The crew of the Shenzhou-18 mission has been continuously conducting various experiments aboard China's Tiangong space station for the second month.
The three Chinese astronauts, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, were sent to the orbiting Tiangong space station for a six-month mission on April 25.
The crew regularly maintained the combustion science laboratory cabinet by replacing burners, vacuuming and exhausting, and organizing related materials to better carry out the following experimental projects.
The combustion science laboratory cabinet has been used in various experiments since the in-orbit ignition experiment in 2023. The facility is expected to contribute to scientific achievements in improving the fundamental theory of combustion and developing advanced combustion technology.
The crew recently installed slide positioning kits for the glovebox. The glovebox provides a sealed and clean space for crew members to manipulate objects in experiments.
The astronauts have also regularly replaced experimental samples, cleaned the chamber and maintained the axial mechanism electrodes for the containerless materials laboratory cabinet to ensure the stable and smooth operation of relevant experiments.
In addition, the crew also replaced samples in the fluid physics laboratory cabinet. The cabinet is used to conduct on-orbit microgravity experiments on the kinetic processes, diffusion processes, phase transitions and self-organization behavior of different fluid systems.
China's Shenzhou-18 crew continues experiments abroad Tiangong for second month
China's Shenzhou-18 crew continues experiments abroad Tiangong for second month
The 2024 China-Switzerland Economic Forum, held in Beijing on Monday, convened Chinese and Swiss government officials, Fortune 500 business leaders, and industry experts to foster innovation and collaboration across diverse sectors.
Held biennially in Beijing, this summit represents the largest economic dialogue between China and Switzerland to date, emphasizing the critical need for exchanging ideas and forming new partnerships in today's rapidly evolving global economy.
This year’s forum, themed "Empowerment, Cooperation, and Innovation", addressed pressing global issues including life sciences, sustainable development, advanced engineering, human resources, market access, and regulatory challenges.
Fabienne Rond, associate director of X-PM China, highlighted the transformative impact of executive interim management.
"In the field I'm working in, there is an increase in this business, which is executive interim. So executive interim started in around 2000, and there is a strong development. There is a growth of this activity by about 10 percent every year," Rond explained.
Sophia Slingerland, founder and chairwoman of SHINE Environmental Technology, praised China's effective water management strategies.
"As most people do not know is that, really, our precious resource, most precious resource is water. I really bow my head in front of the Chinese government [for] how they handle and organize the water, because [in] normal life in China, you don't feel that we are running out of water," said Slingerland.
The forum also featured sub-forums and panel discussions focusing on emerging economic trends, opportunities, and challenges in Sino-Swiss relations.
Rudolf Minsch, chief economist at Economiesuisse, emphasized Switzerland's commitment to global markets amidst rising protectionism concerns.
"From Switzerland, the perspective [is that] we should have open markets all around the world. And this is a very serious problem now. Like the Chinese, it's also the specifics, it's an exporting industry, [which] needs to have access to international markets. And we are looking really seriously bothered about the impact from protectionism all around the world, as this is bad for our economies," said Minsch.
Since the implementation of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement in 2014, bilateral trade volume has surged by 90 percent.
Swiss participants at the forum expressed surprise at the abundance of Swiss products in Chinese supermarkets, anticipating increased business opportunities as bilateral interactions intensify.
2024 China-Switzerland economic forum highlights innovation, collaboration
