The US is drowned in mounting debt. Cartoon:Vitaly Podvitski

Editor's Note:

Large models, robots, intelligent manufacturing, autonomous driving… In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has made headlines around the world.

In real life, AI has permeated all aspects of everyday life, helping with scientific research in laboratories, assisting in the restoration of mysterious ancient scrolls at archaeological sites, and helping rescue abducted children in the vast sea of humanity. The development of this technology has also raised a number of ethical and legal challenges. Many experts advocate that humans should see this technology as a tool created for the ultimate purpose of serving humanity, making life and work more efficient and comfortable.

In light of this, the Global Times has launched the "AI empowers industry, improves people's livelihoods" series, showcasing the tremendous energy and broad prospects that AI brings across every aspect of society.

This is the sixth installment in this series. The installment sets its sights on Paris, where global top athletes are vying for medals or personal bests. Behind Team China is the growing technological force, which helps them fight to win more scientifically and efficiently with AI tech. In China, the rapidly progressing AI not only plays a crucial role in high-level competitive sports, but also contributes significantly to the development of mass sports, and the popularization of sports culture.
Having jumped off the starting block and plunged into the water, Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle, at La Défense Arena in Paris, won an Olympic gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle on Wednesday local time, breaking the world record amidst loud cheers.

This particular night echoed the past several months, when the Chinese swimmer and his teammates leaped into the water countless times during training sessions back home. At that time, their coaches and technical staffers gathered by the poolside around a screen, which displayed the complete process of a swimmer's start from the block and underwater movements, with data like the swimmer's entry distance and angle.

"Cameron van der Burgh (South African men's 100m breaststroke Olympic champion) made an entry angle of 37 degrees, which we can use as a reference." Fixating on the screen, they discussed the details of the swimmers' movements, probably for the umpteenth time.

They trained with the help of "SUS large sport model," China's first-ever large model designed for professional sports. Team China at the ongoing Paris Olympics is largely benefiting from AI, as the rapidly developing technology is widely used in China's various fields including competitive sports.

The very front line

Jointly developed by the Shanghai University of Sport (SUS) and a Chinese tech company, the SUS large sport model and its related technologies have been serving the daily training and Paris Olympic preparation of China's several national teams, such as diving, swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and rock climbing, according to Li Yongming, a SUS professor and member of the large model team.

With its vertical models that can study global sports literature data and automatically analyze videos and images from sports training and matches, the SUS large sport model assists athletes to better review and understand their performances with quantifiable metrics, and to make targeted training plans based on the metrics, Li told the Global Times.

As the Olympics unrolls in Paris, busy tech support staff are usually seen in venues apart from traditional personnel like coaches and team doctors. Then how much can AI help China's Olympic athletes striving for gold medal glory?

On Wednesday night local time, China pulled off an amazing 21-15 victory over gold medal favorites Serbia in a men's basketball 3x3 game. When the match ended, some Chinese tech support staff hurried away with videos they just shot during the game.

About one hour later, a detailed analysis with almost all the kinematics data relevant to this game came out. From every move of the players to their physical states, these data will effectively contribute to their post-match summary and preparation for the next match, said Zhang Mingxin, who directs the science and technology support team of the Chinese national basketball 3x3 team at Paris Olympics.

Based on a three-dimensional dynamic capture technology and algorithm, the AI system real-time tracks and analyzes the players' motions and the basketball's trajectories, explained Zhang, who is now in Paris. "Then we can obtain useful data, like a player's real-time load intensity and movement path, and AI-generated professional analyses according to the data," Zhang told the Global Times via phone.

All the dynamic capture process is completed without bothering players in the game, Zhang noted. "Comparing with the previous techs that might require players to wear uncomfortable censoring devices, this system does everything in a contactles way," he said.

Moreover, traditional dynamic capture technologies that depend on wearable censoring devices and GPS (Global Position System) usually have 30 to 40 centimeter margin of error, Zhang said. "But our new system has centimeter-level accuracy, leading the world in this (basketball 3x3) field," he told the Global Times.

This AI system is co-invented by SUS, Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a domestic tech firm. It can provide detailed data and analysis on a short turnaround time, helping the team better recover, prepare the next match and adjust tactics according to different opponents in tight schedule, said Zhang.

AI dynamic capture tech is also being used in Olympic preparations of some other Chinese national teams, such as archery. Xiu Yu, who is responsible for motion and technology analysis of the archery team, earlier told media that more than 10,000 data are generated for every arrow shot by the athlete.

"After processing and analyzing the data, [the AI system] will form a report for which is passes to team coaches," Xiu told to People's Daily in April.

Customized training based on intelligent analysis of big data are widely used in the training of Chinese athletes, said Chen Xiaoping, a distinguished research fellow from the China Institute of Sport Science affiliated to the General Administration of Sport of China.

"The overall improvement of scientific training level is an important way to improve [athletes'] performance," People's Daily quoted Chen as saying on April 8. "Behind the competition of competitive sports is a showdown of technological strength and proficiency."

Being part of the pageant

Only being a spectator of the Paris Olympics is somewhat outdated for China's younger generation. Instead of passively sitting in front of the TV, some young Chinese prefer to actively get involved in the Olympics, being a part of this global sports pageant in creative ways.

China AIGC (AI-generated content) Industrial Alliance, for instance, holds a themed event during the Olympics, inviting AIGC lovers to create Olympic-related picture, music, video works with generative AI tools. The event has received more than 70 unique submissions, with most of the participators being millennials and Gen Zers, according to the alliance's initiator Ni Kaoming.
Ni shared some of the highlight works they have received, including an interesting AI-generated animated video that tells the magical journey of a panda to the Olympics. "Although there are some limitations on the use of Olympic elements due to copyright concerns, such as the Olympic rings, there are still many high-quality works that well express the Olympic charm and spirit," Ni told the Global Times.

Chinese tech companies are also offering various creative AI products being specifically designed for the Paris Olympics, which have attracted lots of young Chinese users.

Gen Zer Elaine (pseudonym) shared how she enjoys the Olympics in Shanghai through AI tools. While watching a diving match on Wednesday, she interacts with the event with a "virtual diving expert" - an AI agent of renowned former diving Olympic champion Wu Minxia - on her phone. When the event ends, she uploads her profile photo to an AIGC platform, and seconds later she got an AI-generated poster of her "attending" an Olympic diving match as an athlete.

"And before the Olympics began, I had had a virtual tour to Paris last week with the help of an AI large model," she told the Global Times.

AI does benefit the dissemination of the Olympic spirit and sports culture, Ni noted. "With AI technology, people get much closer to the Paris Olympics, its host city and athletes, and thus make them feel more connected with this pageant," he told the Global Times.

Great sporting potential

The AI market in sports industry is expected to grow from $5.93 billion in 2024 to $20.94 billion by 2029, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of greater than 28.69 percent, according to data from market research company Mordor Intelligence.

Apart from the high-level competitive sports, mass sports is becoming a broader stage for AI applications in China. From last year, AI robots are gradually used in post-match rehabilitation of public marathon events across the country. The AI robots, as the robot team's director Li Xiaoning told the media in January, are more helpful and efficient than traditional rehabilitation ways of ice water and manual stretching.

The current 1.0 version of the SUS large sport model mainly focuses on competitive sports. Li said it will definitively cover mass sports in later versions, adding in more content that general public are interested in, such as how to exercise to lose weight.

The AI dynamic capture tech being used for the Chinese basketball 3x3 team has many potential application scenarios in mass spots as well, Zhang said.

He gave an example: the system can be changed into an AI coach that assists beginners of a certain sports to modify their incorrect moves.

"Also, AI tech can mark people's sport performances by evaluating their moves, and that may encourage entertaining competitions and interactions among friends," he added. " In general, AI will bring sports lovers more fun while making them more productive."

Located on the southeastern coast of Haiyan, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, which has the largest number of nuclear power units and the most diverse reactor types in the country, is stationed. 

With a total installed capacity of 6.66 million kilowatts from its nine units, the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant generates approximately 52 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. It has been operating safely for 33 years and is at the forefront of global nuclear power operation, earning it the title of "national pride." 

During a recent visit to Haiyan, Global Times reporters learned from local residents that the construction of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant has not only boosted the rapid economic and social development in the area but it has also brought tangible benefits to their lives.

"Safety is best ensured when all levels of design and operation have taken sufficient precautions," said Wu Bingquan, a deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Base. For example, at the design stage, the Qinshan base development teams have set significant safety margins. Additionally, they have set a single-failure criterion, meaning that any equipment failure will not compromise overall safety. Furthermore, the plant has set multiple layers of defense in case of any accidents.

"Moreover, multiple regulatory bodies have their personnel stationed at our plant around the clock, monitoring operations and maintenance activities. They have access to all the data and files, providing absolute transparency," Wu noted. He added that operators of the Qinshan plant have also been constantly drawing lessons from nuclear safety accidents that have happened around the world, including the Fukushima nuclear accident.

The average capacity factor of the nine nuclear power units at the Qinshan base reached 96.8 percent in 2023, ranking No.1 globally, and set a new record for the safe and stable operation of similar bases, the Global Times learned from the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

Since the 1980s, Qinshan nuclear power plant's construction has followed a policy of "self-reliance with international cooperation." However, due to changes in the international environment, the joint design and development of the plant gradually became unfeasible.

"If joint design doesn't work, we can do it ourselves. If others impose sanctions, we won't back down," Ye Qizhen, chief designer of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Phase II project, said. 

Greener and healthier

At the beginning stage of Qinshan's construction, locals had expressed concerns about nuclear power harming the surrounding environment. Decades later, the local residents no longer have these concerns.

Zhu Xuwei, Director of Haiyan's Economic and Information Bureau, said that comprehensive monitoring results over the years have shown that the operation of Qinshan plant has not had a noticeable impact on the surrounding environment. "Instead, both biodiversity and average life expectancy in Haiyan has increased in recent years, with the average life expectancy growing from around 80.6 in 2017 to 82.76 by 2022, ranking among the top in Zhejiang Province."

Adhering to green development, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant has a cumulative power generation exceeding 820 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to reducing 750 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Moreover, it constructed China's first nuclear-powered heating demonstration project. 

Nuclear energy is considered an ideal alternative energy to solving the heating bottleneck in southern parts of China and achieving clean heating. 

On December 15, 2022, China's first nuclear-powered heating project was completed and put into operation. "I just paid the heating bill last year, it's nearly 2,000 yuan ($275.39) cheaper than before, and more economical and environmentally friendly!" a local resident in Haiyan told the Global Times. 

Currently, the project has achieved stable heating for three residential areas in Haiyan as well as some care homes for the elderly, covering an area of nearly 460,000 square meters and benefiting nearly 4,000 households. 

Another major use of Qinshan's nuclear power that is closely connected to people's lives is the application of isotopes.

China's production of medical isotopes has been heavily reliant on imports, but the international market's supply capacity cannot meet the growing health needs of the people.

In 2010, Qinshan achieved domestic production of cobalt-60 radiation sources, breaking the long-term foreign monopoly. In 2018, cobalt-60 achieved large-scale exports, enhancing international recognition and influence of China's nuclear technology application industry.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the homemade cobalt source for irradiation was used for sterilizing medical supplies in various locations across the country, which made it possible for China to quickly alleviate the shortage of epidemic prevention materials at the beginning stage of the pandemic. While conventional sterilization of medical supplies takes seven to 14 days, irradiation sterilization by cobalt-60 only required one day.

Currently, Qinshan's annual production of cobalt-60 can meet around 70 percent of the domestic market demand, and some have already been exported to countries such as Thailand and Canada, the Global Times learned from CNNC. 

Meanwhile, on April 20, Qinshan achieved the mass production of carbon-14 isotopes by using a commercial nuclear reactor. The carbon-14 isotopes can be widely used for agriculture, chemistry, medicine and other sectors, as well as in detecting helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer.

Before, China's supply of carbon-14 isotopes relied almost entirely on imports, leading to high prices and an unreliable supply, which severely constrained the development of related industries, Fan Shen, a representative from the power plant, told the Global Times.

After the mass production of carbon-14 isotopes, the annual production capacity can meet domestic demand and even allow for partial exports, Fan said.  

An Italian exhibition titled A journey of knowledge: The Travels of Marco Polo and Its Legacy between East and West, was unveiled at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing on Friday. Consisting of six sections, the exhibition features 130 artifacts from 15 Chinese and Italian museums. Experts told the Global Times that the exhibition reflects the positive results of cross-cultural exchanges between China and Italy.

Exhibits tell the legend of Venice with manuscripts, oil paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ceramics, coins, glass products, textiles, illustrations and a unique VR experience.

This year marks the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death, as well as the 20th anniversary of the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership.

This exhibition showcases a variety of cultural relics to present to the visitors the historical trade and cultural exchanges.

At the entrance of the exhibition, visitors are impressed by the very first world map, standing in front of the cultural relics long, looking for their own cities.

Planning Director of the China Millennium Monument, Jiang Haimei, one of the curators, told the Global Times that the exhibition recreates the adventures of the missionaries, merchants and warriors who traveled between Europe and Asia with Marco Polo on the Silk Road through their perspectives, showcasing an oriental picture of the interweaving of romantic legends and historical realities

"It reveals the fruitful results of cross-cultural exchanges between China and Italy, and the profound impact of this legendary journey on the contemporary world is still relevant," she said.

The 890 square meters exhibition space is decorated with red and blue, with unique designs of golden images from the book Le devisement do monde (The Development of the World), the exhibition provides signposting for visitors to navigate through the route that Marco Polo travels over his life.

Sono Guicciardo Sassoli de Bianchi, an art historian and project curator for the exhibition from the Italian institute of culture in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday that Marco Polo introduced China to the West, promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations.

"He [Marco Polo] played an important role in promoting the progress of human civilization. Looking back at history will help create a better future," he stressed.

Many cultural relics are displayed in China for the first time and some porcelain exhibits show the infusion between Chinese and Western culture, organizers said.

The exhibition remains open in Beijing until November 24 before be exhibited in other museums across China.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership held a meeting on Tuesday to analyze the current economic situation and set out priorities for the second half of this year.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Finance on Thursday co-released a 16-point document on how to implement the plan for equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods, as officials said the policies will stimulate the consumer market in the second half of the year.

Some 300 billion yuan ($41.58 billion) in funds raised by ultralong treasury bonds will be used to support the campaign, Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the NDRC, said at a press conference on Thursday, emphasizing that relevant departments are making efforts to complete the fund allocation by the end of August this year.

The document listed various financial support measures for equipment renewal, including granting subsidies for the scrapping of operating ships and vehicles, agricultural machinery based on their capacity and emission volume, and increasing the subsidy for new-energy bus and battery renewal.

In terms of consumer goods, the document listed a detailed plan to support home appliance trade-in by offering subsidies of 15 to 20 percent of the original price of the products. Subsidies for vehicle scrapping will be lifted to 15,000 to 20,000 yuan.

China's cabinet, the State Council, on Mar 13, 2024, released the action plan to promote the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, which is aimed at bringing more high-quality durable consumer goods into people's lives, smoothing the recycling chain of resources, and significantly improving the quality and level of economic circulation, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

For over four months, the action plan has made positive progress in attracting investment, stimulating consumption potential, improving the recycling system and promoting the green transition, said Zhao, adding that China's investment in equipment and tools increased by 17.3 percent year-on-year, contributing 54.8 percent to overall investment growth in the first half of 2024.

In addition, retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment of enterprises with annual income of no less than 5 million yuan increased by 3.1 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 2.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year, Zhao revealed at the press conference.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, on Tuesday issued a notice to support high-quality enterprises in borrowing medium- and long-term foreign debt to promote high-quality development of the real economy.

This move aims to further expand high-level opening-up, enhance cross-border investment and financing facilitation, and support high-quality enterprises in better integrating domestic and international markets and resources, the NDRC said in a notice on its website.

The goal is to fully leverage foreign debt funds to serve high-quality development. Efforts will be made to actively support high-quality enterprises that have significant industry status, have good credit, and play a leading role in promoting high-quality development of the real economy, the NDRC said.

The move underscores the Chinese government's momentum in encouraging quality enterprises to better coordinate their domestic and international funding resources to ultimately boost the real economy, experts said.

The notice relaxes standards for borrowing foreign debt, simplifies the review process, and strengthens supervision before, during, and after borrowing to reduce risks. Its implementation helps attract resources from both domestic and international markets, promotes international economic circulation, and thus enhances the vitality and potential of China's economic growth, Tan Xiaofen, an expert at the School of Finance at the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

These enterprises must comply with relevant regulations and macro-control policies, be among the top five in their industry, demonstrate strong financial performance, and maintain a good credit rating of investment grade (BBB or above) or a domestic credit rating of AAA. They should also have a clean record of debt repayment, no major violations, and receive a positive assessment from a registered accountant, according to the notice.

"It further defines high-quality enterprises in detail and encourages more eligible companies to borrow foreign debt," Tan said.

"The notice states that high-quality enterprises can submit a consolidated foreign debt quota application for both parent and subsidiary companies, allowing for phased use, which means combining quotas to facilitate better fund allocation. For example, a subsidiary can use the borrowing quota from the parent company which borrows foreign debt more easily," Tan said.

The main content of the notice includes defining standards for high-quality enterprises, simplifying review requirements and processes, continuously supporting and serving high-quality enterprises in their foreign debt financing and improving corresponding supervision during and after the process, according to the NDRC

The notice allows for "processing with missing documents" for applications for international commercial loans or overseas bond issuance. "This is a significant breakthrough, as previously full documentation was mandatory. The new regulation increases flexibility and speeds up the process," Tan said.

Since October 2023, the central government has implemented several financial facilitation policies. Corporate borrowing of foreign debt, especially medium- and long-term, is essential for China's use of foreign capital and expanding openness. Enhancing foreign debt management promotes balance of payments, economic and financial stability, and a new development paradigm, NDRC said as it introduced why it issued the notice at the press conference on Tuesday.

The measures, set to take effect on July 29, 2024 which will be valid until July 29, 2029, will oversee the borrowing of foreign debt by eligible companies through a review and registration system.

Medium to long-term foreign debt includes debt instruments issued by Chinese corporations as well as their overseas subsidiaries and branches. These loans could be denominated in local or foreign currency and have durations longer than a year. These include perpetual debt, medium-term notes and convertible bonds.

The Chinese economy in the first half of 2024 showed resilience and vitality, with upbeat GDP figures for many provinces and municipalities, fueled by favorable factors such as the thriving high-tech industry, robust foreign trade, an expanding services sector and growing investment.

Observers said the progress is likely to continue in the second half of the year, backed by firm policy support, continuous industrial upgrading and transformation, growing domestic demand and optimizing business environment.

The GDP of East China's Zhejiang Province grew by 5.6 percent to 4.09 trillion yuan ($562.59 billion), with an unexpectedly strong trade performance as one of the country's major trade hubs. The province's trade grew 7.8 percent year-on-year to 2.56 trillion yuan.

Beijing's GDP grew 5.4 percent to 2.18 trillion yuan, with continuous expansion by emerging industries playing a vital role.

The added value of the capital's strategic emerging industries rose by 12.9 percent year-on-year.

The GDP of Shanghai grew by 4.8 percent year-on-year to 2.23 trillion yuan, with the expanding services sector, growing leading industries and fast investment growth being the top three drivers. The added value of the city's tertiary industry increased by 5.8 percent.

The GDP of Southwest China's Sichuan Province expanded 5.4 percent to 2.95 trillion yuan amid the accelerated development of high-tech industries. The provincial added value of the high-tech manufacturing sector above the designated size increased by 6.9 percent.

The GDP in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality rose 6.1 percent to 1.51 trillion yuan. The strong demand for digital, smart and green products from emerging sectors such as new-energy vehicles propelled the local economy.

These results showed that Chinese localities have promoted economic development through their industrial competitiveness and strengths, while actively guiding the advancement of new quality productive forces, Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Stepped-up policy support for provinces and cities covering various sectors contributed to the steady economic growth, according to Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

Wang told the Global Times on Sunday that the targeted policies safeguarded economic progress in the first half and will lay a solid foundation for the rest of the year.

The GDP announcements by local governments came along with the release of national first-half GDP data and the conclusion of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

China's GDP expanded 5 percent to reach 61.68 trillion yuan in the first half of 2024. The stable growth has put China on a firm track to hitting its full-year economic growth target of about 5 percent as the fundamentals of the economy remain positive and are set to improve in the second half.

Global confidence in China's stable economic growth is unchanged. The IMF last week raised China's GDP growth forecast for 2024 to 5 percent in its latest World Economic Outlook, an upward revision of 0.4 percentage points compared with the April WEO report. HSBC said earlier that it expects China to achieve its annual GDP growth target of 5 percent.

There will be both opportunities and challenges in the second half, Li and Wang said.

They expect further enhanced policy support following the conclusion of the third plenary session last week, with more stimulus accompanying an active fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy.

Wang also emphasized the nation's continuing industrial upgrading and transformation. Emerging industries will become indispensable engines for driving sound economic development, while the upgrading of traditional industries will help boost their competitiveness and market share.

Expanding domestic demand and optimizing the business climate will become standout drivers to propel economic development for the rest of the year.

Small Chinese towns nourish global economy Graphic Analysis: GT