Int'l outdoor rescue skills competition kicks off in Yunnan

The "Cloud 2025" Rescue Skills Competition started on Sunday in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, with over 300 contestants from four countries participating.

The four-day competition, held at the Shimen Pass scenic spot in Dali, focuses on the increased demands on rescue teams brought about by theorizing popularity of outdoor sports.

The participating countries include China, Nepal, Cambodia, and Laos.

The competition simulates scenarios such as casualty rescue, cliff falls, and ravine entrapment.

It also recreates all the rescue steps, from dispatch and navigation to trace detection and casualty transport.

"For rescue and these kinds of adventure activities, it's my first time, and it's totally amazing for me. And we have seen lots of drones, lights for rescue, and some rescue technologies -- everything. And this is amazing for us," said Sudarshan, president of the Everest Alliance Nepal.

"Our rules in this year's event are inclusive and open -- our rescue techniques, equipment and concepts are all open for sharing. Through this 'firefighting plus sports' model, we hope to bring together domestic and international rescue teams to truly embody our concept of 'Rescue Knows No Borders,'" said Ma Jun, director of the operational training division of the Yunnan Provincial Fire and Rescue Corps.

Since its inception in 2020, the competition has attracted over 60 teams from seven countries.

Int'l outdoor rescue skills competition kicks off in Yunnan

Chinese companies have made headway in fintech innovation over the last decade, leading the world in both patent volume and quality, the Nikkei reported Tuesday.

The survey, conducted by Nikkei and Tokyo-based Patent Result, analyzed fintech-related patent applications across 118 countries and regions between 2016 and 2025. Global fintech patent filings totaled about 120,000 in the decade through 2025, nearly triple the previous 10 years, the survey found.

Applications from Chinese companies in the period accounted for more than 38 percent of the global total, the largest share by far, with filings up tenfold from the previous decade. The United States ranked second with a 17 percent share, followed by the Republic of Korea at 9 percent and Japan at 8 percent.

At the corporate level, Chinese firms took eight of the world's top 10 places for fintech patent filings. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) topped the list, with Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Tencent also among the leaders.

The survey found that China's advantage extended beyond sheer volume: the country also took the lead in patent quality, as measured by value and competitiveness scores, with the United States and Japan placing second and third.

China dominates global fintech patent filings: survey