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.

Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its epicenter now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences have exposed the frailties of human societies in the face of powerful natural forces.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's sixth assessment report, released earlier this month, brings together the most authoritative scientific research on climate change, describes and analyzes the climate impact under different emission scenarios, and provides key issues for the UN Climate Change Conference to discuss in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

Most of the 44,000 Chinese-invested companies based in other countries and regions are subsidiaries of large and medium-sized Chinese enterprises, which means they have close links with the Chinese market.

The lightning speed at which the Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan despite the US' almost 20-year "nation-building" exercise has made US President Joe Biden the object of mounting criticism. The Taliban's return to power has also tarnished the United States' image, especially because, despite being a leading foreign policy expert, Biden failed to read the situation.

The hasty withdrawal of US, British and other NATO troops from Afghanistan after their almost 20 years of failed "war on terror" could become an inflection point toward a new era in world politics.

The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan does not mean that the country will be back on the road to peace, stability and development, or that it will offer business opportunities for domestic and foreign companies.

For Asia-Pacific countries, the signing of the world's largest free trade agreement (FTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, last year can pave the way to recovery from economic recession and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several factors contribute to the significance of US Vice-President Kamala Harris' visit to Southeast Asia from Sunday to Thursday. The first of the key factors is the COVID-19 pandemic. Even nearly 20 months since the novel coronavirus broke out and despite the roll out of several COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic continues to rage in many parts of the world. Last year saw the United States and the West taking a severe hit from the pandemic in terms of loss of lives and spread of infection.

Editor's Note: US Vice-President Kamala Harris' ongoing visit to Southeast Asia is apparently aimed at boosting the US' relations and security cooperation with the region's countries. But given that other senior US officials have already visited several countries in the region, is that the real purpose of her visit? Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

It is certainly necessary to impose restraints on internet businesses, big or small, to ensure that data is not abused.

The US is the main troublemaker in the South China Sea, for it sends advanced navy vessels into the area. Fortunately, China and Southeast Asian nations have not fallen into the US trap as they are aware of its zero-sum games and hypocritical claims.

Exactly a century ago, a mob of white people killed hundreds of African Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in perhaps the worst race massacre in the United States, and destroyed the entire town. In the 100 years since then, the US government, media and social groups have not only maintained a studied silence on what has come to be known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, but also prevented people from revealing the truth, ostensibly to obliterate this black day from US history.

US arms control experts, including former secretary of defense William Perry, recently wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, asking him to support the "no first use of nuclear weapons" policy the Joe Biden administration is likely to propose. But despite the good intentions of people like Perry, it is difficult to change the stubborn conservative thinking and offensive nuclear strategy of most US politicians.

The rule of law is a concept that is pivotal to the success of any modern society. Not only does the rule of law provide a stable economic underpinning, which in turn allows citizens to accumulate wealth, it also helps settle disputes in an efficient and effective manner without leading to unrest.

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill the United States Senate approved on Aug 10 after months of deliberation constitutes the biggest investment in infrastructure, including roads, bridges, railways, ports, power grids and broadband, since the 1950s.

In early 2020, then US president Donald Trump moved, within weeks, from saying that the COVID-19 pandemic was "very much under control in the USA" to blaming China in wild and race-based terms, as the pandemic raged, beyond control, across the United States.

Cooperation with China is indispensable for the European Union and Japan, because without it, they would struggle to recover from the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced global economic slowdown.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I report, "Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis", which was released on Aug 9, is the most authoritative study on climate change, and will help improve global environmental governance and prompt countries to negotiate climate treaties.

Some foreign media outlets have interpreted the recent measures China has taken to streamline certain sectors such as the platform economy and private tutorials as a crackdown on the private sector, which is a gross misrepresentation of facts.

Each year, more than 80,000 children die globally from a cause that gets little public attention and is not taken seriously enough by governments: drowning. Over 2.5 million people worldwide have drowned over the past decade, and the World Health Organization reports that drowning is one of the top 10 causes of death for people under 25 in every region of the world. These deaths are especially unacceptable because they can be prevented with relatively simple measures.

In recent years, "whole-process democracy" has become a familiar term not only in China but also across the world. As Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said, the form of people's democracy followed by China is whole-process democracy and it is in line with socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.

In Europe, we are impressed by the rapid expansion of China's digital economy since the beginning of the century and the emergence of global Chinese digital players.

Editor's Note: The Delta variant, given it is more contagious, could severely disrupt human activity and therefore its spread to 48 cities in 18 provinces of the Chinese mainland poses bigger risk to the economy. Can the stricter anti-pandemic measures implemented by the central and local governments to curb the resurgence of the novel coronavirus to ensure normal human and economic activity? Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

Just as people were hoping to soon see the end the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta variant cases began increasing in China and many other parts of the world. Originating in India, the Delta variant is the most contagious variant. This is bad news. The good news is that, at least for those who have been vaccinated, the Delta variant doesn't appear to be as deadly.

Concerns over a resurgence of novel coronavirus infections and the high transmissibility of the Delta variant have escalated rapidly since late July. That said, China has made substantial progress in vaccination since April. China had administered more than 1.8 billion vaccine doses by early August, equivalent to 1.6 times the 18-years-or-above population.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just released its new climate report, and the reactions from politicians and media pundits could not have been more predictable. Fitting the apocalyptic narrative many have spun lately, the always climate-breathless The Guardian has summarized this scientific report as finding mankind "guilty as hell" of "climate crimes of humanity". Needless to say, the report doesn't say any such thing.

China has the technological and policy expertise to facilitate Indonesia's transition from fossil fuel-driven to clean, renewable energy-propelled development, and help it achieve sustainable, more equitable economic growth.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is scheduled for later this year in Senegal.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and is hence a year to inspire more youths to appreciate the role of the Party in China's development and probably join it.

Even as the COVID-19-diminished Summer Olympic Games came to an end in the hot Tokyo summer, the Winter Olympics scheduled for next year in Beijing has become a scorching topic.

China has given the United States a choice, saying it can no longer have its cake and eat it too: If the US wants China's support on important issues, both domestic and international, then it needs to stop treating China as a presumptive or imaginary enemy. And if the US wants to treat China as a presumptive or imaginary enemy, it should not indulge in fantasies that China has a split personality that allows it to cooperate with the US as it sees fit while tolerating its whims.

China is set to formulate laws to encourage all childbearing age couples to have three children. A draft amendment to the Law on Population and Family Planning will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, later this month

When people think about Panzhihua in Sichuan province, the first thing that springs to mind is mining, iron and steel. Yet the city made headlines for a very different reason recently: it became one of the very first places in China to offer "baby bonuses" to couples that have a second or a third child.

Editor's Note: China is set to amend the Law on Population and Family Planning with the aim of making the three-child policy a success, and improve public services, particularly those related to childcare and eldercare, in order to ease the financial burden of couples and encourage them to have more children. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to China to hold talks with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng in Tianjin could be seen as another step taken by the Joe Biden administration to put bilateral relations back on the right track.

Editor's Note: The new novel coronavirus outbreak and the fast spread of the virus across provinces have prompted many people to ask whether the vaccines are effective, especially against the Delta variant.

At the recent G7, NATO and United States-European Union meetings, relevant countries and organizations issued joint communiques or declarations, which among other things, said that China posed a "systemic challenge" to the international order, and that they are "seriously concerned" about the situation in the East and South China seas and oppose any "unilateral attempts to change the status quo".

Extreme weather events are now part of the new global landscape. In the long run, the only viable way to cope with such challenges is rapid acceleration of resilience and sustainability.

In 2020, while documenting the Abuja integrated transport project, which includes the metro, intercity railway and the Abuja airport, and is handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, I read in detail how China developed its high-speed railways.

Water is critical for sustaining all aspects of life. Water is at the center of our need to better understand and address the impacts of climate change. Climate change caused by human activities will continue to be catastrophic for humanity. It is already having serious impacts on the world's water systems, and changes in these systems can have a devastating impact on people's lives.

After being deferred for a year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was finally declared open at the opening ceremony on July 23, but without spectators.

There are many reasons why it is important for Japan to host the Summer Olympic Games this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic raging in many parts of the world. The obvious rationale for holding the Olympics is that the open spirit of sports competition has a special power to unite a politically and culturally fragmented world.

Editor's Note: The Tokyo Olympic Games officially started on July 23 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, yet many see it as a ray of hope in a world battling serious challenges, especially because it represents the spirit of human beings. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily:

Editor's note: Racial and religious discrimination is rampant in the US, but the administration uses myriad ploys to cover it up. Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

China has realized its first centenary goal of eradicating absolute poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects thanks to the able and strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding this year.