China's sci-tech advancements wow global business leaders at Beijing workshop

Global officials and experts were captivated by groundbreaking AI innovations during the Second AI Capacity Building Workshop, which opened Monday at Tsinghua University in Beijing, hosted by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Officials and experts from 34 countries and international organizations, including ASEAN and the African Union, are participating in the six-day event. 

At the Zhongguancun Innovation Zone's exhibition and trading center, visitors were mesmerized by AI's diverse applications, from embodied intelligent robots and smart NEVs to a cloud-based embroidery system that crafts custom designs in just three minutes.

During their visit, foreign envoys eagerly recorded China's AI innovations on their mobile phones, describing the nation's technological advancements as "far beyond amazement".

Additionally, they exchanged contact information with representatives from multiple Chinese enterprises on-site for potential future cooperation.   Foreign envoys and business leaders also actively engaged in discussions with Chinese experts and scholars, aiming to advance AI capabilities in their own countries.  

"I feel very pleased about everything, about the technical knowledge, about the experience, especially the experience of China. I'm going to bring all [that] good news to my country. Globally, usually the countries that know the most, they don't like to share, especially in the West. But China is using a different approach, and that is very important for us, because we can collaborate, cooperate and work together and that [is a] win-win situation," said Ronald Rodrigo Delgado Cruz, director of the AI Research and Development Department at the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology.

China's sci-tech advancements wow global business leaders at Beijing workshop

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