Wuhu News

According to China Railway Shanghai Group, by July 28, the section from Hefei to Huzhou of Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway has been in operation for a month. Ridership on the new line is rising steadily, sending 1.565 million passengers a month, which shows the effect of high-speed railway network. It facilitates travel of passengers in urban agglomerations along the route, and shows the effect of the new high-speed railway in summer appears as well.

On June 28, the Section from Hefei to Huzhou of Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway has been first put into operation. The line connects Nanjing to Hangzhou high-speed railway via Huzhou Station. From then on, Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway has been totally completed and three provinces, Henan, Anhui and Zhejiang, have achieved seamless connection, further improving the high-speed railway transport network in both the central and eastern regions of China and also effectively releasing the huge pressure of passenger flow of The Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway. This high-speed railway is of great significance to promote the rise of the central region of China and the integrated development of Yangtze River Delta.

Since Hefei-Huzhou section of Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway opened a month ago, there have been increasing passenger flows for both short and long distances. From June 28 to June 30, Heifei-Huzhou section has been in the transitional period for the formal operation. The railway department has arranged 8 pairs of EMU trains for daily operation, including 3 pairs from Hefei South Station to Hangzhou East Station, 3 pairs from Hefei South Station to Xuancheng South Station, and 2 pairs from Wuhu Station to Hangzhou East Station. After July 1, trains are scheduled to operate differently in the daily line, weekly line and peak-time line, and the number of operating EMU trains pairs per day can rise up to 60.5 .

 Hefei-Huzhou section of Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway is connected with Shangqiu-Hefei section of Beijing-Hongkong High-speed Railway, which means the high-speed railway from Shangqiu to Hangzhou is fully completed. It is more convenient for people living along the route to travel around the country by railway. Passengers can take high-speed trains to Hangzhou, Ningbo and other places from their hometowns directly, taking less than half of time of normal trains. Now it only takes 45 minutes from Wuhu to Hefei by high-speed railway, and the fastest time from Wuhu to Xuancheng, Anji, Huzhou, Hangzhou is 28, 46, 64 and 81 minutes respectively.

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

From the beginning of this year, facing with the impact that COVID-19 has brought to the increasing of citizens’ income,  Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Wuhu positively functioned as the role of joint conference office, which has adopted a series of policies to increase the employment rate and help enterprises return to produce and work. These measures built a stable foundation for ensuring the accomplishment of “A season of struggle, a year of happiness” goal, which won approval and praise from Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Anhui Province.

It is reported that the provincial department of human resources and social security has collected and summarized experience and methods of increasing citizens’ income from Wuhu, Hefei, Bengbu, Chuzhou, Luan and Xuancheng. It has published The Notification of Printing and Distributing The Practice and Experience of Increasing Urban Residents’ Income throughout the province for the reference of all municipalities. Coordinating duties and goals to help the improvement of citizens’ income be achieved orderly would be the next step for Wuhu administration. Wuhu City will manage to make new breakthroughs in this field.

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

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released its list of the top 10 Chinese automakers based on their sales in the first half of this year on Monday, with a total of 4.36 million vehicles sold, accounting for 84.53 percent of the total sales of Chinese brands.

The top 10 automakers include SAIC, Changan Automobile, Geely, Dongfeng Motor, FAW, BAIC, Great Wall Motors, Chery, JAC and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Corp.

The top 10 Chinese commercial vehicle makers in sales are JMC, SAIC Maxus, Foton Motor, Changan Automobile, Zhengzhou Yutong Group, Nanjing Iveco, King Long United Automotive, Golden Dragon, Zhong Tong Bus and Renault Brilliance, with their sales reaching 152,600 vehicles from January to June and accounting for 84.59 percent of total bus sales, the association said.

During the first half of the year, China’s auto production and sales stood at 10.11 million units and 10.26 million units, down 16.8 percent and 16.9 percent year on year respectively.

The association said the long-term stable trend of the automobile industry is unchanged, although the market suffered losses due to the COIVD-19 epidemic in the first half of the year.

Moreover, the figures came in better than expected, showing the auto market is recovering. As measures to boost car consumption continue to prop up the market, the market will keep improving, the association said.

    Effort Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. officially landed in the A-share market and was listed on the Sci-Tech innovation board of Shanghai Stock Exchange on July 15, 2020. It became the first company listed on Sci-Tech innovation board as well as the 21^st listed company of Wuhu. The Director of Economy and Information Technology of Anhui, Niu Nutao, Deputy Mayor of Wuhu Municipal Government, Tang Jingsong and the chairman of Effort, Xu Lijin attened the ceremony.

    Effort used to be Wuhu Chery Equipment Co., Ltd., which was established in 2007.Currently, Effort has been recognized in the first echelon of Chinese industrial robot industry as well as one of the Top 100 intelligent manufacturing enterprises in China. It has formed a complete industrial chain layout covering core parts, complete machines and integration of high-end system. Besides, this corporation has hosted and participated in more than thirty scientific projects, which includes National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program), National Science and Technology Major Project and National Key R&D Program of China. The products and solutions that it provides inspire rapid development of industries like new energy vehicles, rail transit, aerospace, 3C electronics, photovoltaic, engineering machinery, casting and so on, which are exported to Europe, Asia, Africa and many countries and regions all over the world.

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

Shanghai dispatched its first rescue team of 300 people to assist Wuhu, Anhui province with flood control on Sunday, one day after the province activated a Level I emergency response – the highest in a four-tier emergency response system.

Due to heavy rainfall, the water level has been constantly rising in Chaohu Lake, China’s fifth-largest freshwater lake, in Auhui. The level at the Tangxi hydrological station of Chaohu Lake reached 12.77 meters on Sunday, higher than the warning levels, according to the provincial flood control authorities.

The situation is expected to worsen as local weather authorities have predicted more rainfalls on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of July, the floods in China have affected over 23.85 million residents in 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Jiangxi province, Hubei province and Chongqing, resulting in 31 people dead or missing, and economic losses of 64.39 billion yuan.

Deluges have so far affected 2 million people; over 300,000 have relocated

    The flood hitting the middle and lower reaches of the Yangzte River has forced Anhui province to raise its flood response alert to the second highest level on Tuesday, while the flood peak is forecast to come soon.

    An announcement issued by the provincial flood and drought relief headquarters on Tuesday night requires its five cities along the river－Anqing, Chizhou, Tongling, Wuhu and Maanshanto evacuate all residents from threatened areas.

    Official information from the provincial government shows that the flooding has so far affected more than 2 million people. Over 300,000 people have relocated.

Based on the forecast from the Central Meteorological Center on Wednesday morning, areas including the vast central and southern parts of Anhui will see torrential rains, with rainfall volume expected to reach up to 120 millimeters between 8 am Wednesday and 8 am Thursday.

    Provincial flood control authorities said major rivers would see flood peaks before the end of Thursday.

    In the riverside Zongyang county of Tongling city, more than 13,000 residents had been relocated by Tuesday night.

    Over 1,100 people who have nowhere to go have been provided makeshift shelters in 17 sites, including local schools, according to local officials.

    Liu Yadong, Party chief of Zongyang, said the county is one of the areas most severely hit by the flood.

    ”A total of 1,020 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army and the Armed Police have arrived at Zongyang for flood relief so far,” said Liu on Tuesday night.

    ”Though flooding happens frequently to the riverside areas, this year’s situation is far more critical than expected.

    ”Water levels of the Yangzte River and lakes in Zongyang are both very high, which means we cannot drain the water but must wait for the flooding to fade away,” said Liu, who patrols the local waters and flood relief sites every night.

    The troops have helped to consolidate the county town’s anti-flood wall, which extends for 2 kilometers, with blocks of sand bags piled up along the wall.

    He said if the water rises to a certain height, they should also raise the wall.

    Hundreds of meters from the wall－a permanent one built with stones and bricks－a dike extending for 3.5 kilometers built with sand bags has been finished.

    The local government workers have been working hard to persuade residents living between the two defense lines to evacuate, while “some people are reluctant to leave, because they don’t feel threatened by the water nor want to leave their properties”, said Yu Jing, a local community worker.

    Xu Zhisheng, a senior official from Tietong town, which is located on an islet in the middle of the river, said more than 200 people have been relocated to the Chengguan Primary School and are receiving free meals from the government.

    ”Most of the people are seniors, which brings great challenges to the community workers to take care of them,” said Xu, who is also a community worker at the school.

    The reporter learned from Chery Holding Group that in the first six months of this year, the group sold a total of 235,248 vehicles, among which 41,799 passenger vehicles were exported, reaching a year-on-year growth of 42 percent.

    Facing the adverse impact of this year’s COVID-19 pandemiv, Chery Group is fully committed to the “two battlefields” of fighting the pandemic and resuming work, and has taken multiple measures to promote high-quality development. In June, Chery Automobile Holdings Group sold 46,189 vehicles, up 10.9 percent month-on-month, the fourth consecutive month of positive growth. Among them, the group’s overseas exports and new energy sales increased 27.3% and 3.1% respectively month-on-month.

    Overseas export has become a bright color in Chery’s accelerating globalization development. Over the years, Chery has continuously upgraded its global development and completed the structural transformation from the simple trade of selling products to the current brand marketing. In the face of this global public health emergency, Chery Group adjusted its strategies flexibly according to the pandemic situation in different periods, which not only effectively stabilized overseas markets, but also recorded the highest sales data in Brazil, Russia and other markets in recent five years.

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

German auto parts supplier Continental AG has estimated China’s light vehicle production will decline 15 percent this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will grow in the mid-to-long term to account for 25 to 30 percent of the global auto market.

The company is optimistic about the Chinese market and continues to promote local production as well as research and development, said Enno Tang, president and CEO of Continental China, last week.

In the first quarter of this year, sales at Continental AG totaled 9.84 billion euros ($11.86 billion), down 10.9 percent year-on-year. Its profit slumped 47 percent in the same period. The reason is that its plants were shut down and global supply chains disrupted because of the outbreak.

“The global outbreak had huge impact on our business and the auto industry,” Tang said. “We saw severe decline in the first quarter of this year in China but the market shows good recovery signs in the second quarter.”

The group estimates China will have a better performance than Europe and the United States this year. It forecast that light vehicle production will decline 24 percent worldwide; 32 percent in Central and North America and 24 percent year-on-year in Europe.

Plants and R&D bases started resuming operations in mid-February with some plants currently fully operational. Outside China, 50 percent of Continental’s plants have resumed production.

To ensure orders are delivered on time, Continental has increased its management of global supply chains, resulting in 90 percent of its global supply chains having returned to normal operation as of now.

Continental reorganized its auto subgroups in the beginning of this year to pay more attention to automobile technologies, such as autonomous driving and connectivity.

Tang said: “We have seen a bigger opportunity for market growth in electrification, connectivity and autonomous driving.

“The Chinese government also set a goal that electric cars account for 25 percent and connected vehicles account for 30 percent of the country’s total sales by 2025. We think it is achievable.”

In April, Vitesco Technologies, the powertrain unit of Continental, announced it would build a research and development center in Tianjin, scheduled for completion in 2021. The center will specialize in technologies for hybrid and electric powertrains.

Vitesco has more than 10 years of experience in electrification. It has three production bases in Wuhu in Anhui province, Changchun in Jilin province and Tianjin.

It offers a broad range of electrification solutions tailored to the needs of customers worldwide. The portfolio ranges from 48-volt mild hybrid technologies and key components for hybrids to full battery-electric powertrains like power electronics, charging, battery management systems and electric axle drive.

Vitesco was expected to complete an initial public offering in the fourth quarter of this year, but it has been delayed to next year because of the pandemic.

Continental has also made efforts to promote intelligent mobility and infrastructure. It has launched an intelligent mobility project in Changsha, Hunan province and used a number of technologies to build intelligent highways and intersections.

On July 2nd, the first development fund investment roadshow of small and medium-sized enterprises (specialization, refinement, uniqueness and novelty) was held in Wuhu city enterprise service center, which was co-sponsored by Economy and Information Technology Department of Anhui, Anhui Provincial Investment Group and Wuhu Municipal Government. Wu Weiren, deputy director of Economy and Information Technology Department, Huang Linmu, general manager of the Provincial Investment Group and He Dong, deputy mayor of Wuhu, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech.  

The meeting pointed out that the impact of the pandemic on economic and social development as well as and the difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises is unprecedented. This meeting is a valuable platform for promoting win-win cooperation between provincial fund institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises in our city. It is also a practical measure to implement the “six stability” and “six insurance” working plans of the central government, provincial Party committee and provincial government, and to provide financial services to the real economy and protecting market entities.

It is reported that there are 2 state-level, 261 provincial-level and 50 municipal-level enterprises in Wuhu. Among them, a batch of small and medium-sized enterprises (specialization, refinement, uniqueness and novelty), like Three Squirrels, Efort and Rayhoo Motor Dies are listed on the main board. And 10 small and medium-sized enterprises of high-quality in Wuhu City participated in this roadshow meeting.

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

    Reporters learned from Wuhu Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, in order to provide  a variety of cultural tourism products and considerate services and to ensure that tourists can spend a safe, civilized and peaceful Dragon Boat Festival, Wuhu City strictly implemented a series of instructions, such as requirements of the epidemic prevention and control and flood safety , measures like restricting the number of tourists, booking in advance, scanning code and temperature measurement are also strictly carried out.

    During the holidays, the city received a total of 557,000 tourists, with total tourism revenue reaching 233.9 million yuan.

    During this Dragon Boat Festival, in combination with prevention and control requirements of the epidemic and flood, Wuhu City’s each county (city), each scenic spot, cultural venues and rural tourism areas focused on the theme of “carrying forward traditional culture and strengthening cultural confidence” and launched a series of online and offline Dragon Boat Festival folk customs activities that meet the market demand and integrate traditional culture with modern science and technology. These colorful activities allow tourists to experience the infinite charm of traditional culture closely, effectively meet the diversified demands of tourists, enrich the holiday tourism market supply, and accelerate the recovery of cultural tourism industry. 

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