Parts of China's coastal regions to experience heavy storms as this year's first typhoon approaches

Parts of China's coastal regions are expected to experience strong wind and heavy rainfalls in the following days as the National Meteorological Center issued on Wednesday morning a blue alert for the country's first typhoon this year.

The typhoon evolved from a tropical depression that had formed over the central and western waters of the South China Sea. At about 11:00 Wednesday, the typhoon center was located on the sea about 105 kilometers east-southeast of Yongxing Island in Sansha City of China's southernmost island province of Hainan, with the maximum wind speed near the center reaching Level 8.

The typhoon is forecast to move westward at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour as it gradually strengthens and draws near the southern coastal part of Hainan before making the initial landfall between early morning and midday of Friday.

Its second landfall is expected to take place between the western part of south China's Guangdong Province and the coastal region of the neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday night.

The sea areas near the typhoon's center and the coastal regions of Guangdong and Hainan will experience strong winds from Level 6 to Level 8.

The wind force could reach Level 9, with gusts reaching even Level 10 to Level 11, on the waters near the central and the western parts of the South China Sea and the Xisha Islands,

Some regions, including the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi, most parts of Hainan, and the Xisha Islands, will see heavy rain. In particular, some parts of central and eastern Hainan will experience heavy-to-torrential rain, with rainfall reaching 100 to 150 millimeters.

The meteorological department warned that regions like Hainan and Guangdong will experience increasingly intensifying wind and rain from Wednesday to Friday.

The heavy rainfalls are predicted to move northward to some eastern provinces like Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang as the typhoon and its circulation move northward to meet with the cold air that is also moving southward at the same time.

Meteorological officials reminded some regions that precautionary measures should be taken against potential secondary disasters triggered by heavy rain.

Parts of China's coastal regions to experience heavy storms as this year's first typhoon approaches

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