China Media Group (CMG) on Thursday launched its Spring Festival consumption season in Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, aiming to blend traditional festive customs with modern commerce to support rural revitalization nationwide.
The initiative integrates television programming, offline local markets, and live-streamed shopping to bring viewers closer to diverse regional products and Chinese New Year traditions across the country.
By combining cultural tourism, agricultural sales, and media exposure, CMG said it seeks to rejuvenate the tradition of festive shopping in the modern age and document the vibrant changes unfolding in China's countryside.
During the launch event in Anhui, a "smart market" combining technology and intangible cultural heritage drew large crowds eager to browse and shop. Local agricultural specialties and cultural displays distinctive to Anhui were prominently featured, allowing visitors to experience the region's unique heritage and authentic local character while they shop.
The campaign will travel to multiple regions across China in the coming weeks, including Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Guangdong, Shanxi, Shandong, and Zhejiang. Through its broadcasts, CMG plans to connect audiences with lively local markets nationwide, highlighting the achievements of rural revitalization and stimulating fresh momentum in countryside consumption.
CMG launches Spring Festival consumption season to boost rural economy
CMG launches Spring Festival consumption season to boost rural economy
Polish citizens are feeling the squeeze of surging energy costs, as the conflict in the Middle East continues to roil the international energy market,
In Poland, rising fuel prices are gradually making their way into everyday life and the real economy. Many residents said higher energy costs are taking a heavy toll.
"I do think about this issue more and try to reduce my fuel consumption. Overall, everything happening right now is unsettling," said Pawel, a Warsaw resident.
"I really feel it. Prices have gone up a lot. We're trying to cope and can manage for now. Taxi fares haven't increased yet, but it's definitely getting harder," said Wiktor, another resident.
"Of course it has affected us. Because fuel prices have gone up, everything else is more expensive and costs more now," said Anita, another local resident.
Meanwhile, those working in the transport and service sectors said rising oil prices are directly impacting their businesses.
"The courier industry, like most taxi drivers, is soon going to face closure and be forced out of business. I used to drive international long-distance buses, and honestly, some people in that sector are also thinking about quitting," said Michal, another Warsaw resident.
Lukasz Goczek, a professor from the Department of Macroeconomics and Theory of Foreign Trade at the University of Warsaw, said the continued shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy corridor, could leave global energy prices elevated for a long time, heavily impacting the world economy.
"Iran has this huge leverage. It's got the whole world in a chokehold because 20 percent of oil that's transported in the world goes through the Strait. It obviously means that the price of energy is going to increase. We see it at the petrol stations," said Goczek.
Goczek also noted that U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran have dealt a serious blow to the international order.
"I think that's pretty much, by now, the international law. If it's not that, it's definitely very, very illegal. There wasn't any reason for war. It just straightforwardly began without any warning. So it was much of a surprise. We need the international order to have peace, to prosper, to have trade," said Goczek.
Rising energy costs squeeze Polish households, businesses
