A | Officials and industry leaders highlight rising demand and deeper cooperation Soybeans, carried as ballast on the return voyage from Asia to America some 200 years ago, have become a ballast of China-U.S. agricultural trade. Susan Thornton, former acting U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, offered the historical footnote to a room where "ballast" had already become the word of the day. "So that kind of makes this word ballast even more, I think, essential for our U.S.-China agricultural trade," she told the gathering, organized by the U.S. Soybean Export Council, or USSEC, during its annual Soy Connext conference held in Chicago on Friday. The event drew U.S. and Chinese officials, U.S. soy industry leaders, and a Chinese delegation of traders and representatives from oil crushing, food and feed companies. Chinese Consul General in Chicago Wang Baodong said soybeans have served for many years "as an important bridge in China-U.S. agricultural cooperation, and the soybean trade has been a ballast of the broader part for economic and trade relationship". China is home to the world's largest market for agricultural products, he noted, and high-quality U.S. soybeans help meet rising demand from Chinese consumers while generating income and supporting jobs in U.S. farm communities. Those were the good old days, Wang said, recalling that 2022 marked the highest level ever for U.S. agricultural and soybean exports to China. The good old days, he added, came to an abrupt halt last year. "The U.S. government launched the tariff and trade war against China, and China was compelled to take necessary countermeasures, and as a result, soybean trade between our two countries was disrupted for a period of time, and American farmers became a victim and bore much of the cost, which was never an outcome China wished to see," he said. "There are no winners in tariff and trade wars," Wang said. "As we see it, equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit remain the right way for China and the U.S. to get along with each other and achieve win-win cooperation." Wang also pointed to the opportunity for U.S. soy farmers. This year marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, he said, with the country advancing high-quality development and high-standard opening-up while continuing to improve its business and investment environment. Promising prospects As living standards keep rising, he said, Chinese demand for agricultural products from around the world, including the United States, will continue to grow. The prospects for high-quality U.S. soybean exports to China, in his view, remain promising. Cao Derong, president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products, or CFNA, echoed the view. "Economic and trade relations should continue to serve as the ballast and propeller of China-U.S. relations, not as barriers or flashpoints," Cao said in a video message. The CFNA remains committed to maintaining and strengthening exchanges between the Chinese and U.S. soybean sectors, Cao said. He said the chamber this year hosted a visiting U.S. soybean association delegation as well as representatives from the Indiana Soybean Alliance, and said he hoped to see dialogue between the two sides deepen further. Mike McCranie, chair of USSEC, has watched that relationship grow alongside his own career. He first visited China in 1982 and raised his first soybeans 40 years ago. "It has changed a lot since then. I have been to China five times, developing great relationships. I really value those relationships," he said. Thornton described the trade as a "textbook case" of two economies growing into each other. U.S. soybean yields have skyrocketed in recent decades on the back of technology and precision agriculture, she said, and that leap coincided with China's dramatic rise in living standards and a growing appetite for pork and poultry, which in turn drove the demand for livestock feed. The United States and China operate two of the most complex food systems in the world, and she described them as highly complementary. As major producers, consumers and traders of agricultural products, the two countries share a responsibility to ensure the global food supply remains stable, sustainable, high-quality and abundant, she said. 。

B |

2022年世界女排联赛1/4决赛昨晚继续在土耳其安卡拉举行。中国女排以1比3不敌意大利女排，无缘总决赛4强，4局的比分是22比25、19比25、26比24和22比25。这样，中国女排以8胜5负结束在世界女排联赛的全部比赛，下一次亮相国际赛场将是9月23日到10月15日在荷兰和波兰举行的女排世锦赛。

C | 来自广东女排的23岁替补接应陈佩妍在比赛中短暂登场。意大利女排过去四年4连败 今年的世界女排联赛由分站赛和总决赛组成，在前三周分站赛中，中国女排8胜4负，在16支参赛队伍中名列第4，并获得总决赛入场券。

D | 一共有8支队伍参加本月13日到17日在安卡拉举行的总决赛，上半场的两场1/4决赛，卫冕冠军兼世界第一的美国女排以2比3爆冷不敌塞尔维亚女排，南美劲旅巴西女排以3比1淘汰日本女排。下半区的两场角逐昨晚举行，分别是中国女排对阵意大利女排，以及东道主土耳其女排对阵泰国女排。中意女排是国际赛场上的老对手，尽管意大利女排拥有世界级接应埃格努，但该队上一次战胜中国女排已经是4年前的女排世锦赛半决赛。进入巴黎奥运周期以后，两队首次交锋在6月的世界女排联赛土耳其安卡拉站，中国女排以3比1获胜。不过，当时包括埃格努在内的意大利女排半数主力尚未归队。意大利女排过去4年对阵中国女排遭遇4连败，该队主教练马赞蒂赛前表示，他对最近几年两队的每次交锋都是印象深刻，他坦言，对新一届中国女排尚在研究中，不过可以肯定的是，在这场1/4决赛上要重点冲击中国女排的一传，让对手无法组织有效的快攻。中国女排投入世锦赛备战 本场比赛，两队均派出最强阵容，在两大主攻朱婷和张常宁缺席的情况下，中国女排由“00后”主攻李盈莹领衔，其他位置的首发队员包括主攻王云蕗，副攻袁心玥、王媛媛，接应龚翔宇，二传刁琳宇，自由人王唯漪。意大利女排则由接应埃格努领衔，其余场上主力基本都参加过去年的东京奥运会。中国女排开局一度以16比9领先，可惜领先优势在埃格努的发球轮逐渐失去。

E | 遭遇“卡轮”的中国女排接连失分并被对手以25比22逆转。以19比25再失一局后，中国女排没有退路，必须拿下第三局。战至24比24之后，李盈莹关键时刻敢于出手，助力中国女排以26比24险胜。第4局，两队多次战平，意大利女排以25比22再胜一局。接应龚翔宇拿下全队最高的20分，主攻李盈莹贡献16分，埃格努以35分成为全场得分王。