The on-going COP28 in Dubai, the UAE, a conference dedicated to green and low-carbon practices, has also showcased Chinese brands' efforts in global environmental conservation.

Since the start of the conference, Chinese brands such as Higer and BYD have provided electric shuttle bus services to ferry attendees, with about 50 electric vehicles from South China's Guangdong Province offering shuttle services in the conference's "Green Zone," which is open to the public.

This is just a microcosm of the vigorous development of China's new-energy industry on display in the UAE.

The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 aims to increase the share of clean energy projects to 50 percent of its overall energy mix by 2050. Moreover, countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt have similar goals and visions.

In September 2020, China proposed its goals to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, with top-down societal involvement.

The development of Chinese industries around new energy, including new-energy vehicle (NEV) and photovoltaic unit manufacture, ranks highly in the world and aligns with the transformational development path of the Middle East.

During COP28 in Dubai, the Global Times visited and interviewed some Chinese new-energy enterprises operating in the UAE to understand cooperation efforts in the new-energy field between China and the UAE and how Chinese technologies and products are driving the carbon reduction process in the Middle East.

Rising star

In October 2022, Dubai police held a grand induction ceremony to welcome the new Hongqi E-HS9 police cars from China as additions to the existing police car fleet. Not only were leaders from both Dubai police and Hongqi in attendance at the ceremony, but a ceremonial guard on horseback was also held.

Dubai boasts an all-star police car fleet almost entirely comprised of super sports and luxury vehicle brands, from Ferrari and Lamborghini, to Bentley, and now a Chinese brand.

More notably, Hongqi's high-level debut marks the first independent automotive Chinese brand to join the Dubai police fleet and also the first NEV brand globally to do so.

Dubai also awarded the first Hongqi (EHS9) the prestigious number plate "8," as a sign of respect and recognition.

Local police leadership praised Hongqi's local development and expressed high appreciation for the partnership, wishing the development of Hongqi cars in the UAE and the world well. They said the entry of Hongqi into the Dubai police car fleet is a manifestation of the friendly development of relations between the two countries, with an anticipation for a longer and deeper relationship between China and the Arab world.

It was Oneroad Group Dubai, a Chinese company, that introduced the Hongqi brand to the UAE.

"We decided to introduce Hongqi cars not only because we saw the continuous improvement in independent Chinese-brand car technology but also recognized the reliable strength of China in making electric cars," said Zhang Chenling, Acting Chief Executive Officer at the Oneroad Group Dubai, to the Global Times at the company's offices at the Burj Khalifa.

"We have been making deep inroads in the UAE for more than a decade and believe that we have the capability to introduce Chinese-brand cars into the UAE market," Zhang explained.

Hongqi is a well-known automotive brand in China with a long and glorious history. It was the first high-end sedan to be manufactured in-country since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Hongqi, meaning "red flag" in Chinese, used to be served as the ride of top government leaders, which also had been used as parade cars during National Day parades.

According to Xie Qiyi, General Manager of Oneroad, the group doesn't only represent the Hongqi brand in the UAE. Following the commencement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the company also focuses on the overseas services offered by other Chinese automotive brands, such as Dongfeng Forthing and Great Wall Motors in the UAE, Oman, as well as in other countries and regions.
At an automotive sales center near Dubai's Business Bay, the Global Times saw Hongqi and Forthing NEVs on prominent display.

Karam, a local resident, had his eye on a new arrival - a Forthing Friday EV. "The car is spacious, the interior is luxurious, and it has a sense of technology," Karam told the Global Times.

Pan Kuibai, a manager at the sales center, told the Global Times that Chinese NEVs have certain market potential in the Middle East, not only because Chinese technologies and products have received increased recognition in recent years, but also because the Middle Eastern market is not prejudicial against Chinese products or prone to imposing political restrictions as is the case with some Western countries.

"Overall, even though these cars are not cheap due to their high configurations, they are still favored by the locals," he said.

According to China Energy News, China's NEV industry chain is attracting the attention of Middle Eastern oil giants. Preliminary statistics show that since the beginning of 2023, NEV industry chain companies such as NIO, HiPhi, and Pony.ai have successively gained the attention of Middle Eastern capital.

Industry insiders believe that as the world's largest NEV market, China's advantages in product technology and industry chain completeness have attracted considerable investments from Middle Eastern capital. Combined with the energy transformation needs of Middle Eastern countries, cooperation and exchanges between Chinese enterprises and Middle Eastern countries in the high-quality NEV sector will deepen and broaden further in the future.

Zhang from Oneroad also stated that as the UAE continues to vigorously and rapidly promote energy transformation and carbon reduction, 50 percent of the country's official and public vehicles will also be replaced with NEVs, which will bring opportunities for Chinese enterprises. "Although local supporting facilities still have much room for development, significant changes will be seen within a few years," she said.

Sharing sunshine

In recent years, the Middle East has witnessed increased advocacy in the diversified development of energy, utilizing its unique sunlight conditions to vigorously develop photovoltaic projects and optimize the electricity energy structure. Against this backdrop, China's leading photovoltaic industry enterprises have targeted local opportunities here and hope to seize the development initiative.

A large-scale Chinese-built photovoltaic power station, which looks particularly spectacular from the air, calls the desert suburbs of Dubai home.

The synchronization of Shuaa Energy 3 900MW PV project is a recent representative project of China's leading photovoltaic enterprise Sungrow in Dubai. According to Thompson Meng, Vice President of Sungrow PV & BESS BG, Sungrow has large landmark projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, as well as in Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, radiating into North Africa's Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria.

Observers noted that in some countries participating in the BRI, green infrastructure such as new-energy and information networks will see rapid growth in the future. Among them, the photovoltaic industry chain will become the most developmentally advantageous sub-sector of China's new-energy cooperation abroad.

In terms of the region, the Middle East has the greatest potential for photovoltaic demand, and it is expected that by 2025, the export of photovoltaic components to the Middle East may account for more than 10 percent of China's total export volume of photovoltaic components, Yicai reported.
According to the Securities Times, many Chinese photovoltaic enterprises are also actively taking root in Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Meng introduced that in addition to abundant light energy and vast land, the policies of governments in the Middle East are also relatively supportive. "They are thinking about transitioning from traditional fossil energy resources to new-energy and future technology manufacturing, so these policies and strategies are very supportive of this industry."

As a leading enterprise in the industry, Meng noted that Sungrow has a 26-year history, with dynamic technology, having undertaken the long arduous journey of development, surmounting challenges, and achieving great results, which now allows the company to export its expertise overseas. In addition, the enterprise has always been forward-looking, engaging in long term planning, and insists on sustainable development amid intense global competition.

Against the backdrop of China striving to achieve its dual-carbon goals and the global response to climate change, Meng also believes that Chinese enterprises, especially those leading the new-energy industry, are taking on their social responsibilities.

"For energy transformation, you need to play a leading role, not just focus on short-term interests. This industry is one that benefits humanity. Whether from the perspective of pollution reduction or carbon reduction, it has a positive significance," he said. "Also, our enterprise needs to focus on cultivating talents with such a vision and mindset, which I think is also a great contribution to society."

Chinese power

During the first days of the COP28, Sultan al-Jaber, the COP28 President, as well as the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology announced that more than 110 governments have pledged to triple the world's renewable energy capacity by 2030 at the COP28 climate summit. It also included a target to double the global rate of energy efficiency by 2030.

This year's COP has attracted more than 80,000 participants, making it the largest UN climate summit in history. In addition to the Chinese delegation, many institutions, enterprises, and observers from China participated in the conference and set up pavilions, holding related events to provide a platform for participants from various countries to engage in exchanges and understand China's carbon reduction measures and achievements.

For instance, the All-China Environmental Protection Federation also set up the Solar+ Pavilion (Photovoltaic Corner) in the Blue Zone of COP28 with LONGi Green Energy, showcasing the development and innovation of the photovoltaic industry and providing a platform for people of different identities to discuss and achieve energy equity.

Additionally, research institutions such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co Ltd, also held a side event on NEVs and low-carbon transportation at the China Pavilion during COP28, inviting guests from the UN, the UAE, and China to learn about possible cooperation between China and the UAE in new-energy industries.

Analysts said that investments in China's NEV technology by Middle Eastern countries signify a strategic shift toward energy transformation and the finding of new competitive edges in emerging industries. Meanwhile, they emphasized the importance of market-specific adaptations and risk management for Chinese automakers exporting to the Middle East, and the consideration of local climate and consumer preferences.

In the science fiction movie "The Wandering Earth," artificial intelligence system "Moss" is able to explore all solutions to save the Earth in just a few seconds.

This miraculous scene is gradually transitioning from science fiction to reality. The ultra-high-performance optoelectronic chip proposed by the research team at Tsinghua University adopts a new architecture of optoelectronic fusion, which is disruptive to existing chip technologies, the team told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The technology not only opens up a new path for this future technology to become part of daily life, but also provides inspiration for the integration of other future high-performance technologies such as quantum computing and in-memory computing with current electronic information systems.

The results, titled "Purely Analog Optoelectronic Chips for High-Speed Visual Tasks," had been published in the recent issue of the journal "Nature."

In 1965, Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, proposed "Moore's Law," which has influenced the chip industry for over half a century. It predicts that the number of transistors on integrated circuits will double approximately every two years.

The semiconductor field has prospered for decades based on Moore's Law, and "chips" have become an important engine for humanity's entry into the era of digital intelligence. However, as transistor sizes approach their physical limits, Moore's Law has slowed down or even faced failure in the past decade. How to build a new generation of computing architecture and establish a "new" order of chips in the era of artificial intelligence has been a frontier hotspot of international concern.

To address this challenge, a joint research team from Tsinghua University, including Academician Dai Qionghai from the Department of Automation, Assistant Professor Wu Jiamin, Associate Professor Fang Lu from the Department of Electronic Engineering, and Associate Researcher Qiao Fei, proposed a new computing architecture that "breaks free" from Moore's Law: optoelectronic analog chips. In practical tests for visual tasks, the computing power of these chips reached over 3,000 times that of current high-performance commercial chips.

From a physical perspective, optoelectronic chips are based on a disruptive technology that is different from existing chip technologies, the research team explained in an interview with the Global Times on Wednesday. They noted that, at current stage, their work is focused on intelligent visual tasks, and they are also conducting further exploration to see if the new technology can achieve tasks of the same or even higher complexity as current chips, such as large language models.

In this small chip, the Tsinghua University research team creatively proposed an optoelectronic deep fusion computing framework. Starting from the most fundamental physical principles, it combines optical computing based on electromagnetic wave propagation in space with pure analog electronic computing based on Kirchhoff's law. It "breaks free" from the physical bottlenecks of data conversion speed, accuracy, and power consumption that constrain traditional chip architectures, and overcomes three international challenges: large-scale computing unit integration, efficient nonlinearity, and high-speed optoelectronic interfaces.

In the demonstrated intelligent visual scene tests in the paper, the system-level computing power of the optoelectronic fusion chip was thousands of times higher than that of existing high-performance chip architectures. However, such astonishing computing power is just one of the many advantages of this chip. In the intelligent visual tasks and traffic scene calculations demonstrated by the research team, the system-level energy efficiency (the number of operations that can be performed per unit of energy) of the optoelectronic fusion chip reached 74.8 Peta-OPS/W, which is over 4 million times that of current high-performance chips. In other words, the amount of electricity that can power existing chips for one hour can power this chip for over 500 years.

One key factor currently limiting chip integration limits is the heat dissipation problem caused by high density. The optoelectronic fusion chip, which operates at ultra-low power consumption, will greatly improve the chip's heat dissipation problem and bring all-round breakthroughs to the future chip design. Furthermore, the minimum linewidth of the chip's optical part is only in the hundreds of nanometers, while the circuit part uses 180 nanometers Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, achieving a performance improvement of multiple orders of magnitude compared to 7 nanometers process high-performance chips. At the same time, the materials used are simple and easily obtainable, and the cost is only a fraction of the latter.

Will the emergence of this cutting-edge chip technology help China achieve a "overtaking on the curve" in chip research and development? In response to this question, the research team told the Global Times that the research and development competition in the traditional chip technology field is becoming increasingly fierce, and facing international challenges such as the slowing down of Moore's Law, the world is seeking new computing architectures. It can indeed be understood as a kind of "curve" opportunity. Whether we can achieve "curve overtaking" depends on the joint efforts and ecological construction of all sectors. We are also working towards this goal.

A special review of this research, invited by the journal Nature, pointed out that the appearance of this chip may allow the new generation of computing architecture which will be integrated into daily life much earlier than expected. Academician Dai Qionghai, one of the corresponding authors of the paper, stated, "Developing a new computing architecture for the era of artificial intelligence is a summit, but truly implementing the new architecture in real life to solve major national and livelihood needs is a more important challenge and our responsibility."

The 2,000th rail-sea intermodal train of 2024, running along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, departed from Qinzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Chengxiang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Sunday.

The trip marked a 16.8 percent year-on-year rise in the number of combined trains year-to-date and indicated that the 2024 first-quarter goals were achieved 14 days ahead of schedule, two facts that signal a successful start to the year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.

The train, with 108 containers, carried black sesame from Myanmar, coconut juice from South China's Hainan Province and sugar from Guangxi, among other goods.

As of Friday, the land-sea corridor's extensive network had reached 149 stations in 18 provincial-level regions across China, five more than in January.

The rapid development of the corridor, a trade and logistics passage launched in 2017 and jointly built by provincial-level regions in western China and ASEAN members, shows the growth potential of provinces in the Chinese hinterland and reflects China's robust foreign trade growth in the first two months of the year, despite the complex international situation and rising protectionist headwinds, analysts noted.

The increase in the freight volume of the trade corridor reflects the prosperous trend of economic development in western China, said Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Bai said that the result shows that trade between Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members and China has become more optimized, and the China-Laos Railway is also boosting trade cooperation between China and RCEP members.

The trade corridor has continuously optimized its supply structure and service scope this year, bringing many opportunities to regions along the route and driving their economic development, Bai noted.

In terms of seaborne trade under the corridor, 20,539 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers of goods were transported from the Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi, a surge of 36 percent year-on-year. RCEP member countries shipped 11,023 TEUs via the corridor from January 1 to March 10, increasing 35 percent year-on-year.

ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner in the first two months of 2024, with bilateral trade of 993.24 billion yuan ($139.88 billion), up 8.1 percent year-on-year, customs data showed on March 7.

China should ramp up efforts to promote independent scientific exploration and innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), as the country seeks to pursue a unique path of AI innovation with Chinese characteristics, Xu Jiuping, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and a professor at Sichuan University, told the Global Times. 

"We should give full play to the spirit of Chinese people who always dare to explore and innovate," Xu said.

AI has become a heated topic in this year's two sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC, and the investment and application of AI technology would assist industries and businesses to achieve speedy digital transformation and nurture new quality productive forces for economic growth.

Chinese authorities have always actively supported the development of AI and have been striving to achieve greater self-reliance in technology advances. And AI is deemed as an important engine in driving the nation's economic transformation and upgrading, Xu said.

China is home to a huge market and talent reserve, and the population base and sound software and hardware infrastructure also provide a good foundation for data collection, Xu told the Global Times.

According to Xu, to seek ingenuity in developing more advanced AI innovations means finding a unique way that suits China's actual conditions and industrial development situation, and to better serve new needs and promote China's international competitiveness.

The US investments in exploration of AI in 2023 accounted for 60 percent of the global total investments, followed by China with 12 percent, Xu told the Global Times, adding that China is relatively weak in terms of "AI literacy, talent and research." 

According to information released by the White House, the US government has laid out an ambitious agenda for the country to lead on AI research and development. The Biden administration has been funding groundbreaking research to promote trustworthy AI through America's National AI Research Institutes. 

And, the emergence of ChatGPT and Sora, a large number of AI talent have allowed the US to lead in cutting-edge AI innovation.

To fill those gaps, Xu said Chinese enterprises can learn from the experience and practices of AI pioneers such as US-based OpenAI, while finding its own distinct way to promote AI innovation.

China should advocate independent homegrown innovation, Xu noted. 

"This kind of originality does not mean being complacent or rest on our laurels, but rather adhering to independent innovation, to better serve our development needs and promote our international competitiveness in advanced technologies," Xu said.

More importance should be attached to cultivating Chinese talent in mathematics, computing and algorithm, he added.

China's investment in AI is forecast to reach $38.1 billion in 2027, accounting for 9 percent of the world's total, according to a report released by market consultancy IDC.

"The Chinese market has the world's largest number of users and active data-producing entities, helpful for reshape many new and complex businesses and services," Xu said.

The tourism phenomenon triggered by Harbin, the ice city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, shows no sign of abating and most recently its popularity has led to a fierce competition among tourism authorities in several Chinese cities, as they strive to leverage the internet's potential to convert online engagement into real tourist footfall.

Starting from January 9, the official Douyin account of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Henan Province has seen an increase in the number of videos being posted, with 20 to 30 clips being released per day and a total of 112 in four days, enthusiastically showcasing its cultural and tourism resources. By posting videos such as "Shaolin Kung Fu" and "mutton stewed noodles" to show off its local cuisine, the account gained nearly one million followers within just a few days.

In January, North China's Shanxi and Central China's Henan provinces announced their partnership in tourism, achieving mutual exemption of admission tickets for 114 A-level scenic spots in six cities.

While culture and tourism authorities in Shanxi and Henan provinces are boasting their enriched tourism resources on social media, East China's Shandong Province, famous for being the birthplace of Confucius and the location of the famous Taishan Mountain and the Yellow River estuary, has also attracted much online attention.

The Department of Culture and Tourism in North China's Hebei Province changed their short video official name overnight, from "Hebei Tourism" to "Hebei Cultural and Tourism." This alteration was prompted by the fierce online competition to attract tourists, resulting in the phrase "cultural and tourism" gaining significant popularity across various social media platforms.

More interesting is that the video of the head of culture and tourism in Harbin's Acheng district dancing with performers from Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world's largest theme park of its kind, on short video platforms, has entertained millions of netizens.

These diligent efforts made by the local head of culture and tourism in Harbin to attract tourists to the city were joined by netizens across the country as they playfully boasted about the exceptional skills possessed by their own heads of culture and tourism bureaus, all in an effort to achieve similar success in their own cities.

Netizens from Southwest China's Sichuan Province, known for its giant panda bases, jokingly claimed that their head of local culture and tourism bureau has the extraordinary ability to "give birth to" giant pandas. While, netizens from Central China's Hunan Province proudly boasted that their head of cultural and tourism can devour a staggering 50 kilograms of red peppers. Hunan Province is renowned for its diverse pepper varieties and spicy cuisine, which locals take great pride in.

Netizens from Southwest China's Yunnan Province went as far as bragging that their head of cultural and tourism can consume three kilos of raw wild mushrooms. Yunnan is famous for its different types of wild mushrooms, some of which can be poisonous if not cooked properly.

With the rapid proliferation of social media, Harbin has swiftly become the most coveted tourist destination in the country. Recognizing this trend, cultural and tourism authorities aim to harness the power of the internet to transform online engagement into actual tourist visits.

Cities surrounding Harbin have also attempted to take advantage of the huge tourist flow brought with Harbin by frequently uploaded interesting videos.

Tourism in Harbin hasn't become popular overnight. It is a result of the long-term promotion of ice and snow sports in Northeast China, reflecting the booming popularity of China's ice and snow tourism, Jiang Yiyi, deputy head of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Jiang believes it might be difficult to reproduce the popularity of Harbin tourism. Its popularity and the booming Zibo barbecue phenomenon in 2023 are the results of unintentional efforts. However, both places have achieved good interaction with the tourists.

These two major tourism events in China and the popularity of a grassroots basketball tournament known as Village BA are not only developed based on the tourism resources in these regions, but also achieved by actively grafting them with local culture, Jiang noted.

Industry observers noted that the key to turning one-time booming tourism into a persistent trend lies in the continuous cultivation of a pleasant destination to visit and fostering a warm-hearted hospitality.

In the beginning of this winter, Harbin has effectively addressed tourists' complaints regarding the organization and services of Harbin Ice-Snow World, as well as overcharging by local restaurants. This crisis management has left a positive impression of the city. Harbin has also taken the initiative to provide considerate services to tourists, media reports said. For example, numerous free warm and comfortable rest stations have been established at major tourist attractions, which have been well-received by visitors.

Both last year's Zibo barbecue and this year's ice and snow fever reflect the fast recovery of China's tourism industry. As winter, the traditional tourism off-season, draws new tourism fever, these events signal the fast tourism development in China, Jiang noted.

The hope for US' first moon landing in more than 50 years has appeared to have crashed, after a US private company's spacecraft reported "critical fuel leak" hours after Monday's launch. Experts said the failed attempt suggests that commercial space sector still faces challenges in breaking through the threshold of deep space exploration, and could impact the US Artemis program, which faces even more obstacles along the way following several delays and launch failures.

The lunar lander, named Peregrine and developed by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, encountered abnormalities shortly after a successful lift-off from Florida. Ground research teams found the spacecraft unable to place itself in a position facing the sun, which prevented it from charging its batteries, CNN reported.

Shortly after the spacecraft became fully operational, it soon became apparent that there was "a critical loss of fuel," further diminishing the chances of a scheduled lunar landing on February 23.

This is the first lunar mission undertaken by the US since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, and also the first time that a private company has taken on this task.

According to media reports, NASA gave a $108 million funding to the private company to develop Peregrine, which aims to fulfill the space agency's vision to reduce the cost of lunar missions by asking the private sector to compete for such contracts.

Song Zhongping, a space analyst and TV commentator, said the US' adoption of a commercial model for deep space exploration is commendable, as it could indicate a more sustainable development path. The encouragement of private capital to enter the aerospace industry has led to the flourishing development of private space ventures in the US in recent years, and has fostered a healthy cycle of competition, cooperation, and technological collaboration among various players in the industry, the expert told the Global Times on Tuesday.

However, some experts pointed out the pickle of this model. As a project is usually co-developed by several ventures, there is a wide gap in the technological capabilities among them with many still insufficient to support such deep-space endeavors, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"Lunar explorations are highly complex. It involves precise trajectory selection, stringent spacecraft design, and the ultimate hurdle of a soft landing on the lunar surface. Peregrine's failed attempt also sounded the alarm that commercial enterprises may still lack technological feasibility to achieve such feats," Wang said.

By far, only four countries have made it to the Moon, namely the Soviet Union, the US, China, and India. Since the 21st century, only Chinese and Indian spacecrafts successfully landed on the lunar surface, while others from Israel, Russia and Japan all crashed.

While the Peregrine mission is considered part of the wider Artemis program with NASA placing several flying experiments onboard, experts said it is unlikely to cause major setbacks for NASA, but could hint at even more obstacles along the way, after experiencing repeated delays of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch and the failed liftoff of SpaceX's Starship rocket.

Song called for the US to abandon its Cold War mentality and open up its arms to cooperate with China, as the latter can offer a variety of assistances to its grand lunar return, for example, crucial scientific data from the previously retrieved lunar soils by the Chang'e-5 mission.

In December 2023, NASA greenlighted and urged scientists it funds to apply for access to China's Chang'e-5 lunar samples in an exception to the Wolf Amendment, which prohibits such bilateral activities with China.

"The Wolf Amendment is originally intended to create barriers for latecomers. However, time has proven that it has not hindered China who has been following its own path through independent innovation. With China's research capabilities constantly advancing, it can be said that China is at least on par with or even partly ahead of the US in certain fields, including lunar exploration," Wang noted.

"Eventually, the clause only ends up a constraint on their own development. In fact, many from the scientific community in the US are questioning the necessity of this clause," the expert said.

From the Adora Magic City's completion of its maiden commercial voyage on Sunday to Chinese shipbuilders obtaining the most orders from global clients in 2023, China's high-end manufacturing sector, represented by the steadily progressing shipbuilding industry, has become a new driving force in the country's economic development. 

The Adora Magic City, China's first domestically built large cruise ship, completed its maiden commercial voyage on Sunday after taking more than 3,000 tourists from 16 countries and regions for a seven-day trip to destinations in South Korea and Japan. 

China has been advancing its shipbuilding technology especially in high-value added segments with strong international competiveness. The ability to build ultra-large container ships and use green fuels is also leading the world, Zheng Ping, chief analyst with industry news portal chineseport.cn, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Last year, Chinese shipyards won the highest number of global orders, with deliveries as far off as 2028, according to media reports. 

The delivery dates for Guangzhou Shipyard International Co run into 2027 and 2028, as fleet operators worldwide are attracted by the company's strengths in green production and environmental protection, said Li Hao, an official from the company, as China Media Group (CMG) reported on Saturday.

More than 60 percent of the company's on-hand orders are methanol-powered dual-fuel ships or LNG- fired (liquefied natural gas) () dual-fuel models. Compared with conventional container ships, ultra-large container ships powered by dual-fuel sources can reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions by 85 percent and sulfur emissions by 99 percent, CMG reported.

In 2023, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group delivered 17 vessels, which was 106 percent of the annual plan. The number of medium- and high-end vessels exceeded 90 percent of the total deliveries, the company said in a statement it sent to the Global Times earlier. Hudong-Zhonghua is now building 16 LNG vessels simultaneously, and it plans to deliver nearly 50 LNG carriers in the next five years.

China has basically closed the technological gap with South Korea in building high-value added ships, Zheng said, and China's shipbuilding boom will persist this year.   

In 2023, Chinese shipbuilders won the most new orders worldwide for a total of 24.46 million compensated gross tons (CGT), 59 percent of the total, data from UK-based Clarksons Research showed. South Korea was second for the third consecutive year with 10.01 million CGT. 

China's shipbuilding industry is striving to advance its high-quality development through intelligent and green technology. 

The intelligent transformation has also boosted the efficiency of shipbuilding, which is traditionally a labor-intensive process. Through intelligent transformation, the entire workshop for building a ro-ro passenger ship with more than 20,000 square meters can be reduced from 200 people to 50 people by integrating more automation and robotics technology, according to the CMG report. 

Intelligent ports are becoming popular in China with the expanding utilization of autonomous trucks and other types of smart equipment, Zheng said. 

He said that the domestic industry is still in the early stages of smart development, and  more emerging technologies will be  integrated into future manufacturing.  

From January to November 2023, China completed ships totaling 38.09 million deadweight tons (dwt), up 12.3 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 

New orders rose 63.8 percent to 68.45 million dwt, and orders on hand totaled 134.09 million dwt as of the end of November.

A new round of large-scale rain and snow weather should hit the country starting from Tuesday night, and it is expected that from Wednesday to Friday, the central and eastern regions of China will experience another round of large-scale rain and snow, the meteorological departments warned on Tuesday.

In the past two days, northern China, the Huang-Huai region and other areas of China have experienced the first rain and snow storms of the winter. During the day on Monday, this first round of rain and snow gradually weakened and ended. 

However, from Tuesday night to Saturday, a new cold wave is predicted to affect most parts of China from west to east, making it the strongest cold air front so far this winter. Temperatures in most parts of China will drop by 8-12 C, and in some areas, the temperature drop may exceed 14 C, leading Beijing to issue a blue cold wave warning and a yellow blizzard warning on Tuesday.

The heavy snowfall areas in northern China and the Yellow-Huaihe region overlap with the areas that experienced heavy snowfall on December 10, and daily snowfall in these regions is expected to be extreme. Influenced by the cold wave, temperatures in the central and eastern regions will continue to decrease, and the lowest temperature in northern China, the Yellow-Huaihe region and other areas will approach or even break the historical record for this period, according to meteorological departments.

Meteorologists said that this cold wave will be fierce, with a large drop in temperatures and severe snowstorms, which may put significant pressure on transportation and lead to an increased risk of accidents. Moreover, special attention needs to be paid to safety hazards caused by snowstorms, Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

To cope with the snowy weather, the Beijing municipal bureau of public security traffic management has established a snow road traffic emergency support command center. According to the department, they have initiated a high-level duty plan to strengthen the deployment of police forces and traffic maintenance guidance in key areas, roads, bridges, intersections, as well as areas with steep slopes and that are prone to icing. Also, they have actively coordinated with emergency response units for snow emergencies and promptly implemented ice removal and snow melting measures to minimize the impact of snowfall and icing on traffic.

In addition, the new round of rain and snow has entered a more complex phase. Freezing rain may occur in the central part of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, southern part of North China's Shanxi Province, and central-northern part of Central China's Henan Province, so extra attention should be paid to the dangers brought by blizzards and freezing rain and snow. 

It is also worth mentioning that the cold air will not influence the south of the Yangtze River and South China regions from Wednesday to the Thursday, and temperatures in these areas will still be high. For example, the highest temperature in cities like Nanchang and Fuzhou will reach 26 C. However, these areas will soon be hit by a strong "pressure" from the cold air. It is expected that around Saturday, the highest temperature in these areas will generally drop to around 5 C. 

The meteorological departments reminded the public not to underestimate the power of this new cold wave. People in the above-mentioned areas should closely monitor local warning and forecast information, take measures to keep warm and pay attention to fire and electrical safety.

Experts said that overall the world is experiencing a warming trend, and the rising sea temperatures caused by El Nino have increased the moisture content in the air. As such, the precipitation and snowfall this round will be quite unique, with a higher water content, resulting in wetter and heavier snow. 

In case of a sharp drop in temperatures during the cold wave, areas should prepare for freezing rain, especially in mountainous areas where temperatures may be lower than in the plain areas. This is highly likely to have a serious impact on infrastructure such as the electrical grid and agriculture, so local authorities need to make advance preparations, Ma warned.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out efforts in emergency response and ensuring a warm and safe winter for the people.

The Chinese university badminton team, facing strong pressure from the Chinese Tapei team, maintained their lead in the sport at the FISU Games on Monday, as they totaled four gold, three silver and one bronze medal in badminton.

China's female singles player Han Yue continued her fine form on ­Monday as she won the women's singles title with a stylish 2-0 victory over her opponent Kim Ga-ram of South Korea.

Coasting to the final by winning all the previous four matches by straight 2-0 wins, Han said she gave her all for the final.

"As it is the final of the tournament, I have to go all out. I prepared for a tough match but it turned out to be an easy one," the Tongji University student told reporters. 

"I feel honored to have participated in the University Games during my college years. This is a very valuable experience."

Speaking about the home advantages she enjoyed at the Chengdu Games, Han, 24, said she had to channel the pressure into impetus for the home game.

"Certainly, there is pressure since it's a home game. But the gold medal is important to me so I have to push myself more," Han said. 

"I'm thankful to coaches Li Xuerui and Wang Shixian for providing me with valuable advice during the matches."

Li is a former Olympic champion, while Wang has won several major international accolades for China. 

Han has already set her sights on the badminton world championships that kick off on August 21 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

"I will focus on preparing for this year's event as it is already very close," Han said. 

Also on Monday, Team China secured the doubles gold and silver medals as Chinese pair Liu Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan defeated teammates Xia Yuting and Du Yue 18-21, 21-19 and 21-14 in the women's competition. 

Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang overshadowed peers Zhou Haodong and He Jiting 23-21 and 21-16 in the men's event.

In the men's singles final, the last match of the badminton tournament, China's Wang Zhengxing defeated Thailand's Teeraratsakul Panitchaphon 21-16, 21-14 claim gold.