Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, met with Saleumxay Kommasith, who is the special envoy of General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, in Beijing on Tuesday.
Xi said that an exchange of special envoys between the two parties to brief each other on major political agendas demonstrates the deep traditional friendship and high-level political mutual trust between the two sides.
Noting that this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties and the Year of China-Laos Friendship, Xi recalled that he and General Secretary Thongloun exchanged messages the other day and reached important consensus on advancing the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future.
Xi expressed confidence that under the strong leadership of the LPRP Central Committee headed by Thongloun, the party, government and people of Laos will overcome all challenges, accomplish their objectives and tasks, and advance steadily along the socialist path toward the party's centenary goal.
Standing at a new historical starting point, the two sides should strengthen coordination from a strategic perspective concerning the future of socialism, deepen strategic alignment, expand practical cooperation, and jointly address common challenges, Xi said.
Xi also called for better implementation of the new five-year action plan on building the China-Laos community with a shared future, advancing it toward high standards, high quality, and high levels.
Saleumxay conveyed Thongloun's personal letter to Xi and briefed him on the LPRP's 12th National Congress that was held from Jan 6 to 8 this year.
He said China has long maintained a secure and stable domestic environment, achieved an economic growth miracle with sustained and high-speed development, and enhanced its role and influence on the international stage. Laos firmly supports the major global initiatives proposed by Xi and stands ready to deepen comprehensive and practical cooperation with China and continuously push for new achievements in the building of the Lao-China community with a shared future.
Xi meets special envoy of Lao leader Thongloun
Xi meets special envoy of Lao leader Thongloun
A year after issuing its first ocean forecasting AI system, Chinese scientists on Saturday rolled out LangYa 2.0, a major upgrade that moves beyond basic sea variables to predict complex marine phenomena including typhoons, extreme rainfall and storm surges.
The new model was unveiled at the ongoing Fourth China Digital Earth Conference in Qingdao, a coastal city of east China's Shandong Province.
Developed by the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), LangYa 2.0 marks a leap from global ocean state forecasting to intelligent prediction of complex marine phenomena, making ocean forecasts perceptible, actionable, and decision-ready, according to Wang Fan, president of IOCAS.
It will provide intelligent support for marine disaster prevention, shipping safety, polar navigation, and climate response, he added.
The upgraded system now predicts six key marine phenomena -- typhoons, extreme rainfall, storm surges, internal solitary waves, mesoscale eddies, and sea ice.
It does so via six specialized vertical sub-models, each trained on unique datasets and physical mechanisms. Together, they form what the research team calls "a diagnostic AI," which delivers direct, actionable forecasts.
Take typhoons for example. The typhoon module fuses atmospheric and oceanic fields, satellite cloud imagery and historical typhoon tracks. It is specifically designed to handle two notoriously hard-to-predict behaviors: rapid intensification and sudden turning. For coastal communities, those few hours of extra warning can mean the difference between evacuation and disaster.
For offshore engineering, LangYa 2.0 can identify internal solitary waves -- the powerful, hidden currents that can damage oil platforms.
It forecasts their evolution over the following 30 days and allows users to query speed, amplitude and other key parameters for the coming week, according to the research team.
Even before its official release, version 2.0 has begun to prove its worth.
Independently validated by the Sea Ice Prediction Network, an international collaboration of scientists and research institutions dedicated to improving seasonal forecasts of Arctic sea ice, LangYa 2.0 ranked first among multiple global models in the 2025 seasonal forecast for September Arctic sea ice extent, which refers to the area of ocean covered by ice.
It delivers monthly-scale predictions at three-kilometer resolution, which is critical for Arctic shipping routes, climate research and polar navigation safety, the team noted.
China releases LangYa 2.0 AI model for full-blown marine phenomenon forecasting
