BEIJING, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn:
Before French blogger Mylene Mathieu visited Hefei, the capital of eastern China's Anhui province, she pictured a city known for Hui-style architecture and traditional culture.
"Artificial intelligence technology, robots, and drones — I never expected Hefei to have such impressive innovation," she spoke of her recent visit to the city.
In June, Mathieu joined a group of eight foreign experts, bloggers and international students from countries including the U.S., France, Belarus, Brazil, and Vietnam to visit Hefei, a city increasingly known in China for scientific and technological innovation.
During the three-day trip, the visitors flew over Luogang Park in an autonomous "air taxi," interacted with service robots, tried real-time AI translation, got a feel for the quick acceleration of Chinese new energy vehicles (NEVs) on a test track, and joined more than 100 local residents in a choir performance.
Once an inland city with an economy heavily tied to agriculture, Hefei is now becoming a science and technology innovation hub with global influence, supported by growing industrial clusters in NEVs, AI, and the low-altitude economy.
At Zerith Robotics, the visitors watched robotics demonstrations and used VR equipment to remotely control a humanoid robot, Zerith-H1, as it collected motion data.
"I knew China's robotics industry was advanced, but this visit showed me that it has gone far beyond what I expected," said Rafael Henrique Zerbetto, a Brazilian Esperanto expert with China International Communications Group (CICG). "These robots have both a brain and a body. Hefei is showing how productivity can be redefined."
At BYD's racetrack in Hefei, the visitors tried the company's driving simulator before test-driving NEV models on an all-terrain course, where the vehicles climbed steep inclines, crossed waterbodies, and performed drift maneuvers. In a water test pool, one NEV equipped with four-wheel independent drive stayed afloat as it moved forward and made turns.
"Although the NEVs we experienced today drifted at high speed, they were also very comfortable and smooth," said Kaligaeva Ekaterina, a blogger from Belarus.
Alexander William, an Indonesian student, said, "I used to hear more about 'made in China.' Today in Hefei, I saw 'intelligent manufacturing in China.'"
At an air traffic operations center in Hefei's Luogang Park, Cooley Gavin Andrew, a U.S. blogger, sat inside the cockpit of an EH216-S autonomous passenger aircraft. The aircraft has no pilot seat or control stick and is operated by an intelligent ground dispatch system.
The group also visited iFLYTEK Town, where they tried AI applications including iFLYTEK's Dual-Screen AI Translator 2.0, AI glasses, a multilingual transparent display, a smart blackboard, and a Go-playing robot. The Dual-Screen AI Translator supports online translation in 60 languages and real-time interpretation among 19 languages.
Mathieu spoke French to the screen as Chinese subtitles appeared in real time. She said her husband is Chinese, and language barriers had long been a challenge in their life together. "In Hefei, I saw how AI can help people communicate better," she said. "Technology is no longer just cold code. It can listen to you, understand what you need, and become a companion."
Lee Fook Cheung, an expert from the Center for Asia-Pacific under CICG, said Indonesia is paying close attention to China's innovation and technology, and Hefei's experience offers a useful example for emulating.
Beyond technology, the visitors said Hefei's urban culture also left a strong impression.
At Hefei Grand Theatre, they joined more than 100 residents in a group performance. "Hefei is not only about technology," Mathieu said. "It also has a warmth that touches people."
Foreign visitors get a close look at Hefei's emerging tech sector
http://www.china.org.cn/2026-07/02/content_118579552.shtml
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Foreign visitors get a close look at Hefei's emerging tech sector
AUSTIN, Texas, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Saronic today announced it has selected Brownsville, Texas as the future home of Port Alpha, its next-generation shipyard designed to help restore American maritime strength and significantly expand the nation's shipbuilding capacity.
The announcement marks a major milestone in Saronic's mission to restore U.S. shipbuilding capacity at scale. First introduced as a vision for the future of maritime manufacturing, Port Alpha now moves from concept to reality through a planned investment of more than $3 billion that aims to establish one of the most advanced shipyards in the world, built for software-defined shipbuilding and autonomous maritime systems.
The project is expected to generate more than $160 billion in regional economic impact for Cameron County and $264.5 billion for the State of Texas, while creating up to 10,000 direct jobs. This makes Port Alpha one of the largest economic development projects in modern Texas history. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2026, with Port Alpha expected to open for operations in 2028.
The timing is pivotal. In one of his first actions in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Restoring America's Maritime Dominance, followed by federal initiatives such as the SHIPS for America Act and the Maritime Action Plan that call for a generational rebuild of the American shipbuilding industry. These efforts recognize that economic security and national security are inseparable, and that restoring U.S. shipbuilding capacity is essential to both. Port Alpha will expand domestic production capacity and strengthen the nation's ability to meet commercial and defense requirements while closing the widening shipbuilding gap with foreign adversaries.
"America's maritime future depends on our ability to build again," said Dino Mavrookas, Co-Founder and CEO of Saronic. "Port Alpha is our commitment to that mission. Built from the ground up to deliver ships at a speed and scale not seen since World War II, this investment is about more than constructing a shipyard. It is about rebuilding the industrial capacity, workforce, and manufacturing advantage required to ensure American maritime leadership for decades to come. The state of Texas and city of Brownsville give us the foundation to turn that vision into reality."
Following a year-long nationwide search evaluating sites across the East, West, and Gulf Coasts, Brownsville was selected after a rigorous review of workforce availability, infrastructure readiness, land scale, logistics, and expansion potential. Initially situated on 835 acres at the Port of Brownsville, with the opportunity to expand to nearly 4,400 acres, Port Alpha will encompass a shipyard and manufacturing facility capable of producing vessels up to 850-ft. Future site expansion could support the production of vessels over 1,200 ft. The site provides hundreds of acres of waterfront access, deepwater channel connectivity, multimodal logistics infrastructure, and room for long-term expansion—everything required to anchor a next-generation shipbuilding hub.
"Today marks history with the announcement of the most advanced shipyard in the entire world," said Governor Abbott. "When this shipyard gets fully built out, there will be about 10,000 employees. Saronic is going to be providing about $750 million in annual paychecks to Texans. That's game-changing for the population of Texas. As Governor, I'm proud that Saronic calls Texas home."
Over the next decade, Port Alpha is expected to create up to 10,000 high-quality direct jobs spanning skilled trades such as welding and machining to advanced roles in robotics, software engineering, and naval architecture. The project aligns with national calls to rebuild the maritime workforce pipeline, creating new opportunities for skilled workers at the intersection of shipbuilding and advanced technology. Saronic will collaborate with the State of Texas, Cameron County, and local educational institutions – from regional technical colleges to leading State universities and institutions – to develop workforce training and apprenticeship programs designed to sustain long-term industrial growth and position South Texas as a center of excellence for advanced maritime manufacturing.
Port Alpha builds on Saronic's expanding shipbuilding footprint. In early 2025, the company acquired a shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, where it is investing $300 million to add 300,000 square feet of production capacity. That facility will continue producing Saronic's 180-foot Marauder autonomous vessel, which was designed and launched in less than one year. Together, these facilities represent a multi-billion-dollar private capital commitment to restoring American shipbuilding capacity, advancing autonomous maritime systems, and strengthening the nation's industrial resilience.
More than a shipyard, Port Alpha represents a new model for American shipbuilding—combining advanced manufacturing, software-defined production, and autonomy at unprecedented scale. To sustain that edge, Saronic is forging strategic partnerships with leading manufacturers, emerging shipbuilding technology providers, and premier suppliers, ensuring that the latest capabilities continuously strengthen and inform Port Alpha's production architecture alongside Saronics' in-house expertise. In doing so, Port Alpha embodies the transformation envisioned in national maritime strategy, one that leverages technology to strengthen deterrence, resilience, and operational flexibility. As construction advances, Saronic will continue working with federal, state, and local partners to establish the industrial foundation required for the next generation of maritime power in America.
Contact: press@saronic.com
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Saronic to Build Port Alpha, America's Next Generation Shipyard, in Brownsville, Texas
