China's aid supplies arrive in Sri Lanka

A consignment of China-donated humanitarian aid worth around 1.4 million U.S. dollars arrived in Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo on Monday to support the island country's recovery efforts following severe floods and landslides.

The relief items, including inflatable life jackets, tents, blankets, and bed sheets, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Monday morning.

A large delegation was present to receive the aid, including Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Anura Karunathilaka, Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara, and Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong.

"This shipment of supplies is valued at 10 million yuan. Meanwhile, the local Chinese communities, including overseas Chinese and Chinese-funded enterprises in Sri Lanka, have all actively offered help," said Qi.

"This is not only a relief consignment but also a symbol of friendship, solidarity and the relationship between the two nations. So we know that Chinese people are very friendly as we are not only a brotherhood, not only a friendship but there's also a kind of human relations between the two nations. So we always thank you, we express our gratitude," said Karunathilaka.

Sri Lanka was hit by severe flooding and landslides due to heavy rainfall triggered by a powerful cyclone in late November. Over 600 have died from floods and other disasters caused by the extreme weather, and nearly 1.78 million people have been affected.

China's aid supplies arrive in Sri Lanka

China's aid supplies arrive in Sri Lanka

China's aid supplies arrive in Sri Lanka

China's aid supplies arrive in Sri Lanka

Highlighting the "Future Energy" as a key direction for China's strategic emerging industries, the country's nuclear energy development, guided by its three-step strategy, has seen major strides in the past year, said a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

In a recent press briefing, Xin Feng, also deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), updated the media on the progresses China has achieved under the strategy.

"China's three-step strategy for nuclear energy development -- from the thermal reactor to the fast reactor and the fusion reactor -- was formulated in 1983 as a medium- and long-term plan. For the thermal reactor, over the past year, our 2.0 version of the Hualong One technology has been approved. This is a unified and fully self-owned intellectual property based third-generation nuclear power technology solution. And the Linglong One small modular reactor also successfully completed its cold-state functional test last year and is expected to be put into commercial operation this year," he said.

For the second and third steps, Chinese researchers and engineers have achieved milestones in the past year with the government support, Xin noted.

"Then for the fast reactor, last year, a closed-cycle system for an integral fast reactor successfully achieved preliminary standard design. We will continue to solve its engineering technology challenges. As for the fusion reactor, in 2025, with national support, we established the China Fusion Energy Company in Shanghai. And our Huanliu-3, a platform for conducting research and development of fusion technology, made a big stride, with an iron temperature in it achieving 117 million Celsius and an electron temperature reaching 160 million Celsius. We will continue to adhere to the development strategy and focus on technological research and engineering technology development," Xin said.

The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, respectively.

The "two sessions" -- which refer to the annual meetings of China's supreme organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the CPPCC -- are a key event on the country's political calendar and offer a window into the country's development direction.

China's nuclear energy development makes great strides with three-step strategy: CPPCC member