The 18th Straits Forum will be held in east China's Fujian Province in mid-June, a mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The main conference of the event is scheduled for June 13, with the coastal city of Xiamen serving as the primary venue, according to Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

A series of related events will also be held across other parts of Fujian, Zhu said.

"The trees you helped fund all those years ago have grown into a vast forest. When will you come to see them? I really want to meet you again," said Yin Yuzhen, a national model worker in China, in a heartfelt video message to Ronald Sakolsky in the U.S.

Across the Pacific, 69-year-old Sakolsky was deeply moved by the video. He replied that he would do his best to make the trip and hoped to plant a tree with Yin. The two have agreed to meet in China in the near future.

In 1985, Yin married into Salawusu village in Uxin banner, Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated deep in the heart of the Mu Us sandy land, the village was surrounded by endless dunes.

Yin knew that the only way to tame the sands was to plant trees. In 1986, she sold one of her family's sheep to buy 600 saplings, which she planted around her home. Soon after, a fierce sandstorm struck, leaving fewer than 10 trees alive. But Yin refused to be discouraged.

"If around 10 survived, later it might be 100, then 1,000," she recalled.

Undaunted, she and her husband Bai Wanxiang headed deep into the sand dunes, bringing saplings and tools along. For 40 years, a roughly 2-meter-long steel rod was Yin's trusted tool. She would jab it into the sand to make a hole, drop in a sapling, water it, and press the soil firmly with her foot. After decades of relentless use, the rod had worn down by about 67 centimeters.

Over the past four decades, government-led efforts and desertification fighters like Yin have driven a dramatic transformation of the landscape. More than 70,000 mu (about 4,667 hectares) of sandy land around Yin's home have been reclaimed, with over 8 million trees planted.

Today, about 85 percent of the Mu Us sandy land in Uxin banner — around 8.4 million mu — has been brought under control, and forest coverage has risen to 32.92 percent.

In 1999, Sakolsky, who was then teaching at a school in central China's Henan Province, happened to see a TV show about Yin's efforts and was deeply moved. He raised $5,000 through a foundation to support Yin's tree-planting work.

Yin was stunned when she received the donation.

"A complete stranger had raised such a large sum for me without even checking who I was. I had to make sure those trees thrived. I couldn't let that trust go to waste," she said.

"With more people worldwide showing concern, I came to understand that this is a dream shared by all humanity," Yin said.

Further down the tree-lined road stands a stone monument engraved with the words "Citizens of Earth." On its reverse side are the names of supporters from both China and abroad, each of whom contributed to the woodland in their own way.

Yin's perseverance has inspired more than 240 households in the surrounding areas to take up tree planting, with each planting over 3,000 mu of forest.

The Global Times "Overseas China Week" event landed in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, launching the "Linked by Mountains and Rivers, Bound by Shared Hearts - China and Kyrgyzstan Hand-in-Hand for the Future" photo exhibition, during the 2026 China-Kyrgyzstan Media Cooperation Forum.

Attendees included Cui Shixin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Daily; Salkyn Sarnogoeva, Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic; Galina Baitekerek, head of Kyrgyz Tuusu Publishing House in Kyrgyzstan; and Sun Dapeng, counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. Many representatives from mainstream media, academic experts and business leaders of both countries also visited the exhibition.

At the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the meeting and delivered a speech titled "Staying True to SCO Founding Mission And Ushering in a Better Future" in Tianjin, North China, on September 1, 2025. "Looking ahead, we should carry forward the Shanghai Spirit in a world fraught with challenges and changes, forge ahead with solid steps, and better tap into the potential of our Organization," he said in the speech.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the SCO. Over the past quarter-century, it has been the world's largest regional international organization by both geographical area and population. As good neighbors, good friends and good partners enjoying close people-to-people ties, China and Kyrgyzstan continue to align their development strategies and expand pragmatic cooperation under the SCO framework.
Against this backdrop, the Global Times held the "Overseas China Week" event in Bishkek. The photo exhibition centered on four themes: "shared security responsibilities," "integrated development opportunities," "joint ecological construction," and " mutual learning among civilizations." It presented solid efforts by China and other SCO member states including Kyrgyzstan to uphold multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for humanity, striking a chord with local visitors.

At the "shared security responsibilities" section, Cholponai Turdakunova, an editor of Silk Road: Cultural Development, told the Global Times that she was deeply impressed by photos of joint counter-terrorism drills among SCO members. Under the SCO framework, China and Central Asian countries have deepened practical security cooperation with fruitful outcomes in joint counter-terrorism and safeguarding border stability. The photos allowed visitors to directly feel the SCO's efforts to safeguarding peace and stability.

Extending from security to development, China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation has delivered tangible benefits to people's daily lives. In the "joint ecological construction" section, a photo of Bishkek's waste-to-energy project resonated strongly with local visitors. Rysbekova Aishoola Rysbekovna, a Chinese language teacher at the Kyrgyz National University, shared her experience with the Global Times, saying that she had paid a visit to the city's first waste incineration power plant invested and built by a Chinese enterprise. She observed that since the two countries promoted the construction of waste treatment facilities last year, local environmental sanitation has improved notably, ecological governance has yielded steady results, and the concept of green development has gradually taken root among local residents.

"China and Kyrgyzstan have numerous common grounds and connections for deeper cooperation," said Rysbekova Aishoola Rysbekovna. Current bilateral cooperation spans economy, politics, environmental protection and people-to-people exchanges. Bilateral ties are growing closer and moving steadily forward. "I hope the two countries can engage more frequently and achieve more win-win results in the future."

The "integrated development opportunities" section illustrated deepening connectivity, featuring images from the SCO Countries Worker Skills Contest and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. Meanwhile, the "mutual learning among civilizations" section captured people-to-people bonds - from cultural performances to booming tourism.
Elena Zholobova, Editor-in-Chief of Kyrgyz newspaper Slovo Kyrgyzstana, told Global Times reporters after visiting the exhibition that the event was vivid and lively, with information and visual displays complementing each other. She noted that the media industry is now swept by a digital wave, and many media outlets struggle to balance quality content with appealing visuals. By contrast, this exhibition is both visually engaging and thought-provoking, and demonstrates outstanding professionalism in information organization and visual presentation.

In addition to the photo exhibition, this "Overseas China Week" event also presented the Russian-language edition of the Volume IV of the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, displayed a series of Global Times feature reports on the Chinese president's important thoughts, including the special series "Decoding the Book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," as well as reports on the practical achievements of cooperation under the framework of the SCO and the tangible progress made in building the China-Kyrgyzstan comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era.
Custom cultural and creative products at the exhibition were also well received by visitors. Among them, LLVision AR translation glasses attracted crowds of local residents who stopped to try them on. Many Kyrgyz guests said they expect smart technology to further break down language barriers for China-Kyrgyzstan people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, and media dialogue.
While technology facilitates communication, sincere messages in the visitor book were equally touching. Visitors wrote heartfelt notes such as "Long live China-Kyrgyzstan friendship" and "Smooth cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan." Some left their names with the message "We are here to witness," expressing joy at witnessing the friendly exchanges between the two countries.

Prior to the Bishkek event, the Global Times' "Overseas China Week" has been held in South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Kazakhstan and other countries. Using photography as a medium, it shares China's development stories with the world, conveys China's openness, and builds a bridge for closer people-to-people ties between China and global communities.