Nigeria Times

By Wang Yunna, People’s Daily

Recently, industrial humanoid robots developed by UBTECH Robotics Corp, a Chinese robot manufacturer based in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, were introduced to the assembly workshop of a factory of Chinese electric carmaker NIO in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. They were put to work alongside humans to inspect the quality of automobiles.

Making small steps, a humanoid robot came to the left side of a car and soon completed the quality inspection of the front and rear door locks. Pausing the movement, it extended its arm into the car body, rotated its wrist 180 degrees, and pulled down the seatbelt with its five fingers, completing the safety belt functionality check. The inspection results were uploaded to the factory’s intelligent manufacturing management system as the robot performed its functions.

“Humanoid robots are now being used in actual car production settings, moving beyond experimental labs. By collecting data from the assembly line and understanding the company’s production needs, they have undergone self-iteration and upgrades for formal deployment,” said Jiao Jichao, vice president of UBTECH Robotics and executive dean of UBTECH Research Institute.

Industrial robots such as industrial manipulators and welding and painting robots are becoming increasingly common in production workshops. What makes humanoid robots different?

Humanoid robots are more intelligent than traditional industrial robots, which are limited to executing tasks with predetermined processes and often struggle to accomplish complex activities such as flexible assembly.

“Our company specializes in tasks that traditional industrial robots find difficult to accomplish,” said Jiao.

Actions like walking, stopping, turning, and visual detection may seem simple, but they pose significant technical challenges.

The movements of humanoid robots, much like those of humans, are largely dependent on joints. When UBTECH Robotics teams initially developed humanoid robots, their biggest concern was the search for the right robot joints.

“At that time, we were unable to find them in the Chinese market, and the imported ones didn’t meet our requirements,” Jiao said.

Servo drives, acting as the joint actuators of robots, play a vital role in determining robots’ motion capabilities. A high-power servo drive used in humanoid robots consists of 50 to 100 different parts, while a low-power one has 40 to 80 parts.

Thanks to continuous technological breakthroughs, UBTECH Robotics has managed to develop and commercialize a diverse range of servo drives, ranging from compact, low-torque models to powerful, high-torque variants. Over 90 percent of these components are produced independently in China, up from the previous 40 percent.

For instance, harmonic rotary servo drives are characterized by their high torque density, small size, light weight, and fast response, enabling robots to have more agile and stable arms and legs for heavy-duty tasks like carrying and sorting, Jiao explained.

“Leveraging the flexible disassembly of robots, we created modular end effectors such as ‘hands’ and ‘feet.’ For example, we designed various types of ‘hands’ for robots, including human-like five-fingered hands and two-fingered grippers. Using different connection methods, we can easily swap out these end effectors as needed,” said Jiao.

In addition to the developed and dexterous “limbs,” humanoid robots also require an intelligent and adaptable “brain.” Chinese professionals in big data and artificial intelligence are working to train humanoid robots on how to plan intricate models and improve strategies using algorithms, specifically for industrial manufacturing scenarios.

For example, semantic visual navigation technology is developed to enhance robots’ perception of their surroundings and scenes by extracting high-level semantic information and building spatial topological relationships.

“Through semantic navigation, humanoid robots are capable of autonomously scheduling tasks and performing diverse operations in different workshops,” Jiao said.

Different car makers have different demands for humanoid robots, so on-site training in factories is crucial. “Carmakers provide verification and testing scenarios for humanoid robots, which allows for data collection, algorithm iteration, and performance improvement,” said Jiao.

According to him, UBTECH Robotics has collaborated with automakers such as Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd Qingdao Branch, and Geely to update and iterate algorithms based on real manufacturing scenarios, thereby further enhancing robot performance.

It is expected that the first batch of humanoid robots will be delivered and put into operation in car manufacturing workshops within this year.

It takes more than 7,000 parts to build a humanoid robot. In recent years, the humanoid robot industry in Guangdong province has seen major achievements in recent years, with breakthroughs in key technologies and ongoing improvements in supply chains. As of August 2023, Guangdong was home to 39 humanoid robot companies.

In the first half of 2024, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangdong Province announced an action plan to cultivate future intelligent equipment industry clusters. The plan aims to turn Guangdong into a global innovation hub for future intelligent equipment industries such as humanoid robots, aerospace equipment, deep-sea equipment, and underground equipment by 2035.

By Cheng Chen, Fu Wen, People’s Daily

Most people would throw plastic bottles into recycling bins after drinking bottled water. Where do the recycled bottles go? 

In Jinjiang, Quanzhou, southeast China’s Fujian province, a plastic bottle embarked on a green and low-carbon journey.

Early in the morning, a 10-meter-long trailer stopped at a factory entrance of Jinjiang Gangyi Fibre Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Koyee Corporation, loaded with compressed “bottle bricks” made from discarded plastic bottles.

“We receive 200 tons of these rectangular bricks every day, each of which is 1.5 meters long, with a width and height of nearly one meter,” said Cai Jinzhong, general manager of Koyee Corporation.

Later, these bottle bricks were taken to a workshop by transport vehicles and then unpacked. On the production line, a label peeling machine squeezed and rubbed the bottles to remove the labels, and then the bottles entered a sorting machine. The machine automatically sorted them into blue, white, green and miscellaneous colors. Afterward, together with their caps, they were sent to a high-speed rotating crusher and cut into pieces.

Next, the pieces entered a cleaning machine for washing, disinfection, and drying. Interestingly, during the cleaning process, the pieces were automatically separated into bottle body fragments and bottle cap fragments based on the density difference. The bottle body fragments then became the major raw material for the company’s products.

“In the past, all of this was done manually, which consumed a lot of time, energy and water,” said Cai. At that time, turning one ton of bottles into fragments required 1.5 tons of fresh water, 270 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 75 workers, Cai explained.

“There were many small, scattered, and disorganized enterprises at the beginning, which managed to lower their cost by avoiding wastewater treatment,” Cai noted.

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Fujian province in reforming the management system for environmental protection, these enterprises with poor management and pollution have been rectified.

“Many non-compliant enterprises have been shut down, and the remaining ones were required to focus more on environmental protection. The institutional reform in environmental protection is driving the progress of the entire industry,” said Cai.

As she spoke, the bottle fragments were sent to another workshop, where they were further dried in a gigantic rotary blower, then heated and extruded into molten form. They were then fed into a spinning machine, turning into transparent fibers as thin as fishing lines. After stretching, curling, and shaping processes, they were finally cut into polyester staple fibers of different lengths as required.

This type of recycled fiber is supplied to other enterprises for producing non-woven fabrics used in shoes, automotive interiors, and other applications, and has gained popularity among many well-known brands.

The “new fashion” of garbage sorting, a simple task in daily life, has magically transformed waste plastic bottles into bundles of fibers, joining the green production cycle and returning to people’s lives.

“Such recycling techniques allow every part of a plastic bottle to be reused. For instance, bottle caps can be sold to other companies and then processed into safety nets, and labels can also be processed into slipper filling material,” said Cai.

Over 20 years ago, Cai and her husband founded Koyee Corporation, which initially focused on producing non-woven fabrics for shoes. Later, they began to produce recycled fibers using bottle fragments as raw materials. In 2016, they introduced the bottle cleaning line to make bottle fragments, extending their business to the upper stream of the non-woven fabric industry.

The company has become a single champion enterprise of China’s manufacturing industry in terms of non-woven fabrics for shoes. Cai said that these achievements were closely associated with China’s reform and opening up.

Technological progress has injected new impetus into Koyee Corporation. For instance, Jinjiang Gangyi Fibre Co., Ltd. has established research cooperation with universities and institutions to develop new products and techniques. After three technological upgrades, the company has achieved automation in its bottle cleaning line.

“We have cut water and electricity costs by half and labor costs by two-thirds in bottle processing,” said Cai.

As a key producer of recycled fibers, Koyee Corporation has been recognized as a national-level green factory, a high-tech enterprise, and a provincial-level pilot demonstration enterprise for the circular economy in China. Last year, it turned approximately 2.7 billion waste plastic bottles and over 40,000 tons of waste fabric scraps into around 100,000 tons of polyester staple fibers.

Cai is quite confident about future development. “China attaches great importance to green and low-carbon development, which is also deeply rooted in people’s hearts,” said Cai, believing that the renewable resource industry will enjoy brighter prospects.

By Su Bin, Chen Junyi, People’s Daily

The final competition of China’s Village Super League (VSL), an amateur football tournament dubbed “Cun Chao” by Chinese netizens, for this year was held in Rongjiang county, southwest China’s Guizhou province on July 20, following a pre-game show that demonstrated the rich cultural heritage of local ethnic minorities.

When the game started, players skillfully passed the ball, with spectators’ cheers growing louder as it neared the goal. The excitement was further amplified by the rhythmic beating of drums.

In the stands, local residents offered free delicacies such as pickled fish and rice noodle rolls. During halftime, the audience appreciated the traditional singing and dance performances of the Dong ethnic group.

Finally, the Dangxiang village team defeated the Dongmen village team 5-0 to win the championship.

“I initially planned to watch for just one evening, but now I just can’t get enough,” said a tourist surnamed Wu from east China’s Jiangsu province, who was very much captivated by the enchanting atmosphere.

The VSL has become a sensation in China over the recent years, with its name drawing inspiration from the Premier League and Chinese Super League. Over the past year, VSL-related topics garnered more than 10 billion views on the internet, leading to a significant increase in tourist visits and tourism revenue in Rongjiang county.

Innovation is what drives the football tournament from making its mark to becoming a perpetual sensation. This summer, Rongjiang county hosted a football competition for middle school and primary school students across China, to facilitate football exchanges between professional teams and school students, and unleash the vitality of summer tourism.

As Wu stepped out of the stadium after the game, she was soon captured by food stalls emanating an enticing aroma. At a stall selling rice noodle rolls, she indulged herself.

“Here I can watch the games, appreciate intangible cultural heritage, and savor delicious food. County-level tourism destinations are becoming more and more appealing,” said Wu.

“Rongjiang county has six food zones, and since the VSL gained popularity, a total of 216 new dining businesses were set up in the county, significantly boosting the night economy,” said Yang Qiong, head of Rongjiang’s bureau of culture, sports, radio, television and tourism.

Rongjiang county has been actively exploring the cultural and tourism value and the industrial potential of the VSL, Yang noted. According to her, the football tournament helped generate night consumption of 586 million yuan ($81.61 million) in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 253.2 percent.

Accommodation is also booming in Rongjiang county. “Local residents were encouraged to accommodate tourists in line with their capabilities. Besides, we have built RV parks and camping sites to enhance our reception capacity,” said Yang.

The county has strived to meet the accommodation needs of tourists through different channels. So far, 113 new accommodation businesses have been set up across the county, with the number of beds increasing from 5,958 to 10,190. The Guizhou VSL Hotel also officially opened earlier this year after three years of construction.

“We are targeting the middle- and high-end market, striving to improve our reception capacity to attract more tourists by strengthening our weak points in rural accommodation,” said Peng Jinyan, chairman of the Guizhou VSL Hotel. The hotel has also developed study tours and intangible cultural heritage programs to expand the customer base, Peng added.

To turn the popularity of the football tournament into economic and social benefits, Rongjiang county has launched multiple tourism routes centered around the VSL, local scenic spots, intangible cultural heritage and exquisite food to promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture, sports, tourism, and commerce,” said Yang.

Leveraging rural tourism roads, the county has strengthened cooperation with surrounding scenic areas such as Xijiang township, Zhaoxing township, and Libo township to promote tourism development of the whole region.

In Rongjiang, friendly football matches of different types are still ongoing. Wu has decided to stay in the county and started livestreaming, becoming an envoy of VSL and the county.

“I want to stay for a while longer and capture more beautiful moments through my camera,” Wu said.

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

At 8:30 a.m., local time, container trucks were lining up in front of a Chinese overseas warehouse in Dusseldorf, Germany, waiting to be unloaded.

About an hour later, the first truck was ready to depart. “The goods on this truck will be sent to different parts of Germany and its neighboring countries through transfer centers,” said Shi Lei, manager of the warehouse. Overseas warehouses are important logistics nodes connecting the Chinese and international supply chains, he noted.

With the booming development of cross-border e-commerce, consumers are demanding faster and more reliable shipping services. Setting up warehouses close to end markets allows for pre-stocking, which facilitates the distribution and turnover of Chinese goods in overseas markets and enhances the efficiency of last-mile deliveries in cross-border e-commerce.

According to statistics, China has established over 2,500 overseas warehouses so far, covering a total area of over 30 million square meters.

Overseas warehouses can greatly reduce the shipping time. For instance, businesses used to stock up in China before shipping them to German customers once orders were placed. Even with air freight, it would take 5 to 10 days for the goods to reach Germany. Now, by pre-stocking items at overseas warehouses, packages can reach Berlin within one day or two, similar to the efficiency of Chinese domestic logistics.

Besides, overseas warehouses can lead to a significant drop in overall logistics costs. “Cross-border logistics for overseas warehouses typically involves three stages: shipping between ports, storing goods abroad, and delivering them to customers overseas,” said Shi.

According to him, the first stage is usually covered by container sea freight, known for its high capacity that lowers the cost per unit of transportation. For the second stage, overseas warehouses can cut costs by enhancing operational efficiency and inventory turnover with refined operations and customized and professional services.

When it comes to the third stage, with products located closer to consumers, distribution costs are lower, especially when using combined shipping from multiple warehouses. Moreover, large overseas warehouses have stronger negotiating capabilities with local last-mile delivery service providers, which also helps reduce overall operational costs.

More importantly, the service chain of overseas warehouses is becoming more complete. Handling returns has been a major challenge for foreign trade companies, but this obstacle has been effectively addressed by overseas warehouses. Consider the case of clothing exports, which often involve a high number of returns and exchanges. Without overseas warehouses, returns would be complex and time-consuming due to the need for cross-border shipping; but now, products can be returned to overseas warehouses and redistributed as needed.

In recent years, as overseas warehouse companies continuously make innovations and improve their services, overseas warehouses have evolved from basic storage locations to multi-functional foreign trade service facilities, playing a crucial role in the foreign trade supply chain. Some overseas warehouses can even provide multiple services such as exhibitions, after-sales support, and maintenance for companies venturing into global markets.

For example, the Yiwu-based Zhejiang China Commodity City Group Co., Ltd. has established overseas warehouses in Dubai, Mexico, and other locations around the world, which serve as both exhibition halls and warehouses. Besides, some Chinese overseas warehouse companies have expanded their services to include first-mile logistics services from Chinese domestic origins, creating a complete service cycle for exporters and importers.

Nowadays, Chinese overseas warehouses have formed a network around the world, opening up new routes for exports. According to the latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs, the trade volume of China’s cross-border e-commerce reached 1.22 trillion yuan ($170.22 billion) in the first half of 2024, up 10.5 percent year on year, 4.4 percentage points higher than the overall growth of China’s foreign trade during the same period. The trade volume of China’s cross-border e-commerce has grown by 1.2 times over the past five years, from 1.06 trillion yuan in 2018 to 2.38 trillion yuan in 2023.

To improve logistics efficiency, many Chinese overseas warehouse companies are speeding up their shift toward digitalization and automation.

The movement of goods into storage and out for shipping involves a significant amount of information entry and product handling. Some warehouses handle tens of thousands of outbound orders each day, making it challenging to manage order allocation effectively.

With information-based intelligent platforms, product information can be collected, transmitted and processed in real time. Combined with big data analysis, the platform can predict sales trends and inventory demands, enabling proactive inventory allocation and replenishment.

Such efforts can help ensure timely delivery of goods and prevent issues like inventory backlog and poor sales. During the sorting and distribution process, robots and automated sorting equipment can efficiently handle a large volume of orders with stability and precision.

By Zhang Shuo, People’s Daily

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China with bright prospects and infinite potential. Its total economic output has grown from 10.8 trillion yuan ($1.51 trillion) in 2018 to over 14 trillion yuan last year, achieving one-ninth of China’s total with less than 0.6 percent of the country’s national territorial area.

The region is known for its amazing “GBA speed.” For instance, customs clearance can be completed within five seconds at the Hengqin port, and a business can obtain a license in less than 10 minutes. Besides, it only takes an hour to travel between major cities within the region.

Over the past five years, the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has transformed from a blueprint into a reality. The GBA is making solid progress on the path of high-quality development, marked by stronger overall economic strength, higher capacity for technological innovation, better connectivity to other parts of the country and the world, rapid development of major cooperation platforms, and accelerated building of an integrated market.

Innovation is key to the development of the GBA. The GBA is built under “one country, two systems,” involving three customs territories using three different currencies, without any precedent to follow.

By leveraging the comprehensive advantages of south China’s Guangdong province, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and Macao SAR within the framework of “one country, two systems” and the Basic Law, making institutional innovations, and promoting the circulation of production factors, the differences in systems within the GBA have turned into something beneficial.

So far, a number of landmark initiatives have been implemented: designated mainland hospitals in the GBA can use Hong Kong-approved drugs and medical devices without prior certification from China’s National Medical Products Administration; residents of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao can enjoy undifferentiated social security services within the GBA; the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme allows residents to invest directly across the boundary of the designated wealth management products; the Cross-boundary Public Services enables residents and enterprises to access public services of the three places online anytime without the need for cross-boundary travel in person.

The GBA has announced 183 standards in areas such as food, traditional Chinese medicine, and elderly care. In addition, Hengqin and Macao have piloted cross-boundary business registration services, allowing businesses to complete registration procedures quickly in both locations. Guangdong and Hong Kong have launched 108 high-frequency cross-boundary government services.

With the efficient and convenient flow of factors such as people, goods, capital and data, the building of an integrated market in the GBA has been accelerated.

Hong Kong possesses internationally recognized advantages such as the free flow of capital, a simple tax system with low rates, high-quality and professional services, and well-developed shipping and aviation industries.

Macao, as a separate customs territory and a free port, has been making solid progress in building itself into a world center of tourism and leisure, a service platform for trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and a cultural exchange and cooperation base, making new achievements in appropriate economic diversification.

Both Hong Kong and Macao remain stable economic growth with strong resilience, unique advantages, and immense potential. As China continues to expand its opening up, the status and role of Hong Kong and Macao will be further enhanced.

China’s rapid development and increasing openness have provided a strong impetus for Hong Kong and Macao to further enhance their advantages, expand their development space, and overcome challenges.

Under the principle of “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong and Macao can better leverage their distinctive advantages of close connection with the world market and strong support from the motherland. By combining their advantages of extensive international connections and well-developed professional services with the vast domestic market, complete industrial system, and strong technological capabilities of the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao have become important gateways for China’s two-way opening up.

The development of the GBA presents significant opportunities for Hong Kong and Macao, and plays a crucial role in consolidating and enhancing their unique status and advantages.

In terms of technological innovation capabilities, the GBA is steadily building itself into a global science and technology innovation center, a comprehensive national science center, and a high-level talent hub. It now boasts over 75,000 national-level high-tech enterprises. The “Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou Science and Technology Cluster” has ranked second globally for four consecutive years.

When it comes to connectivity, the GBA has built a more complete railway network, and the airports in the region have an annual passenger throughput capacity of over 280 million. Besides, the GBA’s port cluster has an annual container throughput capacity of over 85 million twenty-foot equivalent units. Its airline network covers major cities and trading ports worldwide.

Regarding major cooperation platforms, Hengqin has officially started independent customs operations; Qianhai, Shenzhen has introduced the country’s first investor protection regulations; Nansha district in Guangzhou has unveiled a comprehensive service base for Chinese enterprises going global; the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone has got off to a good start.

Currently, the GBA’s economy is thriving, which promotes the exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, provides more opportunities for economic and social development of the two SARs, and offers a broader living and development space for residents.