Northwest China's Qinghai Province is gaining steam in turning its abundant natural resources into growth drivers while speeding up ecological preservation and building a green and low-carbon modern industrial system, according to the provincial governor.
Qinghai is rich in resources with its potassium salt, magnesium salt and lithium salt accounting for more than 80 percent of the national reserves.
Its hydropower resource ranks fifth nationwide, annual total solar radiation at the second place of China, and a wind farm being the fourth biggest of the country.
Relying on the unique high-altitude resources, Qinghai has been forging itself into a first-rate salt lake industrial base, a national clean energy industry highland, an international ecotourism destination, and an export destination of organic agricultural and livestock products.
"In terms of building a world-class industrial base of salt lake, we've conquered multiple world-level technical cruxes, codified 10 national and industrial standards, shaping industrial clusters in potassium, sodium, magnesium and chlorine. In 2023, the production value of salt lake sector reached over 58 billion yuan (about 8.01 billion U.S. dollars), with potash fertilizer taking up 77 percent of the total nationwide. With these achievements, Qinghai has made its due contribution to China's food security, and development of new energy and new materials," said Wu Xiaojun, governor of Qinghai Province, at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Qinghai's installed clean energy capacity has topped 51 million kilowatts, taking up 93 percent of the national total. While its installed capacity of new energy has exceeded 38 million kilowatts, which is 69 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, it already has a relatively complete industrial chain for photovoltaic manufacturing.
In 2023, the province's export volume of solar cells doubled and that of its lithium batteries more than tripled.
Qinghai turning rich resources into growth drivers: governor
China’s first intelligent field plant phenotype precision identification platform went into operation recently in Sanya City, south China’s Hainan Province, which is a milestone in the country’s development of intelligent breeding.
The phenotype of a plant is a term used to describe observable characteristics of the plant, such as its appearance, and some inherent physiological characteristics, such as resistance to drought and diseases.
In an experimental field of the National Nanfan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a large piece of equipment is moving across the field. The equipment, called the field plant phenotype precision identification platform, can move according to the preset track and can be remotely controlled. While moving, the equipment can scan the plants with its six sensors, just like a CT machine for plants.
"The ultimate goal is to achieve high-throughput, large-scale, efficient and precise collection of germplasm resources, which can be four to five times higher than the efficiency of the traditional manual collection," said Jin Xiuliang, a researcher at the institute.
Although the equipment looks simple from the outside, it contains six high-precision image acquisition devices such as multi-spectral, thermal infrared, and chlorophyll fluorescence devices. Data can be collected at fixed times and points according to experimental needs, and the collection of a germplasm material can be completed within 30 seconds.
After the data collected through this platform is transmitted to the data analysis center, researchers can more quickly and accurately screen out germplasm resources with excellent traits, laying the foundation for subsequent crop breeding.
"The plant phenotype identification facility at the National Nanfan Research Institute is a milestone in the field of crop science in China. It can greatly enhance the independent innovation capabilities of germplasm innovation, gene mining, and variety breeding, and enhance the international competitiveness of China's seed industry," said Li Huihui, vice president of the institute.
China makes major progress in smart crop breeding
