Local authorities across China improve community services by adopting intelligent tech, faccilities

Local authorities across China are ramping up efforts to improve community services by adopting intelligent tech and facilities.

Parking shortage in old residential communities is a major challenge for residents. A neighborhood in Xihu District of Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, which was built in the 1980s, has served as an example in solving the problem.

To effectively address the problem, the neighborhood has digitized all parking spaces and developed a parking mini-program, along with implementing user-friendly management measures, significantly improving the utilization efficiency of parking bays.

"Residents can open a mini-program of our community before returning home to view real-time parking availability. Blue indicates available spaces, while white shows occupied spots," said Xiang Feifei, an official with the community. 

Currently, over 800 parking spots can dynamically accommodate the parking needs of more than 1,000 vehicles.

In another sub-district in Xihu, local authorities have actively introduced intelligent elderly care models during the process of adapting age-friendly facilities.

"By pressing this button, I can control the temperature and turn on the warm air, so I don't have to worry about the cold room temperature while taking a shower in winter. They have also installed handrails and safety facilities, providing safety for the elderly, which has truly enhanced our sense of happiness," a resident named Chen Xuefen said.

Local authorities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are piloting intelligent community governance. 

Home services are integrated with housekeeping and elderly care based on the establishment of a smart property management service platform, with resources from surrounding community service industries being connected to create a convenient and beneficial smart living service network.

In east China's Jiangxi Province, communities are piloting comprehensive community development projects, aimed at improving embedded services and enhancing the digital and intelligent capabilities of community governance.

Local authorities across China improve community services by adopting intelligent tech, faccilities

The Langqi passenger terminal in Fuzhou of east China's Fujian Province officially commenced a new departure tax refund initiative for travelers heading on the "mini three links" route on Tuesday, with streamlined measures boosting the efficiency of tax refunds and speeding up customs clearance procedures.

The "mini three links" refers to direct trade, postal and transport services launched in 2001 between Fujian Province and the Taiwan-administered Kinmen and Matsu islands. It serves as a vital, convenient cross-strait passage for personnel exchanges and economic and trade interactions between the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region.

At the heart of the upgraded service is an optimized procedure dubbed the "one document, one bag, one code" process, a simple and streamlined model designed to shorten clearance time for outbound passengers.

Under this framework, travelers who make purchases at designated pilot tax refund stores can have their qualified goods consolidated into a single sealed bag, with all corresponding tax refund information integrated into a unique QR code printed on the tax refund application form.

When departing via the Langqi passenger terminal, on-site customs officers only need to scan the QR code to retrieve and verify the details relating to the applicant's tax refund application. Travelers can then get quick customs clearance once the information is confirmed to be accurate, with no requirement to open their sealed shopping bags for repeated inspections.

Departure tax refund services launched at "mini three links" port in Fuzhou