Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, is visiting the region, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
"Special envoy Zhai Jun of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue is visiting the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released the information about the special envoy's visit to Saudi Arabia on its website. We will continue to release the relevant information on the special envoy's Middle East visit timely," said Guo.
China's special envoy visiting Middle East: spokesman
Artificial intelligence and digital technologies have been increasingly used in China's autumn grain procurement, improving grain inspection efficiency and helping farmers reduce costs.
At a smart grain facility in Gu'an, Hebei Province, part of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei grain industry cluster, a new AI-based analyzer has been used to assess grain quality. Equipped with high-definition industrial cameras, the system captures multi-angle images of each corn kernel and uses AI algorithms trained on billions of images to identify grain grades within about a minute.
The inspection technology is part of a broader digital system being deployed across China's grain storage network. Data from different stages of the procurement process, including inspection, weighing and storage, are transmitted in real time to a centralized management platform operated by China Grain Reserves Group, also known as Sinograin.
The platform allows operators to monitor and manage multiple grain depots simultaneously, improving operational efficiency and oversight.
To support farmers during the harvest season, mobile inspection vehicles have also been deployed in major grain-producing regions. The vehicles conduct on-site quality testing and provide services closer to farms.
"During this year's autumn grain procurement period, we deployed six of these testing vehicles nationwide. While conducting grain quality surveys, they also provide farmers with zero-distance, one-stop services, helping reduce farmers' costs of selling their grain," said Shao Boyu, inspector at Sinograin Heilongjiang Quality Inspection Center.
AI promotes cost-efficiency for Chinese farmers in annual nationwide grain procurement
