China posted steady growths in nationwide machinery procurement and home appliance sales from April to July, as the country's efforts to step up equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in program yielded preliminary results.
The data released by China's State Taxation Administration Thursday showed that from April to July procurement of mechanical equipment grew by 6.4 percent year on year. Procurement of mechanical equipment by industries of information transfer software and information technology service surged 17.5 percent year on year, and that of scientific research and technical service industry jumped by 20.4 percent, both recording noticeable rises compared with March.
The procurement of mechanical equipment by industrial companies grew by 5.3 percent from the same period last year, the data also showed.
"We put nearly 50 million yuan (about 7 million U.S. dollars) in purchasing high-end equipment for processing and inspecting gear and in upgrading production line. Our production efficiency rose by nearly 15 percent, helping us further expand our business in new energy vehicle (NEV) and high-end motorcycle industries," said Dai Lei, director of the administration and management center of Chongqing Qiutian Gear Company.
The data also showed that during the same period, sales of NEV surged 34.8 percent year on year. Retail sales of daily appliance and home audio-visual equipment grew by 4.4 percent and 3.5 percent year on year, respectively. Manufacturing sales of televisions, audio equipment, and lighting apparatus posted year-on-year growth of 7.9, 7.4 and 12.9 percent, respectively.
"Consumer demand has grown significantly. Our products are mainly sold to provinces like Guangdong, Shandong, and Heilongjiang. Our sales have grown 50 percent year on year since April and our company started to make profits. We expect to gain profit by the end of 2024 and our sales are expected to increase by 70 percent compared with last year," said Zhou Liming, general manager of Dandong Zhongtian Lighting and Electric Appliance Company.
China reports steady growth in machinery procurement, home appliance sales
China reports steady growth in machinery procurement, home appliance sales
China's scientific expedition team on Thursday obtained critical ice cores during their investigation of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which is known as Asia's "water tower".
The region encompasses "one glacier, two lakes and three rivers". It is home to Purog Kangri Glacier, the world's largest glacier in the mid to low-latitude regions, as well as Siling Lake and Namtso Lake, the largest and second-largest lakes in Xizang, respectively. It is also the birthplace of the Yangtze River, Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River.
The climate in the region is complex and changeable, and its ecosystem is very fragile, and meanwhile it is a pivotal area for Xizang's economic and social development.
During their expedition, the team drilled for ice cores at different depths overnight on Thursday, aiming to capture climate records from different time scales.
Ice core drilling is typically conducted during the night and early morning when the ice temperature is sufficiently low.
Ice cores serve as vital records of global climate and environmental changes. The sediments and bubbles within these cores are clues to understanding the history of Earth's climate. By studying the bubbles captured in ice cores, scientists can analyze atmospheric composition, including carbon dioxide levels, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Yao Tandong, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and leader of the expedition, and Lonnie Thompson, a renowned American glacier expert and foreign academician at CAS, conducted their scientific expedition on the glacier Thursday morning.
Through helicopter observations, thickness-measuring radar, satellite image comparison and other methods, the scientific expedition team has found that the surface area of the Purog Kangri Glacier has shrunk by 10 percent over the past 50 years.
The average altitude of Purog Kangri Glacier is 5,748 meters, with the highest point reaching 6,370 meters. Due to global warming, the glacier is melting rapidly.
"So does the melting of glacier surface -- the higher the altitudes, the less the ablation volume, while at lower altitudes, it accumulates and forms branch-like rivers on the ice surface. Currently, these branches extend up to altitudes of 6,000 meters," said Xu Baiqing, a research fellow of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the CAS.
Research indicates that the accelerated retreat of glaciers on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau over the past 40 years reflects a broader trend, and the melting rate of the Purog Kangri Glacier is relatively slow compared to the overall situation of the plateau.
The temperature changes within the glacier also attributed to the great difficulty of drilling, said Xu.
"Due to climate warming, the temperature within the glacier has risen, which suggests that under the same backdrop of temperature variations, the ablation may show abrupt shift with accelerating growth," said Xu.
The expedition was launched on Aug 18, 2024 and is scheduled to continue until October.
Scientists obtain critical ice cores during expedition in Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
