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Sikkim Urja Limited's 1,200-megawatt hydroelectric project Teesta-III at the Chungthang dam on river Teesta gave way on October 4, killing at least 94 people in the downstream areas of Sikkim and West Bengal. The devastation has reignited wide worries surrounding two of three India-built mega hydropower projects under construction in Bhutan, local newspaper The Hindu reported on October 15.

The collapse reinforced long-held doubts about India's large-scale hydroelectric projects under construction in Bhutan. India's assessment of the fragile geological zone in the Himalayas appears to have been inadequate, leading to significant safety risks, local media criticized.

Analysts told the Global Times that a series of infrastructure accidents in the India-China border area in recent years have exposed India's seeming inability to carry out infrastructure construction under the complex geological conditions in the Himalayas. However, in recent years, India has been attempting to "monopolize" infrastructure projects in some South Asian countries, which also shows India's attempt to counter China in the region.

India's capacity collapses again

Although the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) triggered the latest dam collapse, many Indian media outlets believe that catastrophe was more likely man-made.

Environmentalists have been criticizing the decision-making process of constructing a large number of hydropower projects in the geologically fragile southern foothills of the Himalayas, while politicians have also pointed out corruption issues during the projects' construction and operational management, especially flaws inherent in the duty alert mechanism.

Such doubts have raised concerns in Bhutan, which shares the southern foothills of the Himalayas with Sikkim.

"We need to re-look at the geological survey of the (Puna-I) dam because many things have changed in 15 years. There have been many reasons for the delay, including technical issues and COVID-19. The (soil) stabilization measures have not yielded the results they wanted. No expert will go on to do a project that is not technically, scientifically feasible," Bhutan's Prime Minister Lotay Tshering told The Hindu.

A note issued by the Bhutan's Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in February on the Puna-I, which was started in 2008 and is expected to be commissioned in 2024-25, said that "project commissioning is being delayed due to movement/subsidence of right bank hill mass in the dam area. Treatment/stabilization of the right bank and completion of dam work [is in] progress. The option of providing a barrage in the upstream and abandoning of the dam is being studied," according to the report.

Regarding the Puna-II, meant to be commissioned in 2023-24, the note said: "Poor geological strata and shear zone being encountered at [the] left bank and foundation of [the] dam and HRT (head race tunnel, a tunnel connecting water intake at [the] dam site to [the] power house for generation of hydroelectricity). Remedial measures are [in] progress."

The governments of Bhutan and India have tasked the Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) with reviewing and proposing a path forward for the 1,200mW Punatsangchhu Hydroelectric Project (Puna-I) dam. One of Bhutan's primary concerns revolves around the dam's safety and stability, given the potential significant downstream impacts of any dam failure on lives and properties, according to a report by Bhutan's national newspaper Kuensel.

Lin Minwang, deputy director at the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that India has made significant progress in infrastructure construction along the China-India border in recent years, but its infrastructure capabilities still cannot be compared with China's. Overall, the quality and construction capabilities of India's infrastructure are still relatively poor.

"In recent years, accidents have frequently occurred in the construction of bridges and tunnels by India along the border. Especially in some disputed areas, accidents of various kinds are common, and the construction quality is worrying. In fact, India lacks the ability to build large-scale infrastructure in the complex and fragile geological environment of the Himalayas," said Lin.

International landslide experts have pointed out it was a blunder to start a dam at the location that seems to be on the debris of past landslides.

Lin believes that India's massive construction and blind leap in the border areas are an "image project" by the Indian government. On one hand, it aims to deliberately create an image of India's strong resistance against China along the border to gain popularity in the upcoming elections. On the other hand, it is India's leverage to counter China in South Asia.

"However, it is evident that these construction projects are largely rushed, which inevitably leads to problems in construction quality. Several previous accidents are proof," said Lin.
Hard to find right partners

Despite its outdated infrastructure capacity, India's attempts at cornering the market in some South Asian countries, especially in the field of hydropower sector, where it has essentially monopolized the market, have been relentless. This has made it nearly impossible for some South Asian countries to introduce infrastructure companies from countries other than India into their own markets.

In the "13th Five-Year Plan" announced by the Bhutanese government, which is scheduled to start in 2024, almost all hydropower infrastructure projects will be undertaken by India.

"Among South Asian countries, whether it be Bhutan or Nepal, their choice of cooperation partners in their own infrastructure construction is largely restricted by India through legal or policy means," Lin explained. "India may even directly interfere in the internal affairs of these countries, demanding that they prioritize India in the bidding process for infrastructure projects or block them from commissioning bidders from other countries."

Specifically, in hydropower projects, taking Nepal as an example, India has proposed that it will not purchase electricity generated by hydropower stations built by other countries. However, India is actually a country with a severe shortage of electricity and energy, but it still uses this method to restrict the free development of Nepal's hydropower industry and force Nepal to reject the participation of other countries in its hydropower development, Lin said.

Lin suggested that Chinese infrastructure companies also often face pushback from India when entering the market in South Asian countries.

Chinese companies, for example, may be required by their international partners to have an Indian company as the project supervisor. These Indian supervisory companies tend to set unreasonably high standards for the projects and deliberately make it difficult for Chinese companies.

"Although Chinese infrastructure companies can typically cope with this, it will inevitably increase unnecessary costs. India often uses this method to hinder the entry of Chinese projects in South Asia," Lin said.

Strict control becomes commonplace

According to Bhutan's 2023-24 budget report, the 10 projects in the pipeline include the 600mW Kholongchhu hydroelectric project, Kuensel reported. Several projects, represented by the Kholongchhu hydroelectric project, are being carried out through a joint venture between India and Bhutan.

An anonymous expert on South Asian affairs told the Global Times that although these hydropower projects are officially managed through joint ventures, the engineering team, technical personnel, and even the management team are all Indian.

Lin further pointed out that the electricity generated by Bhutan's hydropower plants is not only used to meet Bhutan's own needs but also sold to India, allowing India to implement a strategy of total economic dependence by Bhutan. In addition, India has also exercised strict control over Bhutan's importation and exportation of goods, military defense, and other fields.

And in terms of diplomatic issues, India's interference in Bhutan is now commonplace. India controls Bhutan's foreign policy through various means. On the one hand, India limits Bhutan's establishment of diplomatic relations with other countries. Although India has repeatedly stated that Bhutan is an independent sovereign country, it remains incredibly vigilant regarding Bhutan's development of foreign relations and even opposes Bhutan's contacts with other countries, according to Sun Xihui, an associate research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Moreover, New Delhi interferes in China-Bhutan border negotiations. China has resolved most of its land border issues through negotiations since the 1950s, but is yet to complete its border talks with Bhutan, largely because India insists on representing Bhutan in the negotiations, while China hopes to directly engage with Bhutan, Sun noted.

The 25th Round of Boundary Talks between China and Bhutan was held in Beijing on October 23 and 24. The two sides held in-depth discussions on the boundary negotiations and noted the progress made through a series of Expert Group Meetings held since the 24th Round of Boundary Talks in 2016. The two leaders of the delegations commended the Expert Group for the work done and agreed to build on the positive momentum.

This meeting brings expectations for the establishment of official diplomatic ties between China and Bhutan.

Observers believe that despite the strong desire for diplomatic relations between the two countries, it is still difficult for China and Bhutan to complete border negotiations and establish diplomatic relations in the short term due to India's significant interference in Bhutan's internal affairs. However, it should be noted that this meeting undoubtedly injects new momentum into the successful completion of border negotiations and the promotion of the diplomatic processes between the two countries.

China urges the Czech Republic to honor its promises to strictly restrain certain individual politicians from sabotaging China-Czech relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference on Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks in response to a question about Taiwan's so-called vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim visiting the Czech Republic and giving a speech at a think tank. Lin said explicitly that Taiwan is a province of China and does not have a vice president.

Lin said that China strongly opposes official interaction of any form between China's Taiwan region and countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and this position is consistent and clear.

In multiple official documents, including the joint statements and joint communiqué between the government of China and the Czech government, the government of the Czech Republic solemnly committed to stick to the one-China policy , respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and recognize that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

China urges the Czech Republic to follow its commitment, strictly restrain certain politicians, immediately stop the egregious moves that undermine the national credibility of the Czech Republic and its relations with China. "We urge the Czech Republic to take effective measures to undo the negative influence of the incident," Lin said. 

"Our message to 'Taiwan independence' separatists is that whoever engages in 'Taiwan independence' will be held accountable by history; whoever in the world creates 'one China, one Taiwan' will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing," Lin stressed. 

Later on the same day, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the so-called diplomatic breakthroughs adopted by the DPP authorities in the Taiwan region, in collusion with external forces, to achieve the goal of "Taiwan independence" have undermined the fundamental interests of the Taiwan compatriots, which cannot change the fact that Taiwan is a part of China, and are not conducive to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.

China has discovered a major oilfield in the central and northern parts of the Bohai Sea, with proven reserves of 104 million tons of oil, marking a monumental find in the region following a decade of search efforts, state-owned oil giant CNOOC announced on Monday.

The Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield, located 200 kilometers west of North China's Tianjin, is a 48.9-meter-thick oil layer in a 1,570-meter-deep well. With reserves exceeding 100 million tons of oil equivalent, testing has shown that the oilfield can produce about 110 tons of crude oil per day, showing promising exploration prospects.

With a regular extraction pace, the Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield could produce nearly 20 million tons of crude oil, enough to meet the daily transportation needs of a city with a population of a million people for over a decade. The refined asphalt could be used to build over 100,000 kilometers of four-lane highways, said Zhou Jiaxiong, a manager of CNOOC Tianjin branch.

The discovery of the Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield represents a successful practice of the company's new exploration strategy in the Bohai Sea. By changing the existing exploration approach, researchers identified the rich oilfield from a strike-slip fault zone in a complex structure area.

The Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield is the sixth 100 million-ton class oilfield discovered in the Bohai Sea since 2019 and the first in the central and northern parts of the sea in a decade, said Xu Changgui, deputy chief exploration engineer at CNOOC.

This discovery not only confirms the vast prospects for oil and gas exploration in the complex strike-slip fault zones of the Bohai Sea but also injects strong momentum into the development of China's offshore oilfields. It will play a significant role in securing China's energy supply and supporting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Xu added.

The discovery of the Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield is part of China's ongoing progress in the oil and gas sector, with CNOOC having made significant discoveries in recent years, including the Bozhong 26-6 deep-reservoir oilfield in the Bohai Sea and the Baodao 21-1 gas field in the western South China Sea.

On March 8, CNOOC announced China's first deep-water, deep-reservoir oilfield in the South China Sea, the Kaipingnan oilfield, which has proven reserves of 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

CSRC releases 4 files to enhance supervision, management on capital market

The Chinese capital market has shown signs of improvement, with an increase in active trading sentiment in fund products and a return of foreign inflows. Experts attribute the positive developments to recent regulatory efforts aimed at protecting investor rights and strengthening market regulation, adding that these measures are paving the way for long-term, high-quality growth in China's capital market.

Chinese real estate investment trusts (REITs) are experiencing a resurgence in market sentiment, with multiple cases of "single-day sellouts."

A clean-energy REIT product managed by Harvest Fund announced the early completion of its fundraising due to strong investor demand on Tuesday. Last week, an expressway REIT product under E Fund Management, ended the subscription earlier than the originally planned date due to strong demand from investors.

The Anxin Changxin Enhanced Bond Fund, issued by Essence Fund, was established on Tuesday with a net subscription amount of about 8 billion yuan ($1.12 billion) and had more than 15,000 total subscribers during the fundraising period from February 26 to March 6, making it the largest fund of the year, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

Foreign money is trickling back in. An analysis by UBS Securities on Thursday said that the firm maintains a positive stance on A shares, with an optimistic and proactive attitude. With regulatory intervention and the overall improvement in liquidity, it expects the short-term rebound in the A-share market to continue.

On March 3, Goldman Sachs released a report stating that governance reforms focusing on valuation and shareholder returns will attract foreign capital, while maintaining a high rating for Chinese A shares. Morgan Stanley's latest report on March 5 indicated that global funds are returning to the Chinese stock market.

Recent positive changes reflect investors' high confidence in the market and its prospect of healthy development, experts said.

Following the eight-day Spring Festival holidays, the market has continuously risen, with the Shanghai Composite Index standing above the 3,000-point mark as of Tuesday's closing.

Several sectors have started to quietly rebound from their lows, and the market's profit-making potential is becoming more evident, Yang Delong, chief economist at the Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The A-share main indexes experienced some fluctuations in Tuesday's trading. By the closing bell, the Shenzhen Component Index was up 0.51 percent and the ChiNext Index had increased 0.83 percent. A total of 3,700 stocks saw gains.

Total trading volume reached 1.15 trillion yuan, marking the second consecutive day it exceeded 1 trillion yuan. Northbound funds net buying hit 4.244 billion yuan.

Experts attributed the confidence to a steady stream of policy support by Chinese securities regulators to stabilize the market.

During a press conference on the sidelines of the just-concluded two sessions, Wu Qing, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), emphasized the importance of prioritizing investors, combating financial fraud, and encouraging listed companies to engage in cash dividends and buybacks.

These measures are beneficial for boosting investors' confidence and the high-quality development of the Chinese capital market, Yang said.

The CSRC's focus on improving the quality of listed companies, promoting long-term investment concepts, enhancing basic systems, establishing more effective market regulation mechanisms, encouraging higher quality services, and implementing stricter regulatory enforcement all show the latest regulatory philosophy, Tao Chuan, an economist with Suzhou-based Soochow Securities, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In particular, the CSRC has vowed to "take action decisively" when the market experiences "irrational and violent fluctuation, liquidity dries up, there is market panic or a severe lack of confidence, and other extreme situations," which helps to rebuild investor confidence in the capital market, Tao said.

In response to a recent notice from the State Council and People's Bank of China (PBC), China's leading payment platforms Alipay and Weixin Pay have introduced a series of measures to improve payment services for foreign nationals. This initiative marks China's latest effort to facilitate easier access for foreigners visiting the country.

Following the notice issued by the central bank and the State Council on Thursday, Alipay announced enhancements to its services for foreigners, including increased transaction limits, the ability to link international bank cards, and the introduction of new services such as multi-lingual support. It also supports 10 overseas online wallets to directly use Alipay's services.

Similarly, Weixin Pay, one of China's major payment platforms, updated the process for foreign users to link international bank cards by simplifying identity verification and registration requirements.

The changes have led to a significant increase in transactions through Weixin Pay with international cards, with the number of daily transactions in February 2024 rising nearly fivefold compared to pilot phases of the services.

These measures stem from China's central bank and State Council's latest efforts to improve online payment services and reflect China's commitment to implementing a high-level of opening-up.

On March 1, PBC announced measures to guide Chinese payment platforms to increase the single transaction limit for foreign nationals using mobile payment services from $1,000 to $5,000 and the annual transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000, as part of efforts to enhance payment convenience.

On Thursday, the State Council revealed plans to improve payment services for international consumers at various tourism and entertainment venues, both online and offline. The central bank also stressed to continue enhancing mobile payment convenience for foreigners and to optimize the environment for using bank cards and cash.

The new measures are expected to significantly ease consumption by foreigners in China, a country known for its widespread adoption and large scale of mobile and online payment systems. According to data from Bank of China, from February 9 to 14, the China UnionPay and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation processed 15.38 billion online payment transactions, amounting to 7.74 trillion yuan ($1.08 trillion), reflecting a year-on-year increase of 15.8 percent and 10.1 percent respectively.

In a related move to attract more foreigners to China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced on Thursday that from March 14 China will waive visa requirements for citizens from six European countries, including Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is expected to further boost tourism and promote China's ongoing efforts toward greater openness.

The US' escalating suppression of China's auto industry is a typical example of the politicization of trade and economic issues, experts said on Wednesday, warning that the US action will backfire and will hinder the development of the world's auto sector.

Republican US Senator Marco Rubio on Tuesday proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports to stop the country "from flooding US auto markets," as part of Washington's latest effort to protect American automakers and auto workers, according to Reuters.

The report said that Rubio is also proposing legislation to extend tariffs to vehicles produced by Chinese automakers in other countries like Mexico and to limit subsidies for electric vehicles to those that meet stringent North American free trade rules.

"This is a manifestation of the US politicization of auto trading. After the 5G industry represented by Huawei, the US has made new-energy vehicles the second target to restrict China's technological development," Zhang Xiang, director of the Digital Automotive Intliu ernational Cooperation Research Center of the World Digital Economy Forum, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Zhang noted that using so-called "information security," a completely trumped-up charge, the US has enhanced its suppression of Chinese automobiles, even though this is unilateral and violates international free trade norms.

"Blocking Chinese car imports will affect the progress of the US auto industry, as the US' new-energy technology is relatively backward compared with the level in China. If the Biden administration is determined to pursue this, raising tariffs will also have a big negative impact on the world's auto industry," Zhang warned.

Rubio's proposal is just a fresh move among an array of unreasonable US measures to suppress China's car industry. As the US elections in November approach, the administration of President Joe Biden and some leaders in Congress continue to speculate about restricting imports of Chinese electric vehicles.

On February 29, the White House said that the Biden administration is taking "unprecedented action" to protect Americans from the national security risks posed by internet-connected vehicles from countries of concern, including China.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also peddled the "threat" theory against China's vehicles. "Cars these days are like an iPhone on wheels… You connect your phone and you might receive the text message… Imagine a world with 3 million Chinese vehicles on the roads of America, and Beijing can turn them off at the same time."

In response, Mao Ning, spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry, said that Chinese-made cars are popular globally not due to the use of "unfair practices," but by emerging from fierce market competition with technological innovation and high quality.

"China's door has been open to global auto companies, including US auto companies that fully shared in the dividends of China's big market. By contrast, the US has engaged in trade protectionism and set up obstacles including discriminatory subsidy policies to obstruct access to the US market by Chinese-made cars. Such acts of politicizing economic and trade issues will only hinder the development of the US auto industry itself," Mao noted.

A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) called for efforts to tackle shortage and bottleneck in China's roll-on/roll-off (Ro-RO) cargo vessel capacity so as to improve transportation conditions of the country's surging new-energy vehicle (NEV) exports. 

Deputy Yan Keshi submitted a motion to the ongoing NPC session in Beijing, noting that the limited capacity of Ro-Ro vessels has emerged as a significant problem hindering the export of Chinese NEVs, which Yan said warrants urgent attention. 

Rising output of NEVs is an important contributor to China's economic growth. Last year, export of NEVs rose 77.6 percent from a year earlier, standing at 1.203 million units, which accounted for almost one-third of the global market share, Yan wrote in his motion.

But, China is experiencing a pronounced supply-demand imbalance in ocean transportation capacity, especially in the shipment of NEVs. The higher weight of all-electric NEVs, about 15-25 percent weightier than ordinary petrol or hybrid vehicles, has exacerbated the shortage of Ro-Ro vessels in China, Yan said.

Yan put forward measures of facilitating long-lasting cooperation among ship manufacturers, ports and other stakeholders, in order to ramp up sustainable Ro-Ro vessels manufacturing and optimizing the hardware and software support for exporting NEVs.

The Government Work Report released on Tuesday highlighted China's automobile industry, showcasing the remarkable performance of Chinese NEV manufacturing and marketing in 2023. Domestic auto brands have now exceeded joint ventures in passenger car sales, solidifying the NEV sector as a cornerstone of China's growing manufacturing strength. Amid this backdrop, how to shore up ocean shipping capacity of Chinese-made NEVs has drawn rising attention.

In a related development, Da Fei Monaco, a new generation of dual-fuel-powered Ro-Ro vessel, successfully completed its first voyage from Yantai Port, East China's Shandong Province, carrying 4,631 vehicles bound for the US, on March 5. 

In January, BYD's "Explorer NO 1" and SAIC Motor Cor's inaugural transoceanic Ro-Ro vessels also embarked on their maiden voyage from Chinese ports.

Chery Automobile Group, in collaboration with its shipyard in Wuhu, East China's Anhui Province, has established a NEV transport vessel manufacturing base in Weihai city, Shandong Province. Three large vessels with a capacity of 7,000 cars each have been ordered, according to the Securities Daily.

The US and its Western allies' relentless crackdown against Xinjiang's cotton industry since 2020 has failed, as the industry has been maintaining sound development momentum, and is seeing rising competitiveness not only in the Chinese market but also internationally, Liang Yong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, one of China's eight noncommunist political parties, told the Global Times. Liang is also the director of Xinjiang cotton industry development leadership office. 

"Despite a drop in China's textile and clothes exports to the US that are made with Xinjiang cotton, China is still the world's largest cotton consumer as well as textile and clothes exporter. China is also the world's largest cotton importer," Liang said. 

According to Liang, the competitiveness of Xinjiang's cotton industry has been rising year by year, fueled by tech innovation and the promotion of large-scale cultivation. In 2023, the overall mechanization rate for cotton harvesting hit 89 percent in Xinjiang, compared with 21 percent in 2014. 

Also, the Xinjiang cotton per unit yield averages 143.85 kilograms per mu (0.067 hectares), which is twice that of the US and almost the same level as in Australia. In 2023, the output of Xinjiang cotton was 5.11 million tons, representing 91 percent of the national yield, and one-fifth of global output, the national political advisor said. 

Liang said that in the next step, the office will work on setting up a homegrown cotton quality tracing system and certification system as well as building a number of homegrown brands. Meanwhile, he said that the Xinjiang cotton industry is actively expanding into overseas markets, in particular markets in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, to promote the stability of the global textile supply chain. 

Liang has also submitted a proposal for this year's two sessions titled "building a joint cotton market with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members." According to the proposal, which he shared with the Global Times, the Xinjiang region, along with neighboring India and Pakistan as well as five Central Asian countries, are the main cotton producers in the world and they together represent nearly 60 percent of global cotton output. 

He suggested a number of measures that could lay a foundation for building the joint market, including studying import and export tariff policies concerning cotton and textile products, as well as setting up a mutual recognition mechanism among SCO members for products such as cotton and cotton yarn.  

"Setting up a joint cotton market with other SCO members is an effective way to counter the US-led crackdown and increase market demand. It will also elevate the global influence of China's cotton industry, while deepening economic and trade ties," Liang explained. 

"Xinjiang has a geographic advantage as it borders eight countries including Kazakhstan, Russia, India and Pakistan. The region is also home to about 20 border ports, including 17 land border ports and three aviation ports. The majority of China-Europe freight trains also pass through Xinjiang," Liang added.

In November, the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the first in China's northwestern border regions, officially started operation.

Liang believes that this geographic edge, plus the relatively cheap cost of production and policy support, will create conditions for Xinjiang to become the center of China's western textile industry cluster, which mainly exports to Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia and Europe. "Such a scene is foreseeable in the next five years," Liang said.

In 2023, the value of textile products exported from Xinjiang rose 34.6 percent to 107.59 billion yuan, according to data provided by Liang. 

Xinjiang is also speeding up the building of a Silk Road Economic Belt core area. It is expected that under the BRI, Xinjiang will further leverage its advantageous industries and accelerate regional cooperation to make itself a bridgehead in China's westward opening-up process, Liang said.

A root cause of why the US-launched smear campaign against the Chinese economy has become hysterical lies in the fact that only by vilifying China can the US-led West find an excuse for its unjust actions and attacks against the Chinese economy. 

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article on Sunday with a sensational headline "The World Is in for Another China Shock." Its narrative sounded contagious and suited to the taste of political elites in Washington, especially when they resort to protectionist measures against ordinary Chinese goods.

Some Western media outlets are seeking to create a climate of public opinion in which the Western economy falls victim to China's "dumping" of cheap goods, so as to pave the way for further protectionist measures such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese products.

With the WSJ serving as a vanguard, the US delivers a great deal of propaganda about "China flooding global markets with cheap goods," and uses that propaganda as a camouflage for its protectionist measures against China. It's an old trick by the US that should be condemned.

In recent years, Chinese industries have made steady progress in high-end manufacturing segments, including electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and more. China's rise has increasingly raised concerns from some Western politicians, observers and media outlets. It's no surprise when they adopt protectionist trade measures to suppress Chinese enterprises, but they should not expect China to yield to these disgraceful acts.

It should be noted that China enters the global market with a peaceful and cooperative manner in line with global trade norms. China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. China is a staunch supporter of free trade. 

The price advantage of Chinese goods can be attributed to multiple factors, including a complete industry chain, relatively low labor costs, and scientific and technological innovation. None of those seem to be factors related to China's "dumping of cheap goods."

The WSJ wrote in its article that the US and the global economy experienced a "China shock" - a boom in imports of cheap Chinese-made goods - in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and now, "a sequel might be in the making" as China doubles down on its exports. The author has a far more negative attitude toward the sequel's impact on the Western economy. This view is almost universal in the West at present.

Why is the West so much more afraid of the "sequel" that it needs to resort to protectionist measures to curb China's development? This reflects a lack of confidence by the West. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the West experienced an upward growth cycle, taking an open mind toward globalization. However, after the 2008 financial crisis, and especially in more recent years, the Western economy has faced a series of challenges. 

Amid the rise of anti-globalization sentiment and trade protectionism, some Western governments pin their hopes on putting up trade barriers to protect their own industries, although such measures will hinder industrial upgrading and the cultivation of emerging sectors.

It's a shame that some Western analysts claim "Chinese companies are flooding foreign markets with products they can't sell at home." The opposite appears to be true. Thanks to China's commitment to high-quality development and continuous progress in technological innovation, Chinese goods are increasingly competitive in the global market. Chinese ingenuity, diligence and adaptability have ensured sufficient supply of everything from daily necessities to high-quality tech products, allowing Chinese manufacturing to make great contribution to stabilizing global trade during a challenging time. China is by no means exporting excess capacity or dumping products they can't sell at home.

Meanwhile, the Chinese market is big enough to accommodate players from China, the West and other countries at the same time. Chinese officials have repeatedly stressed that foreign investment is welcome in China and the door to China will only open further.

China is the top trading partner for many countries in the world. The country is also a key market for many major international companies. There are many opportunities that foreign companies can take advantage of, including the large and fast-growing consumer market and investor-friendly policies. One thing is clear: China is important for multinational companies that want to be globally competitive.

Engaging with the Chinese market is seen as an opportunity rather than a risk. To the world economy, China is a contributor, rather than a saboteur that makes it suffer losses, or a "China shock."