Members of a voluntary rescue team in Shanghai's Zhujiajiao town patrol its waterways on charge boats. [CHINA DAILY] Pedestrians and cyclists in a busy riverside town outside of Shanghai can move about with more peace of mind thanks to the efforts of a highly trained rescue team. For over a decade, the team's patrols have helped prevent accidents, especially along the Dianpu River in Zhujiajiao - a town with a history of more than 1,700 years in suburban Qingpu district. Members perform various tasks, including fighting fires, emergency water rescues, and flood prevention and typhoon preparedness, according to Chen Chunhao, director of the Zhujiajiao's conscription office, which oversees the team. The team has several dozen members, he said. Half are ex-military and the rest are college graduates under 25. All are unpaid but receive free training, and were selected through exams and stamina tests. The group is officially classed as a militia, which still operate nationwide under guidance from local authorities. They play a part in protecting national security and respond to emergencies that threaten social stability. However, such groups are only armed during training with the military. We undertake more diversified duties - mainly covering the propagation of national defense knowledge and performing daily guard duty along the river - in addition to our basic security work, said Li Linjie, the team leader. For example, we rescued a 22-year-old woman who attempted to drown herself in the river in September. In January, the team also cleared heavy snow from the streets and laid skid-resistant straw mats to protect vehicles and pedestrians. On an average day, Zhujiajiao receives more than 40,000 tourists keen to take in the town's history and watery vistas, and accidents sometimes occur with children and the elderly trying to negotiate the river's slippery banks. We're ready for every mission, Li said. Every member also speaks a second language, to help foreign tourists in town. According to its members, the team's track record of success is due to its disciplined military-style management. A full set of equipment is available to us, including rescue and patrol boats, inflatable rafts, motorcycles and firefighting tools, said Yuan Heqiang, another team leader. Members undergo regular military training and physical conditioning, as well as study water-rescue and firefighting techniques. We even began using drones last year to quicken our emergency response time, Yuan said. Experts from the Qingpu Lifesaving Association and the Qingpu Red Cross Association are regularly invited to teach the team the latest techniques in water rescue and first aid. The emergency response team has become a key guardian of peace and security in Zhujiajiao, said Colonel Li Huilin of the Qingpu district's conscription office. Over the past 11 years, the unit has coped with more than 30 major disasters and 500 crises, helping prevent property losses of more than 8 million yuan ($1.21 million), especially before and during weather emergencies. [email protected]custom wristbands ukcheap rubber wristbandsyouth wristbandsblack rubber braceletssilicone fidget spinnerbat fidget spinner
President Xi Jinping congratulates Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday for his country's accession to full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Pakistan has also joined the regional bloc. Yao Dawei / Xinhua Asian giants agree their relationship can help spur prosperity and calm an unsettled world China and India on Friday vowed to cooperate closely amid complicated changes in the world and to handle disputes appropriately. President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the consensus as they met in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Xi said that faced with profound and complex international changes, China and India, as the world's two largest developing countries, should pay more attention to cooperation. They should move forward as partners to facilitate each other's development and contribute to world peace, stability and common development, he said. Xi said China attaches great importance to its ties with India and stands ready to work with its neighbor to enhance mutual political trust, link their development strategies, deepen practical cooperation, and maintain coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs. The president called for more high-level interaction, institutional exchanges, strategic communication and policy alignment between the two countries. China and India should also boost trade and investment cooperation and work together for earlier harvests from large-scale collaborative projects in such areas as production capability, industrial parks and railway construction, he said. Xi said the two countries should make joint efforts to promote regional connectivity and shared development, align their development initiatives, advance the building of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar corridor with a view to substantial progress at a nearly date, and boost cooperation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
