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China's Ministry of Transport has launched the Initiative for international cooperation on Green Shipping Corridor during the 2025 North Bund Forum in Shanghai, calling for joint efforts to build a safer, more efficient and greener global shipping ecosystem.
The initiative outlines seven key measures to promote international cooperation on green shipping corridors.
The measures include expanding green shipping corridors in phases, accelerating the development of green and low-carbon vessels, developing near-zero carbon ports, as well as enhancing green fuel supply capacity, leveraging government-market collaboration, sharing best practices and supporting innovation.
Several cooperative achievements in building green shipping corridors were announced at the Forum, including the joint establishment of a green shipping corridor between Qingdao Port in East China and the port of Hamburg in Germany.
According to the Ministry, China has maintained its top global ranking in maritime connectivity for several consecutive years, with steadily expanding openness and international cooperation in the sector.
As of April this year, China had signed bilateral or multilateral maritime agreements with 70 countries and regions.
Major ports across China, including Shanghai Port and Ningbo Zhoushan Port, have accelerated the development of green fuel supply infrastructure.
The 2025 North Bund Forum.
The fifth edition of the event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Transport and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.
By October 15th, South China's Hainan Province had seen more than 2 million inbound and outbound passengers this year, up 224 year on year, 59 days earlier than last year, to reach the 2 million mark.
That is according to local border inspection authorities.
With the continuous optimisation and upgrading of the visa-free policy, Passengers from 86 countries can now enter Hainan visa-free, making the island province one of China's most accessible destinations for international travellers.
Hainan has also opened 79 international passenger air routes to facilitate its inbound visitors.
According to the border inspection authorities in Haikou, the provincial capital, so far this year, the number of foreigners entering and leaving Hainan has exceeded 106 million, a year-on-year increase of 45, accounting for 53 of China's total number of inbound and outbound passengers, ranking among the top in the country.
Notably, the number of foreigners entering Hainan visa-free has reached 430000, accounting for 889 of the total number of inbound foreign passengers.
This marks a 63.6% year-on-year increase, hitting a new historical peak.
Visa-free entry has become the main way for foreigners to enter Hainan.
China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption centre by 2025 and a globally influential destination by 2035.
And 15 million generative artificial intelligence users as of June this year, with the user base doubling within six months.
That is according to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center.
This figure was up by 266 million from the December 2024 figure, elevating the user penetration rate to 365 in China.
Generative AI is steadily integrating into the everyday lives of people across China, with young, middle-aged and highly educated users emerging as the core user groups.
Per the report.
People under 40 account for 746 of all generative AI users and 375 hold a degree at the junior college level or above.
The report noted that Chinese-made generative AI models have gained broad popularity among users in China, and generative AI has been widely applied in areas such as intelligent search, content creation, office assistance and smart devices.
Its usefulness is also being actively explored in sectors including agricultural production, industrial manufacturing and scientific research.
The report noted that China's influence in the global AI landscape has grown steadily.
By April this year, China had filed 1576 million AI-related patent applications, accounting for 3858 of the global total, the highest share of any country.
Liu Yulin, director of the China Internet Network Information Center, said that AI has evolved from a lab concept into a mature service supporting hundreds of millions of users, adding that the surge in generative AI users reveals a shift from trial use to everyday application across the country, with millisecond-level latency in urban areas by 2027, as announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Recently, the Ministry released a notice stating that urban computing networks in the country will achieve millisecond-level latency for core infrastructure links, critical facility connectivity and end-user applications.
The notice emphasised enhancing inter-computing centre connectivity and ensuring reliable network access for critical infrastructure sites.
It also highlighted ongoing efforts to optimise data transmission efficiency for artificial intelligence training.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum has announced that 250 ancient Egyptian treasures have arrived at the museum for the exhibition.
Ancient Egypt Unveiled Treasures from Egyptian Museums, which will be held from November 20 2025 to August 31 2026.
Organized by the Hong Kong Palace Museum in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt.
The exhibition marks the largest, most comprehensive exhibition and longest running display of ancient Egyptian treasures in Hong Kong.
For the first time, Hong Kong will exhibit museum artefacts and the latest archaeological findings directly loaned from Egypt.
The exhibition is organised into four thematic sections and showcases 250 precious artefacts spanning nearly 4000 years of history.
The exhibits include monumental statues painted and inscribed stone, steely mummy coffins and masks jewellery, everyday objects and animal mummies.
Many of these artefacts are being displayed outside Egypt for the very first time.
Furthermore, more than 10 multimedia installations inside and outside the gallery will offer engaging experiences, such as a dynamic display of the mummification process and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb.
A well-preserved dragon kiln site dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty over 1800 years ago has been found in Ningbo.
In East China's Zhejiang Province.
The kiln site can provide crucial evidence for the study of the development history of the Yue kiln.
That is according to the city's Cultural Heritage Research Institute.
The Goh Tung Au Kiln Complex site featuring a 225-metre-long dragon kiln, is located in Ba Zi village Sucheng, township of Ningbo.
A dragon kiln is a long, sloping chamber, having a firebox at one end and a flue. at the other.
This kiln features a large firebox about 2.2 metres deep at the front with a fire door at the base.
Remnants of a working platform, post holes and a drainage ditch were also found at the kiln's entrance.
Wang Guangyuan, head of the Gauteng Ao Kiln Site Archaeological Project, said that the firing chamber, elevated 12 metres above the firebox's rear, ensures proper draft air flow to increase kiln temperature after ignition.
The kiln bed, with a steep slope of roughly 24 degrees at the front and 28 degrees at the back, along with a fine sand base, best demonstrates the craftsmanship of Eastern Han artisans.
Wang explained that such design ensures smooth flame circulation within the kiln, promoting even heating of ceramic ware and enhancing firing efficiency.
At least four layers of repair marks were identified, suggesting prolonged use.
A large number of daily-use porcelain ware was excavated at the site, mostly with celadon and black glazes and Eastern Han decorative motifs.
Researchers noted that the discovery of black glazed porcelain demonstrates that the Sicheng area of Ningbo had achieved mastery of kiln technology for producing black glazed ware by the Eastern Han dynasty.
This finding challenges the long-held assumption that such wares were predominantly manufactured in other parts of Zhejiang.
According to Wang, the finding offers new insights into the origins and technological evolution of such porcelain.
The Yue kiln system was one of ancient China's most enduring and influential celadon production systems, spanning the Eastern Han dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, roughly from the 3rd century to the 13th century.
A 28-country collaborative study has provided the first global evidence that as droughts become longer and more severe, grasslands worldwide do not simply adapt, they tend to undergo breakdown.
Recently published in the journal Science.
The study involved scientists from Beijing Forestry University and their counterparts from more than 120 institutions, including Colorado State University in the United States.
They tracked plant growth in 74 grasslands and shrublands across six continents during droughts.
The study provides the first global evidence that the combined effect of drought intensity and duration exacerbates productivity losses in grasslands and shrublands worldwide.
The researchers found that after four consecutive years of extreme drought, productivity losses increased by approximately 25 times compared with the first year.
This suggests ecosystems could transition from a persistently low-yield state to a rapid downward spiral if climate change continues to prolong and exacerbate future droughts.
According to Bianca Lopez, the journal's editor, This study contributes to mounting evidence that future climate extremes will increasingly impact ecosystems in novel and concerning ways.
The paper's peer reviewers commented that by quantifying these relationships through a distributed global experiment, researchers establish a critical benchmark for future studies on drought severity and duration.
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The Hong Kong Palace Museum has announced that 250 ancient Egyptian treasures have arrived at the museum for the exhibition Ancient Egypt Unveiled – Treasures from Egyptian Museums, which will be held from November 20 2025 to August 31 2026.
Organised by the Hong Kong Palace Museum in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt.
The exhibition marks the largest, most comprehensive and longest-running display of ancient Egyptian treasures in Hong Kong.
For the first time, Hong Kong will exhibit museum artefacts and the latest archaeological findings directly loaned from Egypt.
The exhibition is organised into four thematic sections and showcases 250 precious artefacts.
Spanning almost 4000 years of history.
The exhibits include monumental statues painted and inscribed stone stele, mummy coffins and masks jewellery, everyday objects and animal mummies.
Many of these artefacts are being displayed outside Egypt for the very first time.
Furthermore, more than ten multimedia installations inside and outside the gallery will offer engaging experiences, such as a dynamic display of the mummification process and the excavation of Tutankhamen's tomb.
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