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The number of Chinese artificial intelligence companies has surged from just over 1400 to more than 5000 in the past five years.
That is according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said that China has set up more than 40000 smart factories, 11 national pilot zones for AI innovation and application, as well as 17 national demonstration zones for intelligent connected vehicle testing.
Shin added that a 60 billion yuan around 84 billion US dollar National AI Industry Investment Fund has been launched.
Accompanied by rules on AI ethics, China Bricks Center for AI Development and Cooperation and over 240 standards for core AI technologies.
The China Internet Development Report 2021 noted that in 2020, There were only 1454 AI companies in the country.
China has placed strong emphasis on promoting its AI industry.
In 2017, the State Council released a development plan for the next generation of AI.
This August, it followed up with guidelines on advancing the AI Plus initiative, designed to accelerate the building of an intelligent economy and a smart society characterized by human machine collaboration, cross-sector integration and shared innovation.
Even after the summer transportation peak, the China-Laos railway remains a bustling hub for international freight, as front-end loaders in Kunming shuttle busily to load and unload cold-chain containers brimming with durian.
Nearby, the Hongyun International Logistics Port covers an area of about 160,000 square metres.
Li Rongping, chairman of Hong Yun International Supply Chain, said that at the end of 2023, they integrated railway logistics with a comprehensive park.
Li added that this setup provides customers with one-stop services including warehousing distribution, packaging and container storage and repair.
During the peak durian season.
Efficient transfer operations include take place daily at the container handling platform of the logistics port.
In under 40 minutes, around 18 tonnes of durian are transferred from railway containers to trucks and then transported to nearby fruit markets.
Through the China-Laos Railways Lansang Mekong Express, goods can be delivered from Vientiane Laos, to Kunming in just 26 hours.
That is, according to Ou Daocheng, head of the marketing department of at the starting station of the Kunming International Land Port.
The railway ensures a steady, fast supply of South East Asian durian, keeping the fruit fresh and flavourful for Chinese consumers.
Since its official opening in December 2021, the China-Laos Railway has served as a convenient logistics channel between China and ASEAN, with continuously upgraded transport services.
Tianhao Wen, with the Kunming Bureau of China State Railway Group, said that in early 2022, China Railway Kunming Group Company launched the Lansang Mekong Express that offers fixed arrival times and faster customs clearance and operation speeds compared to other international cargo trains.
Before the railway, Southeast Asian durian entered China by road or sea, facing challenges like long transit times, weather-related delays and damage to the fruit.
Wang Hao, general manager of a Sichuan-based import and export company, said that the China-Laos railway has significantly reduced both the damage rate and transportation costs for imported durian.
The company expects a 20% increase in durian trade volume this year compared to 2024.
According to China Railway Kunming Group Company, as of August 26th this year, more than 150000 tonnes of durian have been imported via the China-Laos railway, a 91 year-on-year increase.
Beyond efficient railway transportation, improved logistics facilities have also energised the Durian supply chain.
Currently, there are five railroad combined transport routes for importing durian from Laos to Sichuan, enabling rapid distribution across China.
Recently, a cold chain special train carrying nearly 300 tonnes of durian arrived in Chengdu from Vientiane.
After transshipment, the durian was quickly dispatched to fruit markets in Beijing Xi'an, Lhasa and Guangzhou.
Recent excavations have revealed traces of wooden coffins in ancient tombs discovered in central China, pushing back the understanding of when China's coffin burial tradition began to more than 8000 years ago.
According to the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, this evidence of wooden coffins was recently unearthed in Jiahu Village in central China's Henan Province.
Previously, the Jiahu site gained attention for yielding China's earliest known musical instruments bone flutes.
Wei Xingtao, deputy director of the institute, said these are the oldest wooden coffins ever discovered in China, moving the timeline for wooden burial vessels in China back by approximately 2000 years.
Han Jianye, a professor with the School of History at Renmin University of China, said that previously the academic consensus was that wooden coffins first emerged during the early Darwin Co culture, approximately 6000 years ago.
And the discovery of wooden coffins at the Jahu site provides new material evidence to trace the origins of prehistoric wooden burial containers.
The Jahoo site was a large, culturally rich early Neolithic settlement.
In addition to the famed bone flutes, it has yielded numerous other artefacts, including turtle shells, pottery and stone tools, all of which hold great importance in exploring the origins of Chinese civilization.
Since 2023, the Henan Institute has been conducting archaeological excavations at the site.
Its latest research has confirmed that it was a moat-encircled settlement that covered an area of 65000 square metres, with distinct functional zones located within its boundaries.
Li Jindou, excavation field director at the Jahu site, said that more than 200 tombs have been identified in the central burial area, ten of which show evidence of wooden coffins.
Li noted that some of the coffins measured about two metres in length, 60 centimetres in width and 6 cm in thickness.
Li added that soil analysis from their burial context revealed a significantly high concentration of lignin compared to the surrounding areas.
This is Chinese.
Researchers have developed a hybrid framework to trace sources and change of on-road carbon dioxide emissions in real time with 30-metre resolution.
That is according to a research article recently published in the journal sustainable cities and society.
This technology is being applied in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province, and is expected to be used in more cities in the future to assess and promote carbon dioxide reduction on urban roads.
Urban expansion and population mobility have driven a continuous rise in road carbon dioxide emissions, posing significant challenges in terms of local climate regulation, public health and carbon neutrality.
Wang Li, corresponding author of the paper, said that a key limitation of previous carbon emission inventories is their coarse spatial resolution.
Wang said that this lack of detail makes it difficult to capture fine scale variations in emissions from different road segments or over time.
Consequently, it becomes even more challenging to accurately trace the sources of emissions or to explain what causes them.
The development of precise monitoring methods for performing multi-factor analysis of on-road carbon dioxide levels is considered of great importance for their effective reduction.
Wang, also a researcher at the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team developed a framework to predict the hourly 30-metre resolution of the on-road carbon dioxide concentration and also provide a daytime dynamic carbon dioxide measurement.
Increment prediction in urban traffic networks.
This development integrates AI with panoramic cameras, high-precision greenhouse gas analysers and meteorological sensors to synchronously acquire multi-source data on road carbon dioxide concentrations, traffic volumes, building layouts, as well as vegetation cover and meteorological conditions during mobile surveys.
The research team achieved an average identification accuracy of over 93% for emission sources.
Meanwhile, this framework can quantify the influence of individual factors, such as traffic conditions, surrounding land cover and meteorological variables, thereby clearly revealing the spatio-temporal dynamics and driving mechanisms of carbon emissions.
Wang said, this technique represents an innovative deployment of AI in environmental monitoring, as well as enabling a multi-dimensional and full-spectrum carbon monitoring system combined with conventional emission inventories and satellite-based greenhouse gas monitoring technologies.
Hong Kong has leapt markedly to fourth in the World Talent Ranking 2025 released by the International Institute for Management Development, up from ninth spot last year.
The Switzerland-based business school said in the report that Hong Kong has achieved its highest ever position in the ranking, securing the top position in Asia.
According to the report, the city has seen improvements across all three talent competitiveness factors for the second consecutive year.
Its position in appeal rose to 20th, while rankings in readiness and investment and development climbed to 3rd and 12th respectively.
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said that Hong Kong, Ranking first in Asia, showed that the policy and measures of the Hong Kong SAR government in education, innovation and technology and talent admission are on the right track and yielding results.
By the end of August this year, more than 520000 applications were received under various talent admission schemes, with over 350000 applications approved.
During the same period, more than 230000 people of talent arrived in Hong Kong through various talent admission schemes.
Recent excavations have revealed traces of wooden coffins in ancient tombs discovered in central China, pushing back the understanding of when China's coffin burial tradition began to more than 8000 years ago.
According to the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, this evidence of wooden coffins was recently unearthed in Jiahu Village in central China's Henan province.
Previously, the Jahu site gained attention for yielding China's earliest known musical instruments bone flutes.
Weixing Tao, deputy director of the institute, said these are the oldest wooden coffins ever discovered in China, moving the timeline for wooden burial vessels in China back by approximately 2000 years.
Han Jianye, a professor with the School of History at Renmin University of China, said that previously the academic consensus was that wooden coffins first emerged during the early Darwin co-culture approximately 6000 years ago, and the discovery of wooden coffins at the Jahu site provides new material evidence to trace the origins of prehistoric wooden burial containers.
The Jahu site was a large, culturally rich early Neolithic settlement.
In addition to the famed bone flutes, it has yielded numerous other artefacts, including turtle shells, pottery and stone tools, all of which hold great importance in exploring the origins of Chinese civilisation.
Since 2023, the Hernan Institute has been conducting archaeological excavations at the site.
Its latest research has confirmed that it was a moat-encircled settlement that covered an area of 65000 square metres, with distinct functional zones located within its boundaries.
Li Jin Dou, excavation field director at the Jahu site, said that more than 200 tombs have been identified in the central burial area, 10 of which show evidence of wooden coffins.
Li noted that some of the coffins measured about 2 metres in length, 60 centimetres in width and 6 centimetres in thickness.
Li added that soil analysis from their burial context revealed a significantly high concentration of lignin compared to the surrounding areas.
That is the end of today's program.
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Shh, listen up.
Can you hear the heartbeat of our world?
It's vibrant and pulsating with the essence of life itself.
From the stem of trees to the gurgle of rivers.
From the silent strength of mountains to the icy whispers of glaciers.
Even the solid ground beneath our feet.
And right there, in the midst of all beats the heart of humanity.
What if those other heartbeats were to stop?
Would ours keep on ticking?
