Eye-opening trip
Foreign journalists experience China’s new quality productive forces in Jiangsu
“This initiative plays a crucial role in promoting cultural understanding and exchange. By exposing African journalists to the cultural, historical, and economic diversity of the province of Jiangsu, it fosters intercultural dialogue and strengthens ties between our two regions,” El Hassan Ben Yahia, a journalist from the Moroccan Press Agency (MAP), told the Global Times on March 21.
Ben Yahia is one of about 33 foreign journalists from 32 countries and regions, including Egypt, Namibia, Tunisia, South Sudan and Benin, who recently made a journey to East China’s Jiangsu Province.
The international media exchange program, “Travelogue of China,” was jointly hosted by the China Public Diplomacy Association and huanqiu.com.
During the weeklong journey starting from March 19, the foreign journalists visited some of China’s high-tech industrial parks, an ecological dredging project, Changtai Yangtze River Bridge and China Communications Construction Co (CCCC) in Wuxi, Taizhou and Changshu.
Smart industrial parks
The journalists visited the Xishan Electric Vehicle Industrial Park to understand and experience the world’s top-selling two-wheeler Yadea electric vehicles. The firm’s product lineup includes electric bicycles, electric mopeds and electric scooters.
Besides their headquarters in China, Yadea has a US office, a German operation center and a branch in Vietnam. Yadea’s business spans more than 100 countries and regions with over 70 million users. The Chinese company holds over 1,900 national patents, with its core technology focusing on converting kinetic energy into electricity and utilizing highend batteries, helping improve energy efficiency.
“I have observed that Yadea electric vehicles are being exported to Europe. I hope that our country, Benin, can also have these vehicles, which will greatly improve our lives,” said journalist Héribert-Label Elisée Adjovi from Benin.
Besides high-tech applications in the transportation field, the visit to Hodo Group also left a deep impression on the journalists. It set up the first smart clothing plant in collaboration with China Unicom. The application of 5G networks not only optimized assembly line processes and achieved real time monitoring of workshop operations but also facilitated online customization of clothing for customers, enabling direct interaction between factories and consumers.
“I truly experienced the manifestation of China’s new quality productive forces in the clothing manufacturing industry. It’s highly advanced… I can hardly imagine this factory could produce so many garments per year,” Sami Kaidi, a journalist from Algeria, told the Global Times.
In addition to smart factories, journalists visited a number of engineering projects. One of them is the ecological dredging project for the Meiliang Lake.
The project employs the “Taihu Star,” the world’s first smart dredging platform ship. It can efficiently dredge up to 5,000 cubic meters daily while also performing mud press filtration and solidification. The program shows that China has made environmental preservation a major priority.
“It is fascinating to learn how the severely polluted sediment is removed from the lake’s bed and recycled for construction and agricultural projects. This speaks to China’s endeavor to achieve modernization, with all aspects of people’s wellbeing taken into account. This is a good thing that many countries need to learn to make the world a better place to live in,” said Theophile Niyitegeka, a journalist from Rwanda.
Creative engineering
CCCC Tianjin Dredging Co has completed some projects in Africa, including dredging work for the expansion of Algiers Port in Algeria. “I hope China can transfer its technology so that Algeria can replicate this model, which would help in the dredging operations for a vital river valley in the capital,” said Kaidi.
Another engineering wonder is the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge which spans the river to connect the cities of Changzhou and Taizhou.
With a length of 10.03 kilometers, it boasts of a combined railway and highway section that extends for 5.3 kilometers, making it the world’s first river crossing to integrate a high-speed highway, intercity railway, and regular roadway. After the bridge opens, travel time between Taizhou and Changzhou will be shortened, to benefit the economic development of southern Jiangsu.
“When I heard that there was a system capable of monitoring the construction progress comprehensively and ensuring that connecting the two ends of the bridge is controlled to within two millimeters, I was amazed,” said Uaueza Kanguatjivi, a journalist from Namibia.
The journalists also visited another engineering project done by CCCC Tianhe Co, which is the world’s largest and most complete R&D and manufacturing base for tunnel boring machines (TBMs). TBM “integrates excavation, support, propulsion, and lining operations,” said Jin Dangpeng, deputy chief engineer of CCCC Tianhe Co.
Linda Mupemo, from the Zambia News and Information Services, expressed concerns regarding the equipment’s impact on environment. Jin explained that the machines are designed with efficient energy consumption in mind, and can also “collect and treat wastewater generated during tunnel construction, minimizing the environmental impact.”
The journalists were shown different types of TBMs, including a large-diameter slurry shield tunneling machine, which has been exported and used in the Bangabandhu Tunnel in Bangladesh.
“We witnessed the most advanced application of technology aimed at enhancing production levels. New technologies, serving as new quality productive forces, are substantially improving the means of work and economic development,” said Joao Crisante de Pina, a journalist from Cape Verde.
“When officials at the two sessions emphasized this issue, it reflected the country’s commitment to reducing unemployment while promoting innovation. It also indicates China’s determination to maintain its own development in the face of trade barriers. China has achieved remarkable milestones in various aspects of development,” said Niyitegeka.