Wuhu News

Reporters learned that recently, the preliminary design review of Tongling to Shangcheng Expressway Wuwei (Ta Qiao) to Chaohu (Mu Ji) section was held in Hefei. The conference invited experts from relevant units of the industry to participate in the review, Provincial Department of Transportation, Anhui Transportation Holding Group, the relevant departments of the cities and counties along the line, and the relevant persons of the design units attended the conference.

The preliminary design review was successfully passed, indicating the successful completion of the preliminary design phase of the project, which was another important milestone and laid a solid foundation for the upcoming construction documents design phase and related construction bidding work.

It is reported that the project is a section of the highway from Tongling to Shangcheng, Henan Province, an important part of the “five vertical and ten horizontal” highway network in our province. The total length of the road section is 27.456 km, including 19.81 km in Wuwei, Wuhu and 7.646 km in Chaohu, Hefei. It will be built in accordance with the standard construction of two-way six lanes, with a design speed of 120 km/h and a roadbed width of 34.5 meters. The project, with a total investment of 4.946 billion yuan, is jointly funded by Anhui Investment Group, Wuhu Municipal Government and Hefei Municipal Government, which is scheduled to start construction by the end of this year.

After the completion of the project, it will become the second high-speed channel connecting Hefei and Wuhu, giving full play to the role of Tongling Yangtze River rail-highway bridge, greatly relieving the pressure of crossing the river, and further improving the regional expressway network.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government 

    HEFEI — The city of Wuhu in East China’s Anhui province officially unveiled its first monorail line on Wednesday amid efforts to build a green transportation system in the city.

    The monorail line 1 operates in a north-south direction covering a total distance of 30.5 kilometers with 25 elevated stations. Trains plying on the line can travel at a speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour.

    Construction of this monorail started in 2017, with a total project investment of more than 8 billion yuan (about $1.25 billion), according to local authorities.

    Monorail is a railway system in which trains travel along a track consisting of one rail. Compared with metros, monorails are cheaper to build and have a medium capacity which is perfect for a medium-sized city like Wuhu. Monorails are a highly-efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to metros.

The city of Wuhu in East China’s Anhui province officially unveils its first monorail line on Nov 3, 2021. [Photo/people.com.cn]

    Chinese home appliances giant Midea Group has announced a green strategy by building a global environmentally-friendly supply chain and developing energy-saving products and services to achieve peak carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, according to the company.

    ”The green strategy is an important part of the company’s sustainable development plan,” said Li Guolin, vice-president of Midea Group.

    The company would increase use of green electricity to help mitigate of greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon reduction gradually by 2040, according to Li.

    ”We would push forward the green strategy in the process of design, supply, manufacturing, logistics, recycling and service,” said Li.

    The total energy consumption of Midea’s plant in Wuhu, Anhui province, was reduced by 5.4 percent in the first half of 2021, equivalent to saving 21,000 kWh per day, following its intelligent upgrading of equipment facilities, processing and production lines in December 2018.

    ”The green development model including digital, smart and energy-saving facilities have been promoted to 16 air conditioner, washing machine and refrigerator plants,” said Li.

Recently, Wuhu Municipal Government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement for the new science and technology materials project with Zoomlion. Zhan Chunxin, Chairman and CEO of Zoomlion, Shan Xiangqian, Secretary of CPC Wuhu Municipal Community, and Ningbo, Deputy Secretary of CPC Wuhu Municipal Community and Mayor attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. Municipal leader Zhang Zhihong and secretary general of the municipal government Wang Zhipeng were present at the meeting.

    Zoomlion New Materials Project in Wuhu is located in Sanshan Economic Development Zone, with a planned land area of 30 hectares and an estimated total investment of 1.5 billion yuan. The project will build the world’s leading technical mortar production line, promote mechanized construction and upgrading of the construction industry, strength the use of gypsum, slag and other industrial by-products instead of cement and other high energy consumption raw materials and reduce the total energy consumption of products. It also plans to build production lines for new building waterproof materials and building heat preservation and energy-saving decorative materials to promote energy conservation and consumption reduction.

It is understood that the project takes high efficiency, energy saving and intelligent manufacturing as the concept for design and operation, and strives to build the world’s most advanced manufacturing enterprise in the area of new functional building materials so as to speed up the upgrading of new materials industry in Wuhu and contribute to the national strategy of ” carbon peak and neutrality”.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

It was recently learned from Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport Investment and Construction Co., Ltd. that starting from the end of this month, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport will officially implement the winter and spring flights and add multiple routes.

According to the new flight plan, starting from October 31, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport will successively add five flight routes, including, Qingdao, Zhuhai, Harbin, Sanya, and Xishuangbanna, which will be operated by Donghai Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Lucky Air. Qingdao and Xishuangbanna routes are operated every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, while Zhuhai, Harbin and Sanya routes are operated on a daily basis.

Up to now, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport has opened 11 routes to Daxing District in Beijing, Guangzhou, Foshan, Shuangliu District in Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, Kunming, Changchun, Shenzhen (2 routes) and Tianjin. Flight routes to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, cities in Pearl River Delta and major cities in western China are connected. According to the Airport, in the future, new flight routes will be opened in due course based on the big data analysis of travel and the needs of economic development to facilitate the travel of people in Wuhu and Xuancheng.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

It was recently learned from Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport Investment and Construction Co., Ltd. that starting from the end of this month, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport will officially implement the winter and spring flights and open multiple routes.

According to the new flight plan, starting from October 31, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport will successively open five flight routes, including, Qingdao, Zhuhai, Harbin, Sanya, and Xishuangbanna, which will be operated by Donghai Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Lucky Air. Qingdao and Xishuangbanna routes are operated every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, while Zhuhai, Harbin and Sanya routes are operated on a daily basis.

Up to now, Wuhu-Xuanzhou Airport has opened 11 routes to Daxing District in Beijing, Guangzhou, Foshan, Shuangliu District in Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, Kunming, Changchun, Shenzhen (2 routes) and Tianjin. Flight routes to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, cities in Pearl River Delta and major cities in western China are connected. According to the Airport, in the future, new flight routes will be opened in due course based on the big data analysis of travel and the needs of economic development to facilitate the travel of people in Wuhu and Xuancheng.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

On the morning of October 9, the “2021 (2nd) Seminar on the Protection and Development of Wuhu Iron Painting” was held in the hall of Tieshan Hotel in the city to summarize the achievements made in the protection and development of Wuhu iron painting in the past five years since the issue of the Regulations on the Protection and Development of Wuhu Iron Painting, analyze the existing problems and difficulties, and clarify the overall ideas for the protection, preservation, innovation and development of Wuhu iron painting in the next few years.

The seminar was hosted by the Wuhu Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and Wuhu Cultural Centre (Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center) and organized by Wuhu Iron Painting Association. Nearly 100 representatives in the city, including well-known painters, experts and scholars in culture and history and intangible cultural heritage, heads of related companies in this industry, inheritors of forging skills, and iron painting craftsmen attended the seminar. The representatives discussed how to further implement the Regulations on the Protection and Development of Wuhu Iron Painting and how to make it well-known in the Yangtze River Delta, the country, and the whole world. In the seminar, the atmosphere was very active. The experts called for strengthening the protection of Wuhu iron painting forging skills, carrying out researches on the art, culture and history of the painting, so that the traditional forging skills can be passed on in a living status.

It is learned that in the five years since the issue of the Regulations on the Protection and Development of Wuhu Iron Painting, Wuhu Municipal Finance Bureau has set up a “Special Fund for the Protection and Development of Wuhu Iron Painting” with an annual amount of 500,000 yuan.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Delegates applaud during the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, October 9, 2021.

This year marks not only the centenary of the Communist Party of China, but also the 110th anniversary of the Chinese Revolution of 1911, better known as the Xinhai Revolution. In a grand ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on October 9, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered remarks to commemorate this historic event and appealed to the goal of national reunification.

Xinhai Revolution as a milestone

President Xi paid tribute to the glorious achievement by the revolutionary pioneers and ascribed the Xinhai Revolution as “a towering milestone of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

The Xinhai Revolution was the first democratic revolution in Chinese history, with profound implications on the Chinese nation. It overthrew the Qing Dynasty and ended absolute monarchy that ruled China for thousands of years, and paved the way for the modern China by establishing the Republic of China, the first republic in Asia.

More importantly, it ushered in an Enlightenment movement across China where the national consciousness was awakened and the ideal of democracy and republicanism took hold in Chinese people’s minds. Epitomized in the “three people’s principles” put forward by pioneer of China’s democratic revolution Sun Yat-sen, which include the principles of nation, democracy and the people’s livelihood, the ideals of the Xinhai Revolution inspire the Chinese people to this day.

Xi acknowledged the significance of the Xinhai Revolution, and remained clear-eyed to its shortcomings. As later history showed, great as it was, the Xinhai Revolution failed to end the Chinese semi-colonial and semi-feudal status and did not lift the Chinese people out of poverty and misery.

Drawing on the lessons of the Xinhai Revolution, President Xi made it clear that the strong leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics together with the collective struggle of the Chinese people are the pillars of China. He also appealed to strengthen the consciousness of “a community for the Chinese nation” and unite the best and brightest Chinese for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

His remarks were borne out by history. It was the advent of the Communist Party of China and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 that effectively ended the 100 years of humiliation. China has shed the old shackles, and re-emerged as an independent, prosperous and proud nation.

National reunification as the common aspiration of the Chinese nation

President Xi’s remarks on national reunification were widely anticipated as the tensions across the Taiwan Straits have heightened recently. By quoting Sun Yat-sen’s statement that “unification is the common aspiration of the Chinese nation. Unified, the Chinese people will prosper; otherwise, we will suffer as a result,” Xi pledged to fulfill the unfinished cause of national reunification and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi expressed confidence as he addressed the root cause of the Taiwan issue, “the Taiwan issue was a result of national weakness, and will definitely be resolved following national rejuvenation.” He declared, “achieving the national reunification by peaceful means is in the common interest of the Chinese nation, including the compatriots of Taiwan.” For this purpose, he pledged to adhere to the basic principles of peaceful reunification and one-country two-systems, as well as the one-China policy and the “1992 consensus.”

The Chinese president issued stern warnings to the secessionist forces, “those who forget their ancestry, betray their motherland and divide the country never end well, and will be spurned by the people and judged by history.”

He also reiterated that the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair and outside intervention would never be allowed. He is obviously making a veiled rebuke to the U.S. and other countries which are attempting to instigate Taiwan secession. In a latest revelation, the U.S. has secretly deployed its troops in Taiwan for at least a year.

But recent events also showed signs of easing. U.S. President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan both reiterated the U.S. commitment to the one-China policy. It demonstrates that the U.S. knows well the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and finds it imperative to responsibly manage relations with China and refrain from provoking the Chinese people.

After all, national sovereignty and territorial integrity is of high importance to any country in the world. With firm determination and strong will, Chinese people would ensure that the “historical task of complete national reunification must be fulfilled and will definitely be fulfilled.”

At least nine provinces in China launch booster shots for key groups, ‘helpful supplement measure’ for Beijing Winter Olympics.

A medical staff member receives a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Photo: VCG

As the winter comes and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics approaches, China is accelerating the inoculation of booster shots for key groups, with at least nine provinces and regions having started the campaign to further consolidate the nation’s epidemic prevention and control achievements, and to improve the protection efficacy for people at high risk of infection in a timely manner.

In the latest move, cities in four provinces including East China’s Anhui, Fujian, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang, and Central China’s Hubei and in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region launched the campaign during the weekend.

Nanling county in Wuhu, Anhui launched booster shots for people who completed the vaccination six months ago on Friday. Prior to that, several districts in the city had already started booster shots.

A community in the city’s Jiujiang district released a notice on Thursday, advising people aged between 18 and 59 who finished two doses of inactivated vaccines six months ago to get a booster shot with the same vaccine.

Other cities in Anhui including the capital city Hefei and Fuyang also started the booster shots on Saturday.

In East China’s Fujian Province, two cities – Jinjiang and Xiamen – started booster shots on Saturday and Sunday in succession. The whole province had just returned to low-risk status on Thursday after a flare-up that began on September 10. The outbreak spread to Putian, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou, where many infected people had completed their vaccination series when they contracted the Delta variant during the resurgence.

In Jinjiang, a booster shot for people at high risk is set to be accomplished by October 20. In Xiamen, a booster shot will target people aged 12 and above who have finished two doses of inactivated vaccines or the one-shot recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine six months ago. They will take a booster shot with the same technical route as the vaccines they took.

So far, the Global Times has learned that dozens of cities in at least nine provinces and regions have given or soon will give booster shots to key groups.

China had administered 2.22 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday, according to the National Health Commission.

A Beijing-based immunologist told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Sunday that the intensive policies rolled by these cities across the nation recently may be related to the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Although the Games will absolutely have very strict prevention and control measures, a booster shot for the key groups can be a very helpful supplement, said the expert.

Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine industry insider, told the Global Times on Sunday that scientific research showed that antibodies in recipients turned negative after six months and booster shots can better protect key groups.

Protection efficacy was raised to 80 percent or above after inoculation with a third dose of SinoVac COVID-19 vaccine as a booster, with protection efficacy for infections with symptoms raised from 56 percent to 80.2 percent and from 84 percent to 88 percent for those who needed to be hospitalized, the company announced on Saturday, citing the latest research result in Chile.

Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Center for Medical Science and Technology of the National Health Commission, and head of the national working group for vaccine development, told a press conference on August 27 that three groups of people can receive booster shots six months after the completion of two doses. These groups at high risk of infections include those who work at customs and border inspection offices, those in the aviation industry, employees of quarantine centers and staffers at designated medical institutions.