Light show illuminates Tianjin ahead of SCO Summit 2025

A spectacular light show is being held along the Haihe River in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Thursday, as part of the celebrations for the upcoming 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.

Since August 19, the "Night of Haihe" light show has been illuminating the river, taking viewers on a stunning journey through time.

The eight-minute show, which illuminates skyscrapers, bridges and other structures around the center of Tianjin, tells stories from China's past, present, and future, and explores the nations long-lasting bonds with SCO member states.

The light show is the product of nearly 200 days of hard work by a design team of professionals from different fields.

"No one on the tour boats on Haihe River could put down their phones and kept recording," said Wang Zhe, the lighting designer of the "Night of Haihe” show.

"Tianjin has many beautiful things. The challenge is to discover and organize them artistically to showcase elegance and romance. I'm delighted that we did it. We used lights to tell the story of Tianjin and the story of China," said Rao Jun, who wrote accompanying words for the light show.

Scheduled for August 31 and September 1, the summit will be the largest gathering in the SCO's history, with more than 20 foreign leaders and 10 heads of international organizations expected to attend.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.