China’s technology development accelerated after the Central Economic Work Conference in 2020, which made sci-tech capabilities a top priority.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic posted a tough challenge and the U.S. kept expanding its trade blacklist with Chinese entries, Beijing still reached its goals in various sci-tech fields like microchips, nuclear power, manufacturing and space.
Here are some achievements we have been actively reported here at CGTN Digital.
Chinese chips getting recognized
The chip industry is one of the key issues in the China-U.S. trade relation. The U.S. is trying its best to strangle China’s domestic chip industry, while China is building a complete supply chain for chip-making.
On processing chips like computer CPUs, the self-developed LoongArch is slowly gaining ground. Key pieces of software like GCC and Linux 6.0 added support for this new type of chip architecture in 2022. With this support, other software can be ported to LoongArch without much hassle.
A LoongSon 7A2000 chip is displayed at the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services, Beijing, China, September 1, 2022. /CFP
For memory chips, the ChangXin Memory Technologies is selling some of the best consumer PC RAM sticks, while Yangtze Memory Technologies surprised the industry with mass-produced 232-layer NAND chip, which is on par with the world’s best technology.
C919 jetliner takes off
The C919 is a civil jetliner made by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) that rivals the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 MAX.
The first C919 was delivered to China Eastern Airlines early in December, showcasing China’s manufacturing and testing abilities.
The world’s first C919 jetliner lifts off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, December 9, 2022. /CFP
More C919s are expected to fly for airlines as COMAC received orders for hundreds of planes during Airshow China.
China Space Station is taking shape
Sky is not the limit for China’s sci-tech development, as the country’s space program is busy finishing the assembly of the China Space Station, which is expected to be completed in 2022 itself.
The Shenzhou-15 crew members gather with the Shenzhou-14 teammates in China’s space station, November 30, 2022. /CFP
The station is now hosts the three-person Shenzhou-15 crew, the fourth trio to live in it, launched in late November.
The building of the station is a large-scale implementation of China’s space technology. In return, the scientific experiments carried out on the station will help boost China’s space tech development.
The taikonauts on the China Space Station also took space lessons to students in China and other countries in Southeast Asia and Africa.
More clean energy
China has also reached new heights in clean energy, building more hydropower, nuclear and photovoltaic plants in 2022.
Built on southwest China’s Jinsha River, the Baihetan Hydropower Station is busy getting all 16 units ready for commercial operation. Once fully operational, the station will become the world’s second-largest station of its kind after the Three Gorges Dam and will generate electricity sufficient for 75 million people and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 51.6 million tonnes yearly.
The Baihetan Hydropower Station. /CMG
China’s self-developed third-generation nuclear power unit, the Hualong-1, has entered the mass production phase in August. Its designer says the unit’s double-layer shell can withstand a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and even an air crash.
Exports of China’s photovoltaic products surged 113.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The sunlight-to-electricity technology is also being combined with dams to build the world’s first hydro-solar power station in Sichuan Province.
These clean energy projects will help China reach its carbon-neutral goal in 2060.