China advances automated, digitalized agriculture with AI

By using big data and AI technology, China is advancing digitalized and automated agriculture to bring the most cutting-edge technologies down to earth and benefit farmers.

Researchers across the country have been experimenting with autonomous robots and AI-driven large-scale models to transform farms into precise and sustainable technology hubs.

In a laboratory in Beijing, researchers have installed multiple sensors and advanced machinery to develop unmanned farming practices that can reduce costs and increase yields for farmers.

"This is a tomato lab. We installed multiple sensors to track the growth data across the plant's life cycle. The future of facility farming is fully automated and intelligent. Plants cannot speak, so we need a precise model to decode their exact needs, like nutrient formulas, light intensity, water-fertilizer ratios, temperature, and carbon dioxide. Only with the accurate model can we truly achieve autonomous control," said Wei Lingling, Director of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair's Key Laboratory of Leisure Agriculture.

The lab has already developed a remote-control system, which is now being tested in farms across China.

"With this system, we can manage not only local farms, but also remote farms in multiple regions, including Kunshan and Nantong in Jiangsu, Ningbo in Zhejiang, and surrounding areas of Hebei," said Wei.

Another landmark move in smart agriculture is an AI-powered online farming system Xiongxiaonong, which literally means "little farmhand from Xiong'An New Area" in north China's Hebei Province, where the system is being used.

Jointly developed by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Xiong'an New Area and the telecommunication and information technology giant China Telecom, Xiongxiaonong is China's first agriculture-focused large AI model powered by DeepSeek.

"Xiongxiaonong now offers services from agricultural question and answer services and planting decisions to production management and market analysis, providing a full digital service loop. Unlike general AI models, we have tailored this system to Xiong'an's agriculture specialty industries like sweet potatoes, wheat, and tomatoes, building a three-tier knowledge base covering government, businesses, and research institutes. The Xiongxiaonong system bridges data from lab research to real-world farming," said Yang Yi, Deputy Director of the Rural Revitalization Research Institute of China Telecom.

Just one month since its launch, the system has already brought economic benefits to farmers in Xiong'an.

"Last month, the Yangque Lake Xili Agricultural Park in Xiong'an used Xiongxiaonong's price-predicting capabilities to optimize growing conditions and strategically harvested the tomatoes earlier for the market, boosting farmer incomes by nearly 3,000 yuan (about 420 in U.S. dollars) per mu (one-fifteenth hectare)," said Yang.

Scientists have even bigger ambitions, aiming to diagnose crop diseases using a pair of AI-powered glasses. The futuristic invention is only two to three years away from widespread usage, according to an expert.

"Smart agriculture is to have machines work the fields and smart systems optimize decisions on the basis of data. For example, there are plenty of wheat diseases. Before, agricultural technicians had to painstakingly examine every inch of each plant, from bottom to top. If we have a pair of AI glasses, the photos can be transmitted back to us and matched against thousands of images in our database, making disease identification immediately clear," said Xu Shiwei, research fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Information under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

China advances automated, digitalized agriculture with AI

China advances automated, digitalized agriculture with AI

China’s transport authorities mobilized rail, road, air and waterway resources on Tuesday, the final day of the five‑day May Day holiday, to manage the peak return flow as passenger volumes surged nationwide.

The national railway system expects 23 million passenger trips on the day, with operators adding 2,225 extra trains and deploying capacity on popular routes and peak hours to handle the return flow from smaller cities to major hubs.

In Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, 134 trains have been temporarily added for high-demand directions including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"Railway return travel peaks today. In light of short stops and high passenger volumes, we have strengthened coordination with intermediate stations and offered guidance to passengers for smooth boarding and alighting to prevent crowding and stampedes," said Ji Yudi, a conductor of China Railway Zhengzhou Group.

Regional operators in Beijing, Chengdu and other cities have also proactively coordinated with local transit authorities to extend bus and subway operating hours, increase nighttime service frequency, and boost taxi and ride-hailing availability to ensure seamless transfers for late-arriving passengers.

With respect to highways, the national highway network is projected to record approximately 61 million vehicle trips on Tuesday. The peak traffic window is between 16:00 and 18:00, with congestion and slow-moving traffic likely around major city entry and exit points, as well as airport expressways in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

To ease holiday congestion, traffic police in south China's Guangdong Province have rolled out tidal lanes and flow control measures at 24 key highway sections in nine cities.

"Using a highway interconnect system, we have conducted remote flow diversion. During this morning's peak return period, traffic efficiency on the Erenhot-Guangzhou Expressway improved significantly, showing no sign of congestion," said Dai Zhouwu, a local traffic police officer.

By water, an estimated 1.035 million passenger trips are expected to be made across the country on Tuesday, marking a 1.4-percent increase year on year.

To ensure smooth strait crossing from south China's Hainan Province, the maritime authorities in Zhanjiang City, south China's Guangdong Province have urged operators to supplement fixed sailings with extra voyages and optimized crew rotations to meet surging vessel demand.

Meanwhile, China's civil aviation sector is projected to carry 2.3 million passengers on Tuesday.

The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, one of the country's busiest airports in southwest China's Sichuan Province, are offering free luggage pick-up and delivering services to passengers arriving from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

China’s transport network braces for record May Day return traffic