Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-23 astronauts before launch

A send-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission was held on Sunday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 23:08 Beijing Time Sunday (15:08 GMT) from the launch site to dock with China's Tiangong space station.

The three Chinese astronauts, commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, reported to the commander-in-chief of China's manned space program that they were ready to undertake their mission.

After receiving an order from the commander-in-chief, the astronauts boarded a vehicle and departed for the launch site amid cheers from a crowd of well-wishers.

The three astronauts will take over command of China's Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-21 crew currently in orbit, and one of them will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Notably, astronaut Lai Ka-ying is also the first astronaut from China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program, and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-23 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-23 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-23 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-23 astronauts before launch

Buyers and exhibitors began making valuable new connections on opening day of the 140th Canton Fair, where international attendees discovered the latest products ranging from AI glasses to air conditioners.

About 86,000 overseas buyers from 208 countries and regions traveled to south China’s Guangzhou to attend the first day of the event, also known as the China Import and Export Fair.

Throughout the full multi-phase event, more than 30,000 exhibiting companies and about 340,000 overseas buyers are expected to attend.

Serving as a barometer of China's foreign trade, this year's fair, marking its 70th anniversary, features innovation, intelligence, greater specialization and higher quality. The Canton Fair is one of the world's few one-stop trade platforms offering a complete range of products and technologies.

Among the exhibitors, over 11,000 are niche-market leaders or specialized enterprises known for sophisticated technologies and novel products. Technology adoption runs high, with roughly 64 percent embracing innovations such as the industrial internet and AI. New and green products also set records, appearing at 23 percent and 26 percent of exhibits respectively, with more than 700 launch events planned.

At the "home appliances" exhibition area, a Chinese foreign trade company brought its newly launched solar-powered air conditioner. Against the backdrop of continuously rising energy prices, this category of products is increasingly popular among overseas customers.

"We buy air conditioning split units. We've been having very good feedback from our customers when we were coming here. Everyone is coming to Canton Fair, everyone is buying some goods and it's a very good business. And also there are many opportunities, and anything you bring from Canton Fair, there are very good profits," said Mohannad Waia, a buyer from Dubai.

In order to further expand the market, Chinese foreign trade enterprises are adapting to the needs of different regional markets through product innovation, and their overseas markets are continuously expanding.

"Based on the special needs of many countries, for example, this year we focused on launching this split air conditioner that requires no professional installation and no drilling for the European market. In fact, the industry as a whole has seen quite rapid growth this year. As for our company, we achieved an overall growth rate of 26 percent," said Liu Rongqiang, an exhibitor.

Since the beginning of this year, the import and export of AI products have maintained a momentum of rapid growth. Many Chinese companies in this sector have substantially enhanced their capacity for international operations by developing new products and improving production quality and efficiency.

"Our products mainly focus on AI and wearables. We have carried out product development spanning from hardware to software to the cloud. Through the Canton Fair, we have developed business contacts with clients from Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East over the past few years," said Zeng Zhitao, another exhibitor.

The 140th Canton Fair runs in three phases in Guangzhou from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4.

Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair has grown into China's largest and longest-running international trade event, with the most complete product range, the largest number of buyers and the highest transaction volume.

Over 80,000 overseas buyers seek new partnerships on Canton Fair's opening day