Foreign

Head-of-state diplomacy charts course ahead for China-U.S. relations

Published

2 years ago

November 17, 2022

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, local time.
The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of strategic importance in China-U.S. relations and on major global and regional issues.
They highlighted the global significance of China-U.S. relations. Both stressed the importance of working out the guiding principles for China-U.S. relations. Both expressed the hope to put bilateral relations back on a steady and upward trajectory. They agreed to strengthen communication and exchanges, and advance practical cooperation. This has charted the course ahead for China-U.S. relations.
Head-of-state diplomacy is the compass and anchor of China-U.S. relations, and it plays an irreplaceable strategic role in guiding the growth of the relationship.
The meeting was very important. It featured three “firsts” for the two leaders – the first face-to-face meeting between Xi and his U.S. counterpart over the past three years, their first face-to-face summit since President Biden took office, and their first interaction after China and the U.S. completed their respective major domestic agendas this year. It was closely watched by the international community.
Their exchanges were comprehensive, profound, and candid, as well as constructive and of strategic importance. The meeting covered the most important aspects of the bilateral relations and the most pressing regional and global issues at the moment.
It has achieved the intended purpose of having in-depth communication, clarifying intentions, making clear where the red lines are, preventing conflicts, setting the direction, and exploring cooperation.
As two major countries, China and the U.S. should enhance their sense of responsibility when handling their relationship, which helps prevent China-U.S. relations from getting derailed or out of control and helps the two countries play their due roles in coping with global challenges.
The world is at a major inflection point in history. Countries need to both tackle unprecedented challenges and seize unprecedented opportunities. This is the larger context in which China and the U.S. should view and handle their relations.
Xi stressed that China and the U.S. need to have a sense of responsibility for history, for the world and for the people, explore the right way to get along with each other in the new era, put the relationship on the right course, and bring it back to the track of healthy and stable growth tothe benefit of the two countries and the world as a whole.
Biden said the U.S. and China have a shared responsibility to show the world that they can manage their differences, and avoid and prevent misunderstandings and misperceptions or fierce competition from veering into confrontation or conflict.
Both the history and reality of China-U.S. relations show that forming a correct perception of each other’s domestic and foreign policies and strategic intentions is a precondition for the two countries to handle their relations well.
The domestic and foreign policies of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government are open and transparent, with clearly stated and transparent strategic intentions and great continuity and stability.
China is advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, which heralds bright prospects of development and brings opportunities to the rest of the world.
China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace. It is committed to safeguarding the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law. Adhering to peaceful development, open development and win-win development, the country will always contribute to the peaceful development of the world.
The U.S. regards China as “the most consequential strategic competitor” and “the most consequential geopolitical challenge.” It is a misperception of China-U.S. relations and a misunderstanding of China’s development. It will only mislead the two peoples and the international community.
It would be problematic if two major countries like China and the U.S. do not have overarching principled common understandings. Only with principles can there be a direction, and only with a direction can the two sides properly handle differences and expand cooperation. It is exactly out of this consideration that the Chinese side proposed that China and the U.S. should respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation, to ensure that their relations move forward on the right course without losing direction or speed, still less having a collision.
China always believes that China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other. The successes of China and the U.S. are opportunities, not challenges, for each other. The world is big enough for the two countries to develop themselves and prosper together. Under the current circumstances, China and the U.S. share more, not less, common interests. It is in their mutual and fundamental interest to prevent conflict and confrontation and achieve peaceful coexistence. The two sides need to respect each other, pursue mutual benefit, focus on the larger picture, and nurture a sound atmosphere and stable relations for cooperation.
The U.S. side should put into practice the “five noes” (i.e., not seek a new Cold War; not seek to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support “Taiwan independence”; not look for conflict with China) proposed by PresidentBiden, and fulfill its commitment not to seek decoupling from China, not to halt China’s economic development, and not to contain China.
As Xi said, observing the basic norms of international relations and the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques is vitally important for the two sides to manage differences and disagreements and prevent confrontation and conflict; indeed, it is the most important guardrail and safety net for China-U.S. relations.
The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations.
Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese and China’s internal affair. China urges the U.S. side to match its words with action, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, fulfill its commitment of “not supporting ‘Taiwan independence'”, stop fudging and hollowing out the one-China policy, restrain and stop “Taiwan independence” separatist rhetoric and activities, and prevent the situation from moving to a point of no return.
On issues of democracy and human rights, and social systems and paths, China and the U.S. must respect each other and avoid ideological confrontation and bloc confrontation. It represents the trend of the times and the common aspiration of the international community.
China-U.S. economic and trade relations benefit both sides. Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and undermine international trade rules. Such attempts serve no one’s interests.
The Chinese nation has the proud tradition of standing up for itself. Any suppression and containment will only strengthen the will and boost the morale of the Chinese people.
China has its own principles and red lines that it has long upheld, and has legitimate and lawful interests that must be firmly protected. China will not yield to any acts of hegemonism or bullying.
Managing and stabilizing China-U.S. relations is an ongoing process to which there’s no end. The Bali meeting will not only provide important, practical guidance for China-U.S. relations at the current stage, but will also have a major and far-reaching impact on the relationship in the next stage and even beyond.
In accordance with the priorities identified by the two heads of state, the two teams will maintain dialogue and communication, manage tensions and differences, and advance exchanges and cooperation, so as to add positive energy and a safety valve to China-U.S. relations, and bring about stability and certainty to this turbulent and changing world.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

Foreign

Expressway service station in Shandong achieves carbon neutrality

Published

9 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Online Editor

By Li Rui, People’s Daily

A man surnamed Lin, driving a new energy vehicle, was on his way from Jinan to his hometown Weifang, both in east China’s Shandong province. As the battery of his vehicle ran low, he pulled up in a service station along the Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressway.

Experience told him that a service station was a place where drivers and passengers could refuel vehicles, use the bathroom, grab a drink of water and have a meal. However, he found this service station a little bit different.

The Jinan East service station was a key carbon-zero station built by Shandong Hi-Speed Company Limited. It was put into operation on July 26, 2019. During China’s just-concluded National Day holiday, the service station received an average of 13,000 vehicles and 44,000 people on a daily basis.

“How long does it take for a vehicle to get 200 kilometers of range with this ultra-fast charging pole?” Lin asked a staff member of the service station.

“One second for one kilometer of range,” the staff member replied, pointing to an advertising board above that said “Get Fully Charged over a Cup of Coffee.”

Being skeptical about it, Lin scanned a QR code on the charging pole with his phone. Then, he unwound outside his car and went to get a cup of hot water. When he came back, he found his car fully charged.

The power level of the charging pole Lin used was 600 kW, and there were also charging poles of different models and power levels available for users to choose from at the service station.

The Jinan East service station covers an area of 300 mu, or 20 hectares. With so many charging poles in service, it consumes about 6,000 kWh of electricity each day. Where does such a huge load of electricity come from?

On the canopy, rows of solar panels were neatly paved. They were a part of a renewable energy utilization system – a 3.2 MW solar farm built on side slopes of the expressway, parking lot canopies and rooftops. The system also comes with a 3.2 MWh power storage facility.

At present, the service station generates an average of over 10,000 kWh of electricity on a daily basis, far exceeding its daily power consumption volume. This saves 1,200 tons of standard coal per year. The service station also transmits extra electricity to the power grid through safe and efficient means.

At noon, the fragrance of food was floating in the corridors of the crowded comprehensive building of the service station. As one of the busiest service stations in Shandong province, the Jinan East service station welcomes over 10 million passengers each year. How does it manage the wastewater generated by such a huge crowd?

In the “backyard” of the service station, there were two white bungalows at the corner of a tree lawn. Inside them, sewage treatment facilities were running, processing wastewater and pumping it back to the water tanks, which would be used for irrigation and floor washing.

The treatment system for waste and pollutant resources successfully addresses the challenges of the huge variation between water usage peaks and lows, as well as significant greenhouse gas emissions from sewage, effectively recycling and reusing treated water.

“In the past, diesel vehicles were used for service area operations and cleaning, but now they have been replaced with electric vehicles. The catering businesses have also undergone electrification upgrades for their gas stoves, replacing them with clean energy sources wherever possible,” a staff member said.

Carbon emissions are invisible and intangible. How are they measured?

Shandong Hi-Speed Company Limited has independently developed a smart energy management system, which builds a digital twin of the station and displays all relevant data on a screen, including daily electricity generation, charging station power, peak electricity generation periods, air conditioning usage and more.

It is learned that this zero-carbon smart energy management system collects data of all indirect carbon emission sources such as photovoltaics, energy storage, micro grids, lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and wastewater treatment. It can automatically calculate, make decisions, and intelligently control equipment.

For example, if the air conditioning is set at 26 degrees Celsius indoors, the system can automatically shut down some air conditioners when the temperature falls below this threshold, refining energy management and enabling intelligent equipment control.

According to real-time monitoring by the system, the service station emits an average of 2,060.97 tons of carbon dioxide per year. By planting over 19,000 square meters of greenery, the service station offsets greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, the forestry area of the service station covers 67,000 square meters, or about 33 percent of the station’s total area. Through forestry carbon sequestration, the system helps reduce an annual average of 3,410.1 tons of carbon dioxide, with a forestry carbon sequestration volume of 53.4 tons of carbon dioxide, realizing “zero-carbon” operations. The service station now has the capability for sustainable carbon neutrality.

“So far, China has built nearly 4,000 pairs of expressway service stations. If we can promote zero-carbon experiences in more service stations, it would be of great significance,” said Zhou Pengfei, deputy director of the energy and environment department of Shandong Hi-Speed Company Limited.

Foreign

Qinling Mountains better safeguarded with comprehensive digital platform

Published

9 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Online Editor

By Zhang Tie, Zhang Danhua, People’s Daily

The Qinling Mountains in northwest China’s Shaanxi province are a natural boundary between China’s north and south in terms of geology, climate, biodiversity, water systems, and soil types.

The unique geographic environment creates abundant moisture, and the rugged terrain harbors rich plant and animal resources, earning the Qinling Mountains the nickname “China’s Central Park” and establishing them as a crucial ecological barrier for the country.

In recent years, ecological protection and restoration of the Qinling Mountains has maintained a priority of Shaanxi province.

“There appears to be waste dumping in the east of Liyuanpo village in Shijing neighborhood,” an alert popped up on the screen of a digital comprehensive monitoring platform for the Qinling Mountains of Huyi district of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province.

Staff member Zhao Na immediately contacted Mao Juan, a local grid officer: “Drones have captured footage, and AI analysis has detected unauthorized dumping.”

In less than an hour, Mao arrived at Liyuanpo village. Upon investigation, she learned that a villager had been renovating his house and had dumped construction waste by the roadside.

She promptly took photos for evidence, uploaded them from her phone, and informed the neighborhood office. After the area was cleared by the following morning, Mao revisited the site, verified the cleanup, and uploaded the update to the platform.

The ecological protection area of the Qinling Mountains covers six districts and counties in Xi’an, accounting for about 55 percent of the city’s total area. The rapid handling of issues like this is a result of an integrated ecological monitoring and protection system for the Qinling Mountains.

The system includes satellites that provide periodic remote sensing images, drones that conduct routine patrol flights, cameras offering real-time monitoring, and 1,240 dedicated grid officers carrying out inspections.

“With this system, countless ‘eyes’ help us protect every ridge and valley of the Qinling Mountains,” said Lei Bo, director of the technology and grid management department of the Xi’an municipal bureau of Qinling ecological environment protection.

From January to August this year, the platform autonomously identified and processed 2,480 cases involving unauthorized construction and dumping. Most cases were resolved within one to three days.

In recent years, Xi’an has continuously improved the systems and mechanisms for regular and long-term protection of the Qinling Mountains. The approach combines human surveillance with technology-based monitoring, and grid-based management with networked coordination, making protection efforts more targeted and intelligent.

Now, the entire landscape can be visualized on a single map, which shows forests, rivers, buildings, and mineral distributions, creates a digital model of the Qinling Mountains.

Each village has its own grid, with at least one grid officer, which forms a four-tiered management system from the municipal level down to villages.

Municipal- and district-level platforms, as well as several industry-specific platforms have been integrated, enabling information sharing and seamless data exchange to form a unified digital supervision system for the Qinling Mountains.

“We can detect even the smallest fire, down to a single lighter, thanks to the integration of thermal, smoke, and light sensors,” said Hua Yiping, director of the Qinling ecological protection and comprehensive law enforcement bureau of Huyi district. The digital monitoring platform now extends to multiple applications, including forest fire prevention, flood control, water quality monitoring, and geological disaster monitoring.

Currently, the populations of wild plants and animals in the Qinling Mountains are steadily increasing, with 99.3 percent of the Qinling area within Shaanxi province now rated as having an excellent ecological environment.

“In the future, we will continue to enhance the automation, intelligence, and precision of Qinling’s protection measures. We aim to refine our monitoring systems and ensure thorough, dynamic inspections and remediation,” said Li Bo, deputy director of the Xi’an municipal bureau of Qinling ecological environment protection.

Foreign

SWChina’s Guizhou builds itself into computing power base serving whole country

Published

14 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Online Editor

By Chen Junyi

At the Gui’an Supercomputing Center, which is located in Guiyang, southwest China’s Guizhou province, over 600 servers are running at full speed, supplying constant computing power to cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, creating a vibrant ambiance with constant hum of cooling fans and flickering indicator lights.

As one of the eight major hubs of China’s national integrated computing power network, Guizhou is actively pursuing the integrated development of data storage and computing, with a particular focus on intelligent computing.

It aims to enhance the capacity in computing power supply, effectively match the supply and demand of computing power within the province and elsewhere, and better utilize computing power and localize the computing industry, so as to establish a support base serving the whole country.

Guizhou launched its plans to develop data centers ten years ago. It boasts numerous natural advantages for developing the computing industry, such as safe geological conditions, reliable power supply, and low average temperatures. China’s three telecommunication operators, namely China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, have all set up data centers here, making it the first province in China to host data centers of all the three.

After a decade of development, Guizhou is currently home to 47 data centers, either under construction or in operation, including 25 super-large and large data centers, most of which are located in the Gui’an New Area.

The Gui’an New Area is known for its flat terrain and an annual average temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. The region enjoys 99.5 percent of days with good air quality throughout the year, thereby serving as a natural air conditioner and oxygen bar.

The power usage effectiveness (PUE)of data centers in the region, a metric for energy efficiency, is lower than 1.2, which is at the forefront of all green data centers across the country. It is also one of the areas in China where data centers boast the lowest energy consumption and the longest equipment lifespan.

“As the carrier of computing power, data centers are equipped to support high-performance application scenarios by leveraging advanced computational capabilities and large-scale data processing power through the use of various hardware components such as servers and graphics cards,” said Peng Benqian, head of the Gui’an Supercomputing Center and director of the technology research and development department of Gui’an New Area Science and Technology Innovation Industries Development Co., Ltd., the company that runs the center.

In the past, most data centers in Guizhou were primarily focused on storage. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), Guizhou is advancing intelligent computing, which forms the basis of AI development. The data centers are rapidly transforming from mere “storage centers” to integrated “storage and computing ones.”

The Gui’an Supercomputing Center, the first of its kind in Guizhou, was put into operation at the end of 2020. “We have more than 600 servers, and the peak computing power has reached 130 petaflops,” Peng said.

“It would take nearly 600 years to create special effects rendering for a 3D animated film with a regular computer. However, the whole process can be completed within 3 months at our center,” he said.

In addition to locally built computing power centers, top internet companies such as Huawei, Tencent, and NetEase have established superlarge computing centers and intelligent computing centers in Guizhou. Besides, many banks have set up their financial data centers in the province.

Guizhou has become one of the regions in China with the strongest intelligent computing capabilities. By the end of July 2024, its computing power had reached 40.55 Eflops (a measurement unit used to determine a computer’s speed), with intelligent computing power amounting to 37.578 Eflops, accounting for over 90 percent.

Just like other commodities, computing power cannot be on a perfect supply-demand balance. Idle computing resources will enter a public computing resource pool and be scheduled by the Guizhou branch of China’s national integrated computing power network to efficiently connect the resource side and the demand side.

The transmission and trading of computing power rely on network infrastructure. Guizhou has established direct connections with 38 cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.The computing power can meet the huge demand of the “East data, west computing”project, a key part of China’s digital infrastructure which aims to coordinate the computing capabilities of the country’s eastern regions, where the need for computing is high, with inland western regions like Guizhou, where abundant renewable resources are optimal for building data centers, according to Zhang Jie, head of the business department of Gui’an New Area Data Service Technology Co., Ltd.

Meanwhile, Guizhou is leveraging its computing power to drive industrial development and extend the industrial chain. With the support of computing power, many local companies have begun to explore new opportunities.

Guizhou Tuzhi Information Technology Co., Ltd. is a technology company specializing in geospatial big data application and development and a professional provider of real-time spatial-temporal information services integrating air, space, and ground data. With over 8 years of experience, the company has witnessed the evolution of Guizhou’s big data industry.

“The ecosystem of the big data industry in Guizhou is getting better and better, with refined computing power support, industry applications and data transactions. We have seen increasing productivity and expanding business scope,” Huang said.