The 9th Asian Winter Games, which concluded on Friday in the renowned "ice city" of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, drew a record-breaking 1,222 athletes from 34 countries and regions, making it the largest edition of the event in history, according to a press conference on Friday.
Members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Harbin Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee held the press conference to recap the overall success of the Games, highlighting key accomplishments and milestones.
With over 180 competitions in 64 ice and snow events, this edition of the Games was the most comprehensive to date. The addition of Saudi Arabia and Cambodia to the roster of participating countries marked a major breakthrough, broadening the Asian Winter Games' scope and reinforcing its position as a premier international sporting event, according to officials.
Meanwhile, a total of 110,000 spectators attended the events during the Games, immersing themselves in the excitement and energy of winter sports.
"We focused on creating a professional and fair competition environment. The venues were fully prepared, material and equipment support was sufficient, and the competition organization was orderly and efficient. This has been widely praised by athletes, technical officials, team officials, and media reporters from various countries and regions. During the Games, athletes from various countries and regions worked hard and aimed for excellence. They not only achieved excellent results, but also embodied the spirit of fair competition and aimed for new heights. They gained friendship and cultural resonance, demonstrating the Olympic motto of 'Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together,'" said Zhang Haihua, deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee and vice mayor of Harbin.
Officials from the OCA reiterated that the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games have set a high standard in terms of preparation, medical services, and volunteer engagement. "Everybody, not only Asia, everywhere, will see the athletes in participation, but also see a beautiful city of Harbin. I'm sure that Harbin has already set the standard, a template, what successful Games [are] about," said Timothy Tsun Ting Fok, first vice president of the OCA.
Harbin Asian Winter Games draw record-breaking 1,222 athletes: officials
Major breakthroughs by Chinese scientists have laid the foundation for a future where space-based solar power stations are capable of wirelessly transmitting energy to Earth and spacecraft, though significant engineering problems remain.
A research team from Xidian University in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has made significant progress on the Sun Chasing project, or "Zhuri" in Chinese. The team has developed a ground-based test system for wireless power transmission that can charge multiple moving targets at the same time.
In recent tests, the system achieved a wireless power transmission efficiency of 20.8 percent from direct current to direct current over a distance of 100 meters. It delivered 1,180 watts of power. The team has also built a wireless charging system for drones. In a test, a drone flying at 30 kilometers per hour was able to receive 143 watts of stable power from 30 meters away.
A space solar power station works exactly as its name suggests: a huge array of solar panels placed in orbit. It would collect sunlight in space, where the sun always shines, and then convert that energy into microwaves or lasers to beam down to Earth or directly to satellites and spacecraft. This could address two significant issues: supplying uninterrupted power for space missions and alleviating energy shortages on the ground.
"The construction of space solar power stations could become a major undertaking in the future. One potential benefit is access to a virtually unlimited power supply. Because energy can be collected continuously in space 24 hours a day, electricity could be supplied on an uninterrupted basis," said Fan Guanheng, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"Secondly, it could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, thereby lowering carbon emissions and helping protect the environment. Thirdly, it could support the development of charging infrastructure in space and enable wireless microwave charging for spacecraft, changing the way power is supplied to space vehicles," the professor added.
In 2018, the research team launched the first phase of the Sun Chasing project to build a ground test system. By June 2022, they had completed the world's first full-link, full-system ground validation system for a space solar power station. Now, the team has moved to phase two. The goal now is to solve the challenges of generating high power in space and transmitting it efficiently over long distances.
According to Duan Baoyan, an expert at Xidian University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, recent breakthroughs include improving the efficiency of solar energy collection and conversion, increasing the precision of microwave beam control to reduce energy loss, and making the transmitting and receiving antennas smaller and lighter, which is critical for space application.
The team has also solved the problem of how to power multiple moving targets at once using a single transmitter. This means that in the future, one space power station could potentially supply electricity to several satellites or ground vehicles at the same time, Duan said.
Despite the advances in ground-based validation, a series of technical challenges must still be overcome before the technology can be deployed in space.
"The first issue that needs to be addressed is the adaptability of components to the space environment, as conditions in space are completely different from those on Earth, including radiation exposure and extreme temperatures. Another challenge involves the deployment and retraction design of transmitting and receiving antennas. We also need to develop thermal management systems to cope with extreme temperatures and temperature fluctuations in space. These are all areas where further breakthroughs are needed," said Qian Sihao, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"We have now completed the development and validation of a ground-based test system, and our next step is to carry out in-orbit wireless microwave power transmission," Fan said.
With ground validation complete, the team now turns its attention to overcoming the harsh realities of space, aiming to demonstrate in-orbit wireless power transmission and bring the vision of orbital solar energy closer to reality.
Space-to-earth solar power moves closer to reality although hurdles remain: scientists
