China's blistering heatwave is set to linger on Thursday, with temperatures in eastern Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan, and western Jiangxi expected to reach 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, and some areas likely to exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
Large parts of the country are continuing to bake under scorching heat, with parts of southern and central Shaanxi, southwestern Shanxi, western Hubei, eastern Sichuan, and Chongqing recording highs between 40 and 43.7 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
China's national observatory on Thursday continued an orange alert, the second-highest level for heat, warning that much of the southern half of the country, along with parts of Xinjiang and western Inner Mongolia, will continue to face searing temperatures.
Cities like Nanchang, Wuhan, and Zhengzhou, traditionally known as summer "hot ovens," are forecast to endure five to six more days of sweltering temperatures.
Residents are advised to limit prolonged outdoor activities during peak heat hours and to take precautions against heat stroke.
Heat wave scorches large areas of China
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
