Concrete Measures Announced

Concrete Measures Announced

May 18， Beijing： Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly via video link. In the speech， President Xi outlined specific measures to boost the global fight against COVID-19， including provision of international aid and sharing any vaccines under development in China. “COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in China， when available， will be made a global public good，” declared the president. “This will be China’s contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.”

Ticket to Poverty Relief

May 15， Huaheng， Hunan Province： A town mayor （left） and a college student sell local products via livestream from a local village. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the global economy hard by forcing many businesses to suspend operations， causing huge economic losses. Many factories and farmers in China turned to online sales to relieve some financial pressure. Livestreaming has become the “golden ticket” for people in rural areas to increase their incomes， as China leverages its digital prowess to devise innovative approaches to poverty eradication.

Top Summit

May 27， Xigaze， Tibet Autonomous Region： Members of a Chinese surveying team reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma， also known in the West as Mount Everest， to conduct a series of surveys at the highest point on the planet.

The event marked a crucial step of China’s mission to remeasure the height of the world’s highest peak， which scientists believe will enhance human knowledge of nature and help boost scientific development. The core of the mission is to precisely determine the height of Mount Qomolangma to produce valuable data for research in fields such as geodynamics. Accurate data on snow depth， meteorology and wind speed at the summit will provide reference for studies related to glacier monitoring and ecological environment protection.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949， Chinese surveyors have conducted six missions of scaled measurement and scientific research on Mount Qomolangma and determined the height of the peak twice in 1975 and 2005， publishing figures of 8，848.13 meters and 8，844.43 meters respectively.

Cautious Reopening

May 19， Rome， Italy： Visitors wearing face masks tour the Capitoline Museum. As International Museum Day 2020 was marked worldwide on May 18， Italy started to gradually reopen some of its cultural sites after over two months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. To reduce the impact of the pandemic and reinvent the museum experience for the COVID-19 era， dozens of Italian museums and many other major museums around the world， including the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan， the British Museum in London and the Palace Museum in Beijing， have launched various virtual tours， which have opened a new channel for the public to access culture and art.

Maiden Flight

May 5， Wenchang， Hainan Province： China’s new large carrier rocket Long March-5B blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center. The rocket made its maiden flight that day， loaded with a trial version of China’s next-generation manned spaceship and return capsule. The successful flight marked the beginning of the “third step” of China’s manned space program， which is to construct a space station， according to the China Manned Space Agency.