Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds have recently been spotted resting, playing, and foraging at a national wetland reserve in Dandong City, northeast China's Liaoning Province.
As one of the most important stopovers for migratory waterbirds in the East Asia-Australasia Flyway, the Yalu River Estuary Nature Reserve is the birds' paradise in China, attracting hundreds of thousands of migratory birds in March and April every year.
According to a staff member at the reserve, about 300,000 birds have arrived here in recent days, from the Oceania. After a month of rest, they will move further north to their breeding sites in early May.
Thanks to the preservation efforts of local authorities and residents, the grandiose scenery of migratory birds resting and flying can be observed every year.
"Every year during the migration period, we adopt a method of regional zoning management. Local officers, forest and wetland rangers, and volunteers are mobilized by town party committee to patrol a 5 km coastal line and a 15 km wetland line in the zoned area to enhance preservation for birds and wildlife and regulate the behaviors of bird-watchers, such as forbidding induction shooting," said Li Chao, deputy town chief of Huangtukan Town, Dandong City.
Additionally, the fishery departments also engage in these efforts, expanding the coverage of preservation to over 80,000 hectares. "In 2010, the number of observed bird species in the reserve was estimated at 254, and by 2021, that number had risen to 324," said Sui Yanzuo, staff member at the Dandong Forestry and Grassland Development Center.
Migratory bird populations thrive as Dandong ramps up conservation efforts
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a French agricultural goods firm, is eying expanded investment and growth in China and closer ties with its companies, said a regional executive for the company.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Nicolas Maguin, COO of the North Asia region at LDC, highlighted the company's persistent trade with Chinese companies over the decades.
"LDC's long trading history in China dates back to our first cotton trade more than half a century ago. We have since been benefiting from China's reform and opening up, which contributed to shaping a growing and attractive market through embracing international trade, facilitating foreign investment and engaging with new technologies, production methods and talent," he said.
Maguin noted that China's development philosophy, including its determination to rapidly develop innovative production environments and capabilities, is in line with the company's strategy.
"Today, China is also embracing the 'new quality productive forces', which requires continuous and disruptive breakthroughs in science and technology. And this approach aligns very well with LDC's own transformational strategy, a key driver of which is to push integration and innovation across all our value chains. China's vast consumer market, with increasing demand for high-quality, diversity products, and with emerging new business models, is extremely important to LDC in relation to our strategic road map," the COO said.
In particular, Maguin mentioned the China International Import Expo (CIIE) as a key platform to promote the company in China and explore cooperation opportunities.
"We appreciate the CIIE as a key opportunity to engage with Chinese stakeholders and drive collaborations, as we developed new products and services that meet evolving market demands and expectations. Finally, as China advances green and low-carbon developments, LDC is actively exploring new pathways to advance de-carbonization goals. As a company that has built profound relations with China over more than 50 years, we look forward to keeping on working with like-minded local partners whose competencies complement our own, as we continue investing in and growing with China," he said.
Over the years, China-France economic and trade cooperation continues to expand. Two-way trade between China and France has reached 78.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.
China is now France's largest trading partner in Asia, while France ranks as China's third-largest trading partner within the European Union (EU).
French food firm aims for closer ties with Chinese partners
