Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for new achievements on the new Long March as China commemorates the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March.
"Only by remembering history can we create a brighter future," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, when addressing a gathering held in Beijing to mark the anniversary.
"The whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups should rally more closely around the Party Central Committee, vigorously carry forward the great Long March spirit, and forge ahead with sustained efforts to continuously advance the great cause pioneered by revolutionary forerunners and make new achievements on the new Long March," said Xi.
From October 1934 to October 1936, the Red Army marched through more than 10 provinces during the Long March, opening up a new chapter in the Chinese revolution, Xi said.
Under Xi's proposal, all participants stood up and observed a moment of silence for the revolutionary heroes who gave their lives during the Long March and in revolutionary struggles across China.
Around 3,000 people participated in the gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi calls for new achievements on new Long March
The second phase of the 140th China Import and Export Fair has opened after the organizer demolished and rebuilt about 25,000 booths in mere 76 hours, a feat achieved through smart tools such as intelligent logistics and AI-powered drawing review that turned setup work from a "battle of brawn" into a "battle of brains."
Also known as the Canton Fair, the biannual event is China's largest and longest-running comprehensive trade fair and a widely watched barometer of the country's foreign trade.
This year's autumn session is being held in three phases, running through Nov 4 in Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province. The ongoing second phase runs from Friday to Oct 27.
The Canton Fair completed a full-hall switch between its first and second phases in just 76 hours from 18:00 on Oct 19, when the venue closed, to 22:00 on Oct 22.
The turnaround covered the entire chain: taking down exhibits, removing display fixtures, dismantling booths and cleaning the halls, followed by building the next phase's booths, installing fixtures, arranging exhibits and setting up the venues.
Dismantling and rebuilding about 25,000 booths for the second phase within a three-day window placed extremely high demands on scheduling and coordination, as every step was closely interlinked.
"At this edition of the Canton Fair, we rolled out smart services covering logistics, exhibit handling, and vehicle access and parking, along with AI-powered booth design and drawing review. Compared with manual review, which used to take 30 to 40 minutes per drawing, AI review now returns a result in about one minute," said Huang Li, manager of the general management department at China Foreign Trade Center (CFTC), the organizer of the fair.
To boost transport efficiency, this edition of the Canton Fair introduced a new smart traffic management system. Exhibitors book entry slots via their phones, and the system centrally schedules each exhibitor's entry gate and time to prevent congestion among transport vehicles.
"Setting up ran smoother than before. We used the smart traffic management system, and our exhibits reached our booth smoothly," said Liu Tao, an exhibitor.
Canton Fair enters 2nd phase after 76-hour extreme makeover using smart tools
Canton Fair enters 2nd phase after 76-hour extreme makeover using smart tools
