In its recent Regional Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a turn for the worse in Asia since the spring, along with the region's growth outlook. The growth projection for the Asia and Pacific region has been downgraded by more than 1 percent to 6.5 percent compared with the April 2021 forecasts－more than for any other region.

Climate change poses the biggest existential threat to humanity. As world leaders prepare to renew their pledge to combat the crisis amid increasingly frequent natural hazards and the raging pandemic, one measure that so far remains grossly under-tapped is the transformative role that education can play in mitigating climate change.

Editor’s note: This year marks the 110th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. Zheng Yongnian, Professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong，Shenzhen, shares his views with China Daily’s Yao Yuxin on the significance of the path China has chosen for peaceful reunification and national rejuvenation, and why it is important for the world. Excerpts follow:

It is a very old story. Even when slave owing was legal in the United States before the American Civil War (1861-65), the country insisted on presenting itself as a democratic model to the world. Not even the bloodiest civil war ever fought to that point by any European or North American country changed its self-regard in this respect.

That Kunming hosted the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15), with "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth" as its theme, is a reflection of China's remarkable achievements in biodiversity conservation.

Conserving biological diversity and combating climate change are vital to the global economic value and prosperity of human beings. Data show that the global value of industries highly or moderately dependent on nature is $44 trillion, accounting for 52 percent of global GDP. But these industries are facing a serious threat due to loss of biodiversity, as studies show that the current rate of species extinction is 1,000 times higher than the natural rate.

Editor's Note: In the wake of the biodiversity conference in Kunming, which concluded on Friday, China will draw up a national action plan to strike a balance between biodiversity conservation and economic and social development. What are the measures will the country take to conserve biodiversity? Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

A critical shortage of coal in India could cripple the nascent recovery of the Indian economy by disabling a number of sectors, especially manufacturing.

The falling fertility rate, relatively early retirement age and the three-child policy have been hot subjects of discussions these days, showing that China, along with many other countries, is facing serious challenges brought about by an aging society.

The 130th Canton Fair, being held from Friday to Tuesday, is expected to boost global trade at a time when the global economic recovery has been foundering.

Many in the world have been led to believe that China and democracy are mutually contradictory. This comes as no surprise, because with help of the media and sometimes academia, this narrative has been pushed beyond facts and verifiable truth－and because democracy appears to be vested exclusively with Western criteria and traits.

Fumio Kishida became the 100th prime minister of Japan, and a new Cabinet took office in the country on Oct 4. Although there will be a general election on Oct 31 and it is still too early to predict the future political situation in Japan in the aftermath of Yoshihide Suga's resignation as prime minister, I would like to see Kishida fulfill his mission as long as he stays in power.

President Xi Jinping attended the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) via video link on Tuesday.

The United States's announcement that it would ease air travel restrictions came as a surprise to the world after a long wait.

A few years ago, I found myself on the platform of a train station in Tanzania. There under the ubiquitous photograph of the country's then president were two fading portraits of two statesmen from an earlier time, Chairman Mao Zedong and Julius Nyerere, first president of independent Tanzania.

Nature-based-solutions can also help in better connecting the ongoing UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, Yunnan province, and the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in two weeks' time in Glasgow, Scotland.

Over the last 20 years, a number of thriving technology companies have emerged in China. This has invited much speculation about the country's scientific and technological prowess, and about its ability to innovate.

Kunming is ready to host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which will review the "post-2020 global biodiversity framework" to draw a blueprint for biodiversity conservation in the future.

In his speech to mark the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 President Xi Jinping said the revolution led to search for path to national rejuvenation. He also emphasized aggression and hegemony are not in the blood of the Chinese people.

On Saturday President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a gathering to mark the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911. One hundred and ten years ago, revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), putting an end to the absolute monarchy that had dominated China for several thousand years.

President Xi Jinping has pledged that China will make every effort to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

According to Western myth and stereotyping, China lacks a culture of creativity and invention. This, it is claimed, will ultimately prevent its economy from reaching the frontier of innovation.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, a milestone in the long and arduous journey to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China has proven all the doomsayers wrong. It has not slid into stagnation like Japan or the Republic of Korea, as the doomsayers had predicted, because of two key factors.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, while soaking in exuberant celebrations on China’s National Day, stays in perfect peace and order, a hard-earned, well-deserved fruit that residents have been yearning for for years. Last National Day, I remember, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor mentioned that "stability has been restored to society while national security has been safeguarded, and our people can continue to enjoy their basic rights and freedoms". As everybody can see, stability is the key, especially in the political domain where social rifts carve the deepest dents in the hearts of peace-loving residents in Hong Kong. Without political stability, economic stability would find nowhere to stand.

Hong Kong must waste no time in seizing the opportunities created under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development project launched by the State Council.

As the People's Republic of China celebrates the 72nd birthday on Oct 1, its rise in recent decades has reshaped the landscape of global politics.

The growing number and share of older people in Asia-Pacific region is the result of declining fertility and increasing longevity as well as advances in social and economic development. This demographic transition is taking place against the backdrop of the accelerating Fourth Industrial Revolution. But COVID-19 has exacerbated the suffering of seniors in vulnerable situations and demonstrated the fragility of this progress.

Since the beginning of time, there has been light. And there has been darkness present, forever challenging the preservation of such -- within and throughout. Life was designed in such manner to ensure both, to ensure choice, choice as a means of determining our understanding as requisite our knowing. Darkness. Required. So that we may know ourselves better in truth.

The World Health Organization is reviving the second phase of its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in China, responding to the continued pressure from the US and its allies.

What impact will Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent minority electoral win have on Canada-China relations?

Imagine it is the year 2050. In the Asia-Pacific region, one in four people will be over the age of 60; three times the number of older persons in 2010. With close to 1.3 billion senior citizens in less than 30 years from now, are countries in the region prepared to fully address the needs of older persons so that they age with dignity?

As Angela Merkel prepares to step down as German chancellor after 16 years in office, anecdotes about her, and her achievements as a leader of Germany, the European Union and the world have been doing the rounds. Which is hardly surprising given that surveys by Pew Research Center, YouGov and others organizations in the past years have shown that she is the most popular global leader and most trusted to do the right things on global stage.

The digital economy has been booming thanks to the rapid development of the information and communications technology (ICT). But the digital economy boom has also created problems, with some enterprises infringing on consumer rights and thereby disturbing the market order.

Big antitrust actions have come at key moments in history－mostly on the heels of big technological breakthroughs, which the innovators have used to grab a larger share of the market leading to big profit windfalls.

In the United States, the executive branch, courts and the Congress are moving to restrict the dominance of the US tech giants.

Editor's Note: The internet has changed our lifestyle and the digital economy has made life even more convenient. But any market needs certain regulations for healthy development, and that is exactly what China and other digitally advanced countries are implementing. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

Non-traditional security threats have become rampant in the 21st century. The severe implications of environmental and other non-traditional security challenges are associated with the non-conventional nature of the security paradigm of a country. And since no country is free of environmental risks, the focus has shifted to tackling non-traditional security threats emanating from environmental, as well as social, economic causes.

The internet has completely changed our way of life, and tech companies have become the leading driver of social evolution.

While addressing the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.

That US President Joe Biden will host the first-ever in-person Quad (Quadrilateral security dialogue among the US, Japan, Australia, and India) summit at the White House on Friday suggests the previous loose security partnership could soon become a formal organization.

Food systems－the "ensemble" of all dimensions and processes related to food: production, harvesting, processing, transportation and consumption－are facing enormous challenges today.

Some people have wrongly assumed that the measures to strengthen regulations on the platform companies and private tutoring providers suggest harsher policies targeting private businesses are likely to follow and the private sector may be dealt a big blow.

Thanks to China's rapid economic development and rising individual incomes, Chinese tourists have been traveling across the globe and contributing to the local economies.

The Joe Biden administration will host a global summit on the COVID-19 pandemic via video link on Wednesday.

Saturday marks the 90th anniversary of the Sept 18 Incident, or Mukden Incident, a false flag event which Japan used as a pretext to launch a large-scale invasion of China, and eventually occupy the northeastern region of the country. On that fateful day in 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army triggered an explosion on a small section of a railway owned by a Japanese company near Shenyang, Liaoning province and, accusing Chinese troops of sabotage, responded by attacking the Chinese garrison in the city that night.

China has tightened regulation of technology companies to curb monopolistic practices and financial flows, to prevent rising risks to the country's financial system, The move, which is aimed at tackling unfair competition and companies' handling of critical data and has led to the imposition of hefty fines on some big enterprises, has drawn the attention of the media, especially foreign media.

The idea that Beijing and Moscow wanted the United States to remain bogged down in Afghanistan indefinitely so that China and Russia could pursue their policies while the US was engaged there may have some traction in the US, but the reality is different. The US presence in Afghanistan, while it lasted, did not materially impact on Washington's ability to put pressure on the two countries which it regards as its major adversaries. However, the decision recently announced by US President Joe Biden to stop the US experiments with nation-building in various parts of the world and focus instead on proactively defending the liberal and democratic foundations of the Western system, including within the United States itself, and of Western positions in the world represents a major change in US global strategy.

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States pulled its troops out of Afghanistan, bringing to an inglorious end the longest war it has waged overseas. That the US withdrew from Afghanistan without fulfilling its mission of eradicating terrorism from the country shows that its two-decade-old "war on terror", which also covered Iraq, Libya, Syria and other Middle East countries, has been a failure.

Nine decades ago, to divert public attention from a series of domestic issues caused by the Great Depression, Japan staged the Sept 18 Incident in 1931 despite the Versailles-Washington System being in place after the end of World War I to deter conflicts between states. The incident marked the beginning of Japan's large-scale invasion of China.

The hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government, and the advance of the Taliban have put Afghanistan in the global spotlight. While some non-US experts and politicians argue the developments in Afghanistan will irreparably damage the United States' image as a global power and it is yet another proof of the US' decline, many American experts justify Washington's decision to leave Afghanistan, emphasizing that it will allow the US to focus on, and shift more resources to, the Asia-Pacific region.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit will be held in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, on Thursday and Friday to discuss, among other things, what role the organization should play in addressing the Afghanistan issue, especially because the war the United States launched in 2001 has not only increased poverty but also reversed the economic development cycle in the country.

The Plan for Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-Up of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone in Qianhai, recently issued by the top authorities, is not only aimed at better promoting the "one country, two systems" principle but also accelerating the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a world-class bay area and city cluster.

With the concept of building a community for the Chinese nation becoming increasingly popular, discussions have to be centered on ethnology, politics, history and other such subjects.

The Taliban took over Kabul airport after the United States pulled out its last batch of troops on Aug 30, marking the end of its almost 20-year war in Afghanistan. The US' withdrawal from Afghanistan was not part of its strategy to deal with the "threat from China and Russia" but the failure of the "war on terror" started by former US president George W. Bush.

On September 9 to 11, China is hosting the first International Conference for Reducing Food Loss and Waste. The conference was proposed by President Xi Jinping at the first session of the 15th G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2020. In proposing the Conference, President Xi called for joint efforts in taking the challenge of food security seriously and support the United Nations Food System Summit, which will be held in just a few weeks.

As the United States completed its troops withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug 31, the Taliban, which has returned to power there, claimed to "have liberated our country from a great power".

We live in an age of systemic gridlock, policy chaos, and sudden-shock failures. How is it possible that Afghan security forces－built and trained by the United States military at a cost of $83 billion over two decades－succumbed to a militia of fighters in pickup trucks in a mere 11 days?

In the coming days, leaders of China and India will come face to face at quite a few meetings. On Thursday, India will chair 13th BRICS summit followed by Tajikistan hosting a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Dushanbe next week.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan has been using the stalemate between the Chinese mainland and the United States to push forward its "Taiwan independence" agenda.

Since its founding on July 1, 1921, the Communist Party of China has, along with the Chinese people, nurtured the dream of realizing national rejuvenation. The list of the Party's achievements over the past century is long and impressive: realizing the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating absolute poverty, making China the world's second-largest economy and largest trading nation, constructing the world's largest high-speed rail network, and becoming the largest contributor to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afghanistan has been mired in wars for decades. Now, the Taliban's return to power has raised fresh questions about the country's future. The defeat of a superpower in Afghanistan is not new, yet the United States will have much to reflect on its 20-year war and misadventure in the country.

On Sept 7, 1901, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) government signed the humiliating Treaty of 1901, or Xinchou Treaty, with 11 Western powers that turned China totally into a semifeudal, semicolonial society. In the 120 years since then, the Chinese nation has gained many achievements, from standing up to becoming moderately prosperous, and from a weak poverty-stricken country to one moving closer to national rejuvenation.

Can fascism take over the United States? This question was put to Huey P. Long, US senator, demagogue and governor of Louisiana, in the 1930s. "Sure it can!" he replied. "Only it'll be called anti-fascism."

Speaking at the White House a day after the US' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan ended, President Joe Biden said the evacuation of the American troops was an "extraordinary success", ignoring the suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed 170 people, including 13 US soldiers, on Aug 26 and a rocket attack on the airport on Aug 30.

Africa needs to industrialize in order to eradicate poverty and create jobs for the 12 million African youths who enter the job market every year. But the lack of productive infrastructure needed to help industries and companies thrive on the strength of their robust comparative advantage is hindering Africa's industrialization.

The ripples of "double reduction" are being felt even a month after it came into effect, as one more private tutoring institute, called Juren－Giant in English, declared bankruptcy on Aug 31, a day before the start of a new school semester. Why is the tutoring sector reform important?

On Friday, the Ministry of Education revealed the eighth national students' physical health survey, showing a rise in the rate of obesity among middle and primary school students.

A recent announcement by the National Press and Publication Administration in China restricts the playing of video games to a maximum of one hour a day between 8 pm and 9 pm on weekends and holidays.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris visited Singapore and Vietnam from Aug 22 to 26.

Common prosperity is not egalitarianism nor does it mean robbing the rich to pay the poor. Instead, common prosperity means affluence shared by everyone both in material and cultural terms. The goal of common prosperity should be achieved through market economy, so the principles including the market's decisive role in resources allocation, fair play among enterprises, and income distribution according to production factors should be followed up.

Following the historic 1971 visit to China by former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam, while he was still opposition leader, Australia and China enjoyed mutual benefits from trade, education and people to people links for decades.

Last month, the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province experienced what some meteorologists have labeled a once-in-a-thousand-years event. In just over four days, the city nearly exceeded its annual average rainfall, and the resulting flood displaced millions of people from their homes. Disasters such as this are a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of a rapidly changing climate.

It would appear the United States’ media has finally gotten over their love affair with President Joe Biden for not being Donald Trump.

Universal Beijing Resort, the largest of its kind in the world, will start its trial run on Wednesday and formal operation on Sept 20. The theme resort signals the entry of another international chain into China's thriving theme park industry.

Chinese students are known for their diligence and perseverance, yet their hard work in and after school in many cases have not facilitated their all-round development. To address the problem, the recent government policy document called "Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-Campus Training for Compulsory Education Students" has set targets and requirements to upgrade school education and ban after-school private tutoring.

Thanks to China's rapid economic development over the past four decades, Chinese people can more freely travel to any part of the world, writes a veteran journalist with China Daily in the first of a series of commentaries.

In the second quarter of 2021, China's GDP grew by 7.9 percent year-on-year. That was a relatively strong performance, especially given the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy. But, for China, it was somewhat of a disappointment: a Caixin survey of economists showed the median estimate for the second quarter was 8.2 percent growth.

The newly released US intelligence report shows US President Joe Biden has not forsaken the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump, even though the global situation demands that he abandon the practice of garnering support by spreading political fear of imaginary enemies.

Four decades ago, almost everyone in China was poor by present-day standards. The Bund in Shanghai and Chang'an Avenue in Beijing were full of bicycles. No private cars.

The decision of the 10th meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs that China will find concrete ways to pursue common prosperity has triggered heated discussions in some theoretical and policy circles.

Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and the shared aspiration of all Chinese people.