Strong gales have swept across Beijing since Friday night, knocking down hundreds of trees and causing travel disruptions, with maximum gusts of up to 45.8 meters per second in mountainous areas.
As of 15:00 Saturday, the capital's gardening department reported 843 fallen trees, all cleared. Over 21,956 people and 2,607 vehicles were deployed to deal with the damage.
One incident in western Beijing's Shijingshan District saw a 40-year-old tree, with a diameter of 70 centimeters, fall onto a minivan and disrupt power lines. After the accident, mobile generators were called in to provide power for residents while rescuers worked to clear the scene.
In the Fangshan District, strong winds ripped a metal roof off a factory building in an industrial area, blocking a road nearby. The relevant department responded swiftly to clear the debris. Traffic has resumed, and no injuries have been reported.
Beijing's two major airports experienced disruptions. As of 14:00 Saturday, Beijing Capital International Airport in the city north had operated 269 flights and canceled 429, including preemptive cancellations. Beijing Daxing International Airport in the south canceled 264 out of its planned 660 flights for the day.
After strong winds waned shortly in the morning, it intensified again at 10:00 local time, exceeding 24 meters per second across most of the city. The highest gust reached 45.8 meters per second in the Mentougou District's mountainous area, followed by 39 meters per second in the Fangshan District.
Beijing's emergency management department said that 7,430 people were evacuated safely. The essential services remain operational, including water, electricity, gas, heating, and commodity supplies.
The meteorological department predicts the gales will subside by Monday.
Strong winds sweep Beijing, knock down over 800 trees
China aims to achieve secure and reliable supply of key core artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027, with its industrial scale and empowerment level remaining among the world's forefront, according to a recent government action plan.
The plan, jointly issued by eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, outlines an ambitious push to deeply integrate AI with the manufacturing sector, foster new quality productive forces and comprehensively empower new industrialization. By 2027, the plan targets the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in manufacturing, the development of specialized, full-coverage industry-specific large models, the creation of 100 high-quality industrial datasets, and the promotion of 500 typical application scenarios.
It also aims to cultivate two to three globally influential ecosystem-leading enterprises, a batch of specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises, and a group of enabling service providers proficient in both AI technology and industry know-how.
Furthermore, China plans to build a world-leading open-source ecosystem, enhance security governance capabilities, and contribute Chinese solutions to global AI development.
The document outlines measures including promoting the coordinated development of AI chips' hardware and software, supporting innovations in model training and inference methods, fostering key industry-specific large models, and deeply embedding large model technology into core production processes.
The plan also emphasizes making breakthroughs in key technologies such as security protection for industrial model algorithms and training data protection.
China aims for secure, reliable supply of AI core tech by 2027
