While reviewing the ups and downs in her career, Gong Lijiao, a three-time Olympic medalist who won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, said she hopes to see "the Chinese women's shot put continue to stand on the highest podium in world competitions."
The 34-year-old’s career as a shot-putter began in 2001 when she was only 12 and, still a teenager, Gong came seventh in her first major championship at the World Athletics Championship in Osaka in 2007.
"This photo is from my first World Championships in Japan. I remember it very well because it was my first major competition, and I was quite nervous. But I finished in the top eight, which was a pretty good performance for my first time. It was then that I dared to dream that I could stand on the world's highest podium," said Gong in an interview before heading to Paris for the Summer Olympics.
Participating in the Olympics for the first time in 2008, the four-time Olympian has won one gold, one silver and one bronze in subsequent games, with her only medal miss at Rio 2016.
"I was in good condition in the first half of 2016. At that time, I was ranked number one in the world. But I think I put too much pressure on myself. It was the only game in my life that I hurried to end after throwing my first shot. After taking a break and returning to the training field, I felt very reluctant. I thought about having to face it all again and wondered what would happen if I failed again. I pulled myself out because I never give up. I felt this could not be my fate, and I thought I could be better. I regained my confidence through every training session and slowly regained my competitive spirit. From 2017 to 2021, I went on to claim multiple World Championships and Olympic titles," said Gong.
Gong, competing at her fifth Olympics in Paris, advanced to Friday’s shot put final after ranking fifth in qualification on Thursday.
"Given my age, I can't stay on the field forever. I hope that after I retire, there will be more young athletes to carry on the flag of Chinese shot put. I want to see the Chinese women's shot put continue to stand on the highest podium in world competitions," she said.
China's Olympic shot put champion hopes Chinese athletes will follow in her footsteps
The high-quality development of east China's Shandong Province featuring innovation and green development has been providing opportunities to foreigners ranging from business promoters to even internet influencers.
As leader in the country's foreign trade, the coastal province of Shandong has been making consistent efforts to push forward its high-level opening-up.
In the first half of this year, Shandong imported and exported 1.62 trillion yuan (230 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods, marking a 4.3-percent year-over-year increase, according to the customs data released in mid-July.
The province's export to regions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), South Korea, and Brazil continued growing during the period.
Ryan Norman, an American living in Rizhao City, has been witnessing all the changes for years as Shandong's close economic ties with the world have boosted its development.
By sharing short videos of him wondering in local markets and making dishes in a big wok, Ryan has attracted over one million followers on social media.
"I am Ryan Norman, an American from California. Now I am married with a Rizhao woman. I have been in China for 19 years. I did some business before, but in recent years I've been making short videos. If the weather is good, staying on beach makes me happier. There is a 28-kilometer sunshine seaside track and every summer, we run back and forth along the track," he said.
The high-quality development of Shandong comes together with green development. In 2023, the province generated over 158 billion kilowatt-hours of green power from new energy and renewables, increasing by 21.9 percent year on year and representing 24.4 percent of the total power generated, up 3.6 percent from 2022.
Last year, the province issued a three-year action plan on promoting green and low-carbon high-quality development, as the province is set to pursue a deep integration of culture and tourism.
"As the environment is getting better and better, more locals like to visit our tea tourism cultural park and its good reputation has attracted droves of tourists," said Yan Zaoning, director of a local tea park.
Sebastian Valcic from Germany now works in an innovation zone in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong. He said in recent years, he witnessed over 500 enterprises from countries like Germany, France, Finland, and Japan setting branches in the innovation zone, and these changes boosted his confidence in China's high-quality development.
"Thanks to the institutional and mechanism reform of the Jinan Innovation Zone, I, as a German, can have the opportunity to join the investment promotion department of the Jinan Innovation Zone management committee. I am responsible for attracting global investment. Over the recent years, our team has signed over 100 projects. The Jinan Innovation Zone is a national new- and high-tech development zone, a free trade zone, a comprehensive bonded zone, a pilot zone for upgrading development engine, and a sci-tech innovation financial reform pilot zone. The innovation zone has so many institutional innovations and preferential policies for expanding opening-up. Every time we have an investment promotion event, I always want the investors to know how special here is," said Sebastian Valcic, an external liaison officer of the management committee's investment promotion department.
Apart from attracting investment, Sebastian Valcic said his team will also work to connect enterprises so that they can cooperate with potential partners up and down the industrial chain.
"We will introduce companies up and down the industrial chain to the enterprises so that they can connect, communicate, and cooperate with one another," he said.
According to its three-year action plan, Shandong will continue to enhance the quality and level of its trade and investment by enhancing the efficiency of using foreign investment and deepening international economic and trade cooperation.
Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals
