The 2024 China National Endurance Horse Riding Championship came to an end on Sunday in Damao United Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with winners being crowned in the different events.
The championship, the highest-level endurance riding event in China with more than 200 participants, includes a 120km individual competition, a 100km individual competition, a 100km team competition, and 40km and 80km qualifying competitions.
In order to protect the health of the horses on the grueling course, the competition is divided into stages. After each stage, the physical condition of the horses is tested immediately and if the horse's heart rate exceeds 64 beats per minute, the rider will be eliminated.
"All the horses at the highest level in China have come, and the seven members of the national team who will participate in the 2024 FEI Endurance World Championship in France in September have also participated in the event. Through this competition, we are strengthening our physical fitness and adapting to competition atmosphere," said Jia Huilin, a member of the national team.
During the competition, exhibitions of world famous horses, show jumping performances, and equestrian barrel racing were also held to keep the audience entertained.
National endurance riding championship puts horses through their paces in Inner Mongolia
China has established the world's largest 5G network, with over four million base stations accounting for 32.1 percent of the country's total mobile base stations, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The fifth-generational telecommunication technology (5G) has been applied across 74 major categories of China's national economy, showcasing its widespread adoption.
"The total output indirectly driven by 5G to other industries of the national economy reached about 14 trillion yuan. Our next step is to continue our 'signal upgrading' campaign to achieve deep coverage of such key scenarios," said Wei Liurong, deputy chief engineer with the Policy and Economics Research Institute under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
In the industrial sector, the 5G applications are expanding from peripheral scenarios to core production processes such as robotic arms, significantly enhancing manufacturing flexibility and efficiency.
"The data integration speed in the new factory is at least 10 times faster than before. We made 170 changes in a month or two, that's a lot of iterations in a very short period," said Sheng Feifei, head of business procedures and digitalization at Hangzhou Jidian Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
"We have cut the number of workers from 50 to five in each production line, and the production efficiency has increased from 2,500 units per shift to 3,600 units per shift. We plan to transform from the original traditional production mode into our current 5G smart factory in two years," said Wu Zhengxiang, vice president of Viewshine Metering Ltd.
Experts said the impact of 5G is being felt across various sectors, including mining, ports, and energy.
"The number of '5G+Industrial Internet' projects has exceeded 14,000. Next, we will carry out the 'set-sail' upgrading plan of large-scale 5G application, deeply cooperate with enterprises in vertical industries, and continue to explore new application scenarios," said Zhao Zhiguo, Chief Engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
As China continues to lead in 5G deployment and application, the technology is poised to play an increasingly crucial role in driving economic growth and modernization of manufacturing across the country.
China's 5G communication base stations volume exceeds 4 mln
China's 5G communication base stations volume exceeds 4 mln
