A 71-year-old grandmother in east China's Anhui Province has been hailed for an extraordinary act of bravery after rushing into a river to save a drowning young man, winning plaudits not just for her remarkable rescue effort but also her modesty, after she quietly left the scene without a fuss.
The incident occurred earlier this month when local retiree Liu Defang was walking along the riverbank and spotted a man struggling in the river. Without hesitation, Liu quickly grabbed a lifebuoy and leapt into the water, which was around three to four meters deep during the seasonal flood season, and swam out to reach his position.
In the water, she fought for half an hour to pull the man, who had been attempting to deliberately drown himself, to safety, and eventually was able to drag him ashore with help from other people by the riverside.
Remarkably, once Liu knew he was out of danger, she quietly slipped away from the river in her soaked clothes, wanting no praise or attention following the incident.
Other locals who saw the rescue unfold were left astonished by the grandmother's incredible intervention, and her apparent disregard for her own safety.
"I took the video and showed it to the police. I really admire her. I'm so much younger than her, but I can't swim, I'm too afraid to get in the water," said Wang Huihua, an eyewitness.
On the day following the rescue, Liu was identified by police who paid a visit to her home, where they expressed their gratitude for her heroic deeds.
Returning to the river and recalling the rescue, Liu said she was simply reacting quickly to save a man's life, putting all other thoughts including concerns for her own well-being aside to help another in need.
"I didn't even think twice when I saw the man in the water. Every second counted. The more time we saved, the more hope of his survival, right? At that moment, I wasn't thinking about anything else. I just wanted to save him as quickly as possible," she said.
71-year-old Chinese grandma hailed hero after rescuing drowning man from river
In the first half of this year, the vitality of business entities in China and the high-end development of the industrial structure have been further improved, delivering solid achievements in high-quality development, an official with the State Taxation Administration (STA) said on Tuesday.
Hu Jinglin, the STA commissioner, told a press conference that the number of tax-paying business entities has increased during the period. "Tax data showed that the vitality of business entities in China has further improved from January to June. The number of active tax-paying business entities that are operating normally in China rose 20.2 percent year on year and the number of tax declaration companies gained 10 percent year on year," said Hu.
Hu noted that high-tech and digital economy industries saw a surge in sales revenue during the same period.
"The high-end development of the industrial structure has been further advanced. The sales revenue of high-tech industries and core digital economy industries increased 15 percent and 8.7 percent year on year, respectively. And their share of the total enterprise sales revenue expanded 1.7 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points year on year, respectively. At the same time, the profits of high-tech manufacturing enterprises and digital product service enterprises surged 29.2 percent and 64.4 percent year on year, respectively," said the official.
China's foreign investment inflows and foreign trade exports continued to demonstrate strong resilience in the six months, Hu added.
"The stability of [China's] opening up to the world has been further enhanced. The number of foreign-funded tax-paying entities rose 10.9 percent year on year. The total profit declared by foreign-funded enterprises increased 4.5 percent year on year. The number of export tax rebates processed by the tax authorities for enterprises gained 7.7 percent year on year. These figures indicate that China's introduction of foreign investment and foreign trade exports continue to maintain strong resilience," he said.
China's business vitality further enhanced in H1
