impact will all this holiday travel boom have on the Chinese economy, do you think?

Well, every time we see these long holidays, we've been seeing the new phenomenon, new good things happening to China's economy. Number one, the total size has been growing for this holiday economy. According to our estimation, this May Day holiday, we're going to look at the 20 billion yuan worth of the directed GDP happening.

in the five-day market. And we're talking about 1.2 billion people traveling around. That means basically the whole nation is going to move. And this size will activate a lot of the economy, especially for those small cities and the faraway places.

We have a saying in there, for some beautiful town in a faraway place in China, they probably wouldn't see much of the people for the whole year. But if they can do the things right, if they can really cater the tourists within the five days, the five days income is good for their whole year to go.

So this is the reason why all the local government, local businesses now are trying their best to put a lot of the advertisement, commercials on the TikTok, on the little red note, try to attract the people to come because it's really important for the local livelihood, for the local development and also

Besides the sheer size of the economy has been growing very quickly as I mentioned. It's a new value chain. It's not like before. If like before you just fly to Shanghai, go to the shopping mall and buy your Louis Vuitton and Gucci bag. This kind of value chain doesn't benefit much of people or many places.

But now with this experiencing tourism, everybody will travel to everywhere. Sometimes even just a B&B in Xinjiang, in Shizhong or in Hainan, they will out of a sudden, they will welcome people and expand like thousands and thousands of

yuan every day for them become their whole year income. So this kind of what we call the filter down economy actually can benefit everyone within the value chain from bigger city to the smaller towns to the villages. So this value chain is wider, larger and more beneficial and more inclusive.

That was Professor Qu Qiang, fellow of Belt and Road Research Center at Minzu University of China. China has declared its Shenzhou-19 mission a success with a safe return of all three astronauts from the Tiangong space station. The capsule landed in northern China on Wednesday afternoon. All crew members were in good health.

The Shenzhou-19 crew set a world record for the longest spacewalk of nine hours. Cai Xuzhe is currently the Chinese astronaut with the most spacewalks with five from his two missions. The Shenzhou-20 crew is now inside the space station and will stay in orbit for six months.

So for more on this, my colleague Zhao Ying joins us in the studio. Thanks for joining us, Zhao. Thank you. Can you start by giving us an overview of the Shenzhou-19 mission and what the crew accomplished during their six months on the Tiangong space station?

The mission was launched on October 29, 2024, and it sent a crew of three astronauts. As you said, Commander Cai Xuzhe is a seasoned astronaut from the Shenzhou-14 mission. Song Lingdong is a former Air Force pilot. And Wang Haozhe is China's first female aerospace flight engineer. So they sent these, the crew stay in the Tiangong space station for nine, six months.

And after 182 days in orbit, they returned safely to Earth on Wednesday morning, touching down in the northern Inner Mongolia region, and their landing was delayed by one day due to weather conditions. And during their time aboard Tiangong, the Shenzhou-19 accomplished an impressive array of scientific, technological and operational feats,

And they also reached some notable milestones during the six months. Like, for instance, Tsai and Sohn spent more than nine hours outside the space station during a spacewalk back in mid-December, and that set a world record for the longest single spacewalk. And during this super long spacewalk, they installed a new space debris shield on Tiangong, which is critical for safeguarding the space station against the threat of orbital debris.

And they also conducted other two spacewalks in January and March and installed more shielding and inspecting extravehicular systems and equipment. And with these efforts, Cai Xuzhe has now completed five spacewalks, and that's more than any other Chinese astronaut. And beyond their spacewalks, the crew conducted a wide range of scientific experiments that leveraged Tenggong's microgravity environment

In space biology, they studied fruit fly cultivation, protein crystallization, and five types of cells. And the research could advance medical and biological science on Earth. And also material science experiments were another focus.

utilizing containerless and high-temperature scientific experiment cabinets to explore properties of materials in ways impossible under Earth's gravity. And these experiments hold potential for applications in industries like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials development.

And the crew also tested a groundbreaking health assessment system, integrating traditional Chinese and Western medical approaches to monitor physiological and psychological indicators such as cardiac health, bone density, muscle mass, and emotional well-being. And this system could improve astronauts' safety on future missions and even inform healthcare practices on Earth.

And also another unique aspect of the mission was the use of an AI robot named Xiao Han. And it is equipped with human-robot interaction software. And the robot assisted the crew with mission support tasks

from monitoring experiments to aiding in daily operations, and it showcased China's advancements in integrating artificial intelligence into space exploration. And also the crew's work also included experiments with lunar soil imitation bricks,

And that aligns with China's long-term goal of establishing a lunar base as part of its plan to send a crewed mission to the moon by 2030. Earlier you mentioned the return of the crew was delayed by a day due to bad weather at the landing site in Inner Mongolia. Can you explain how such decisions are made and what precautions are taken to ensure the astronauts' safety?

Yeah, that's right. The cruise return was originally set for Tuesday, but it was delayed by one day due to unfavorable weather at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia. It's a careful approach to ensure the astronauts' safety because weather plays a very critical role in landing, as the Shenzhou capsule relies on a parachute to slow its descent, and conditions like high winds or poor visibility can pose serious risks.

So that is why the landing was delayed until a better window opens. And fortunately, they waited for just one day for the conditions to improve, which allowed a safe touchdown. One standout from this mission was Wang Haozhe, who made history as China's first female aerospace flight engineer. How does her role reflect the evolving diversity in China's space program?

Yeah, it does show the evolving diversity in China's space program. She is actually China's third female astronaut after Liu Yang and Wang Yaping. But unlike her predecessors, her background as a senior engineer at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, where she designed rocket engines for deep space missions,

highlights China's shift from pilot-dominated astronaut corps to include more engineers with deep technical expertise. And she's also one of China's first post-90s astronauts into space. So I think this will definitely encourage more young people, especially more females, to pursue their space dreams. And also China's future space missions

will become more and more inclusive. Like China has also recruited like open astronaut recruitment to Hong Kong and Macau and has selected two payload specialists in 2024, including a female from Hong Kong who may fly to Tiangong as early as 2026 to conduct experiments.

And also China signed agreements with Pakistan, with a Pakistani astronaut potentially becoming the first foreign national to Tango. Thanks, Zhang Ying, for your detailed explanation on the topic. That's all the time for this edition of Road Today with me, Ge'Anna. Thank you so much for listening. Bye for now.