China has achieved remarkable progress in the cultivation and development of international consumption center cities, Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
In July 2021, the country approved Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing to take the lead in building international consumption center cities.
Significant achievements have been made after four years.
"The total retail sales of consumer products of five cities now account for over one-eighth of the national total. The number of national pilot pedestrian streets represents one-quarter of the country, while the number of China Time-Honored Brands makes up about one-third. Imports of consumer goods account for more than half, and the sales of departure tax refunds constitute approximately 70 percent," He said.
He also stressed that the five cities have focused on enhancing the convenience of payment services, optimizing services of departure tax refunds, and creating friendlier international consumption environment.
"Since the release of the notice on further optimizing its departure tax refund policy to meet overseas tourists' needs better and expand inbound consumption in April this year, the total number of duty-free shops in Beijing and Shanghai has exceeded 1,400, while Guangzhou has surpassed 500. This has driven a 94.6 percent increase in sales of departure tax refunds across the country in the first half of the year. 'China Shopping' has become a buzzword," he said.
The five cities have been vigorously developing digital, green and healthy consumption, and actively promoting the debut economy. In the past four years, domestic and foreign brands debuted about 12,000 stores in these major urban areas, the ministry said.
China's construction of int'l consumption centers taking shape in 5 cities: official
An artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model specialized for analyzing human genetic diversity was launched at Shanghai's cutting-edge Model Speed Space innovation hub on Tuesday.
Named SNPBAG, it is the world's first large model built specifically for genomic analysis, promising to precisely predict diseases and advance personalized health care.
The model focuses on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common type of genetic variation among people, which influence traits such as height, intelligence and personality.
Currently, SNPBAG can be used for ancestry tracing and kinship identification. In the future, with further training, it is expected to predict disease risks at various life stages based on DNA sequences, offering higher screening accuracy than existing genetic testing methods.
"As far as we know, traditional methods examine SNPs point by point for correlations with traits like height or intelligence, without taking into account, for example, interactions between or among genes. Therefore, we need a model that can autonomously identify these complex relationships. Now, we've found such a tool that can bring close two gene expressions [of the human body] that are far away from each other and provide biological interpretations," said Tang Kun, an expert of computational biology and founder of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
Looking ahead, the model will support the development of China's sovereign genomic database, promote its domestic self-reliance, enhance AI-driven drug discovery and improve the target screening success rates by over 200 percent. It also aims to make precision health care more accessible.
"The most well-known application is non-invasive prenatal screening. Currently, only a few conditions are covered by national insurance, but there are over 20,000 rare diseases in children. We are now collaborating with Shanghai Children’s Hospital to expand screening coverage," said Lu Sitong, CEO of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology.
With SNPBAG, non-invasive prenatal screening is expected to detect a broader range of rare diseases in the future. The company said it also plans to launch consumer-facing products to benefit the general public.
China launches world's first foundation model for genomic analysis
