Shanghai, a leading force for Chinese modernization, is accelerating the pace of building itself into a science and technology innovation center with global influence.
The tech-savvy metropolis is now speeding up the transition from structure building to function strengthening. Taking strengthening the capability of fostering original sci-tech innovations as the main task, it is pursuing both sci-tech innovation and institutional innovation to significantly improve its comprehensive strength in science and technology as well as the overall effects of innovations.
Over the past 10 years since Shanghai began building itself into an international science and technology innovation center, it has reaped fruitful results in sci-tech innovation, which has pushed the metropolis' GDP across the 4-trillion-yuan (about 570 billion U.S. dollars) mark.
In 2023, Shanghai's total research and development expenditure accounted for 4.4 percent of its GDP, and the city's fiscal expenditure on science and technology rose by 36.7 percent to 52.8 billion yuan (about 7.47 billion U.S. dollars).
Driven by science and technology advances, Shanghai's industrial transformation has sped up. The combined scale of the three leading industries of artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and biomedicine in the city has reached 1.6 trillion yuan (about 226 billion U.S. dollars).
At the National Local Joint Humanoid Robot Innovation Center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Science City, Qinglong, an open-source general-purpose humanoid robot with a height of 182 centimeters and up to 43 active degrees of freedom, is being trained to pick up oranges.
"After some training, the robot will be able to complete this move by itself when it encounters a similar scenario in the future," said Shi Zhihua, trainer of robot Qinglong.
Thanks to an advanced control software, Qinglong can skillfully perform fast walking, avoid obstacles, go uphill and downhill, and resist impact.
"We plan to build a venue that can simultaneously train 1,000 robots by 2027," Shi said.
The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), a third-generation medium-energy synchrotron light source facility with 46 laboratories, has been operating around the clock to serve researchers from around the country, whose experiments cover a wide range of fields such as life sciences, materials science and chemical catalysis.
"We are using the SSRF's light to observe the phase change process of this material when it's heated to 1,100 degrees Celsius," said Song Shuang, a PhD candidate of Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Our team is developing materials for the energy sector," said Miao Zhikai, a researcher of Tianjin University.
"We are developing cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries," said Li Guodong, a researcher of Fudan University.
Though the laboratories at the SSRF have been running at full capacity, researchers still have to apply for them months in advance, reflecting the vibrancy of innovation in Shanghai.
Shanghai blazes sci-tech frontiers to boost innovation-driven modernization
A severe hunger crisis continues to afflict the massive displaced population in the war-torn Gaza Strip, as the year-long Israel-Hamas conflict persists and humanitarian access remains largely restricted.
On the World Food Day, which falls annually on Oct 16, Palestinians in the Strip, who have endured a brutal year of conflict, still face a desperate lack of food and are forced to cope with hunger every day.
The Israeli military launched another large-scale assault on northern Gaza on Oct 6, ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate. Meanwhile, a strict siege and blockade were imposed on the area. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the main crossing into northern Gaza has been nearly closed, with no food aid allowed in since Oct 1.
At present, many WFP-supported local bakeries are forced to close due to food shortages. The WFP warns that remaining supplies in northern Gaza are extremely limited and uncertain in duration, especially for local residents who fled sudden attacks by the Israeli military, carrying very little food with them.
"The entire world is calling for an end to hunger, but we're dealing with famine and being hungry every single day, and things are getting worse. We hope things will get better, but we always find ourselves back in famine. More than 10 days ago, the Israeli army took over northern Gaza again, making the famine even worse. We had to leave Beit Hanoun (a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip) and walk to Gaza City with our children, women, and seniors to find shelter," said Walid, a displaced Palestinian in northern Gaza.
Fahd, another displaced man, expressed his anger and helplessness, saying he has survived on canned food for months without any fresh vegetables or meat. With food aid access closed and famine looming, the situation in Gaza is worsening.
"I am suffering from hunger right now. It has been eight months since I last ate a tomato or any other vegetables. I have forgotten their taste. Without vegetables and fruits, I can't even remember if bananas are yellow or red anymore. We only have canned food, and haven't seen any vegetables and meat," said Fahd.
Now, malnutrition is rising sharply among young children and breastfeeding mothers in Gaza, with infants being the most vulnerable victims of the ongoing food crisis.
"Last week, I completed a survey on 600 children and their mothers. Sadly, I found out that 20 percent of the children are mildly malnourished, 10 percent are severely malnourished, and 16 percent are moderately malnourished. It's not just about numbers. We're talking about a childhood disaster here. We're discussing children who can't find food daily, who go to bed hungry and in tears," said Saeed Saleh, medical director of Patient's Friends Hospital in Gaza City.
Alongside the high risk of famine, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has reached 42,344 since the outbreak of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, 2023, according to a statement from health authorities in the region on Tuesday.
Hunger crisis haunts Gaza's displaced
Hunger crisis haunts Gaza's displaced
