China's new home prices in first-tier cities declined 0.3 percent in January in month-on-month terms, narrowing 0.1 percentage point from that of December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday. That in secondary markets edged down by 1 percent in January compared with December, also narrowing 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.
Observers said the moderate decline sends signals that the real estate market is gradually "stabilizing" in January, from its lukewarm status last year. They also voiced confidence that the market will embark on a firm recovery trajectory this year, fueled by a number of supportive policies including easing purchasing curbs, interest rate cuts and restoring market confidence.

In line with trends in first-tier cities, new and secondary home prices in second- and third-tier cities reported a fall in January, yet the drops have mostly tapered off from previous months.

Out of the 60 major cities, a total of 11 cities record new home sales price gain in January, compared with seven in December, the first time in almost a year that the number of cities that see soaring new property price shows an increase.

"The index is of landmark significance as it shows that housing demand is now gradually being released, and adjustments on home prices could be near the end," Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, said in a note sent to the Global Times on Friday.

Yan said that the freshly released housing data in January provide a number of positive signals underscoring that pressures hang over the real estate market have been eased to a certain extent and are developing in a more stabilized way, which is also "conducive to shoring up homebuyers' confidence."

China's central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark mortgage reference rate by 25 basis points (bps), the largest one-time rate reduction in years, in a renewed effort to stimulate credit demand and revive the property market.

In recent months, major Chinese cities, including Guangzhou, Suzhou, Zhengzhou and Shanghai, have moved to relax curbs on property buying. Starting late last year, the Chinese government reportedly began to draw up a "white list" of real estate companies that are eligible for concessional loans and other types of financial support from commercial banks.

Industry observers said they're optimistic on the long-term outlook as market further improves. They also expected more policies to be rolled out to "guide market expectation," and inject new dynamics to both the demand and supply sides of the market.

In 2023, China's property investment plunged 9.6 percent year-on-year to 11.1 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion), while sales of commercial apartments also slumped 6.5 percent year-on-year to 11.7 trillion yuan, NBS data showed.

The chunyun or Spring Festival travel rush for 2024 - the world's largest annual human migration - officially starts on Friday, and is expected to set a new record of 9 billion passenger trips during the 40-day travel peak. From jam-packed transportation hubs to the hustle and bustle seen in markets nationwide, the anticipated booming Chinese New Year holidays are poised to continue the country's steady recovery while ushering in a lively 2024.

At the Beijing Capital International Airport on Thursday, crowds of tourists were seen in the departure hall, children and parents were holding hands waiting for checked luggage at the counter, and Year of the Dragon stickers were also pasted on glass doors, adding to the coming Chinese Lunar New Year atmosphere.

The airport will see 7.2 million passenger trips during chunyun, a growth of more than 60 percent from the same period of 2023, the airport said on Thursday, adding that overseas passenger flow will reach 1.41 million passenger trips following the implementation of visa reciprocity policies between China and many countries.

The scene witnessed by the Global Times at the airport is just a snapshot illustrating the brisk personnel flow nationwide at one of the busiest times of the year in China. Observers expected the travel rush to boost consumption for the upcoming holidays, which will inject fresh vitality and bolster the country's economic progress in 2024.

Flourishing consumption

A retired white-collar worker surnamed Yin from Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality recently completed a self-driving road trip in South China's Hainan Province with her family. Yin told the Global Times on Thursday that she had already experienced a tourism boom with crowds of visitors and packed restaurants even before the holidays officially kicked off, adding that the well-constructed roads and convenient infrastructure facilities have elevated the traveling experience.

Propelled by the record-high personnel flow and China's steady economic recovery, both domestic and international tourism is set to become major driving forces spurring consumption.

China and Singapore on Thursday agreed on mutual visa exemption which will officially come into effect on February 9, 2024 - the eve of the Chinese New Year, as ordinary passport holders from both sides will be able to enter each other's countries without visa requirements for activities including tourism for 30 days.

Searches for hotels in Singapore on Chinese online travel platform Qunar.com surged four times after the two countries announced the decision, the company told the Global Times on Thursday. Meanwhile, Tongcheng Travel told the Global Times that Singapore-related searches rose by more than 340 percent on the platform within an hour after the visa-free policy announcement.

Domestic tourism is also thriving, represented by the sparkling ice-snow trips in popular cities such as Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Bookings for products related to winter tourism on Trip.com for the holidays increased by more than 10 times year-on-year, the company told the Global Times in a recent statement.

The record-high chunyun reflected China's rapid development in transportation construction amid its advancing economic recovery, Jiang Yiyi, deputy head of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Jiang emphasized that activities related to the cultural sector such as visiting museums will also play a significant role in promoting consumption.

In addition, consumption themed around the Chinese New Year's holidays has also been jacked up. Restaurants have been busy taking bookings for traditional Spring Festival reunion dinners, while e-commerce platforms saw sales surging as consumers stocked up on holiday necessities, according to media reports.

Among the 9 billion passenger trips, around 1.8 billion will be made through rail, road, aviation and water transportation, while the remaining 7.2 billion trips are expected to be self-driving trips, according to recent data released by the Ministry of Transport.

China's railway system already saw a pre-Spring Festival ticket sales peak with 61.08 million tickets for chunyun sold since January 12, a year-on-year increase of 159 percent, China State Railway Group Co said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Amid the expected record-breaking chunyun, domestic carriers have ramped up efforts to ensure transportation capacity.

Air China said on Tuesday that it plans to arrange 67,691 flights during the 40-day travel peak with an average of 1,693 flights per day, an increase of 32 percent compared with 2019 and 40.6 percent compared with 2023. Meanwhile, four homegrown C919 aircraft from China Eastern Airlines will also be serving the travel rush. The four planes will fly routes between Beijing and Shanghai, and Shanghai and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the first time the aircraft is being used for the Spring Festival travel.

Vital momentum to last in 2024

Consumption played an indispensable role in bolstering China's economic growth in 2023, with the final consumption contributing to 82.5 percent of GDP growth, official data showed. Experts noted that the momentum will extend into 2024 with optimistic outlooks, while the consumption boom for the Chinese New Year holidays will become an essential engine driving economic growth in the first quarter.

The recently released GDP data from multiple Chinese provinces and cities have showcased the uplifting achievements realized nationwide, while last year's considerable economic growth rate will lay a solid foundation for this year's economic expectations, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Shanghai's GDP expanded by 5 percent year-on-year in 2023, while Guangdong's GDP passed 13 trillion yuan ($1.83 trillion) for the first time, according to the "report cards" released by the local governments.

Meanwhile, Cong highlighted the culture-infused tourism boom as an example of the country's continuous upgrading in consumption structure, further adding to optimistic expectations for the coming year.

In 2023, the consumption sector, especially the services industry, contributed primarily to the GDP growth rather than the primary and secondary industries, Cao Heping, a professor of economics at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the growth of retail sales of services increased by 20 percent year-on-year last year, while the catering sector achieved a revenue exceeding 5 trillion yuan for the first time.

Cao noted that developing consumption-related investment along with relevant industries will be a major focal point for China's economic transformation.

Cao said that holiday consumption is set to hugely boost GDP growth for the first quarter of 2024. He added that if the GDP growth rate for the first quarter exceeds 5.2 percent and can get close to 5.5 percent, then the growth rate for 2024 is very like to approach 5.5 percent, higher than the estimate of 4.6 percent projected by some foreign institutions.

The world's second-largest economy posted a GDP growth of 5.2 percent for 2023, successfully meeting the previously set annual target and aligning with market forecasts.

China's pilot projects on industrialization of genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans have shown promising results in terms of increased production and reduced costs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) said on Tuesday.

China launched the pilot projects in 2021, and by 2023, the projects expanded to cover 20 counties in five provinces including Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Sichuan and Yunnan, Pan Wenbo, a senior official from MARA, provided an update on the country's pilot projects for the industrial application of GM corn and soybeans on Tuesday.

Compared with conventional varieties, the GM corn and soybeans have generally demonstrated superior performance in terms of yield increase, cost reduction, and efficiency enhancement, according to Pan.

MARA had approved several GM corn and soybean varieties based on the national biological breeding plan and relevant regulations and standards. Additionally, 26 enterprises were granted licenses for the production and operation of GM corn and soybean seeds. 

The ministry requests that the planting areas for those varieties comply with China's arrangements for biological breeding industrialization, Pan said.

Pan noted that the MARA will thoroughly review the experiences gained from the pilot projects, improve supporting technologies and management measures, and steadily and cautiously promote relevant works under strict supervision and risk control. 

The ministry will also strengthen technical reserve, enhance supervision and management, and expand the scope of application in a standardized and controlled manner as required, Pan said.

MARA has given licenses for 37 GM corn varieties and 10 genetically modified soybean varieties, involving 26 enterprises, in December 2023, marking the first group of GM corn and soybean seeds in China to obtain production licenses, which brings GM varieties a step closer to commercial cultivation.

In 2023, China achieved a record-high grain output of 695.41 million tons, increased of 8.9 million tons compared with the previous year. The expansion of soybean and oilseed cultivation has yielded notable results, with the soybean planting areas reaching 10.47 million hectares, achieving a record-high output of 20.84 million tons. 

China said it will increase investment on technological innovation to bolster strategic emerging industries, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) said on Wednesday, in a move to accelerate country's technology advancement and foster new productive forces. 

Zhuang Shuxin, a spokesperson for the SASAC, said on Wednesday that China's central SOEs completed 2.18 trillion yuan ($307.8 billion) of investment in strategic emerging industries in 2023, rising 32.1 percent year-on-year. 

Zhuang noted that the SASAC has initiated a number of new projects in photovoltaic hydrogen production, carbon fiber manufacturing and automotive chips, set up new enterprises in laser technology, quantum communication and satellite internet, in addition to reorganizing and merging companies in the areas of electronics, new energy, environment protection and vehicle production.  

Regarding the extremely cold weather patterns this winter, the SASAC said it will further enhance the development of new energy sectors, including hydrogen and nuclear power, power storage and virtual power plants to ensure energy security. 

As the end of September last year, the asset scale of 383 listed companies owned by central SOEs reached 53 trillion yuan, of which 154 were in emerging industries. 

"The SASAC would urge central SOEs to increase the proportion of revenue and value added across strategic emerging industries to facilitate more companies to turn to an innovation-driven growth pattern, and help foster new productive forces," said Yuan Ye, an official with SASAC.

Editor's Note: Despite facing a complex international situation and multiple headwinds, China's economy expanded by 5.2 percent in 2023, surpassing the target. However, a new wave of very negative narratives about China's economy has emerged in the Western media lately, attempting to undermine investors' confidence in China's future. To counter Western media's malicious distortions that clearly deviates from the real state of the Chinese economy, the Global Times (GT) invited Jeffrey Sachs (Sachs), a world-renowned American economist, to provide his perspectives.

GT: How do you view the 5.2 percent growth of China's economy in 2023, the first year of the post-COVID recovery amid global gloom?

Sachs: This is a very respectable performance. US growth was about 2.5 percent. Remember too that the US population is growing about 0.5 percent per year, while population growth in China is essentially zero, so China's growth advantage is even greater when expressed in per capita terms.

GT: Mainstream US media and well-known economists criticized the performance of the Chinese economy in 2023 as being "weak." Many headlines claimed that the "Chinese economy encountered trouble and various indicators fell short of expectations." What is your perspective on that?

Sachs: The US government is actively trying to slow the Chinese economy through erecting trade and technology barriers. The US has put up barriers to China's exports to the US through both formal means such as tariffs and informal arm-twisting of US companies. The US has also introduced technology and investment barriers.

The US government and therefore the mainstream media are promoting the view that China's economy is in trouble. This is a bit of an echo chamber. One reporter close to the government writes it, and then other reporters repeat the same exaggerated story. They don't know much about China or about the deep strengths of China's economy, including major advances in technology, global export competitiveness, and high saving and investment rates.

US attempts to weaken the Chinese economy may have some modest short-run consequences (mainly slower export growth by Chinese companies and modest displacements of investments from China into ASEAN countries) but the adverse effects will not be large, in my view. The US government's mischief will fail, as it should.

GT: There were many new bright spots in China's economy in 2023. Exports of the "new three items" - electric vehicles (EVs), lithium batteries and solar cells - for the first time exceeded the 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) mark. China became the largest EV exporter in 2023. How do you view these new growth engines?

Sachs: China is the world's low-cost producer of most green and digital technologies, such as EVs, photovoltaic systems and 5G equipment. This will put China in a strong global position for the coming decade, since the world needs to make a major energy transition and China will be a key provider of the new low-carbon infrastructure, connectivity and appliances.

GT: China's economic work is increasingly focused on expanding domestic demand. How do you view the advantages of China's large home market, and what suggestions do you have for fully tapping the potential of domestic market in China?

Sachs: I believe that China should still strive for export-led growth, but now more to the emerging market economies (BRICS, African Union, Latin America, Western Asia, Central Asia) than to the US or the EU. China should be the key provider for the green and digital transformation of the world's emerging economies. This will be good for China, for China's trade partners and for global environmental protection. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remains very important in this regard. China should continue to champion the BRI as a very important initiative for global transformation, global growth and China's economic growth.

GT: What do you believe will be the key driving factors for China's economy in 2024?

Sachs: The key factors will be China's successful promotion of global growth in the emerging/BRICS economies, as well as China's continued dynamism in technological advancement - in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, zero-carbon energy, battery technology, precision medicine, precision agriculture, low-carbon transport (shipping and aviation), high-speed rail and other areas.

GT: How do you evaluate the current economic situation of China? How do you view China's economic prospects in 2024? Which areas do you think offer the greatest opportunities?

Sachs: As I've said, I believe that China's growth will be quality-based, mainly through technological upgrading, digital applications and the green transformation. This will happen within China and also between China and its major trading partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Of course, I hope that the US stops its trade war with China, which violates the WTO and is bad for the US and unhelpful for China.

GT: Global growth is projected to slow for the third year in a row - from 2.6 percent last year to 2.4 percent in 2024, the World Bank said. In a world battling economic uncertainties, how should major economies jointly tackle challenges and promote global growth rather than politicizing economic issues?

Sachs: The main solutions to the world economy are to stop the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, reduce trade tensions between the West and China, and cooperate on building an efficient digital, green global economy. All of this is possible through diplomacy.

The US should stop immediately trying to expand NATO to Ukraine, thereby ending the war in Ukraine. The US should stop arming Israel, thereby ending the war in the Middle East. And the US should abide by agreements with China regarding the Taiwan island, so as to reduce the tensions over Taiwan. In the 1982 US-China Communique, the US promised to phase out arms sales to Taiwan. The US should honor its agreements, leading to peaceful relations and a reduction of tension.

GT: How do you view the global significance of the steady and positive development of China's economy?

Sachs: China's economic progress has been extraordinarily positive for the Chinese people and very good for the world. Economic progress anywhere, including in China, is a win-win proposition for the world. The US mistakenly thinks that the world economy is a "zero-sum" struggle, in which China's progress is somehow bad for the US. This is a badly mistaken view.

China's stock markets staged a miraculous turnaround on Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite Stock Index regaining the psychologically important 2,800 points and closing at 2,845.78.

Analysts said the market is expected to stabilize and return to normal operations along with the country's sustained economic recovery, calling for stepped-up policy support to bolster the economy and beef up investors' confidence.

In the morning session on Thursday, the Shanghai Composite Index broke the 2,800 points and set a record low since May 2020. However, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up by 0.43 percent to end at 2,845.78 and the Shenzhen Component Index rose by 1.0 percent to 8,847.

"The recent fall in both A-share and Hong Kong stock markets reflects the pessimistic sentiment of investors. Once market expectations improve, domestic capital markets will gradually rebound," Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management Co, told the Global Times on Thursday.

In 2024, China's stock market may display a path from decline-to-rise in 2024, Yang said.

Intensified macro-policies are needed to drive up investment, consumption and the property sector to enhance investors' confidence, he said, noting that institutional investors are expected to enter the A-share market to explore opportunities at the moment.

"Along with the continuous upswing in the country's economic recovery, bearish news will gradually disappear. As a result, the stock market is expected to stabilize and return to normal operations," Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Dong said that financial regulators need to strengthen communications with investors to avoid investors' misinterpretation of regulations. In addition, authorities should strictly crack down on illegal behaviors in the field in accordance with laws.

Following the Central Financial Work Conference in October, a key meeting held on Tuesday reiterated building China into a country with great financial strength. Financial oversight needs to have "teeth and thorns" and be sharp-pointed, the meeting stressed, pointing out that law enforcement should be strict in market access, prudential oversight and behavioral regulation.

China's GDP expanded 5.2 percent year-on-year in 2023, higher than the target of about 5 percent set at the beginning of the year, official data showed. 

In my opinion, China should set an economic growth target of 5 percent or above for 2024, as the global economy is projected to slow this year.

The reason is that the recovery of China's economy in 2023 was driven by increased consumption - that is, largely by putting existing capacity back to work. But the investment in China's economy in 2023 was not strong enough. 

Fixed-asset investment reached 50.3 trillion yuan ($6.9 trillion), only up 3 percent year-on-year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

This means that, given that an economic recovery has already been taking place after the COVID-19 downturn, it is likely that capacity constraints will begin to appear unless fixed-asset investment increases during 2024. 

If the rate of growth of investment increases, which is necessary if capacity problems are not to be encountered, growth of a bit above 5 percent is possible. But it is not possible to guarantee in advance that fixed-asset investment will increase - this will depend on policy. 

It would be unwise to definitively set a target "above 5 percent" - although that would be desirable. Falling below 5 percent would, however, have strongly undesirable economic and social consequences. I would therefore formulate it as "5 percent or above."

China's shipbuilding industry achieved marked growth in 2023, as shipbuilding completions exceeded half of the global total, or reaching 50.2 percent, further solidifying the country's leading position in the shipbuilding sector, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Monday.

In 2023, China's shipbuilding completions totaled 42.32 million deadweight tons (dwt), representing an increase of 11.8 percent year-on-year. New orders amounted to 71.2 million dwt, a significant jump of 56.4 percent from last year. As of the end of December, the backlog of orders stood at 139.39 million dwt, which also saw an increase of 32 percent year-on-year, MIIT data showed.

In terms of global market share, three key indicators in China's shipbuilding industry, including completions, new orders received, and backlog of orders, had made significant progress, accounting for 50.2 percent, 66.6 percent, and 55.0 percent of the global total in terms of dwt, respectively. In terms of Compensated Gross Tonnage (CGT), these figures stood at 47.6 percent, 60.2percent, and 47.6 percent, respectively.

The growing figures allowed China's shipbuilding industry to maintain its leading position globally, with the local shipbuilding sector thriving despite a global demand drop.

Chinese shipbuilding companies maintain the leading position in global market competition. Among the top 10 shipbuilding firms with the most shipbuilding completions, five of them are from China.

The significant growth achieved by China's shipbuilding industry in 2023, despite the global downturn in demand, demonstrates the country's resilience and competitiveness in the sector. This is attributed to a combination of factors including advanced technology and green production.

China's shipbuilding industry achieved a breakthrough in the manufacturing of large cruise ships in 2023. The country's first domestically produced large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, launched in June 2023 and embarked on its maiden commercial voyage on January 1, 2024.

To meet the demand for vehicle exports from local customers, several Chinese shipbuilding companies have started mass production of ro-ro- ships. Domestic ports are also improving related infrastructure. Taicang Port in East China's Jiangsu Province, invested over 2 billion yuan ($281 million) to build the largest automobile ro-ro- terminal, with an annual transport capacity of 1.3 million vehicles.

New market demand for environmentally friendly shipbuilding is being met in China. A Chinese shipbuilding company, Guangzhou Shipyard International Co, said that over 60 percent of its current orders are for methanol powered dual-fuel ships or liquefied natural gas fired dual-fuel models. Compared to traditional container ships, the ships can reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent while cutting 85 percent of nitrogen oxide and 99 percent of sulfur emissions.

The Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s between China and the US was successfully launched on Friday via video conference with officials from the two sides engaging in in-depth and friendly discussions on key areas of cooperation, including energy transition, methane, circular economy, low-carbon provinces or states and cities.

This conference took place as part of a series of interactions between China and the US in various sectors at the beginning of 2024 amid efforts to implement the consensus reached during the top leaders' meeting in San Francisco last year and to further stabilize bilateral relations, analysts said. However, they also cautioned about potential negative factors from the US side that could impact the relationship, including the US' recent interfering in the Taiwan regional leader election. 

The Friday video meeting was co-chaired by Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, and John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate. The two sides have agreed to maintain close communication, exchange and mutual learning, and carry out practical cooperation under the working group mechanism, in accordance with the consensus of the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, according to China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The Friday meeting is a continuation of a series of exchanges between China and the US in different fields. On Thursday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held a phone call with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. On Wednesday, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong met with US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas via video link. 

China and the US started this intensive cross-departmental exchange at the beginning of the year, which indicates that both sides are earnestly implementing the consensus reached at the San Francisco summit, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. 

The frequent interactions are positive and demonstrate that at the beginning of this year, on the basis of broad communication and exchange, China and the US are actively managing their differences, said Li, noting that all these communications are also beneficial for both sides.

However, whether this trend can last and China-US relations can be further stabilized depend crucially on whether the Biden administration shows leadership decisiveness and takes concrete actions to prevent negative factors or extreme forces within the US from damaging the bilateral relationship and ensure that US policy toward China does not deteriorate sharply due to domestic political factors, said Li.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that the US still perceives China as a competitor, indicating the potential for confrontation between the two sides. Moreover, the US has not ceased its provocations, especially on the South China Sea and the Taiwan question, necessitating China's heightened vigilance, Lü told the Global Times. 

For example, according to media reports, the Biden administration will dispatch a delegation comprised of former senior officials to the island of Taiwan shortly after the island's regional leader election to be held on Saturday.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that the US leaders have repeatedly expressed their adherence to the one-China principle, not supporting "Taiwan independence," and not seeking to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China. 

"We hope that the US side will abide by its commitments, handle Taiwan-related questions carefully and properly, cease official exchanges with the island of Taiwan, refrain from sending any wrong signals to the separatist forces advocating 'Taiwan independence,' and refrain from interfering in Taiwan's regional elections in any form," said Mao. 

If the US side genuinely wishes to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, it should clearly oppose "Taiwan independence" and support China's peaceful reunification, said the spokesperson. 

The US' tactics of saying one thing and doing another is shown in not only the Taiwan question but also other issues, and this is one of the cruxes of the bilateral relations, Li said. 

The Taiwan question is the most serious and core issue of China-US relations at any time and China has put priority on it in dealing with its relations with the US, Li said, urging the US to fulfill its commitments on the Taiwan question and work in the same direction in promoting bilateral relations instead of damaging it. 

With the completion of the first trial voyage of China's first domestically built drilling ship, the Mengxiang (Dream in English), the country officially became the third country in the world - following the US and Japan - to possess its own professional ocean drillship, which is dubbed as the aircraft carrier in marine science.

With this ship, Chinese scientists will certainly make great contributions to international deep ocean exploration, Tuo Shouting, director of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)-China Office, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview. 

On December 27, 2023, the Mengxiang completed its trial voyage in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary in South China's Guangdong Province, marking a step forward for the country's exploration of deep-sea resources. 

The ship sailed 500 nautical miles. The performance and various indicators of its main power and other marine systems all met relevant standards.

With a length of 179.8 meters and a width of 32.8 meters, the Mengxiang can travel 15,000 nautical miles and sustain itself for 120 days without returning to port.

The ship, featuring high stability and structural strength, can operate in unlimited navigational areas worldwide and drill as deep as 11,000 meters in the sea. 

Boasting a world-leading marine drilling capacity, the ship will drill through the Earth's crust and into the upper mantle, contributing to the exploration of marine energy resources, protection of national energy security, and maritime power construction.

The mantle, accounting for four-fifths of the Earth's volume and three-fourths of its mass, is full of scientific mysteries waiting to be explored by scientists.

Construction of the Mengxiang kicked off in November 2021 and is planned to be comprehensively completed in 2024. The ship was officially named Mengxiang on December 18, 2023, when it started its trial voyage.  

"The vessel not only carries the dream of the Chinese people to build a maritime power, but also carries the dream of global scientists to 'penetrate the Moho discontinuity and enter the upper mantle,' and carries the dream of human beings to develop deep Earth resources," Li Jinfa, director of the Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources, told media when explaining the name of the vessel.  

From participant to leader

China has been a participant in the IODP for a long time. With the completion of the construction of the Mengxiang, China will be able to independently organize expeditions, just like the US, Japan and Europe, Tuo Shouting said. 

He expected that, with the vessel, China can transit from a participant to a leader of the program, playing a more significant role in international deep-sea drilling. 

The IODP is an international marine research collaboration that explores Earth's history and dynamics using ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks and monitor subseafloor environments. The program now has more than 20 member nations.

China started to participate in the program as an associate member in 1998 and became an official member in 2004. 

Currently, China sends eight to nine scientists every year to attend the voyages of the US drillship Resolution to join global scientists to conduct research.   

According to Tuo, the most prominent achievements of Chinese scientists in previous missions are the four ocean drilling expeditions in the South China Sea, through which Chinese scientists made a series of breakthroughs in the deep parts of the South China Sea, proposed new understandings related to climate change and basin formation, and challenged the traditional Atlantic model theory. 

The achievements have helped China win the international leading position in deep-sea research in the South China Sea and provided important theoretical reference for deep water oil and gas exploration in the region, Tuo said.

Due to the phased end of the IODP in 2024 and the planned retirement of the US vessel Resolution the same year, Europe and Japan are organizing and initiating the next phase of program. Therefore, China is also preparing to launch its own expedition plan and seeking to cooperate with Europe and Japan to jointly lead global ocean drilling, Tuo said. 

He revealed that China has already been compiling an international ocean drilling implementation plan (2025-2035) and the completion of Mengxiang will provide key equipment support for China-led expeditions in the future.

China-initiated ocean drilling will greatly enhance the country's innovation capabilities in deep-sea scientific research, observation and exploration, and development of intelligent equipment, Tuo said. 

Moreover, ocean drilling has long been a "rich man's club" in the developed world, but the waters at the heart of many scientific problems lie within the exclusive economic zones of developing countries. China will actively expand international cooperation partnerships and build a Belt and Road ocean drilling alliance through cooperation with developing countries, especially those associated with the Belt and Road Initiative. This will promote China's platform to carry out expeditions globally and help more developing countries enter the field of deep-sea research, Tuo stressed.