Editor's Note:

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake that claimed at least 137 lives in Gansu and Qinghai provinces has struck the nerves of the Chinese people over the past week. How do the survivors recall the life-and-death moment? How difficult were the rescue operations carried out in the cold winter night at -15 C? How did they manage to keep going during those golden rescue hours?

In this piece, we give a retrospective of the life-saving race that took place in the first 48 hours in harsh winter conditions by sharing the on-the-spot accounts of survivors of the earthquake and the subsequent mudslides in Jishishan county - the epicenter of the Gansu earthquake - as well as the stories of the soldiers involved in the rescue efforts.

This story is a part of the Global Times' "Witness to history" series, which features first-hand accounts from witnesses who were at the forefront of historic moments. From scholars, politicians and diplomats to ordinary citizens, their authentic reflections on the impact of historical moments help reveal a sound future for humanity through the solid forward steps taken in the past and the present.
A bustling Lanzhou beef noodle soup stall was busy distributing noodles for free to the survivors beside a temporary resettlement camp for earthquake victims in Jintian village in Northwest China's Qinghai Province. With the steaming soup came gradually relaxed faces and unfolding smiles as the warmth comforted bellies and hearts in a temperature approaching -15 C. With the heat curling up, it was probably one of the warmest moments among people's memories from the disaster area.

Not far away, four excavators worked non-stop together to dig through 3- to 4-meter thick mud. Underneath, there were still two households and nine missing villagers.

When Global Times reporters visited Jintian village on Wednesday morning, there were still thick layers of mud, about three to four meters deep, throughout the village. The mud was super soft and one could easily sink in and get stuck if they stumbled into it.

Thrilling moments

On Monday evening, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit Jishishan county, Northwest China's Gansu Province, affecting neighboring Minhe county in Qinghai. Jintian village in Minhe saw an unprecedented mudslide triggered by the earthquake, which caused a rupture in a canal on the northern side of the village. The houses of 36 households, totaling 177 villagers, were destroyed by surging mud from underground.

Li Xi (pseudonym), a rescue worker who was waiting in line, was warmly handed a bowl of beef noodles by a survivor from the village, who asked him to eat first. Li smiled shyly, waved his hand in the negative. Despite working all night, he still wasn't able to help Yang Zhongcai, a villager, find his buried family members.

Thirteen people, including a pregnant woman, went missing. Yang's 100-year-old mother, 2-year-old grandson, and two other relatives were among them.
Yang returned to the scene to provide more detailed instructions to the rescue workers about the exact location of the incident. The 75-year-old elderly man had not slept a wink all night and had been returning to the scene every a few hours to check if there was any news about his missing relatives.

"This was the most powerful earthquake I had experienced," Yang told the Global Times on Wednesday. At midnight on Monday night, he suddenly felt a strong shaking, as cups and teapots on the table fell one after another.

"I quickly woke up my wife and pulled her to run into the yard. We didn't even have time to put on shoes or socks, just grabbed a coat. While running, I shouted for my mother and grandson who live in the neighboring yard. We had only run a few meters when our house collapsed, it only took about five minutes."

"Then I saw mud flowing toward us. I was scared and wanted to go through the small path in the middle of the yard to find my mother and grandson, but the mud quickly caught up from behind and swept over us. We had to immediately run to higher ground. The mud quickly submerged the ground floor of my mother's house," Yang recalled with wet eyes.

The dirt from the night before still clung to his trouser leg.

Earthquakes are quite unfamiliar to local people. The last time Jishishan county experienced such a devastating earthquake was in 1936.

The lack of awareness and experience in earthquake response, especially in extremely cold weather, may be one of the reasons for the severe damage caused by the earthquake.

Yang said that he burst into tears when he saw the rescue team arrive at the scene in about just two hours.

"On that most helpless freezing night, seeing these young rescue officers and soldiers - some were not even wearing thick clothing - appear here overnight to help us find our loved ones, I felt truly grateful. I know they came to help us at the fastest speed, risking their lives," said Yang.

Li Xi was one of the young rescue soldiers who arrived in Jintian village for reinforcement early Tuesday morning.

"After we arrived, we found that the search and rescue here were very difficult. We couldn't step on the mud, so we had to build boards to make a path. This was what we called an 'initial lifeline'," Li told the Global Times.

He said one of the biggest challenges was working in the freezing cold. "It was very difficult to work at night in such cold temperatures, but we maintained 24-hour non-stop rescue. Every two hours, a group of people would rotate in and out."

Each group had three firefighters, one responsible for close observation of the excavator, one responsible for maintaining vigilance on the side, and one mobile personnel. "A layer of ice would form on the surface of the mud at night, but it was still flowing and soft underneath. If you didn't watch your step, it was easy to sink in. In this situation, we needed to be extra careful," Li said.

The lows in Gansu at night reached -15 C. Global Times reporters' hands were almost numb with the cold after less than 10 minutes, but there was no sign of stopping search and rescue on the scene when they visited Jintian village on Tuesday midnight.

The Global Times learned from a rescue team that low temperature environments can cause stiffness and muscle contractions, which greatly hinders flexibility. At the same time, it can also reduce the power supply and even cause some communication devices and rescue equipment to malfunction. Moreover, there was still snow and ice on most of the roads in the villages, which made it difficult for the rescue vehicles to travel. But these difficulties did not stop the lifeline.

Li Kai, a commander from a battalion in the PLA Western Theater Command participating in the post-disaster rescue mission, told the Global Times that after completing search and rescue efforts on Tuesday, his battalion returned to the homes of affected people to help them move furniture, livestock, and other belongings to help minimize their economic losses.

When Global Times reporters visited a temporary shelter for victims in the earthquake-hit village of Dahe in Jishishan county on Tuesday night, almost 130 tents with electricity and heating had been erected.

Local government workers were preparing hot food, free drinks and instant noodles for the victims. Supplies and rations from all over the country were being transported here constantly.

Some children were playing games inside the tents. Although the aftershocks are still uncertain, every light in the resettlement site was illuminating people's expectations for the future and the yearning for a warm home.

Full-wing supports

Rescue personnel used sonar, drones, and other equipment to carry out geological surveys during the rescue efforts. They used excavators, bulldozers, and other large machinery to quickly clear away the mud. Rescue dogs were also brought in to help.

The Global Times reporters on the scene witnessed the use of a number of high-tech equipment in disaster relief efforts, including Y-20 military aircraft used to transport large-scale rescue vehicles and the "Wing Loong" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used for emergency telecommunication support and disaster reconnaissance tasks. Currently, the public communication network in the affected areas has been largely restored to normal.
When the Global Times reporters left the scene on Wednesday night, the excavators were still roaring, and non-stop search and rescue efforts remained the first principle of China's response to earthquake disasters. The rescue officers and soldiers were putting in all their efforts to ensure the success of this life-saving relay.

Gansu's emergency management bureau said on Thursday that the province's earthquake relief work has achieved a phased victory, and now the local government is focusing on saving the injured, the resettlement of victims and cleaning debris from across earthquake-stricken areas.

Meanwhile, local hospitals have received a total of 784 injured people, and health authorities are currently providing psychological counseling for those impacted by the disaster.

More than 500 specialists and technicians have been dispatched to the area to survey the damage to residential areas and facilities, conduct emergency assessments of building structures, and carry out urgent repairs.

As of Thursday, the water and gas supply in Jishishan county, the epicenter of the earthquake, had resumed.

Signs of life resuming and the return of vitality are gradually emerging. Survivors are helping each other in the aftermath of the earthquake, with the full support and great efforts of the whole country.

The Chinese-built Belgrade-Novi Sad high-speed railway, a section of Hungary-Serbia Railway, a benchmark infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), marked its 2nd anniversary on Tuesday.

The railway has transported over 6.83 million people between Serbia's two largest cities since its operation in 2022, which greatly facilitated travel in the region and has become a significant project of international railway cooperation, China Railway said in a press release sent to the Global Times.

The Belgrade-Novi Sad section marks the first time that China-developed train control system and technology were imported to Europe.

A large range of Chinese technology and equipment, such as wireless communication systems, were also used in the railway. The Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the railway is more than 54 percent made-in-China, according to the company.

China Railway said that the construction of the section between Novi Sad and Subotica - another part of Hungary-Serbia Railway - is picking up speed, and will be ready for operation at the end of 2024.

According to the company, the north-south high-speed railway is a double-track electrified railway with a total length of 341.7 kilometers, including 183.1 kilometers in Serbia, with a designed maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, and 158.6 kilometers in Hungary, with a designed maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour.

It is a major project to forge high-quality BRI cooperation among China, Hungary and Serbia, a flagship project of the cooperation between China-Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

To date, the majority of CEE countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the BRI with China.
Since 2012, the trade volume between China and CEE countries expanded by 8.1 percent year on year, and bilateral investment has neared $20 billion to date, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

China's commercial aerospace enterprises were inspired as the Government Work Report vowed to step up the development of commercial spaceflight to foster new growth engines. 

Developing commercial spaceflight was listed among key areas for development of emerging industries in the Government Work Report, which was mentioned again following the Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2023. 

Industry insiders said the Government Work Report underlines the importance and strategic position of the commercial spaceflight industry and builds a foundation for potential policy support for fostering new quality productive forces.

Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of Chinese private aerospace firm LandSpace, told the Global Times that China's commercial aerospace sector is at a stage of vigorous development, and overall policies, funds, talent and other factors are converging toward this industry.  

From the industry's perspective, competition and opportunities coexist. In the fields of rockets, satellites and the corresponding downstream applications, the degree of commercialization varies, but many market participants have emerged, Zhang said.

The development of commercial aerospace has opened a major window, which determines that at this stage, the industry and enterprises need to be more calm and pragmatic, Zhang said, adding that the nation has systematic guidance and guarantees for commercial aerospace from the policy and resource levels.

In regard to the government's pledge to develop new quality productive forces at a faster pace as noted in the Government Work Report, Xia Dongkun, vice president of the Beijing-based private aerospace enterprise firm Galactic Energy, told the Global Times that developing new productivity in the field of commercial aerospace can effectively promote the continuous innovation and breakthrough of new technologies, promote the improvement and optimization of the commercial aerospace industry chain, and create more development space and opportunities for commercial aerospace enterprises.

Xia called for industry efforts to strengthen innovation and production efficiency to compete with global leading commercial aerospace companies such as SpaceX, generating a force for economic growth. 

On January 11, the world's mightiest solid carrier rocket, Gravity-1, developed by Chinese aerospace firm Orienspace, blasted off from a space port in East China's Shandong Province, making the company the sixth commercial aerospace firm in China to have sent a satellite into orbit. 

In 2023, domestic private rocket companies made 13 launches and successfully entered orbit 12 times, setting new records in the eight years of China's commercial aerospace development, according to media reports. 

China's National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planner, in 2015 launched a medium- and long-term development plan for the civilian aerospace infrastructure, which aimed to build an advanced world-spanning infrastructure system during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

Since 2015, the size of China's commercial aerospace market has quickly expanded. Data from analysis organization iiMedia Research Institute showed that the market is expected to reach 2.3 trillion yuan ($319.47 billion) in 2024 from 376.42 billion yuan in 2015.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp said in a blue book released on February 26 that 2024 will be a critical year for China's aerospace development as about 100 launch missions will take place this year.

Also, China's first commercial aerospace launch site in South China's Hainan Province is expected to host its first rocket launch in the first half of 2024.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD Co overtook US-based Tesla Inc to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the first time, according to latest data from the companies. This had added another milestone to a historical year for China's auto industry as it's poised to propel China to become the world's biggest auto exporter. 

BYD's success, which also include an impressive growth rate throughout 2023 that outpaced Tesla and other EV makers, is a microcosm of the achievement in China's upgrade of its vast manufacturing industry, export sector and the domestic market - all crucial to China's high-quality development, experts said. 

On Tuesday US time, Tesla said that it delivered 484,500 EVs in the final quarter of 2023, which also marked a new record for the company. However, that means BYD, which said on Monday that it had sold about 526,400 EVs during the same period, overtook Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of the year for the first time.

For the whole year of 2023, Tesla retained its spot as the biggest EV maker, as it delivered a total of 1.8 million EVs, larger than BYD's total sales of about 1.57 million units. Still, BYD's recorded a year-on-year sales growth rate of 73 percent for 2023, far outpacing Tesla's sales growth of 38 percent. Such sales growth rate has also led many to speculate that BYD will surpass Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in 2024. 

This is also significant considering that BYD's market capitalization, at 573.17 billion yuan ($80.21 billion) as of Wednesday, represents only a fraction of Tesla's $778.42 billion. Over the past six months, BYD's shares dropped by 28.85 percent, while Tesla's shares fell by 11.22 percent. 

Despite such a huge gap in the financial market, analysts expect that BYD is well positioned to maintain its lead in EV sales in 2024 over Tesla. 

Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, said BYD's success is due to a slew of factors, including its own technological innovation, major policy support for industrial upgrading, a complete and stable domestic supply chain - which all helped BYD to make high-quality but affordable EVs. 

"Given all these factors, it is no wonder that BYD surpasses Tesla," Hu told the Global Times on Wednesday.  

In a statement it sent to the Global Times, BYD noted that it has grown to be the world's biggest EV company, and since its passenger car export strategy in May 2021, it has exported to 58 countries and regions around the world.

"Going forward, BYD will continue to promote the overseas expansion of passenger cars and continue to accelerate the global expansion of new-energy passenger cars," the company said. 

BYD's milestone also came as China's whole EV sector saw a bumper year in 2023. According to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, in the first 11 months of 2023, China's exports of new-energy vehicles jumped 83.5 percent year-on-year to 1.09 million units. Thanks to such rapid growth, China's total auto exports reached 4.41 units, up 58 percent year-on-year and outnumbering Japan's 3.99 million units during the same period. 

This also represents a landmark event for China's auto industry as it becomes the world's biggest auto exporter after surpassing Japan in 2023 and Germany in 2022 - two countries that had been dominating the world's auto market for decades. 

Industrial upgrading

The success of BYD as well as the whole Chinese EV sector directly reflect solid progress China has made in relentlessly pushing for industrial upgrade and high-quality development, experts said.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of China Passenger Car Association, said BYD and other Chinese EV makers have benefited greatly from China's vast domestic market as well as the country's efforts to boost industrial transformation and upgrade. 

"The biggest factor behind Chinese EV's success is the technological transformation. In addition, the Chinese market also offered a huge advantage for them to grow," Cui told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that China's auto industry, especially the EV sector, has seen relatively better growth than other countries around the world thanks to China's policy supports. 

For its success, BYD also pointed to various policies, including China's continued reform and opening-up, support for private businesses and the building of a new development model. 

"Looking back, we feel more and more strongly that it was the reform and opening-up that gave birth to BYD, and it was the new development concept that created huge opportunities that strengthened BYD," the company said in the statement.

Policy support for the EV sector is just part of China's broader effort to transform and upgrade its industrial system, which has become a top priority in the pursuit of high-quality development. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December, which set priorities for economic work for 2024, listed the development of a modern industrial system led by innovation as a top priority.

Hu said that China's industrial transformation and upgrade has made great strides. "Through industrial transformation and upgrade, our international competitiveness is also strengthening and in terms of the macroeconomic situation, all three main drivers have been revitalized," he said. 

One example of industrial upgrade revitalizing China's main economic drivers is the exports of EVs. Lithium batteries and solar panels became a highlight of China's exports in 2023, and they have been described as "the new three items" of China's exports sector, a drastic shift from the previous "three items" of China's exports - clothes, furniture and electronics. 

In the first three quarters of 2023, total exports of "the three new items" jumped by 41.7 percent year-on-year, compared to a mere 0.6 percent in China's total exports during the period due to weak external demand. 

China and Egypt have signed cooperation documents in space exploration in Beijing on Wednesday to boost deep space exploration, spacecraft development and construction of space infrastructure, which is of great significance to foster a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Zhang Kejian, administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Sherif Sedky, Chief Operating Officer of the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA), signed a memorandum of understanding between the governments of the two countries on space cooperation and peaceful use of outer space and a cooperation agreement between the CNSA and the EGSA on the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

According to the cooperation documents, both sides will encourage joint researches and development cooperation in a variety of areas including lunar and deep space exploration, development and launch of spacecraft, construction of space infrastructure, satellite data reception and application, the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation, space science and astronomical observation.

They will also collaborate on the joint demonstration and research of the ILRS, space missions, space systems and subsystems, space equipment, ground segments and applications, education and training and capacity building.

China and Egypt have achieved fruitful results in space cooperation. The China-assisted Egyptian Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center completed the acceptance checks in June this year. The China-funded MisrSat-2 satellite completed its assembly and testing at the center and was launched on Monday.

The satellite MisrSat-2, launched by a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province, will be used in Egypt's land and resource utilization, water conservancy, agriculture, and other fields. It is a landmark project of deep cooperation between China and Egypt in the field of aerospace high-tech, and is of milestone significance in aerospace cooperation between the two countries, according to the CNSA.

The signing of these space agreements between China and Egypt will guide future collaboration and play a significant role in advancing space technology and fostering comprehensive strategic partnerships between the two countries, said CNSA in a press release on Wednesday.

Police in Meigu county in Liangshan, Sichuan, recently received a report from the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, which said that a black-necked crane with a tracker for scientific research had remained in a static status for an extended period. The institute asked for an investigation into the condition of the migratory bird. 

The police immediately formed a task force to investigate into the incident in the outskirts of a sparsely populated hamlet. 

After extensive investigations and visits, the police finally tracked down the suspect surnamed Jike. 

Jike confessed under interrogation that he illegally captured and killed the rare species of the endangered wildlife animal black-necked crane. 

According to Jike, he happened to see the big bird resting on the river bank on his way home and the idea of catching and eating the bid just occurred to him. A thought that he soon followed up on.  

According to the judicial appraisal results by a forestry judicial appraisal center in Sichuan, the bird killed by the suspect was a black-necked crane, which is one of China’s national first-class key protected animals. The tracking device tied to the bird’s foot and the serial number show that the black-necked crane was exactly the one that was used for ecological study of migration of the crane by the college institute. 

Jike has been placed under criminal detention by the police for the suspicion of the crime of endangering precious and endangered wildlife animal. The case is currently under further investigation. 

According to media reports, the black-necked crane is the only species of crane endemic to China and is among the 15 crane species that currently exist in the world. It is also the only crane species in the world that grows and breeds on plateaus, earning it the titles of “plateau fairy” and “plateau divine bird.”

China’s top legislature passed regulation on February 24, 2020 to strictly ban the illegal wildlife trade and eliminate bad habits of eating wild animals in China to safeguard people’s health and livelihoods. 

According to China’s Criminal Law, anyone who illegally captures, kills, transports, purchases or sells national protected, precious, endangered wildlife and their products, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years or faced with criminal detention, along with a fine. 

In cases of serious circumstances, the punishment may be extended to 5-10 years of imprisonment, along with a fine. In particularly severe cases, the sentence may be more than 10 years of imprisonment, along with a fine or confiscation of property and assets. 

Preliminary investigation shows the separation of carriages accident along the Changping Line of Beijing subway on Thursday evening was due to the snowy weather, which affected the train's braking system, resulting in a rear-end collision with the front train, Beijing transportation authorities said on Friday.

Around 11:00 pm on Thursday, the personnel transfer was completed, and the on-site disposal work basically finished. A total of 515 people were sent to the hospital for examination, and 102 people were found to have suffered fractures, with no fatalities, the authorities said on Friday.

According to the authorities' announcement, the accident occurred as a result of the slippery tracks caused by the snowy weather. The preceding train had to make an emergency brake to stop. Unfortunately, the following train was situated in a downhill section, making it difficult to effectively brake due to the snowy conditions.

Beijing transportation authority apologized for the inconvenience, fright, and injuries caused to the passengers in this accident, and vowed to do a good job in carrying out post-accident work and conduct a comprehensive investigation to improve extreme weather operation and emergency response to ensure the safety of operations.

It was at 6:57 pm on Thursday, when a rear-end collision occurred in the section between Xi’erqi to Life Science Park stations of the Changping Line. The municipal government officials immediately went to the scene and set up a working group for on-site accident disposal. The relevant departments including transportation, firefighting, health, public security and emergency response responded quickly and made efforts for rescue, according to the authorities.

As of 6 am on Friday, 423 people have been discharged from hospital, 25 people are under observation, and 67 people are receiving hospital treatment, the authorities said.

On Friday, Beijing Subway apologized again over the incident, while putting in place measures to reduce inconvenience for passengers.

Currently, the Beijing municipal government has established an investigation team for the Changping Line accident, which will further investigate the cause of the accident, evaluate the emergency response, and learn lessons from the accident, effectively carrying out rectification measures.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday have urgently allocated 200 million yuan ($28 million) in disaster relief funds to northwest China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces. This funding will support local earthquake relief efforts and ensure the safety of people's lives and property, minimizing the impact and losses caused by the disaster, China Media Group (CMG) reported.

China is stepping up rescue and relief efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and property after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at midnight Monday.

The State Council has sent a working group to the stricken regions to help guide relief work. Gansu and Qinghai provinces have organized relief support with immediate allocation of relief supplies such as camps and folding beds to impacted areas.

Relief supplies were immediately redeployed from nearby areas, with supplies gradually arriving to impacted communities, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) told a press conference on Tuesday.

The NDRC has activated emergency response mechanism to ensure energy, electricity, and essential supplies. Efforts are being made to repair damaged power facilities and provide emergency power supply. Food and material reserves are being allocated for disaster relief, a spokesperson from the NDRC said.

The first shipment of 46,100 emergency relief supplies from central and provincial level have been dispatched to the disaster-stricken areas, including cotton tents, quilts, mattresses, folding beds, cotton shoes, and stoves, according to Gansu provincial grain and material reserve bureau. The bureau has also obtained 15 tons of flour for emergency supply in Jishishan.

The State Council's earthquake relief headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management have upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II.

At present, the earthquake has led 105 deaths in Gansu and 11 deaths in Qinghai, with damaging basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, transportation, and communications, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Rescue and relief efforts are progressing in an orderly manner, including hazard inspections, evacuation and resettlement of residents, and repair of damaged facilities, China Media Group reported.

The Chengdu FISU World University Games concluded on Tuesday as the hosts, the Chinese delegation, finished with 103 gold, 40 silver and 35 bronze medals to sit at the top of the medal table, setting a new record for the best results for China at a FISU Games.

The world-leading Chinese university swimming team has been the biggest contributor for China's medal haul at the Games, as the Chinese swimmers totaled 18 gold and two bronze medals.

Besides the big stars such as multiple-time gold medalists Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie, names such as five-time National Para Games gold medalist Peng Huidi, who faces a lasting hearing issue, also took the stage.

The Central South University student, who had to rely on a visual confirmation at the start of the race, compared to her opponents who dive into the pool after hearing the starting horn, is a slow starter in every race. 

However, she had successfully improved her result in the 1,500 meters freestyle by a stunning 32.3 seconds. 

Beyond the outstanding performances delivered by the Chinese delegation, which consisted of a total of 411 athletes participating in all 18 events, the tournament has a lot of memorable moments. 

Communication, understanding

FISU Acting President Leonz Eder said Tuesday that Chengdu has really made all dreams come true as he reviews the Games. 

"What we have witnessed here in Chengdu is state of the art. It's the best we can have. It's really fantastic for the athletes, for the spectators, for everybody," he told reporters. "There's nothing to complain about."

FISU Secretary-General Eric Saintrond believes that hosting the Chengdu Universiade has helped foster China's global image as many young people come to visit the city.

"What you see and hear is different from what people tell you," Saintrond said. "Many people have never been to Chengdu and to China."

As for the impact of the FISU Games on the youth, Acting President Eder affirmed that the Games showcased the importance of communication, understanding, and learning from different cultures. 

He asserted that fostering open dialogue and embracing diverse viewpoints is key to creating a better world.

"In some parts of the world, people stopped talking to each other, but the young generation, they don't know these borders, these frontiers," Eder told the Global Times.

"They talk to each other, they learn their own stories, they tell their own stories, they start to communicate, and these are the students, because the students, they speak different languages, and they have no shy to meet other people, and this is really what we believe is needed to make a better world," Eder said of the young people of the world.

"Don't think that your opinion is the only one in the world. We have so many different opinions, different cultures, based on different histories, not one is better than the other, but go and talk to each other, learn from each other, and this is the basic for creating a better world."

Showcasing Chinese culture

The Chengdu FISU Games, the first international multi-sport tournament held in West China, have also become a platform for athletes worldwide to learn about the diverse Chinese culture.

The cultural fair is among the most popular destinations for athletes every night after their competitions. 

"One of the pillars of FISU is education, culture, and sport. We do not just organize sport event. For us it is important to show the young people to give the opportunity to discover the culture, the richness of every place where we are going," Eder said. 

Saintrond highlighted that after the two postponements of the originally scheduled 2021 event, the Universiade was able to provide more opportunities to students to learn about China. 

Saintrond said China hosting an open Universiade, rather than in a closed loop like Tokyo Olympics and Beijing 2022 due to COVID-19, is of much significance.

"It was not only to open the [Games] Village and allow the people to go out of the Village. It is to open the door to the Chinese culture. That has been extremely important for students," he said. "The sports competition is one thing, but the people have to meet each other, have to make friends to get to learn the culture and the history of other nations." 

As Chengdu moves forward to host future sports events, such as the 2025 World Games, venues and facilities as well as the volunteers and staff for the FISU Games are likely to be involved again.

"These facilities will be used not only for university students, but also for the citizens of Chengdu and the province," Eder said. 

"With these fantastic facilities, you can host future games, whether it's world championships or the World Games .... It's important to use all these venues."