Nigeria Times

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The 2024 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance was held in Shanghai from July 4 to 6. The event was an important step to implement the Global Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Themed “Governing AI for Good and for All,” the conference embodied the fundamental principles of the initiative and reflected the common aspirations of the international community.

In October 2023, at the Opening Ceremony of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will put forward the Global Initiative for AI Governance, which presents a constructive approach to addressing universal concerns over AI development and governance and offers Chinese solutions to relevant international discussions and rule-making.

The initiative has provided fundamental guidance for China to participate in global AI governance and serves as an important public good that China offers the world. China has been actively implementing the initiative and deeply engaging in global AI governance, which has been widely endorsed and appreciated by the international community.

The 2024 WAIC has established a crucial platform for international AI exchanges and cooperation.

Following the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and equal participation, the conference has brought together representatives from different countries and sectors to advance AI development, security, and governance. It aims to develop an open, fair, and effective governance mechanism and ensure that the innovative achievements of AI truly benefit humanity.

The conference included an opening ceremony, which is also the plenary session, three main forums on global governance, industrial development, and scientific frontier, and 10 themed forums and several industry forums covering key topics such as AI governance, large models, embodied intelligence, investment and financing, education, and talent development. It also included AI exhibitions, awards ceremonies, competitions, and intelligent experience.

The conference has brought together over 1,000 leading figures worldwide. More than 200,000 government officials, and representatives of international organizations, industries, universities and research institutes, among others, have attended the conference and shared their profound insights and perspectives into global AI governance, development and practical cooperation. Together, they have built a broad consensus through mutual learning.

China’s active participation and significant leadership in global AI governance demonstrate its role as a responsible major country.

On July 1, the 78th UN General Assembly recently adopted a China-led resolution on enhancing international AI cooperation, with over 140 countries supporting it. This resolution, as the UN’s first on international cooperation for AI capacity building, fully embodies the core principles of the Global Initiative for AI Governance and the Global Development Initiative. It aligns with the high expectations of numerous UN member states, particularly developing countries, and represents broad and robust support for multilateralism and the UN.

The resolution plays an important role in promoting inclusive AI development around the world, and has won wide support and high evaluation from the international community, especially the Global South. It marks another significant step in practicing the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind on the UN platform.

The unanimous adoption of this resolution reflects a widespread agreement among UN member states on the necessity of enhancing global AI governance through dialogue and cooperation. It also demonstrates China’s responsible approach and significant leadership in AI development and governance. It has proved that building “small yard, high fence” and exclusive blocs in AI development and governance is not in line with the trend of the times or the interests of all parties.

The technological revolution and industrial transformation driven by AI are nurturing tremendous new opportunities, and will undoubtedly bring more confidence and hope to the world.

China will continue to advance the great cause of building a community with a shared future for mankind and fully demonstrate its sense of duty as a responsible major country. Taking the 2024 WAIC as an opportunity, China will continue to follow the principles of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefits, actively participate in and lead global AI governance, and work together with all parties to promote the healthy, safe, fair, and orderly development of AI worldwide.

By Lin Lili, People’s Daily

Product barcode, the black and white strips with corresponding numbers printed on the packages of a commodity, is the the unique identification of a product, as well as an “ID card” and “passport” in market circulation.

In the first quarter of this year, China registered 4.13 million types of new consumer goods using product barcodes, a year-on-year increase of 9.5 percent. The total types of consumer goods in the country exceeded 196.15 million, among the highest in the world.

With this “ID card,” a product can be quickly identified and read by supermarkets’ cash register scanners, warehouse management readers, and consumers’ smartphone cameras. With backend data in information systems, information such as the product’s specifications, price, manufacturer, and other extended details can be obtained.

This enables fast and accurate operations such as searching, price comparison, inventory, and settlement, ensuring that products can be found quickly, accurately, and correctly in a vast amount of information, as well as the compliant, safe, and efficient circulation of goods.

Barcodes reveal the trend of consumption recovery in the Chinese market. In 2023, there were 19.64 million types of newly registered consumer goods using barcodes, a year-on-year increase of 19.2 percent. It marked the first positive growth in China in the past four years. Among the 41 major categories of consumer goods using barcodes, 39 experienced growth, reflecting a vibrant and encouraging picture of consumption recovery in the Chinese market.

Feng Bin, an official with the GS1 China, said that with the implementation of national policies to restore and expand consumption, service-oriented sectors such as tourism and entertainment are seeing a significant uptick. This, combined with a surge in consumer spending, is fueling an increase in the supply of consumer goods, he added.

“The stimulus from policies and increased willingness are the reasons behind the rebound in the growth of newly registered consumer goods in China. It signifies that sustained consumer demand is an important force supporting economic growth,” said Zhu Yanjian, director of the Department of Finance at Zhejiang University’s School of Economics.

According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2024, an average of about 400 companies successfully applied for product barcodes per working day. As of the end of March 2024, the total number of registered barcode users in China exceeded 1.2 million, leading the world for years.

At present, the increasing vitality at the consumer end is impacting the production end. “The barcode of a product is registered by the enterprise and represents the true entry of the product into the market. The rebound in this statistical data indicates that the recovery of the consumer market is effectively driving production on the supply side,” Zhu told People’s Daily.

The barcode data obtained in the first quarter reveals a significant growth in audiovisual and photography products related to livestreaming. There has been an impressive increase of 59,000 new varieties, representing a year-on-year growth of 124.4 percent. Notably, there has been a substantial rise in recording or digital media equipment with an addition of 24,235 varieties, followed by a growth of 10,416 varieties in photography equipment and 7,761 varieties in audiovisual accessories.

These figures indicate the rapid development of the livestreaming industry, which has forcefully driven the rapid growth of audiovisual and photography products, Feng said.

According to him, these numbers demonstrate the immense potential and vitality of the Chinese online audiovisual market, as well as the flourishing development of the related industrial chain. Particularly, the strong demand for high-definition cameras and professional microphones driven by the livestreaming business has injected new momentum into the audiovisual and photography industry.

By tracking the barcodes, it is possible to create a big data profile for billions of products, providing insights into industry development trends.

Looking at the growth of categories, in the first quarter, out of the 41 major categories of registered consumer goods using barcodes, 27, or 65.9 percent, experienced positive growth. Among them, the top five categories with the highest number of new additions were clothing, food, beverages and tobacco, healthcare products, footwear, and beauty, personal care and hygiene products.

Zhu believes that the accelerated improvement in the supply of consumer goods closely related to people’s daily lives, such as clothing, food, healthcare, and personal care, explains that people’s needs for a better life are well addressed.

In the future, the country should guide and encourage the consumption of services in fields with higher technological content, such as smart home furnishing, high-tech electronic products, etc. In this way, consumption upgrade will effectively drive the transformation and upgrading of industries.

Feng said that as China cultivates and strengthens new forms of consumption such as digital consumption, green consumption, and health consumption, and the policies promoting large-scale equipment renewals and trade-ins of consumer goods take effect, greater consumption potential is expected to be unleashed, which will further stimulate market vitality, and promote high-quality economic and social development.

By Tang Tianyi, People’s Daily

Athletes attending the Paris Olympics have entered the final preparation phase as the Games is approaching. And joining them on the Olympic stage are a multitude of sports equipment manufactured by Chinese companies.

From barbells to bicycles, and from ping pong tables to court flooring, an ever-growing array of Chinese-made products are making a dazzling appearance at prestigious international sports events.

On July 2, a service team of China’s Taishan Sports departed for Paris. The seven-time Olympic supplier will provide equipment for multiple events during the Paris Olympics, including wrestling, boxing, judo, cycling, taekwondo and gymnastics.

As the exclusive supplier of weightlifting equipment for the Paris Olympics, Hebei Zhangkong Barbell Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Zhangkong Barbell) delivered its weightlifting equipment to Paris in early May this year. Unlike those in the previous editions, the weightlifting training venue for the Paris Olympics is located within the Olympic Village, and all types of equipment have been installed recently. The Chinese company has also updated the assembly structure of the weightlifting platforms in the training venue to make them more secure.

Chinese-made products will be a standout feature in the table tennis venue of the Paris Olympics. Ping pong tables manufactured by Chinese equipment supplier DHS and ping pong balls made by Chinese manufacturer Double Fish have been shipped all the way from Shanghai and Guangzhou to Paris.

Additionally, Chinese sports flooring supplier Enlio based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province will supply the table tennis venue with rubber flooring and also provide flooring for the 3×3 basketball event.

Chinese manufacturers have gone from strength to strength, making their marks on the Olympic stage multiple times. Besides, they are also seizing opportunities at other international sports events to expand their market.

“In the past, the metal plates of the barbell were secured to the outer rubber ring with screws. However, during impact, gaps would appear between the rubber ring and the metal plates, causing imbalance and affecting the concentricity and stability of the barbell,” said Zhang Zhiguo, general manager of Zhangkong Barbell.

To solve this problem, the company established an R&D team that independently developed a press machine able to complete a barbell plate in just half an hour. This technological innovation has not only improved production efficiency but also eliminated various deviations. Once the new products manufactured with this machine were launched, they gained wide popularity in the international market.

After 40 years of development, Zhangkong Barbell has gradually made its way from a small family workshop to the international stage. Currently, the company is selling their products to 136 countries and regions, supplying equipment for over 30 world-class weightlifting events.

In recent years, Chinese companies have increased their research and development efforts to improve the technological content and added value of their products, striving for the transition from “made in China” to “created in China.”

As the first Chinese brand to appear in Olympic cycling games, Pardus bikes manufactured by Taishan Sports will assist the Chinese cycling team in Paris. With its own R&D teams and factories, Pardus has customized road bikes, track bikes, and time trial bikes for the Chinese team, providing strong support for athletes to strive for excellent.

“We design our products to meet athletes’ specific needs. Our philosophy is to make bikes adapt to athletes, not the other way around,” said Wang Chunqing, general manager of Shandong Taishan Ruibao Composite Material Co., Ltd., owner of the Pardus brand.

The Ping Pong balls produced by Double Fish for the Paris Olympics must go through 15 quality checks before they are shipped to Paris. They have smaller tolerances in terms of roundness, hardness, weight, and elasticity compared to the standards set by the International Table Tennis Federation.

The smaller the tolerance, the more precise the ball’s hitting point, and the more stable the trajectory, which helps athletes perform exceptionally. The stringent standards greatly test the manufacturer’s production techniques and testing capabilities, promoting high-quality development in the industry. The smaller the tolerance, the more precise the hitting point of the ping pong ball and the more stable its trajectory. This helps athletes perform excellently.

These stringent standards greatly challenge manufacturers’ production skills and testing capabilities, and would drive high-quality development of the industry.

The year 2024 is packed with major international sports events, including the UEFA European Championship, Copa America, and the Paris Olympics. Many Chinese companies are leveraging these high-profile competitions to boost their market presence and meet growing demand.

One standout example is a processing and trading enterprise in Huai’an, east China’s Jiangsu province. By innovatively embedding chips into soccer ball bladders, they’ve captured significant attention in overseas markets. The company’s success is evident in their fully booked foreign trade orders, stretching through the end of the year.

Chinese innovation is making its mark on the global sports stage. European professional soccer fields now feature Chinese artificial turf technology. FIBA officials have invited Chinese equipment manufacturers to participate in product standard certification. Chinese firm Hisense has become the official VAR (Video Assistant Referee) display partner for the UEFA European Championship 2024. These examples vividly showcase the ambition and capabilities of Chinese companies.

By He Linping, Cheng Yuanzhou, People’s Daily

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a mega cross-sea passage in south China, had handled 305,000 vehicles as of July 3, according to data from China’s Guangdong Transportation Group.

The 24-kilometer passage was officially opened to traffic on June 30, representing the world’s first cross-sea cluster project that features two bridges, two artificial islands and an underwater tunnel. Bridging Shenzhen in the east of the Pearl River Estuary with Zhongshan in the west, it has significantly reduced travel time between the two cities from about two hours to under 30 minutes.

The massive transportation project commenced construction in February 2017 and took over seven years to complete. It utilized a number of new technologies, equipment, materials, and processes, managed to overcome multiple world-class technical challenges and set multiple world records.

The link features a two-way, eight-lane tunnel that spans 6.8 kilometers under the sea, consisting of 32 immersed tubes and one final closure joint. It is the world’s longest and widest underwater steel-shell concrete tunnel, also one of the most challenging projects worldwide.

Viewed from above, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, one of the key projects of the link, resembles the majestic backbone of a dragon.

Such magnificence meant unprecedented technological challenges met by engineers during the construction, said Song Shenyou, head of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link administration center of Guangdong Provincial Communications Group Co., Ltd., also chief engineer of the project.

According to Song, one of the primary focuses during construction is to ensure that ships can navigate in and out of the Pearl River Estuary, as the link serves as a core transportation hub project in the bustling Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a major center for foreign trade in China.

To facilitate smooth ship navigation, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, with a main span of 1,666 meters, adopts the offshore steel box girder suspension bridge design, also the world’s largest of its kind. It boasts the highest bridge deck of 91 meters and the highest air traffic clearance altitude of 76.5 meters worldwide.

However, the bridge also faces substantial obstacles in wind resistance as it is located in the open waters of the Pearl River Estuary, which is prone to strong typhoons.

To tackle these challenges, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link administration center collaborated with multiple universities and research institutions, conducting research for over three years. Together, they have developed a new combined aerodynamic control technology that has greatly enhanced the wind resistance capabilities of the large-span steel box girder suspension bridge. The highest flutter critical wind speed for the bridge has been lifted to 88 meters per second.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has achieved full 5G coverage, providing passengers with strong signals throughout their journey, whether on the open sea or in the extraordinarily long underwater tunnel.

The ceiling of the underwater tunnel features an artfully designed motif with blue skies and white clouds. This eye-catching display is created by an array of uniquely shaped, colorful lights arranged at different angles. Apart from being visually appealing, such a unique design also serves practical functions such as safety guidance and color-coded alerts.

On the western artificial island of the project, there is a 55-meter-tall ventilation tower, the tallest single structure on the island. It functions as the “respiratory system” for the entire tunnel, said Zhu Dingtao, an engineer with the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link administration center. Positioned near the tunnel entrance, the tower works with axial fans to expel exhaust gas from the tunnel; in case of a fire, it can quickly remove smoke from the immersed tube, added Zhu.

In addition to the ventilation tower, there is a central utility tunnel that runs between the two-way traffic lanes of the underwater tunnel. It serves as the “nerve center” of the entire structure, home to various equipment including power supply, water supply and drainage, fire protection, communications, and intelligent control facilities. It also acts as a crucial emergency escape route, allowing people to access the opposite traffic lane for evacuation in case of emergencies.

In the command center of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, there is a digital twin platform developed in tandem with the project. This platform uses precise 3D simulation modeling technology to recreate a 1:1 scale replica of the physical environment of the bridges, artificial islands, and tunnel of link. It provides a real-time, 24-hour view of vehicle traffic and includes smart management functions such as intelligent vehicle tracking, driving behavior analysis, and monitoring of vehicles carrying hazardous materials.

During the construction of the link, an array of cutting-edge technologies have been employed to ensure safety and efficiency.

For instance, a network of fixed cameras has been installed throughout the tunnel to identify overheating vehicles before they enter the tunnel, track them in the tunnel and make immediate response if emergencies happen.

Weather sensors and meteorological radar systems have been installed to monitor meteorological conditions in real time. The information they obtained is then combined with weather forecasting data to predict potential weather-related hazards. This integrated approach allows for early detection of adverse weather conditions that could affect driving safety on the bridge sections and artificial islands.

Besides, there are 14 intelligent inspection robots capable of collecting data on the tunnel’s environment and the conditions of its equipment and facilities.

All these advanced systems allow for rapid coordination with nearby fire and rescue services, traffic police, medical units, and emergency response units to ensure driving safety.

By Xie Weiqun, Shen Wenmin, People’s Daily

In China’s National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center in Zhangjiang High-tech Park, Shanghai, a remarkable full-sized general-purpose humanoid robot named “Healthy Loong” has attracted wide attention.

The 1.85-meter robot with 43 spherical joints can engage in fast walking, swiftly avoid obstacles, steadily mount up and down slopes, and resist impact interference.

So far, many prototypes of general-purpose humanoid robots have been launched in Shanghai.

In recent years, Shanghai has been exploring effective pathways with a reform-minded approach to accelerate the convergence of key artificial intelligence (AI) elements in order to build a high ground for AI development.

The city has been improving coordination mechanisms to address challenges in industrial development. “Innovation in AI requires us to stimulate reform vitality and provide more policy services,” said Zhang Ying, head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.

In October 2022, Shanghai implemented a local regulation on boosting the development of the AI industry, followed by policies and measures to advance the unified scheduling of computing resources, new infrastructure construction, and large model innovation.

The city is advancing multiple plans to support model innovation, accelerate the development of intelligent computing, and promote demonstration applications.

It is also working to establish a center for large model testing, verification, and collaborative innovation, an alliance for corpus data, platforms for intelligent computing scheduling, centers for hardware-software compatibility evaluation, and open-source communities for large models.

Shanghai’s Pudong New Area is promoting the development of companies focused on intelligent computing chips and humanoid robots, while the Xuhui district is fostering cluster innovation of algorithm enterprises, especially in large models. The city has also built large-scale intelligent computing clusters, primarily deployed in Songjiang district and Lingang new area, to support large model training.

Shanghai has formed a “4+X” cluster pattern, centered on the Zhangjiang AI Island in Pudong, the Shanghai AI Tower in Xuhui, the Dishui Lake AI Innovation Hub in Lingang, and the Maqiao AI Innovation Experimental Zone in Minhang district.

With an eye on both the present and future, Shanghai is rapidly building an open, secure, and vibrant innovation ecosystem. The city is creating a software-hardware compatibility and testing system, supporting the Shanghai AI Laboratory in establishing deeply linked software-hardware compatibility solutions, and promoting cooperation between the laboratory and companies like INESA (Group) Co., Ltd. to provide a basis for chip selection for the construction of the intelligent computing center.

Shanghai has also established an innovation center for humanoid robot manufacturing to accelerate industrial chain integration, create a humanoid robot industrial base, reduce algorithmic innovation costs for enterprises, and promote the standardization of components. The city is building a multi-level talent system and has established the Artificial Intelligence Industry Security Expert Advisory Committee to provide talent and intellectual support for the development of the AI industry.

AI technologies are being rapidly adopted across various sectors, demonstrating significant growth and potential.

SenseTime, a Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer, has launched an enterprise-level large model integrated machine that can simultaneously support enterprise-level trillion-parameter model acceleration and knowledge retrieval hardware acceleration, saving 80 percent of costs compared to similar products.

Shanghai-based AI company Intsig is contributing to the protection of traditional Chinese culture by using generative AI technology to restore pages and text of the Dunhuang manuscripts, a wide variety of documents in Chinese and other languages that were discovered at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu province.

Shanghai First People’s Hospital is applying Alipay’s “AI medical assistant” solution to provide patients with a voice-interactive “AI Doctor.” The SMC Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, one of China’s first dedicated incubators and accelerators for large-scale AI models, has already attracted over 80 large model enterprises.

From 2018 to 2023, the number of AI enterprises above the designated size in Shanghai increased from 183 to 348, with the industry value surging from 134 billion yuan ($18.44 billion) to over 380 billion yuan. The city is now home to over 100 large model enterprises, with 34 large models having passed filing procedures.