Month: October 2020

In Fujian’s Fuzhou City Beilai Kindergarten, two secure entry/exit devices equipped with face recognition technology are installed at the entrance to the school and automatically verify the identity of the parents. This ensures safe and well-timed pick-up and drop-off of children. As strict demands on infection control are imposed on kindergartens, two artificial intelligence (AI) robots greet the children and perform a series of tests, such as the child’s height, weight, temperature, and the presence of any hand, foot, or mouth diseases, transmitting relevant data to the smart kindergarten management system. This system provides information at a glance, including records of children’s arrival and departure from school, morning inspection records, and exercise records. The system also uses big data analysis to compile reports on the basis of kindergarten management policy decisions, as well as analysis of all children’s movement, health, behavior and interests. All classrooms are also equipped with smart disinfection systems, which automatically disinfect at night to create a safe and comfortable environment for the children. The Kindergarten’s Director comments: “The launch of the smart kindergarten management system will greatly reduce the workload of staff and make kindergarten management smarter and safer. It will also provide a more scientific decision-making basis for kindergarten management. Teachers will be freed from busy office management and can focus more on caring for the physical and mental health of the children and provide a more personalized education. Xinhuanet, October 10, 2020

Until now, 12 provinces, autonomous regions and cities in China have built 18 test areas with a total of more than 5333 hectares of test fields growing 14 representative crops, including wheat, rice and corn, cotton, oil, sugar, fruits, vegetables and tea, covering most of China’s geology and terrain, with various self-driving agricultural machines and systems for plowing, harvesting and production of crops. The Ministries of Industry and Information Technology, of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance actively promote the gradual transition of unmanned work trials across the entire agricultural process, so as to realize the commercialization application and market penetration of unmanned agricultural machinery operations. Japan JST China news, October 16, 2020

The test area opened to the public by Beijing City has a total distance of about 700 km and covers dozens of locations, including living and working. The rides are for free, and a screen in the back seat displays the car’s speed, estimated duration, distance, destination, and other information. The screen also allows to check the routes of oncoming vehicles and automated vehicles, as well as the size of the cars on the road. Japan JST China news, October 19, 2020

According to a report from the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), China had a total of 101 million sci-tech individuals by the end of 2018. Participation in higher education rose from 40 percent in 2015 to 51.6 percent in 2019, and nearly half of high school students chose science, engineering, agronomy, or medicine as their undergraduate majors. More than ¾ of China’s sci-tech personnel were younger than 39 years in 2018, and women accounted for over 50 % of new sci-tech professionals at the postgraduate level. Xinhua news release, October 20, 2020

The train, with a standard speed of 400 km per hour, can cope with different rail systems on international routes, making international rail travel more convenient. It can operate at temperatures between minus 50 and plus 50 degrees Celsius, under different traction power supply systems and railway transportation standards of different countries. There are currently four main railway track standards around the world. When ordinary trains run between countries with different gauges, they need to replace their train bogies, which takes time and effort. As the new CRRC train is equipped with gauge-changing bogies, it can change its rail mode during cross-border travel, greatly improving the efficiency of travel across rail systems. Xinhua news release, October 21, 2020

In a pilot program initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), researchers from a total of 40 research institutions in nine provinces and municipalities will be granted ownership or long-term use rights to search profits from their science and technology results. The trial period is 3 years, and results will be used to develop laws, regulations and policy measures to encourage scientific researchers to be more proactive in innovation and promote the transfer and translation of scientific results to industry. Japan JST China news, October 20, 2020

According to a speaker of the State Council, China will set the price in a company-centric manner, but also adhere to the following principles: (1) the price will be based on the attributes and principles of public good, based on cost, not supply and demand, (2) The price will be set on the basis of people’s willingness and demand for vaccination. Therefore, the price of Chinese vaccines must be within the range of people’s tolerance. Japan JST China news, October 21, 2020

Sinopec reported on October 23, 2020, that they had reached a depth of 8,874.4 m in onshore directional well drilling at the Shunbei oil and gas field in Northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region. The oil and gas field there has an average depth of over 8,000 m, and current annual production capacities of 1 million t of crude oil and 400 million cubic meters of natural gas, which might rise the company’s annual crude oil and natural gas outputs to 1.7 million t and 5 billion cubic meters by 2025. Xinhua news release, October 23, 2020

The 253 km rail will run from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, the gateway to the northeast of Thailand. The contract involves the State Railway of Thailand, China Railway International Co and China Railway Design Corporation. Xinhua news release, October 29, 2020

The group around JIANG Xin has developed a method based on straw-derived charcoal which is plowed into PAH polluted farmland. As shown by soil metabonomics, this triggers organisms in the plant rhizosphere to digest PAH and other organic pollutants by an inexpensive method. CAS news release, October 29, 2020