A new book compiled by veteran photo editor Li Jian offers readers a vivid look into the founding year of the People's Republic of China (PRC) through more than 300 rare photographs.
Released on the 75th anniversary of the PRC's establishment, the book features 40 accompanying stories that provide context to the images, spanning national, social, and personal perspectives.
The collection captures significant historical moments and milestones, as well as iconic scenes that showcase the era's atmosphere. From major events to everyday life, the images reflect the sweeping changes of the time and offer insight into the evolving spirit of the Chinese people.
These images outline the grand narrative of social transformation surrounding the birth of the PRC in 1949, offering a panoramic view of the changes in the spirit and lives of the Chinese people across different regions, social classes, and groups.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of continuing the endeavors to promote ethnic unity from generation to generation.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a reply letter to descendants of the representatives from diverse ethnic groups who erected a monument in 1951 in southwest China's Yunnan Province and made a solemn pledge to stay united and follow the Party.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, performed a sold-out show for his album series "Vultures" in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, on Sunday night, marking the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays of the tropical island.
The "Vultures Listening Experience World Tour Listening Party - Haikou" marked Ye's first performance in the Chinese mainland since 2008, aligning with Hainan's efforts to position itself as a hub for world-class music events.
Sporting a T-shirt that featured Chinese characters "告诉过你" (I told you so), Ye brought out all his family members, including his four children, to the stage at the packed Wuyuan River Sports Stadium, where all 42,000 tickets, ranging from 680 yuan ($96) - 2,000 yuan, sold out in minutes as 96.5 percent of the tickets were purchased by people living outside the island. The cities with the highest number of buyers were Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu, according to Hainan Daily. "Ye performed many of his classic songs, singing along with the audience. At one point of the party, he said, 'I love you, Haikou.' The live atmosphere was absolutely electrifying, especially since the show lasted for three hours. At one point, he even sang along with the crowd," a 20-year-old fan surnamed Li, who flew from Beijing to attend the show, told the Global Times on Monday.
Prior to the show, Ye shared on his social media account a childhood photo of himself in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, with the caption: "BACK."
Ye lived in China for a year when he was about 10 years old. His mother was an English professor and worked as a visiting scholar at the Nanjing University in 1987.
As one of China's top tourist destinations, Hainan has been committed to boosting its tourism sector by promoting cultural events. Local authorities even offer financial incentives to attract international performers.
Since 2023, local authorities have been promoting large-scale concerts and music festivals in Hainan as part of a new "performance tourism" model, aimed at revitalizing the tourism industry, according to a statement released by the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television, and Sports in February.
Introducing internationally renowned concerts or music festivals can enhance Hainan's image and international influence as a tourist destination while driving the "cultural and entertainment" transformation of the local tourism industry. This approach is expected to attract younger consumers, shifting Hainan's tourism focus from primarily older visitors to a more youthful demographic, Sun Xiaorong, a member of the national tourism reform and development advisory committee, told the China News Weekly.
In May, Hainan released several measures to further promote the integration of culture, sports, tourism, and exhibitions to expand consumption. The policy offers a one-time reward of 3 million yuan for events that meet specific criteria: featuring international or top-tier domestic acts, selling at least 100,000 tickets, generating over 50 million yuan in ticket revenue, and attracting more than 50 percent of the audience from outside the island.
Since July 30, overseas travelers with regular passports from countries that have diplomatic relations with China can enjoy visa-free entry to Hainan for up to 144 hours. This is applicable after they have visited Hong Kong or Macao special administrative regions and joined a tour group of at least two people arranged by a legally registered travel agency in those regions.
The move is part of broader efforts to make Hainan a global tourism hub and increase its openness to international visitors.
Featuring multiple activities including forums, cultural exhibitions and artistic performances to showcase China's rich cultural heritage and promoting dialogue on global cultural cooperation, the seventh Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo is set to take place in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu Province, on Saturday.
Taking the theme "practicing the Global Civilization Initiative, deepening cultural exchanges and mutual learning," the forums will cover diverse topics, such as new directions in Dunhuang Studies, the literary expressions of Dunhuang culture and innovative practices in the protection of intangible cultural heritage.
Other areas of focus include the development and modern dissemination of Dunhuang dance, international youth dialogue on mutual cultural appreciation, and discussions on China's collaboration with Central and South Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The forums will also explore the continued development and preservation of Chinese national cultural identity, according to the organizers.
A total of over 300 domestic and international experts, scholars, and representatives are expected to attend the event.
First held in 2016, the expo is considered a key player in promoting cultural exchanges and economic cooperation and trade among countries and regions along the Belt and Road.
Dunhuang, a tourist city that is known for the ancient Mogao Caves, attracts large numbers of domestic and international visitors every year.
In the year 2024, Dunhuang's four major artistic performances have continued to be immensely popular, especially during the peak tourism season. High-profile immersive shows Encore Dunhuang and Ancient Sound of Dunhuang have added extra shows to meet the increasing demand of tourists.
According to local media, the four major performances in Dunhuang have staged a total of 1,225 shows, attracting 582,100 visitors and generating a revenue of 143 million yuan ($20.23 million) as of the end of July.
Digital technology is driving the diverse development of cultural performances.
The "Digital Dunhuang" project stands as an exemplary initiative by Gansu in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage.
Using advanced digital scanning, modeling, and virtual reality technology, it preserves the caves, murals, and sculptures in the Mogao Caves in a digital format, ensuring the permanent transmission of these invaluable cultural artifacts.
This summer, an immersive exhibition launched by the Dunhuang Academy is among the most popular experience project by the visitors. Another notable digital experience is the project Wonders of Dunhuang: Treasures and Sands, which recreates the ancient city of Shazhou from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) by applying cutting-edge, large-scale, and multi-user VR technology.
"Driven by the Expo, local cultural enterprises are making use of digital technology to enhance visitors' understanding of Dunhuang culture without damaging the heritage itself. This has elevated the quality of tourism and visitor experience," a local cultural official surnamed Zhao told the Global Times.
"The use of digital technology has facilitated the global dissemination of Chinese culture through the internet, attracting wider attention and expanding the market for Gansu's cultural tourism industry."
The discovery of the Malangxia Site in Yuyao, East China's Zhejiang Province has contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the social development and way of life in the Yuyao region from the Shang-Zhou (c.1600BC-256BC) to the Ming-Qing (1368-1911) dynasties, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The site has five distinct cultural strata, with each layer representing different historical periods: the Shang-Zhou dynasties, the Han-Northern and Southern Dynasties (206BC-589), the Tang-Five Dynasties (618-960), the Song-Yuan dynasties (960-1368), and the Ming-Qing dynasties. This rich archaeological record offers a comprehensive look into the social development and daily life of the people in the Yuyao region across over three millennia.
Local experts have emphasized the importance of the Malangxia Site, noting that it is the most extensive and well-preserved site found in Yuyao to date. The cultural significance and the clear historical timeline uncovered at the site make it a crucial reflection of the region's long-term social evolution.
Among the oldest finds are ash pits and a single tomb from the Shang-Zhou period containing stamped hard pottery and primitive celadon items. These artifacts, which include jars with patterns resembling rice sieves, hemp, and mats, are characteristic of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The Han-Northern and Southern Dynasties layer reveals a wealth of relics, including house sites, ash pits, tombs, wells, roads, and ditches.
The Tang-Five Dynasties layer is relatively sparse, featuring only a single tomb with a few artifacts, primarily daily-use ceramics. The Song-Yuan dynasties layer is represented by a variety of relics, including ash pits, tombs, ditches, and postholes. These artifacts highlight the exchange of aesthetic styles between northern and southern kilns.
Under the auspices of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the narratives of cultural and educational exchanges between China and Africa have become increasingly captivating. Serving as a bridge for people-to-people interactions, these exchanges have not only fostered mutual understanding but also deepened the emotional bonds between the two regions. During the FOCAC, a reporter from the Global Times interviewed African and Chinese cultural messengers, exploring how education and cultural activities can build a bridge of hearts between China and Africa.
As Tungamirai Eric Mupona experienced rural areas in North China and Feng Xinxin kicked off her journey between China and Africa, they may not have noticed themselves taking on a new role - cultural envoys. Looking back, their endeavors have been valuable in people-to-people exchanges.
Favoring Chinese villages
The story of Tungamirai Eric Mupona, a young man from Zimbabwe, exemplifies the experiences of African students furthering their education in China.
Raised in a rural village in northeastern Zimbabwe, Mupona's first glimpse into the distant world of China came through the stories and documentaries he watched on television at his uncle's house.
"I watched Chinese movies and many documentaries about China, which sparked an endless longing for this Eastern country," he told the Global Times. After graduating from high school in 2017, Mupona decided to pursue his studies in China, where he is currently working toward a PhD at Zhejiang University.
"Upon arriving in China, I couldn't speak Chinese and faced numerous challenges, but the warmth and help from teachers and classmates helped me adapt quickly," says Mupona. He shared that both in and out of the classroom, he has found a rich and fulfilling life, participating in discussions, dragon boat racing, and volunteering with his peers. "China's educational environment and academic standards are attracting more international students," he notes.
Beyond his academic pursuits, Mupona has always sought opportunities for social practice, particularly in China's rural areas. With questions about China's success in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, he has traveled extensively through provinces such as East China's Zhejiang Province, North China's Shanxi Province and South China's Guangdong Province, sometimes spending an entire month in a village to take part in learning experiences.
In 2019, Mupona founded the APL Public Social Service Platform, primarily focusing on international youth exchanges and volunteer and fieldwork activities. "The development of rural China is very worthy of studying," he stated.
Mupona believes that the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the development of characteristic industries according to local conditions, and the stimulation of the internal drive of the masses are the inexhaustible forces behind rural revitalization and China's modernization. He speaks with evident pride and knowledge about what he has observed in China's countryside.
"China's practices have proven to the world that modernization is not a simple copy and paste… China's modernization offers a new paradigm to the world, one that starts from its actual conditions, suits its national context, and aims to develop for the people and relies on the people. I hope to bring back the experiences and lessons I've learned in China to Zimbabwe," he said. Making connections
Tucked away in a cultural and creative park in northeast Beijing, there lies an African Cultural and Tourism Center. Here, visitors can savor authentic African coffee, peruse books about Africa, and admire African art, experiencing the charm and ambiance of Africa from all dimensions.
"Many people once harbored misconceptions about Africa. But through our efforts, they have changed their previous prejudices and are getting to know Africa anew," Feng Xinxin, the founder of the center, told the Global Times.Feng's journey with Africa began in 2008, shortly after her university graduation, with a desire to explore the world. She was struck by the vibrant energy and potential she found.
"At that time, Africa was much like China during the early stages of reform and opening-up, brimming with vitality and endless possibilities," she said. Feng recalled her first surprise while in Africa was the advanced 3G network that was supported by Huawei, a testament to the genuine assistance China has provided to the continent over the years, even surpassing the technology available in China where most people were still using 2G network at the time.
Feng's experience in Africa was transformative, leaving her with a deep appreciation for the continent's unique landscapes and relaxed pace of life. She was particularly captivated by the red deserts of Namibia, which offered a "serene escape from the world's troubles."
After a year working with a non-profit organization, Feng established a travel agency in Namibia, where she spent over a decade observing a fostering interest in African tourism among Chinese travelers.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought Feng back to China, where she noticed Chinese people's limited understanding about Africa.
This realization prompted her to open the cultural center in Beijing, aiming to create a platform for cultural display, experience, and exchange.
This year, Feng returned to Africa with her five-month-old child.
"When I got off the plane holding my child, I didn't expect the locals to recognize me. They looked at my child with great affection, and they treated my child as one of their own. This is the kindness and warmth of the African people, which is very similar to us Chinese," she said with a big smile. This return also allowed Feng to discover some big changes the local infrastructure construction in Namibia has undergone in the last few years.
"China has helped Namibia build highways, ports, and other infrastructure, aiding it in becoming a regional logistics hub in southern Africa, where the investment environment and geographical advantages are gradually emerging," she said, calling this as a "symbol of the Belt and Road Initiative's promise of opportunity and a win-win for the future."
On August 31, the staff from the Xin Gao Service Center of State Grid Taizhou Electric Power Supply Company assisted the Taizhou First Aluminum Factory in formulating a personalized "photovoltaic + energy storage" integrated plan, providing customers with stable and efficient clean energy supply and promoting green and low-carbon energy transformation.
Amid the current backdrop of energy structure transformation and green development, an increasing number of enterprises aspire to achieve energy savings, consumption reduction, and cost optimization through photovoltaic power generation and energy storage systems.
As early as November 2022, the Taizhou First Aluminum Plant in Jiangsu Province adopted the carefully tailored photovoltaic energy optimization plan from the power supply company. By installing rooftop photovoltaic systems, it secured sufficient power supply for production, effectively reducing costs and improving efficiency. The plant's rooftop photovoltaic system was connected to the grid in December 2022, generating approximately 920,000 kWh of electricity annually. When the plant operates below full capacity, it can generate and consume electricity on its own, with excess power fed into the grid. When actively participating in grid demand response, the plant proactively reduces its load to prioritize power supply to households.
On August 26 of this year, fully responding to national energy policies, the factory submitted a request for a 250kW/524kWh energy storage project to the Xin Gao Center. The account manager immediately visited the site to thoroughly understand the user's electricity consumption habits, scenarios, and specific requirements for energy storage functions, thereby customizing a personalized energy storage plan for the user.
The factory's responsible person said "We integrate energy storage equipment to store low-demand electricity for use during peak production hours. This approach of energy storage and off-peak power utilization significantly reduces electricity costs." The organic combination of photovoltaic power generation and energy storage systems realizes multiple functions, including self-consumption, surplus electricity grid-feeding, and peak shaving and valley filling.
Enhancing enterprise quality and efficiency is inseparable from optimizing electrical energy. State Grid Taizhou Electric Power Supply Company vows to continue to advance on the path of promoting smart grid construction and serving green development, striving to provide users with cleaner and more economical electricity services and contribute to the high-quality development of the energy industry.
Canada has moved to impose additional tariffs on more Chinese products including batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals regardless of a consultation request from China at the WTO, marking a further escalation in trade tensions that will see the knot tightened between the two countries.
Chinese observers blasted Canada's risky move following in the US' footsteps, saying it indicates that its trade policies are increasingly unfriendly to China, and that it may further expand tariff measures on Chinese goods.
However, Ottawa's escalation of economic and trade tensions with the world's second-largest economy will likely incur countermeasures from China, they said.
Observers urged Canada to maintain its own strategic autonomy, and act as a responsible country to develop its China policies by prioritizing the well-being of its people and stimulating the vitality of the Canadian economy.
Escalating trade tensions
Canadian media outlet The Globe and Mail reported that Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday that the required consultation period to impose tariffs on more clean-energy goods coming from China are set to begin on the same day.
Freeland said now a 30-day Customs Tariff Act review will begin to study the need for tariffs on batteries, battery parts, semiconductors, critical minerals and metals and solar products, according to the report.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on late Wednesday slammed Canada's move of blindly following certain country to take unilateral suppression measures against China. It hinders normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and Canadian enterprises, severely impacts bilateral economic and trade relations, and seriously undermines the global economic system and trade rules.
"China will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," a MOFCOM spokesperson said.
"It's no surprise that Canada is expanding tariffs on more Chinese goods, as Canada, following the lead of the US, aims to prohibit Chinese new-energy products while establishing a new industrial and supply chain excluding China, citing the excuse of the so-called national security," He Weiwen, a senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
He projects that Canada will impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods including batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals after the 30-day review, although tax rates might be slightly adjusted.
In violation of its WTO commitments, Canada recently announced a 100 percent additional tariff on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum from China, effective from October 1.
China on Friday put forward a consultation request to Canada at the WTO over Canada's plan to impose additional tariffs on EVs as well as steel and aluminum products imported from China.
"Canada's tariff threats against Chinese products are dangerous and risky, which underlines that its trade policies are increasingly unfriendly to China," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
In the future, Canada may continue to closely follow in the US' footstep to impose higher tariffs on a larger number of Chinese products. However, Canada's actions will likely incur countermeasures from China, Li said.
Strategic autonomy needed
"Even as the US has twice delayed the announcement of a final determination for additional tariffs on a wide range of Chinese products including EVs, Canada is hasty in the imposition of tariffs on Chinese EVs in a bid to demonstrate its loyalty to the US," Li said. He noted that Canada is gradually losing its strategic autonomy.
One day ahead of Canada's announcement of additional tariffs on Chinese EVs and other products on August 26, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to Canada, where he met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and addressed Canada's annual cabinet retreat, according to the White House website.
Sullivan has previously said that the US was hoping that Canada and its other allies would take a coordinated approach to cutting off the sale of Chinese EVs, media reported.
Amid China's rapid development of green industries like the EV and solar power sectors, the US fears it will lose its leading position at the top of the value chain in international trade, and as a result, it continues to weigh pressure on its allies including Canada to curb and suppress China's emerging industries, Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"We hope Canada will not abandon its own strategic autonomy, and instead will act as a responsible country to develop its China policies by prioritizing the well-being of its own people and stimulating the vitality of the Canadian economy," Li said.
Li warned that Canada's move to politicize trade issues will backfire as ordinary Canadian consumers will have to pay the price, in the same way US consumers had paid after the US imposed higher tariffs on Chinese products several years ago.
"It's Canada's illusion that it can strengthen its own economy by bowing to the US and containing China's development," Li noted.
Trade between China and Canada dropped by 0.5 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2024 to $57.66 billion, reversing the 2.4 percent growth seen in the first seven months, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
It is the high time now for Canada to abandon its ideological discrimination and the mentality of bloc politics to resume nondiscriminatory trade ties with China on the basis of WTO rules, He Weiwen said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday reiterated China's stance on the Ukraine crisis, emphasizing that China is committed to promoting peace talks, and supports all efforts for peace, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reportedly expressing hope that China and other countries can mediate Russia-Ukraine conflict or play a role in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
We stand ready to continue working with the international community to accumulate conditions for the political settlement of the crisis and play a constructive role for peace, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a routine press conference on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, Putin said on Thursday that China, India and Brazil could act as mediators in potential peace talks over Ukraine. Putin said a preliminary agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the first weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as the basis for talks.
In another development, Meloni, after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Italy's Cernobbio on Saturday, said that India and China have the potential to find a resolution to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, The Times of India reported on Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that China's stance on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. China always believes that to end the hostilities as soon as possible and seek a political settlement is in the interest of all parties. China is of the view that dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way out of the Ukraine crisis.
On August 27, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui held a media briefing on the recent fourth round of shuttle diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis. Li said that all parties are generally concerned about the risk of escalation and spillover of the conflict, concerned about the deep-rooted reasons for the protracted crisis, and highly appreciated the six common understandings issued by China and Brazil, which provide a valuable path for promoting the resolution of the crisis.
"All parties have put forward their own ideas on the peace process and look forward to strengthening exchanges with China to promote a fair and just solution to the crisis," Li said.
"On August 25, when I logged onto the internet at 10 pm to give a lecture about our new brain-computer interface (BCI) program, 1,200 students and parents were waiting. This clearly demonstrates people's passion for the program, Liu Xiuyun, a professor in biomedical engineering from the Tianjin University (TJU) and director of the TJU School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, told the Global Times.
On August 24, the TJU School of Future Technology released an admission notice to the 2024 class of freshmen. Among the majors on offer, there is a biomedical engineering program majoring in the BCI technique, reportedly making the TJU the first Chinese university to off er such a program. The move soon drew the attention of the public on Chinese social media platforms as the country is at a critical stage of the development and application of BCI technologies and devices.
It is not only the first of such college programs in China, but probably the first in the world. It is an experimental project for us to cultivate talent for the future. That is not a small challenge, Xu Minpeng, vice dean of the Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine of TJU Medical School, told the Global Times.
The applicants from multiple disciplines attended a written examination on August 31, part of them further attended the interview on Sunday, according to Liu. At last, only 20 of them will be selected and officially become the first batch of bachelors majoring in BCI in China.
Technique for tomorrow As a "revolutionary" technology representing a new form of productive force, the BCI technique aims to establish a direct information pathway between the brain and external devices, achieving so-called control by "thought," thereby revolutionizing human-computer interaction and transforming human production and lifestyle, according to a statement the TJU sent to the Global Times.
BCI is currently a focus of global technological competition and core area for cultivating new tracks, new momentum, and new advantages for future industrial development. In China, the development of BCI technologies and devices has entered a critical period of innovation breakthroughs and application expansion. This necessitates the cultivation of diverse and interdisciplinary talent to meet the demands of the BCI field, providing a continuous driving force for the development of technique, read the statement.
According to the statement, the BCI program is jointly built by the School of Future Technology and Medical School. It brings together advantageous resources from various departments and gathers a top-notch team of BCI talent in China, forming a comprehensive interdisciplinary research and teaching team that covers the entire chain of basic theories, device systems, and transformation in the BCI industry.
The program aims to create an integrated training model through a radiating discipline layout, project-based curriculum system, chain-oriented research training, and a collaborative teaching ecosystem between schools and enterprises. It seeks to cultivate a group of outstanding engineers and scientists who possess the ability to design, manufacture, and develop future bio-intelligent electronic interfaces in the field of bio-information integration, and can lead advancements in brain-computer interaction technology and industrial development, the statement noted.
"BCI is a very complex interdisciplinary field that is connected to, but not limited to, physiology, autopsy, medicine, physics, engineering, computational analysis, automation control, and mechanical design. This is why the new BCI program is put under the School of Future Technology, a platform that is designated to cultivate high-end interdisciplinary talents with strong hands-on skills and innovative capabilities," said Yuan Xubo, the executive vice dean of the School of Future Technology at TJU.
According to Xu, the training plan for the BCI program has significantly established a project-based curriculum that spans all four years of university. In the first year, students will learn the basic concepts of BCI and master simple brain system operations, such as controlling a small ball with their thoughts. In the second and third years, they will progressively grasp principles of neural engineering, analog and digital electronics, automation design, and AI algorithms, while also hands-on creating brain-controlled robots. By the fourth year, students are expected to integrate what they have learned and engage in more systematic paradigm design, algorithm improvement, and application testing aimed at real-world problems.
"This gradual training process aims to develop students' reverse thinking, innovative thinking, practical thinking, and theoretical design thinking step by step," Xu said.
"Through the training, the students will grow into advanced talents with interdisciplinary capabilities. In the future, they will not only be able to enter BCI laboratories to engage in specialized research on BCI, but also participate in the development of high-end medical devices, work in hospitals, or join relevant authorities to take part in the design of policies for related industries," Liu said.
Safe and accurate Depending on the electrode position, the methods of BCI can be divided into invasive and non-invasive methods. The invasive method involves implanting electrodes or other devices into the brain or nervous system to achieve a direct connection with the brain. The non-invasive method, on the other hand, uses electrodes placed in the scalp or other areas to record and analyze the brain's electrical signals, thereby establishing an indirect connection with the brain.
Invasive and non-invasive BCI devices have their own advantages and disadvantages as well as applications.
The disadvantages of invasive BCI device include the need for high-risk craniotomy, as well as potential infections, safety concerns, and ethical issues. But it is an effective method for the treatment of severe conditions such as epilepsy. On the other hand, non-invasive BCI device collects comparatively poor-quality signals, but it has a wider range of application, according to Liu Shuang, vice dean of the TJU Medical School and director of the TJU Mental Health Center.
Elon Musk said in January 2024 that his BCI company, Neuralink, had successfully completed the first human brain implantation surgery of its invasive BCI device, called Telepathy, sparking controversy in terms of surgical safety and medical ethics in the world.
Neuralink said in May that a number of wires inside the head of Noland Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the shoulders down, had been pulled out of position. The company did not specify why the detachment had occurred. Neuralink's implant uses 64 wires to link to the brain; just 15 percent of them were working after the connection severed, The Guardian reported on July 11.
In China the main contributors to the research and development of BCI technologies and devices are universities and hospitals, including the TJU, Tsinghua University, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University in Beijing. Especially in the field of non-invasive BCI, the country is currently taking the lead.
Also in January, a team led by Hong Bo from Tsinghua University announced that they had successfully implanted the world's first wireless minimally invasive BCI device NEO (Neural Electronic Opportunity) into two paralyzed patients' brain for BCI-assisted treatment trials in October and December 2023, respectively.
Hong told the Global Times in a previous interview that compared with Neuralink's technology, the NEO technology has the advantages of higher safety and long-term use.
In the TJU, Liu Xiuyun's team is the first in China to introduce cerebrospinal fluid dynamics assessment technology to help diagnose patients with hydrocephalus. Combined with BCI and proteomics, the team developed a precise diagnostic and intervention technique, which reduces the diagnosis time for patients with hydrocephalus from three days to 30 minutes. So far, the technique has been provided to more than 500 hydrocephalus patients.
Liu Shuang's team has developed the country's first BCI system for screening depression. This system can collect electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from the patient's head to detect brain activity patterns and assess the patient's depressive state, enabling objective screening for depression.
"Normally, the system can generate an auxiliary assessment report on the subject's risk of depression in 10-15 minutes," Liu Shuang said.
The team also developed a technique, the Chirp-based evoked paradigm, that enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of brainwaves gamma oscillations to make the results more accurate and reliable.
Immense potential
On July 6, 1924, German psychiatrist Hans Berger performed the first-ever recording of the EEG on a human, which for the first time allowed the visualization of the electrical activity of the human brain. 100 years later, interaction between human and machine through brainwaves is becoming a reality and such a technique - BCI - is viewed as holding the key to an "era of neuroscience."
The global BCI market size reached $1.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $5.4 billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 11.5 percent during 2024-2032, according to market research company IMARC Group.
In early 2016, China launched the 15-year "China Brain Project," or Brain Science and Brain-Like Intelligence Technology, in which the interface played a key role, displaying enormous growth potential. By the end of January 2024, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovation and Development of Future Industries," clearly outlining the goal of creating 10 innovative flagship products, including humanoid robots, quantum computers, BCI, and 6G network equipment.
Although mainly used in the medical field, the BCI technique is expected to enter all aspects of people's lives. For example, it can be used to detect whether the driver is fatigued, Liu Xiuyun noted.
TJU scientists have also successfully developed an open-source brain-on-a-chip (BOC) interface system, MetaBOC, which enables a "lab-grown brain" to conduct unmanned control of robots to perform tasks such as obstacle avoidance, tracking, and grasping. MetaBOC represented a significant advancement in the field of BOC technology, offering a versatile platform for exploring the computational mechanisms of biological intelligence, Li Xiaohong, a professor at the Medical School at Tianjin University and the head of the on-chip BCI team, told the Global Times.
BCI is certainly a trend of future technological development. To unlock the immense potential of BCI, it requires a large number of talents to dedicate themselves to the industry. This is why it is necessary to set up a specialized BCI program, according to Xu.
On the other hand, Xu called for patience and caution as it will be a long process to develop safe and high-quality products.
