Innovation inspires Brazilian vloggers
During a tour of the Asia No 1 logistics center of Chinese e-commerce company JD in Beijing on June 9, Cyntia Midori Yamauchi, a technology vlogger from Brazil, said: “It is really impressive for us … I think today is made for us.”
Partnering with Diego Fernado Ishiama, another Brazilian vlogger, Yamauchi posted videos of technological innovations and product evaluation. Their shared account has attracted 315,000 followers online.
The day marked the middle of the 2021 Silk Road Rediscovery Tour of Beijing, which ran from June 7-11.
By inviting more than 10 foreign vloggers from countries including Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain and South Korea, as well as a French designer and a freelance photographer from Greece, the event presented Beijing’s culture, technological innovation, economic construction, urban development and ecological environment to the world.
JD’s Asia No 1 logistics center, one stop during the rediscovery tour, made an impression on the visitors.
Covering a total area of nearly 130,000 square meters, the logistics center came into service in 2017 and is noted for its high-level of artificial intelligence and automation.
Benefiting from intelligent sorting systems and equipment, such as Dilang autonomous vehicles, the logistics center is capable of handling 800,000 orders per day, according to Wang Yuchuan, a member of JD’s public relations department.
The Dilang autonomous vehicle, developed by JD, reads QR codes covering the storeroom floor to plan its route, avoid obstacles and deliver goods to human sorters. There are more than 330 such autonomous vehicles traversing the logistics center.
Thanks to the vehicles, a sorter can fulfill 250 orders per hour, which is three times more efficient than traditional order picking, according to Wang.
As of March, JD had a total of 32 such logistics centers in operation, covering its eight logistics hubs across China: Beijing; Shanghai; Guangzhou in Guangdong province; Chengdu in Sichuan province; Wuhan in Hubei province; Shenyang in Liaoning province; Xi’an in Shaanxi province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.
“Beijing is among the most active cities for innovation and entrepreneurship in China — and even the world,” said Xu Hejian, deputy director of the Publicity Department of Beijing and director of Beijing’s Information Office, at the launch ceremony of the 2021 Silk Road Rediscovery Tour of Beijing.
The Zhongguancun Software Park is such an example and left a profound impression on the visitors. Established in 2000 and located in Beijing’s Haidian district, it is a high-end specialized park of the new-generation information technology industry.
The park has taken the lead in developing innovative industrial clusters, which cover cloud computing, mobile internet, big data, artificial intelligence, quantum science, new information technology services and the cultural industry.
By the end of 2020, the park had attracted more than 700 noted IT companies from home and abroad, which have settled their headquarters or global research and development centers in the park.
Big names include computer manufacturer Lenovo, internet giant Tencent, internet media company Sina, online ride-hailing service provider Didi Chuxing and AI company iFlytek.
Last year, the total revenue generated by all the enterprises in the park reached 336.63 billion yuan ($52.72 billion). The output value per square kilometer in the park totaled 129.47 billion yuan. Also in 2020, the enterprises in the park generated a total of 65,632 intellectual property assets.
Independent innovation is the development driver of the software park. The park invested a total of 38.1 billion yuan in R&D last year, accounting for 11.3 percent of its annual revenue.