Nigeria Times

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

At GE Healthcare’s Beijing Imaging Equipment Manufacturing Base in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, five batches of raw materials for producing a new type of diagnostic equipment have just arrived and been put into use.

“These raw materials are essential components for our new equipment,” said an employee from Beijing GE Hualun Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of General Electric Company (GE).

“They hit the production line immediately after being cleared from customs, which increased the efficiency of our supply chain,” the employee added.

According to him, the company has been able to implement its global strategy at a faster pace thanks to the increasingly favorable business environment in China.

He noted that over the past 6 years, the company has outperformed its total production from the last 20 years, with two-thirds of the CT scanners sold globally coming from the company’s Beijing facility.

In Suzhou New District, east China’s Jiangsu province, a new factory of Suzhou Hybiome Biomedical Engineering Co. Ltd. (Hybiome), invested and controlled by French multinational vitro diagnostic company bioMérieux, has just been completed.

To build Hybiome into a prominent player in vitro diagnostics, the factory is planned to produce 1,000 fully automated chemiluminescence immunoassay systems per year, with an annual output value of 1 billion yuan ($137.86 million).

Over the past more than 40 years of reform and opening up, China has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, remained the world’s top manufacturing hub for 14 consecutive years and the top trading nation for 7 straight years. The country undoubtedly plays an indispensable role in global industrial and supply chains.

This year, foreign companies continue to enjoy broader prospects in China. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, the number of newly established foreign-invested firms in China hit 12,000 in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, up 20.7 percent year on year. In the same period, the actual foreign direct investment (FDI) in China stood at 301.67 billion yuan.

In terms of the structure of FDI, the country’s high-tech manufacturing sector attracted 12.5 percent of the FDI inflow in the first quarter, up 2.2 percentage points compared to that in the same period last year.

Behind the decisions of multinationals to intensify their presence in China is their confidence in the country’s ability to sustain sound economic growth.

For instance, Standard Chartered Securities (China) Limited, a wholly foreign-owned securities company affiliated with Standard Chartered, has commenced securities business in Beijing. The largest Apple store in Asia has officially opened in Shanghai. The China-Saudi Arabia ethylene project has entered the full construction stage in Zhangzhou, east China’s Fujian province, with a total investment of 44.8 billion yuan.

China boasts a complete industrial system, a super-large market, and a stable social environment. The Chinese economy has strong resilience, tremendous potential and great vitality, and the fundamentals sustaining its long-term growth remain unchanged. It has become the favored investment destination for many foreign businesses.

The 2024 Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index report released in April by Kearney, a global management consulting firm, upgraded China’s ranking from seventh to third.

Besides, for the second time in the 26-year history of the FDI Confidence Index, Kearney includes an exclusive emerging market ranking to give business leaders insights into which emerging markets are most appealing to investors now and over the next three years. China ranks first on the 25-market list.

As China advances a broader agenda of opening up across more areas and in greater depth, and works to expand institutional opening up with regard to market access and the service sector, a more transparent and predictable business environment is being created for foreign companies to develop in the country.

According to a survey of more than 600 foreign-funded companies conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in the first quarter this year, over 70 percent of them are optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese market over the next five years, and more than 50 percent believe the Chinese market has become more attractive.

Foreign businesses always say that investing in China is investing in the future, which has got a new meaning. New quality productive forces, marked by innovation and taking a substantial increase in total factor productivity as its core hallmark, are becoming increasingly attractive in global industrial development.

On April 26, German carmaker BMW announced an additional investment of 20 billion yuan in its production base in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning province. The investment will be used for upgrading as well as technological innovation of the Dadong plant of BMW Group’s joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA). The plant will lay the foundation for the localized production of a new generation of BMW models expected to roll off the production line in 2026.

Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said that the new generation of BMW models heralds a new era of personal intelligent mobility driven by innovation and technology.

“By 2026, the first new-generation BMW vehicle made in China will roll off the production line in Shenyang. The investment underlines the importance of China in BMW’s transition towards an intelligent and connected automotive future as well as our confidence in China’s long-term economic prospects,” Zipse said.China will never drag its feet on reform and opening up. As the second largest economy in the world, China will undoubtedly provide new momentum and opportunities for the world with its continuous development and greater openness.

By Zhu Hong, Weng Yufei, Ardak, People’s Daily

During a break from farm work, Seytnisa Mamat pulled out her phone to track the shipping status of the items she bought online.

“The detergents I bought have arrived. Let me go and get them,” the woman said, hurrying towards a courier service station in her village.

On the shelves of the station, parcels were stacked neatly. They were shipped from all parts of China, including Hebei, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong…

Based on a pick-up code sent to her phone, Seytnisa Mamat walked to the corresponding shelf and soon found her parcel.

Seytnisa Mamat lives in Keshlak village, Ishkul township of Yarkant county, Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Last year, online shopping gained popularity there. Picking up express parcels became a source of delight for villagers.

In the past, bazaars, a type of marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, were the only place where Seytnisa Mamat and her fellow villagers could buy stuffs. However, the limited variety of products available at bazaars was no longer sufficient to meet everyone’s needs.

Later, when courier services were extended to the county town, some villagers would use their relatives’ addresses there for online orders, only able to pick up their parcels when visiting the town.

“It was beyond my imagination that we could receive express parcels in such a remote place, with free shipping,” Seytnisa Mamat told People’s Daily, in a delighted tone.

How remote is the place where Seytnisa Mamat lives?

If she buys an item from Yiwu, east China’s Zhejiang province, it has to travel about 4,000 kilometers first to reach Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and then keep going around 1,500 kilometers before arriving at Keshlak village.

How is it possible for Seytnisa Mamat to get this item shipping-free, after all it has to travel 5,500 kilometers?

“The key lies in the lowered transportation costs,” said an official with the postal administration of Xinjiang.

Since last year, postal and courier enterprises have joined forces with e-commerce platforms to implement a collective shipping model, which integrates resources across transportation, sorting, and delivery processes, significantly boosting parcel handling efficiency and reducing operational costs, according to the official.

Merchants used to face high costs when they sent parcels to Xinjiang. Today, commodities bought by Xinjiang consumers on e-commerce platforms are distributed first to transit warehouses in different places such as Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Xi’an in the northwest province of Shaanxi, and then be shipped to their destinations in Xinjiang.

If a village generates sufficient parcel volume, a “village bulk” would be created, which means all the parcels to the village will be shipped directly from a transit warehouse, thus avoiding sorting and repackaging in Urumqi. This greatly saves time and lowers costs.

Besides, the lowered logistics cost is also attributed to China’s efforts to shift more freight transport from road to railway. On March 26 this year, the first intermodal express train loaded with containers of e-commerce goods departed from Xi’an, and reached Urumqi 38 hours later.

According to Yue Wei, director of operations at the Urumqi branch of China United International Rail Containers Co., Ltd., the Xi’an-Urumqi train route is around five hours faster than road transportation, improving delivery speed by 12 percent while reducing freight costs by approximately 57 percent. After arriving in Urumqi, parcels carried by the train are then distributed to villages via a “last-mile” delivery network, Yue said.

At a courier transfer center of delivery company J&T Express in Yarkant county, baskets labeled with village names were neatly arranged on the floor.

“Once the parcels arrive, we directly sort them into the corresponding baskets, pack them up and send them out. Delivery to the villages is possibly even faster than to the county town,” said Zhang Haitao, head of the Yarkant office of J&T Express.

Wang Xiaohu, director of the Kashgar postal administration, told People’s Daily that since last year, express delivery services in Kashgar have significantly improved, with free shipping services extended to over 2,000 villages.

“Xinjiang has established e-commerce public service centers, logistics distribution centers, and village-level courier stations. Over 800 e-commerce service sites are integrated with postal and courier functions,” said an official with the Xinjiang postal administration.

This will promote e-commerce development in rural Xinjiang and facilitate more agricultural products from the autonomous region to reach markets outside Xinjiang, the official explained.

By Jin Ruiting

Recently, some American politicians have been continuously hyping up the false narrative of “overcapacity” in China’s new energy industry.

They wrongly claimed that China has excessive production capacities in new energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products, asserting that the so-called “overcapacity” has posed negative impacts on global markets. Such claim is not fact-based and goes against the overall trend of economic globalization.

As a matter of fact, the “overcapacity” narrative is a well-worn tactic of the United States to undermine other countries’ competitive industries, which is driven by a hegemonic mindset.

“Overcapacity” doesn’t exist at all in China’s new energy industry.

China’s new energy industry has higher capacity utilization rates than other countries. An opinion piece from Just Auto, a London-based magazine providing global automotive industry news and analysis, shows that in 2023, the capacity utilization rates of auto companies in China such as BYD Group, Tesla’s Shanghai factory, and SAIC Group were around 80 percent. In comparison, Hyundai Motor’s capacity utilization rate was only 23 percent, and Kia Motor’s was only 25 percent.

The current production capacity of the global new energy industry is far from sufficient to meet the market demand.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global demand for NEVs will reach 45 million units by 2030, which is more than three times the global sales in 2023 and nearly five times the production in China in 2023. The global demand for power batteries will reach 3,500 GWh by 2030, which is more than four times the global volume in 2023 and more than five times the production volume in China in 2023.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in order to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, the global cumulative photovoltaic installed capacity needs to exceed 5,400 GW by 2030, which is nearly four times the global cumulative installed capacity in 2023 and about nine times the cumulative installed capacity in China in 2023.

The “overcapacity” narrative contradicts economic common sense.

According to economic law, countries participating in the global division of labor based on their comparative advantages is an important path to improve the global allocation of resources and an important way to improve productivity and people’s wellbeing.

In recent years, China’s new energy industry has achieved rapid development through vigorous market competition and continuous technological innovation – a fact evident to the international community.

China has always adhered to the principles of opening up and sharing, forming close industrial chain cooperation with various countries. This has promoted the improvement and upgrading of the global industrial chain, providing strong momentum for the new energy industry worldwide.

Labeling China’s new energy industry with “overcapacity” goes against the international division of labor and violates the principles of free trade and fair competition. It ignores the vital role of international trade in improving the wellbeing of people around the world.

China’s strengths in the new energy industry have been hard-earned through true capabilities and competitiveness.

China enjoys a comparative advantage stemming from its complete range of sectors and categories in manufacturing. China has been the world’s top manufacturing country for 14 consecutive years, with the added value of the manufacturing sector accounting for around 30 percent of the world’s total in 2023.

In the new energy sector, the country has developed a complete industrial chain encompassing material research, engineering design, manufacturing management, and final assembly and systems integration.

China benefits immensely from its vast domestic market and rich diversity of application scenarios. In 2023, both production and sales of China’s NEVs exceeded 9 million units, maintaining robust growth momentum. China’s huge consumer market provides a favorable environment for the research, development, and upgrade of new energy technologies.

Offering high-quality and affordable green products for countries worldwide, China has made a vital contribution to the global green and low-carbon transition.

(Jin Ruiting is a researcher with the Institute of Macroeconomic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission)

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by China to establish the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations. According to the resolution, June 10 was designated as the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations.

The resolution advocates respecting the diversity of civilizations and calls for equal dialogue and mutual respect among different civilizations. It fully reflects the core essence of the Global Civilizations Initiative (GCI) proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The unanimous support from the international community for setting up the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations demonstrates that the GCI conforms to the trend and meets the demand of the times.

In March 2023, Xi proposed the GCI, stressing the importance to advocate the respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

In today’s world where the futures of all countries are closely connected, the GCI offers answers to important questions such as how different civilizations should get along and where the human civilization is headed. It contributes Chinese wisdom and solutions to promoting mutual learning among civilizations and advancing the progress of human civilization.

China’s proposal to establish the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations at the UNGA helps implement the GCI and has injected positive energy into addressing common challenges faced by humanity.

China is committed to promoting mutual understanding, respect, and trust among nations, and seeks to build consensus on peaceful development through cultural exchanges and mutual learning.

In this year alone, the GCI has been incorporated into bilateral documents between China and over a dozen countries including Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Serbia, and Hungary, gaining increasingly widespread recognition and support.

In today’s world that has entered a new period of turbulence, multiple challenges and crises are intertwined. The international community has come to a deeper understanding that exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations contribute to enhancing understanding, trust, and cooperation, providing important impetus for human development and progress.

The resolution of the UNGA states that all civilizational achievements are “the collective heritage of humankind.”. It emphasizes “the crucial role of dialogue” among civilizations in maintaining world peace, promoting common development, enhancing human well-being, and achieving collective progress. This resolution reflects the universal aspiration of countries around the world to uphold equality and inclusiveness, and to maintain the diversity of world civilizations.

The resolution invites all member states and UN agencies to commemorate the International Day.

China will closely collaborate with all parties to organize diverse and vibrant activities for dialogue among civilizations. It will advocate for respecting the diversity of civilizations, promote the common values of humanity, value the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and actively promote people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, so as to achieve common prosperity and progress of human civilization.

The unanimous support from the international community for setting up the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations demonstrates that Chinese ideas and solutions are increasingly gaining international consensus.

No matter how the international landscape changes, China will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, and will advocate vigorously peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. It will uphold the shared values of humanity, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the GCI, and build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity.

The public goods provided by China to the international community gather humanity’s broadest common understanding of building a beautiful world, bringing prosperity and stability to the world and creating substantive benefits for the people.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed the United Nations’ high appreciation for China’s firm commitment to multilateralism and support for the GDI, GSI and GCI proposed by Xi, reaffirming the United Nations’ strong commitment to deepening cooperation with China.

The world today is living through accelerating changes unseen in a century, with frequent regional conflicts and disturbances. Global issues are becoming more acute. All parties need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation, to jointly inject stability and positive energy into the turbulent international situation.

China, starting from a righteous position and walking a path of great virtues, will keep working with relevant parties to implement the GDI, GSI and GCI, and resolutely build a community with a shared future for mankind.

By Li Jiabao, People’s Daily

Recently, a cargo train carrying 50 twenty-foot equivalent units of photovoltaic (PV) modules departed from Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province for Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.

As the first PV products-dedicated freight train between Wuhan and Central Asia, it will further promote China-Central Asia green cooperation.

Green has become the defining feature of the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Central Asia, as reflected by the efforts made by China in recent years to assist Central Asian countries in advancing energy transition and ecological conservation, from contracting green energy infrastructure projects to promoting water-efficient irrigation techniques, and to engaging in the ecological governance of the Aral Sea.

Central Asia boasts rich wind, solar, water and other renewable energy resources. As of the end of 2022, the total installed capacity of renewable energy projects invested and built by Chinese enterprises in Kazakhstan, including the 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm, Turgusun hydropower plant, and a wind project in Akmola Region, had exceeded 1,000 MW.

The 220 MWac Samarkand solar PV plant constructed by a Chinese company in Uzbekistan, is expected to provide electricity to 264,000 local households and reduce approximately 237,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

“With accelerated development of renewable energy projects and increased attention to environmental protection in the traditional energy sector, green development has become a highlight of China-Central Asia energy cooperation,” said Yang Jin, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CAAS).

Besides, Chinese new energy vehicles (NEVs) are favored by people in Central Asian countries, Yang told People’s Daily, adding that some Chinese automakers have set up factories in Central Asia for localized production in cooperation with local enterprises.

The Aral Sea, located in the border region between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, was once the fourth largest lake in the world. It faces a severe ecological crisis due to global warming and multiple human factors. According to statistics, the Aral Sea’s area has decreased by over 90 percent since 1960, with a large portion of the lakebed turning into bare land and salt flats, or covered by salt crust.

Remarkable progress has been made in the cooperative efforts of China and Central Asia to promote the ecological restoration of the Aral Sea. China has set up automatic meteorological and water quality monitoring networks in the Aral Sea drainage basin, planted halophytes to lower the salt content in local soil, promoted drip irrigation techniques and established big data analysis centers and joint labs with local universities. Chinese solutions to the ecological treatment of the Aral Sea have been recognized and welcomed by regional countries.

Yang attributed the prospering China-Central Asia cooperation on green development to their shared strategic vision of developing green economy and enhancing sustainable development capabilities, along with their high complementarity.

He said Central Asian countries, boasting abundant traditional energy reserves and great potential for developing renewable energy, are seeking to transition from an extensive and high-energy consumption development model to a green and low-carbon economy. China has a vast energy consumption market and stands ready to engage in international cooperation on green development.

With the technological edge in sectors such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and electric vehicles, China can support Central Asian countries in their green transition, Yang noted. He said that the two sides share the same vision and can leverage their respective strengths in green cooperation, which resonates with the global trend of green development.

China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners. The deepening collaboration between the two sides in recent years has paved the way for a more holistic approach to green cooperation.

Green cooperation and the development of green economy have been key discussions in Belt and Road cooperation, the China-Central Asia Summit, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. These cooperation mechanisms provide important platforms for dialogue and consensus-building in China-Central Asia green cooperation.

“The green cooperation between China and Central Asian countries has been expanding in both areas and scope. The cooperation between the two sides in digital economy, cross-border e-commerce, and tourism is also deepening, all contributing to the development of a Green Silk Road,” Yang said.

Moving forward, there remains significant untapped potential for China-Central Asia green cooperation, which will inject new impetus into the economic development of both sides and their cooperation across different sectors.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

A signing ceremony of an intergovernmental agreement on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project was held in Beijing on June 6. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the signing of the agreement via video link.

Xi said the signing of the intergovernmental agreement will provide a solid legal basis for the construction of the project, marking the transition of the railway from a vision into a reality, and demonstrating to the world the firm determination of the three countries to promote cooperation and seek development together.

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is a strategic project of connectivity between China and Central Asia, and a landmark project of the three countries’ cooperation efforts under the Belt and Road Initiative..

It was originally proposed back in 1996 by Uzbekistan. In the past nearly three decades, the three countries held multiple rounds of negotiations and discussions on the project. The feasibility study of the project was completed in May 2023, which put the implementation of the project on a fast track.

The signing of the trilateral intergovernmental agreement was a remarkable phased achievement of the project.

Japarov said the railway is a flagship project of the three countries in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Once completed, it will become a new transport route linking Asia to Europe and the Persian Gulf countries, which is of great significance to promoting connectivity and strengthening economic and trade exchanges among the countries along the route and in the region as a whole.

Mirziyoyev said the railway will become the shortest land route connecting China and Central Asian countries, and open up the big markets in South Asian and Middle East countries.

This will help further expand regional countries’ cooperation with China and deepen friendly ties among the countries, which serves the long-term interests of all the countries, Mirziyoyev added.

The signing of the trilateral intergovernmental agreement on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project demonstrates that China and Central Asian countries are fastening their steps of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

It was in Central Asia that the BRI was first announced. Central Asia is a demonstration zone of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with all five countries in the region.

The Horgos International Border Cooperation Center on the China-Kazakhstan border in Horgos, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, opened the gateway to the Pacific for Central Asian countries.

The Qamchiq Tunnel on the Angren-Pap railway line, the longest tunnel in Central Asia, holed through by a Chinese company, local residents no longer had to travel up and down the mountains or go around them via neighboring countries.

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Highway has officially opened, becoming an important transport artery that runs smoothly through the regions’ mountainous terrain. Now, nearly 80 percent of the China-Europe Railway Express trains run through Central Asia, they are hailed as a “steel caravan” on the Eurasian continent.

China and Central Asian countries have reaped tangible and fruitful results in Belt and Road cooperation that benefited the region and its people in various ways.

At the first China-Central Asia Summit held in May last year, all parties highly praised the important significance of the BRI in leading international cooperation. They vowed to further align the BRI and the development strategies of the five Central Asian countries, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, so as to form a new pattern of cooperation characterized by a high level of complementarity and mutual benefit.

The accelerated high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Central Asian countries fully demonstrates that BRI cooperation responds to the call of the times, benefits the peoples in participating countries, and enjoys popular support.

Since the BRI was proposed 10 years ago, China has signed over 200 Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations, making the initiative the world’s largest international cooperation platform that covers the widest range of cooperation.

The BRI not only brings tangible benefits to countries involved but also contributes actively to promoting healthy development of economic globalization, addressing global development challenges, and improving the global governance system.

Belt and Road cooperation promotes connectivity, mutual benefit, common development, cooperation and win-win outcomes. It represents the advancing of the times, and it is the right path forward.

China hopes to work closely with all parties for the early completion of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project at an early date, and turbocharges the China-Central Asia cooperation.

China will continue to deepen its Belt and Road partnership with various parties, including Central Asian countries, and build more cooperation belts for high-quality development and more roads to happiness that benefit people’s livelihoods, making unremitting efforts to contribute to the modernization of countries around the world.

By Wang Zheng, People’s Daily

On May 14, Leapmotor International, a joint venture established by Leapmotor, a Chinese maker of electric vehicles, and Stellantis, a multinational auto company headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, began operation. Four months later, two pure electric models of Leapmotor will be exported to nine European countries including France, Italy and Germany.

On May 20, German carmaker Audi and Chinese car manufacturer SAIC Motor announced to jointly develop a new platform for intelligent and electric vehicles.

The increasing international cooperation exactly mirrors China’s leading position in the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) worldwide.

In recent years, the Chinese automotive industry, striving to manufacture electrified, intelligent, and connected products, has been actively promoting innovation in technologies, products, and business models.

In 2023, China’s sales of NEVs exceeded 9.49 million units, nearly 126 times compared to 2014 and accounting for over 60 percent of the global market share, ranking first globally for nine consecutive years. The proportion of NEVs in China’s annual sales of automobiles has increased to 31.6 percent.

However, 10 years ago, the global NEV industry was still an emerging sector heavily reliant on charging infrastructure and had yet to achieve commercialization. Numerous obstacles stood in the way of its progress, such as underdeveloped technologies, potential safety concerns regarding batteries, high production costs, poor user experience, and an untapped market.

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), attributed the huge achievements of the Chinese NEV industry to the country’s forward-looking and highly practical industrial policies, and its strategic efforts to advance future-oriented charging infrastructure.

He said that the technological innovation made by the industry and relevant enterprises as well as the vast Chinese market also contributed significantly to such achievements.

In the past decade, China has introduced over 70 policies and measures to bolster its NEV industry. It has established a complete and coordinated industrial system, fostered the world’s largest market for NEV consumption, and built a favorable environment in which the NEV sector and relevant industries mutually reinforce each other through win-win cooperation.

Wei Yeguo, who lives in Xinglong township, Wanning, south China’s Hainan province, bought a pure electric vehicle produced by Chinese NEV giant BYD last September.

“We have installed a charging pole at home, which makes charging incredibly affordable. Over the past six months, I have saved at least 10,000 yuan compared to driving a fuel-powered car,” Wei told People’s Daily.

If favorable policies were what propelled NEV sales in the early stage of the industry development, then the increasingly convenient and diversified charging modes and low charging costs have become the market catalysts sustaining the rapid and continued growth of China’s NEV industry after the phase-out of subsidies in 2023.

China has built the world’s largest and most extensive-coverage charging infrastructure network. As of the end of 2023, the number of NEV charging facilities in China has grown 65 percent year on year, reaching almost 8.6 million.

Besides, China has witnessed continuous extension of industrial chains in power battery recycling and reuse, cascade utilization, and material regeneration. More than 10,000 power battery recycling service outlets have been built across the country, making local recycling possible.

Recently, a Chinese extended-range vehicle drove 2,141.4 kilometers from Wuhu, southeast China’s Anhui province, to Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, without recharging or refueling during a livestream event, which attracted massive attention.

Notably, the vehicle, manufactured by Exeed, the premium brand of Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., completed the challenge in 42.5 hours with a full load.

Huang Zhaogen, assistant general manager of Chery, said the challenge set a new record for the maximum range achieved by Chinese NEVs, thanks to Chery’s technological innovation.

To alleviate the range anxiety of users and make charging more convenient, Chinese NEV companies have kept developing new technologies and business models, and upgrading their core technologies. Besides, they have made progress in intelligent connected vehicle technologies.

For example, Jidu Auto, a joint venture between Chinese carmaker Geely and tech giant Baidu, launched its first artificial intelligence-powered electric vehicle called Jiyue 01 last year. The model is equipped with Baidu’s integrated AI system Ernie Bot, a large language model. At the 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Geely exhibited the world’s first AI digital chassis.

According to statistics, 56.2 percent of passenger vehicles sold in China in the first quarter of 2024 were equipped with Level 2 or above driver assistance systems. Besides, 81.5 percent of the vehicles came with navigation systems and 87.9 percent had voice control systems.

Intelligent factories, fully-connected 5G factories, and green factories are springing up across China. Empowered by digital technologies, China’s NEVs are of better quality, making new strides in high-end, intelligent, and green development.

“In the first four months of this year, China’s NEV production and sales reached 2.985 million and 2.94 million units respectively, a year-on-year growth of 30.3 percent and 32.3 percent,” Fu told People’s Daily.

The CAAM predicted that the production and sales of NEVs in China will make new records and exceed 10 million units this year, Fu added.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The ascender of China’s Chang’e-6 probe lifted off from the lunar surface on June 4, carrying samples collected from the moon’s far side, which marked a historic step in humanity’s peaceful use of outer space.

The international community has closely followed the Chang’e-6 mission, recognizing its significant contribution to the progress of space exploration for humanity. The mission was said to be a leapfrog achievement of China’s space exploration, a key milestone of the country’s aerospace development, and a historic moment in human lunar exploration.

The Chang’e-6 mission’s voyage to the far side of the moon marked a historic milestone, not only for China’s space exploration endeavors but also for humanity’s peaceful use of space.

Before Chang’e-6 was sent to space, all 10 lunar sample return missions conducted by humans by far have taken place on the near side of the moon.

The South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon is considered the largest, oldest and deepest basin on the lunar surface. Collecting and analyzing samples from this region would mark the first time for humanity to obtain samples from the far side of the moon, and thereby deepen humanity’s understanding of the moon’s formation and the evolution of the solar system.

To achieve this goal, Chang’e-6 incorporated a number of innovations, successfully overcoming the technical challenges in each stage of its mission, including landing on the far side of the moon, collecting samples, and lifting off from the lunar surface.

Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), congratulated China on the remarkable success of Chang’e-6 mission thus far, calling it a “wonderful accomplishment.”

Al Jazeera of Qatar reported that the Chang’e-6 landing marks China’s second descent on the far side of the moon, where no other country has reached. The mission “involves many engineering innovations, high risks and great difficulty,” the report added.

China has always been actively promoting international cooperation in lunar and deep space exploration, exactly mirrored by the international payloads onboard the Chang’e-6 lander, which are from the ESA, France, Italy, and Pakistan.

During the Chang’e-6 mission, Chinese scientists have shared scientific data and conducted joint research with their foreign counterparts.

For instance, the French lunar radon detector functioned during the Earth-moon transfer, lunar orbit, and lunar surface stages; the ESA’s lunar surface negative ion analyzer operated during the lunar surface stage.

Additionally, an Italian laser retroreflector mounted on the top of the lander of Chang’e-6 served as a position control point for distance measurements on the far side of the moon.

The Chang’e-6 mission also carried ICUBE-Q, a cube satellite from Pakistan, which marked the first step of Pakistan’s space exploration and signified the dedication of Pakistani scientists.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the ICUBE-Q moon satellite is Pakistan’s first step in space and the country’s scientists and engineers are proving their abilities in this field just like they did in the other fields. This is a historic moment in the journey of technological advancement as with this important success, Pakistan has entered a new era of utilizing space for its objectives, he added.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China’s lunar exploration project. Over the past 20 years, the country has constantly set new records in humanity’s exploration of the moon: from Chang’e-1 capturing a complete map of the moon’s surface, to Chang’e-4 achieving humanity’s first soft-landing on the far side of the moon; from Chang’e-5 returning with lunar soil samples, to Chang’e-6 successfully retrieving samples from the moon’s far side.

Chinese space experts and personnel have always followed the lunar exploration spirit of pursuing dreams, daring to explore, cooperating in tackling difficulties and win-win cooperation. They are striving to make China strong in the aerospace sector, while also making pioneering contributions to humanity’s peaceful use of space and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

James Carpenter, ESA’s head of planetary science research, said that it is really fantastic to see how China’s lunar program has grown and become world class. “We feel privileged and happy to be part of it. We are also interested in further cooperation exploring the solar system.”

China’s Chang’e-7 lunar exploration mission, scheduled for launch around 2026, will carry six scientific instruments developed by six countries and one international organization, namely Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and the International Lunar Observatory Association.

Besides, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a comprehensive scientific experiment facility program initiated by China and jointly developed by multiple countries and organizations, is moving forward rapidly. Recently, the ILRS has added new partners, including Nicaragua, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, and the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences.

The whole world is anticipating the safe return of Chang’e-6 with the “lunar treasures.” Moving forward, humanity will never cease the steps of space exploration. China will continue to deepen international aerospace exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use, and inclusive development. It stands ready to share development achievements with countries around the world, and work with them to explore the mysteries of the universe, expand human knowledge, improve the well-being of humanity, and serve human civilizations.