Zhongcheng Village team wins China's Village Super League final

The wildly popular football tournament in Chinese rural villages, the Village Super League -- also known as Cun Chao -- completed this year's championship match in Rongjiang County in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Saturday evening, with the football team from Zhongcheng Village emerging victorious.

This is the third year for this grassroots tournament. Over eight months, 108 village teams from across the region competed in 362 matches, culminating in this climactic showdown.

The final pitted Zhongcheng Village, a seasoned contender, against Longquanjing Village, a relatively new team formed just last year. The match lived up to expectations, with both sides displaying exceptional skill, passion, and relentless determination under the lights of a packed stadium.

For most of the game, defenses held strong, and the score remained locked at 0-0 into the 80th minute.

Then, in a dramatic turn, the Zhongcheng Village team broke the deadlock with a powerful goal, igniting their supporters. Just two minutes later, the Longquanjing Village team responded with a stunning goal off a corner kick, leveling the score and forcing a penalty shootout.

Under immense pressure, the Zhongcheng Village team held their composure from the spot, securing a 4-2 victory and claiming the 2025 Village Super League title.

"I'm so excited and incredibly happy. I hope we can keep striving next year, continue playing in the Village Super League, and fight for our dreams," said Dong Yongheng, captain of the Zhongcheng Village football team.

The Village Super League has become far more than just a football tournament. Since its repechage on July 25 following disruptions caused by devastating floods earlier this year, the event has drawn over 960,000 tourist visits to Rongjiang County, providing a major boost to local tourism and the rural economy.

Local authorities have seized the momentum, developing 13 themed zones around the "Cun Chao" brand, including the rural cultural and tourism experience area, resettlement communities, and the Yueliang Mountain scenic area.

By integrating these zones into a 30-minute economic circle within the county, officials aim to transform the tournament's viral momentum into sustainable and long-term economic growth.

Zhongcheng Village team wins China's Village Super League final

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.

"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.

This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.

By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.

China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.

The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.

"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.

China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting