Colombian president praises Xi's vision of global development

Chinese President Xi Jinping plays a unique and much-needed role in promoting global solidarity to solve the pressing issues facing humanity, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Beijing on Wednesday.

Petro praised Xi for actively fostering cooperation and bolstering relations between China and like-minded countries, during an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) after his meeting with the Chinese president at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday morning.

The Colombian leader was in Beijing to attend the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, which was held on Tuesday, and a top priority of his visit was to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China.

The leadership meeting yielded a major achievement when the two countries signed a cooperation plan on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), marking the South American country's formal accession to the China-proposed strategy for promoting global development.

The Colombian foreign ministry, in a social media post, hailed the move as a historic step, saying it will bring new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation and sustainable development for both Colombia and China.

Speaking with CMG, Petro recalled his past exchanges with President Xi who he said deeply impressed him, as he found in Xi a distinctive leadership style with a far-sighted global vision.

"I met President Xi twice and had exchanges with him on the occasion of different multilateral conferences. In President Xi, I always feel a unique vibe. Today, we have reached a tipping point [in history] where exceedingly superb wisdom is required from us to cope with; it indicates that the human society is entering a new stage where no country can make itself immune from the impact alone. Take greenhouse gas emissions as an example, no country can single-handedly solve the climate crisis. The inaction of countries whose interests are deeply entangled with fossil fuel energy such as oil and coal is like a metaphorical countdown dragging us into an irreversible crisis," he said.

During a time like this, Petro said, President Xi's continued efforts to rally like-minded countries to solve global issues for humanity are even more important.

Colombian president praises Xi's vision of global development

Colombian president praises Xi's vision of global development

China's smart consumer device manufacturing sector has seen rapid growth this year, fueled by a government-backed trade-in program and the expansion of diversified consumption scenarios.

From January to May, the country's electronic information manufacturing industry maintained strong momentum, with total revenue of enterprises above the designated size reaching 6.49 trillion yuan (some 900 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.4 percent year on year.

Production of electronic consumer goods recorded steady increases. Over 140 million computers were produced during the period, up 8 percent from a year earlier, while 14.04 million television units rolled off assembly lines, up 1.7 percent year on year.

"Consumption scenarios are becoming more diversified. On the demand side, new smart products are quickly entering the market, opening up emerging markets in home services, health management, and beyond. On the supply side, the industry is clearly moving toward transformation and upgrading, with new growth drivers accelerating," said Zuo Kairui, director of the Industry Development Department of the Institute of Policy and Economics at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, China plans to go on promoting its "AI plus consumer goods" initiative, encouraging the development and application of new technologies such as smart wearables, ultra-high-definition video, brain-computer interfaces, and robotics.

Meanwhile, authorities will continue to foster high-growth consumer sectors and guide the smart device industry toward greener, more service-oriented development.

China's smart consumer device industry sees rapid growth amid policy boost