4 | Thursday, July 29, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | DAILY CHINA

Crystal clear Cooperation: Weihui battles Strategic partnership back from ‘beneficial to both sides’

From page 1 record deluge Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, which holds ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship this year, Flooded area still struggling, but plans recently endorsed the fruitful are being drawn up to kick-start recovery results of 30 years of ASEAN- China collaboration. He said that ASEAN-China relations are By YANG ZEKUN basically returned to normal, with among the bloc’s most strategic and SHI BAOYIN in businesses gradually resuming and comprehensive partner- operation,” Wu said. ships, adding that he is confi- A total of 204,000 people have Shen Jiwei, an official with the dent the partnership will create been relocated due to heavy rainfall Provincial Water Resources a better future for the people of and severe flooding in Weihui, Department, said Weihui’s location Children perform a science experiment to make drops immediately turn into crystals when placed in all the countries involved. Henan province, and a number of at the intersection of two rivers, a glass of liquid at an activity center in , Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Wednesday. ASEAN Secretary-General disaster relief and recovery meas- combined with the heavy rainfall, Under the guidance of teachers, the children experienced the wonder of science while performing Dato Lim Jock Hoi said, “Not ures have been implemented, local was responsible for the flooding, the popular activity. DING GENHOU / FOR CHINA DAILY only is the China-ASEAN strate- officials said on Wednesday. and made it difficult for water to gic partnership beneficial to Figures released by the provincial drain away. both sides, but it also has signifi- government said that by noon Shen said that as the level of the cant impact on the situation in Wednesday, at least 73 people had Weihe River remains high, water is our region and beyond. died in Henan since July 16 as a not draining away smoothly. In China’s support for ASEAN “is result of the downpours and 13.66 addition, a large nearby canal had Less politics sought in virus debate a concrete manifestation of Chi- million people had been affected. been breached, further flooding na’s support for regionalism and Nearly 180,000 hectares of crops Weihui and making the waterlog- By ZHANG ZHIHAO tional cooperation can we ensure tists, namely, that science has no multilateralism”, he said via vid- had been destroyed and over 17,000 ging even more serious. The breach [email protected] global public health security.” borders, and science and technology eo link on Wednesday while houses had collapsed. was repaired on Monday. Wang said that since the COVID- should benefit all mankind, he said. addressing an international Authorities have now dug drain- Greater international coopera- 19 outbreak, China has taken the “The international scientific com- symposium, hosted by the China age ditches and built cofferdams to tion on combating the COVID-19 “most comprehensive, rigorous and munity must adamantly push back Institute of International Stud- try to keep the water out of the city. pandemic is needed and less politi- thorough measures” to curb the dis- against these political challenges,” ies in , to mark the dia- They have also brought in more cization of scientific issues, such as ease, allowing the country to go he said. logue partnership’s 30th pumping equipment and opened tracing the origin of the virus that from being the most vulnerable to Kazuki Okimura, former president anniversary. Zhengzhou 10 sluices to drain water into the causes the disease, according to Chi- the virus to one of the safest nations of the Japan Science and Technology Aaron Jed Rabena, a research Weihui river. nese scientists and scholars. in the world. Agency, said science exchanges and fellow at the Asia-Pacific Path- Henan “We will try our best to solve the Gao Fu, head of the Chinese Cen- China has also taken concrete cooperation, such as those between ways to Progress Foundation, a waterlogging in Weihui in the next ter for Disease Control and Preven- actions to improve global public China and Japan, are important for Philippine think tank, told the three days,” Wu said. tion, said investigating the origin of health in regard to the COVID-19 training talented people, building ties symposium that the Belt and ’s city government has the virus is a scientific question that pandemic, including monetary and promoting progress. Road Initiative is an “evolving CHINA DAILY sent five working teams focused should be answered scientifically. donations to the World Health From 2013 until the COVID-19 regimen”. He added that he sees on different areas, including emer- “Nobody should be blaming oth- Organization and providing vacci- outbreak in December 2019, Japan the BRI as a framework for meas- gency rescue, resettlement, health ers. Probing the origin of the virus nes and aid to other countries. invited over 10,000 Chinese stu- uring China-ASEAN joint 16 and epidemic prevention, to help cannot be politicized,” he said dur- “Only by respecting human lives dents and researchers to the coun- achievements. million cubic Weihui recover. It also provided ing the 23rd Annual Meeting of the as the upmost priority, along with try for exchange programs, half the relief materials and funds China Association for Science and enhancing cooperation and mutual Okimura said. However, the pan- Focus on teamwork meters needed. Technology, which started on Tues- assistance, can the international demic has put the program on hold As a highlight of bilateral col- Amount of floodwaters remain- More than 2,200 rescue personnel day and ended on Wednesday. community form a collective force for over 18 months. laboration, the ASEAN-China ing in Weihui, Henan province from Henan and other provinces are Gao said the pathogen may gain to tackle emerging public health cri- Although COVID-19 is largely Free Trade Area, upgraded in also helping in Xinxiang. They are new properties by mutating and ses and embrace a … healthy under control in China, the rest of 2019, is the largest free trade area concentrated in Weihui, rescuing then breaching the body’s immune future,” she said. the world is still suffering the impact among developing countries in Most of the urban area of Wei- people and transferring them to system. Therefore, it is important to Xue Lan, dean of Schwarzman of the coronavirus and its variants. the world. hui, a low-lying county-level city in hospitals and nursing homes. enhance international scientific College at Tsinghua University, said As a result, international relations Trade volume between China the northern part of Xinxiang, Li Zhiyong, Weihui’s executive cooperation based on openness, that after the end of the Cold War, will likely witness major changes in and ASEAN continued to see remains submerged, and nearly vice-mayor, said its government will trust and collaboration, he added. international cooperation on sci- the future, he said. “This means Chi- robust growth this year, surging 300,000 residents have been come up with plans for recovery and Wang Hongyang, a noted oncolo- ence and technology rapidly na-Japan cooperation is growing 27.8 percent year-on-year in the affected, Xinxiang Vice-Mayor Wu the resumption of work and produc- gist and an academician of the Chi- expanded, but in recent years, polit- more important than ever, and we first six months, according to the Shengjun told a news conference tion as soon as possible. nese Academy of Engineering, said ical issues between major countries look forward to building a relation- Ministry of Commerce. on Wednesday. “We had already purchased pub- the current public health challenges have undermined this momentum. ship with China based on mutual Zhang Jianping, director-gen- Between July 17 and 22, Xinxiang lic security and property insurance are unprecedented. “People are “All of humanity has benefited learning and win-win collaboration.” eral of the ministry’s China Cen- experienced the heaviest rains it had for all of the residents, and have starting to realize that when a pub- from global cooperation in science In an online opinion poll con- ter for Regional Economic ever recorded, with an average of launched a compensation mecha- lic health crisis hits, there is no such and technology,” Xue said. ducted by CGTN Think Tank, 80 Cooperation, said ASEAN has 830 millimeters and a maximum of nism to help industrial and com- thing as a safe harbor,” she said at Now, there are politicians whose percent of global respondents stood out as China’s largest trad- 965.5 mm of rain falling. mercial enterprises resume work the meeting. “We are all in this agendas are interfering with the col- believe that the issue of COVID-19 ing partner, adding that ASEAN Floodwaters in Weihui peaked at and production and restore normal together, and only through interna- laborative consensus among scien- origin tracing has been politicized. countries are where land and sea 20 million cubic meters, of which 16 conditions as soon as possible,” Li BRI routes meet and the group- million remain, Wu said. said. ing is now a pillar of the BRI’s net- “By now, apart from the urban work of partners. areas of Weihui, there is no water- Contact the writers at Given the “systemic China- logging elsewhere and Xinxiang has [email protected] Salesperson still tops job vacancies ASEAN cooperation” in commu- nicating policy and beefing up By Cheng Si let alone younger ones,” said Li Jian, put more effort into nurturing pro- interconnectivity, their bilateral [email protected] who operates a Japanese restaurant fessional and experienced workers. trade is expected to see another in Beijing’s Chaoyang district. Chen Lixiang, vice-dean of Peking prosperous 10 years, with annual Authorities in China have been “My offer for a waiter or waitress University’s China Institute for total trade exceeding $700 billion tailoring measures to address labor is around 4,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan Occupation Research, said that to $800 billion, Zhang said at a shortages in sectors such as the ser- ($615 to $770) a month, which is work in the services industry usually seminar in Beijing on July 15. vices industry and those requiring the average level for Beijing. But it’s requires lower skills and offers low In a media interview in June, highly skilled workers. still hard to attract young people.” pay, discouraging people, particular- State Councilor and Foreign Jobs including salesperson, restau- The ministry said a shortage of ly the young, from taking such jobs. Minister Wang Yi attributed Chi- rant server and security guard have highly skilled workers is particu- Guan said that inadequate occu- na-ASEAN success to a good, the most vacancies, according to a list larly troubling in sectors that pational development and the neighborly relationship, con- of the nation’s top 100 labor shorta- require employees to possess both irregularity of the services industry certed responses that have con- ges released recently by the Ministry professional competence and also contributed to its difficulties in verted crises into chances, their of Human Resources and Social knowledge of machine operation. attracting workers. pursuit of inclusive growth and Security. Salesperson vacancies have Labor shortages for bench work- The Ministry of Human Resour- their “proper treatment of diver- ranked top of the list eight consecu- ers, stamping operators and work- ces and Social Security, along with gences”. tive times, ever since the first quarter- ers in hot metal processing are likely seven other central government Foreign Ministry spokesman ly list was published in late 2019. to grow in the near future, it said. agencies, recently released a guide- Zhao Lijian said on July 12 that Cleaners, domestic services work- Guan Lian, vice-dean of the line to optimize the balance of the China and ASEAN countries are ers and those in new professions National Human Resources Insti- job market and better protect peo- “actively promoting consulta- such as beauticians and elderly care tute for Service Outsourcing, said in ple’s rights at work. tions on the Code of Conduct in nurses are also in high demand. a recent interview with China Youth It said employers must treat their the South China Sea with major Medical workers check the status of a resident evacuated to a voca- “Not surprisingly, most of the Daily that people are now pursuing employees professionally, giving the progress”. tional school in Weihui, Henan province, on Tuesday. The school is waiters and waitresses in my res- higher-quality lives, requiring bet- example of signing a labor contract On Wednesday, Wang said at housing several thousand people relocated due to the floodwaters. taurant are in their 40s, even 50s. ter and friendlier services, and that whenever an employment relation- the international symposium via WANG FEI / FOR CHINA DAILY It’s not that easy to recruit people, means the services sector needs to ship comes into existence. video link that China so far has delivered nearly 180 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the 10 ASEAN countries. “The two sides have carried out Ketamine study could lead to creation of better antidepressants fruitful cooperation in anti-pan- demic supplies assistance, vac- By zhou wenting in receptor channel activity. affiliated with the Chinese Academy depression, notably suicidal excessively activated can result in cine production, research and [email protected] They further proved that the two of Sciences. thoughts, within hours, and is depression, but the structural basis development, and have stabilized amino acids play an important role Major depressive disorders affect 6 effective in patients with treat- of the antidepressant’s action on the the production and supply chain, Shanghai researchers have in stabilizing the binding of keta- to 16 percent of the world’s popula- ment-resistant depression. receptors was previously unclear. creating a role model for interna- unraveled the molecular mecha- mine to the receptors. tion, and can lead to suicide. Anti-­ Ketamine can induce severe psy- Zhu Shujia, a leading researcher tional collaboration in anti-pan- nism for how ketamine, an effi- Their research was published in a depressants targeting the chotomimetic side effects, such as on the team, said that she hopes demic and recovery efforts,” Wang cient antidepressant,­ functions at paper on the website of the United monoaminergic system — networks visual and auditory distortions. It the discovery will contribute to said. its receptors in the human brain, Kingdom-based scientific journal of neurons that, among other things, also has the potential to be abused further research on new antide- Lye Liang Fook, a Singaporean paving the way for the potential Nature on Wednesday. play a role in the regulation of emo- as a recreational drug, which cur- pressant drugs that target recep- expert on Southeast Asia and Chi- development of antidepressants The joint research project was tion, memory and arousal — require rently limits clinical use. However, tors more accurately. na studies with the Network of that act more rapidly, with fewer undertaken by the Institute of Neu- prolonged treatment over weeks or there is increasing interest in devel- “We should provide the public ASEAN-China Think Tanks, told side effects. roscience, State Key Laboratory of months, and are ineffective in one- oping fast-acting antidepressants with a more in-depth understand- the symposium, “China and In laboratory tests, the research- Neuroscience, Center for Excellence third of patients. with fewer side effects. ing of depression. It is indeed a dis- ASEAN adopted a proactive and ers discovered that a mutation in in Brain Science and Intelligence As a rapid-acting novel antide- Scientists knew that ketamine ease, and it can be cured,” she said. practical approach to cooperat- two key amino acids largely reduces Technology, and the Shanghai Insti- pressant, ketamine quickly redu- helped mitigate depression by bind- ing, including identifying new ketamine’s potency by blocking tute of Materia Medica, which are all ces the core symptoms of ing to specific receptors, which when Li Yange contributed to this story. areas of cooperation.”