Beijing Daxing International Airport had its fourth anniversary on Monday, having been put into operation on September 25, 2019. It had notched more than 80 million passenger trips as of Sunday, the airport said.
The airport has had a total of 682,900 flight takeoffs and landings, a passenger throughput of 82.48 million trips, and a cargo throughput of 557,300 tons, the airport added.
Daxing airport restarted international passenger flights in January this year, and has made efforts to expand routes to Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea, while continuously expanding into the Southeast Asian and Oceanian markets.
As of the end of August, the airport has opened a total of 202 routes, covering 185 destinations in 18 countries and regions.
The airport conducted 7.94 million passenger trips in the two months' summer travel rush that ended on August 31, up 163 percent from the same period last year and the best performance in the summer travel rush since the airport opened.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China is accelerating the resumption of outbound travel.
The number of international passenger flights per week has recovered to 52 percent of the 2019 level, and the number of countries with passenger flight connectivity has recovered to nearly 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, the administration said earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Bakyt Torobaev, deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, held a meeting with representatives of many Chinese businesses to boost trade and investment cooperation with China. Following the meeting, the Global Times reporter Wang Cong interviewed Torobaev. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
GT: What are the main goals of your trip to China? And what have been achieved so far?
Torobaev: At the invitation of the vice premier of China's State Council, we participated in the 2023 Global Sustainable Transport Forum. In my speech there, I said that we should further advance cooperation in the transport sector. Transportation is the same as the human blood circulation system. By developing transportation, we can increase trade cooperation. The directions of cooperation with Kyrgyzstan include the construction of railways, the construction of renewable energy power plants, the development of irrigation water technology, the development of education, etc. We hope to have closer cooperation with China in all fields.
GT: What are the top areas that have great potential for China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation?
Torobaev: Priority industries that need development are agriculture, high-tech fields, hydropower, and mineral resource development. We provide all conveniences for Chinese enterprises, and we hope that Chinese goods can be sold to other countries through Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and has obtained the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) with 6,200 products that can be exported to Europe. We hope to become a dry port for Chinese products exported to other countries.
Accompanied by a piercing whistle, the ship Ganghang Runyang 6002 was loaded with 96 TEUs, 2,000 tons of wheat and rice, and set off from Chunjiang Port of Jiangbei Modern Grain Logistics Park in Jining City, Shandong Province. Seven days later, this high-quality grains will arrive at Taicang Port along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and then be transported to Xintian Port in Wanzhou, Chongqing via the Yangtze River waterway, while the vessel will return to Jining with southern fertilizers and other goods. This marks the official opening of the first container route of "Jining-Wanzhou," and it is also another big step for Jining Port to develop westward. Jining, as the "Canal Capital" and the "Ridge of the Canal", based on the unique advantages of the golden waterway of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and the staged completion of advanced infrastructure . On the east side of Longgong Port is a customs supervision site still under construction, which is expected to be completed in December this year. After it is officially put into use, Jining will become "an estuary in the doorway."
Longgong Port is strategically located at the intersection of Longgong River and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, with a linear distance of only 7 kilometers from Jining West Railway Station. It can realize the combined transportation of public iron and water. The construction and commissioning of Longgong Port is a major initiative in promoting energy transformation in Shandong. The service team of power supply company is at the port construction site. Jining Longgong Port is the first container port in the inland river in China to realize unmanned intelligent duty. By the end of 2023, a total of 10 berths will be built, turning the port into the largest inland river shipping center in the northern China. Jining Power Supply Company of State Grid has set up a service team to guide the construction of special railway lines and ensure that one project and one team can provide full life-cycle services. In order to ensure the normal use of electricity in port construction, the company intervened in advance, followed up the service, completed the construction task of Longgong power supply project, and upgraded the lines involved in the port, transforming 4.9 kilometers of 10 kV lines and 21.4 kilometers of 110 kV lines
A total of 826 million domestic passenger trips were made in China during the 8-day Mid-Autumn Festival & National Day holidays, a year-on-year increase of 71.3%. Holiday tourism generated 753.43 billion yuan ($104.68 billion), up 129.5% year-on-year, official data showed on Friday.
The first convertor transformer using China-made on-load tap changers have successfully been put into operation on Sunday at a crucial west-to-east power transmission project located in South China's Guangdong Province, according to a report published by xinhuanet.com.
Feng Dong, a senior executive at a subsidiary of the China Southern Power Grid, was quoted by the report as saying that China had completed the technological breakthrough from scratch in field of convertor transformer on-load tap changers, and has achieved full localization of components and other products' industrial chains.
This marks the fact that China has officially broken through the restrictions of this core technology in high-end electric equipment, Feng said.
Previously, long-distance, large capacity and high voltage direct current facilities are required for the transmission of electricity from western to eastern areas in China, and both terminals for transmitting and receiving power need to use the equipment of converter transformer that weighs more than 300 tons.
On-load tap changers of a convertor transformer are used to adjust the voltage, power load and current, similar to the function of a gearbox in a car.
Deng Jun, a senior technical expert at the aforementioned company, also said that an on-load tap changer of a convertor transformer has about 1,000 components, and is a highly complex and sophisticated piece of equipment.
According to the Xinhua report, this technology used to be grasped by only a few overseas companies, and when technical fault took place previously, Chinese companies had no choice but to replace the products with imported goods of the same model, whose ordering cycle took about three to four months, thus posing challenges to the safety of power operation in the country.
The report also cited a deputy general manager of the company as saying that the company has established a team in partnership with upper stream and downstream companies along the industrial chains.
After more than two years' of efforts, the team has broken through vacuum switch tubes and other technical bottlenecks to successfully research the large capacity convertor transformer on-load tap changer with rated capacity of 6,000 kilovolt-ampere, maximum voltage of 6,000 volt and maximum rated current of 1,300 ampere.
Using the domestically made on-load tap changers could save nearly 40 million yuan ($5.56 million) In the building of ultra-high voltage direct current power transmission projects, the manager said.
The discovery of a new species of gammaridea in the Irtysh River of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region proves that Tianshan Mountains and the surrounding areas are the world's origin of cold-water organisms, according to a press conference held by the information office of the region on Tuesday.
The person in charge of the scientific research department announced the initial results of the third comprehensive scientific investigation in the Xinjiang region during the conference.
According to Zhang Yuanming, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the leading unit of the expedition, the third comprehensive scientific expedition in Xinjiang, conducted in 2022, has yielded significant achievements.
In the wild fruit forest of Tianshan Mountains, the expedition discovered two new species of moss, 39 new species of parasitic natural enemies, and a new species of gammaridea.
New discoveries have been made in the study of the formation and evolution of the Taklimakan Desert, and a new understanding has been proposed that the Taklimakan Desert may have been formed 300,000 years ago.
Furthermore, the expedition clarified the superimposed effects of wind dynamics, underlying surface, and sand sources on aeolian sand geomorphology, and confirmed that the Tarim Basin dust can affect North China and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
In addition, researchers participating in the expedition built 26 automatic monitoring stations for ecosystems in no man's land by integrating drones, satellites and the Internet of Things.
The databases of the first and second comprehensive scientific expeditions in Xinjiang were rebuilt, and the data sharing service for scientific expeditions in Xinjiang was established.
Moreover, the expedition's researchers determined the overall water flow status of many important rivers and provided decision-making suggestions for regional water resource development.
According to open date, the third comprehensive scientific expedition to Xinjiang was officially launched in December 2021. The scientific research was designed to focus on the green and sustainable development of Xinjiang, get a comprehensive picture of Xinjiang's resources and environment, scientifically evaluate the carrying capacity of Xinjiang's resources, propose strategies and road maps for Xinjiang's future ecological construction and green development and cultivate a strategic scientific team rooted in Xinjiang and engaged in resources and environment research in arid areas.
Beijing's local government unveiled a new action plan on Wednesday for industrial innovation and development in the robot industry from 2023-2025, aiming to boost self-development across the supply chain in key technology areas.
The plan comes as a follow-up to government efforts to take an active approach in the preparation for future industry development in areas like robots and artificial intelligence (AI), experts said.
The plan aims to ramp up the industry layout of humanoid robots and support enterprises and universities in developing key robot components. The capital also aims to support the establishment of an innovation center for humanoid robots.
Specific goals are included in the plan. By 2025, Beijing's innovation capability in the robot industry will be greatly improved and 100 types of high-tech and high value-added robot products will be cultivated, along with 100 application scenarios.
The city's robot industry is expected to generate revenue of more than 30 billion yuan by 2025.
The application scenarios for humanoid robots are wide-ranging, with potential demand in industries ranging from the services sector to municipal firefighting, Xiang Ligang, a veteran technology analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday. "We need to proactively plan and prepare for the future in order to be in the front league of the world," Xiang noted.
Talking about the importance of developing humanoid robots and AI, Xiang said that it requires high levels of technological integration and represents the core of technological development.
For example, the robots need to be able to move and maintain balance, and they should be able to sense and react to the surrounding environment, while demonstrating certain levels of artificial intelligence and understanding.
China has been an active player in technology development in this area, which gives the country an advantage for reaching its ambitious goals.
In January 2022, fifteen government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission rolled out a plan for China to become a global leader in robot technology innovation by 2025. China's development in the related industries has been conspicuous in terms of expansion and technology advancement. For example, from 2016 to 2020, the scale of the country's robot industry grew at an average annual compound rate of about 15 percent.
Breakthroughs in key technologies and components such as precision reducers and intelligent controllers have also accelerated, and innovations and application scenarios are constantly emerging.
"We have already made significant progress domestically in terms of technological foundations. As the government takes the lead, providing funding and policy support, we can see that opportunities in the new industries - robots and AI - are about to emerge," Xiang said.
"Surely, this will require long-term investment, and it may take years to see significant results, but in order to take the lead, we must start preparing now," the expert said.
Three men from Southwest China’s Guizhou Province who attempted to illegally cross the border into Myanmar to engage in telecom fraud have been handed prison sentences ranging from four to six months, a local intermediate people’s court announced on Monday.
Before the three men surnamed Wu, Huang and Yang were apprehended by police in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province when they attempted to illegally cross the border into Myanmar this February, it was discovered that the group had already crossed the border and entered Myanmar on multiple occasions.
Wu had successfully illegally crossed the border between China and Myanmar in July of 2019, October of 2019, March of 2020 and October of 2020. He was rejected by the local crime syndicates there because he could not type and was unable to be part of the syndicate’s local telecom fraud operations.
Huang also illegally crossed the border between China and Myanmar in January of 2019, July of 2019 before being apprehended when he attempted to cross the border in August of 2020.
Yang illegally crossed the border in March of 2019. He illegally crossed the border again in May of 2020 but turned himself in December of 2020 upon returning to China.
The three defendants had planned to travel to Myanmar together in February but were discovered on route in Yunnan.
Their behaviors violated the laws and regulations governing border management and committed the crime of illegal border crossing.
According to China’s Criminal Law, Wu was sentenced to six months in prison and was fined 7,000 yuan ($965). Huang was handed five months in detention and was fined 6,800 yuan while Yang was sentenced to four months detention and fined 6,800 yuan.
The local judge noted in the decision that the public must remain vigilant to the pitfalls of high-paying jobs abroad and that overseas jobs should be sought through normal employment channels.
China's top anti-corruption watchdog has stepped up its anti-corruption efforts in the medical and pharmaceutical industry with the release of a public education animation on anti-corruption efforts in the industry.
The release of the short film comes as market watchdogs in multiple places have joined in the nationwide campaign to crack down on corruption in the industry.
In the short film released by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), pharmaceutical salespersons offer rebates to medical personnel based on the number of drugs prescribed by doctors, while some Party members and officials take advantage of their positions to illegally collect and sell prescription data and accept illegal benefits from pharmaceutical salespersons.
The CCDI warns that such behavior will eventually face serious investigation and punishment and urges local discipline inspection and supervision organs to strengthen the daily supervision of personnel in key positions to ensure their proper conduct.
Recently, the market supervision bureaus in localities including Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nanchang in East China's Jiangxi Province and Datong in North China's Shanxi Province have recently started to solicit tip-offs on bribery in the pharmaceutical industry.
These tips include people giving kickbacks to medical practitioners in the form of consulting fees, lecture fees, promotion fees, the illegal act of transferring benefits in the name of academic conferences and benefits in other non-monetary forms such as domestic and overseas travel.
Fighting against corruption is a comprehensive process which requires the coordination of multiple supervision and regulation departments to address both the symptoms and the root causes of the problem, a Beijing-based anti-corruption expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday.
Together with other nine departments, the National Health Commission (NHC) has launched a one-year campaign to crack down on corruption in the healthcare sector across the country to ensure high-quality development of the medical and healthcare sector, the NHC announced on Tuesday.
Since China started the anti-corruption drive in the public health sector in mid-July, at least 184 Party chiefs or heads of hospitals had been put under investigation as of Thursday, according to media estimates.
These officials in the healthcare sector come from 24 provinces and regions with the most personnel in question from South China's Guangdong Province, Southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, according to chinanews.com.cn.
Also, 53 among the 184 come from the third-tier (top level) hospitals.
The anonymous expert stressed that the investigation of the officials in the healthcare sector shows the Party's resolution to combat graft since high officials shoulder the core responsibility to prevent corruption as well as the Party's strict attitude toward solving this issue related to people's livelihood.
China on Tuesday released implementation guidelines as part of standards for new emerging industries, vowing to continuously improve the technical level and internationalization of new industry standards, and to provide solid technical support for accelerating the high-quality development of new industries by 2035.
The guidelines, released by four ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, have been divided into three steps.
The guidelines said that by 2025, the standard system that supports the development of emerging industries will be gradually improved, and the standards that will lead the innovation and development of future industries will be accelerated.
By 2030, the standard system that meets the high-quality development needs of new industries will continue to improve, and the standardization work system will become more complete.
By 2035, the supply of standards to meet the high-quality development needs of new industries will be more sufficient, and new industry standardization work will be fully formed.
The emerging industries include eight major fields: new generation information technology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, new energy vehicles, green environmental protection, civil aviation, ships and ocean engineering equipment.
As for future industries, the plan said it will focus on the metaverse, brain-computer interface, quantum information, humanoid robots, generative artificial intelligence, bio-manufacturing, future displays, future networks and new energy storage.
To ensure sound implementation, the plan said it will take concrete measures including increasing resource input and promoting national science and technology projects.
