China begins construction of two advanced astronomical telescopes

China on Saturday began constructing two advanced telescopes at the Lenghu Astronomical Observation Base in Qinghai Province, including a groundbreaking 4.2-meter dedicated astrometric telescope for precise solar system measurements.

The 4.2-meter telescope, developed by the Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), represents China's first single-mirror astronomical telescope with an aperture exceeding 4 meters.

Its exceptional features include ultra-low distortion imaging, extremely high positioning accuracy, and deep detection limits unmatched by conventional telescopes.

"When observing the same celestial object simultaneously, this telescope provides more authentic views, captures celestial bodies with greater sensitivity, and produces more accurate images than traditional single-mirror telescopes. If there were a candle flame on the Moon, this telescope could clearly capture that flickering flame from our Lenghu observation site on Earth," said Gong Xuefei, director of the Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology.

The telescope's primary mission involves conducting high-precision measurements of faint moving objects within the solar system, supporting China's independent construction and maintenance of a solar system ephemeris while serving the nation's space missions and deep space exploration needs.

"With this telescope, we will establish China's independent solar system ephemeris, essentially creating a celestial map of our solar system. This will enable us to track the movements of all solar system bodies in real-time, eliminating our reliance on foreign ephemerides," said Li Fan, a senior engineer at Purple Mountain Observatory of CAS.

The companion 2.5-meter multi-purpose telescope will work in tandem with the 4.2-meter instrument at the 4,000-meter-altitude Lenghu site, providing complementary observation capabilities for comprehensive solar system studies.

China begins construction of two advanced astronomical telescopes

China begins construction of two advanced astronomical telescopes

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