Volunteers excited to contribute to upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin

Young volunteers selected from universities in north China's Tianjin Municipality are excited to contribute their efforts to the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, making final preparations for their work to serve participants from home and abroad.

Leaders from Asia, Europe and Africa will gather in the port city of Tianjin from August 31 to September 1 for the largest-ever SCO summit in history, charting the blueprint for the bloc's next decade of development. A total of 998 youth volunteers have been selected and trained to assist the Summit since June.

The media center for the Summit will open on Thursday morning, aiming to serve journalists in reporting on it. Wang Pinyi, a first-year graduate student majoring in English at Tianjin Normal University, will work at the No. 1 studio of the media center.

Wang has participated in systematic training with over 300 other volunteers from five universities in Tianjin since June. This training covered the basic functions of eight areas within the media center, including the comprehensive service area, the public workspace, the dedicated workspace, and specialized skills in foreign affairs etiquette, media reception, and emergency response.

As time marches into August, volunteers shifted focus to targeted training based on their specific roles.

"My classmates and I -- we are in the same volunteer group -- conducted research to understand the mainstream media of various countries and their official working languages. For us, this preparation process has been very rewarding," said Wang.

An inauguration ceremony for the volunteers was held at Nankai University on August 8, where all the volunteers took a solemn oath to serve the Summit with their professional skills and great passion.

"I am a Russian language major. On the one hand, I will use my language skills to serve this grand event, conveying the most beautiful China for the attendees. On the other hand, I have gained a lot of practical translation skills through this experience. It has been highly rewarding and has contributed greatly to my personal growth," said Li Zenghao, another volunteer from Tianjin Normal University.

"As a university student, I feel quite honored to be part of this great era and to witness such a significant event. It is also a privilege to serve as a volunteer at the SCO Summit, contributing our youthful strength," said Liang Hongna, a volunteer from Tianjin Foreign Studies University.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established 24 years ago primarily to address security concerns. It has evolved into a regional organization encompassing nearly half of the world's population, a quarter of the global landmass and a quarter of global GDP. With the accession of India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus, the SCO now has 10 member states, alongside two observer states and 14 dialogue partners.

Volunteers excited to contribute to upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin

The head of German auto giant Mercedes-Benz has stressed the automaker is looking to navigate through the current challenges facing the auto sector by investing in innovation, technology and new products, with the firm introducing a wave of new vehicle models.

Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), during which he acknowledged that intense competition amid a complex environment is squeezing profit margins, particularly in key markets such as China.

Kallenius listed several external pressures facing the company which come amid the wider changes taking place across the industry, and said automakers will simply have to adapt in order to remain competitive.

"I don't think that the intense competitive situation in China is going to go away any time soon, so there will be pressure here. Of course, the tariff system, especially for a global company like Mercedes-Benz, it has changed and we have to accept that now. And there are also other regulatory challenges or other things that's going on in the world," he said.

Kallenius said that while making efforts to manage disruptions in the short-term, the Mercedes-Benz Group is investing more in innovation, technology and products.

He noted that as part of this strategy the firm is unveiling 40 new models in the three-year period up to 2027 as it looks to build momentum to overcome the present difficulties.

"I think that 2026 for us is a year of execution, actually bringing models into the pipeline [and we aim to] build upon that in 2027 and 2028. So we take for this financial picture, we take like a mid-term view," he said.

"We have a solid foundation. Yes, it is a tougher business environment than it was maybe three years ago. But we can deal with it and we want to build ourselves into a stronger position over the next years into the mid-term carried by the product offensive," Kallenius said.

Mercedes-Benz CEO says firm pinning recovery on product offensive