China's BeiDou navigation system champions smart agriculture

China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), is increasingly playing a leading role in the country's agricultural sector, providing innovative solutions to traditional farming methods.

As the autumn harvest season approaches, farmers nationwide are leveraging the system to optimize every harvesting step, from reaping crops to post-harvest processing.

In northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, one of the country's major grain producers, the Beidahuang Group Corporation has reached full BDS coverage across its managed lands. At the group's 290 Farm, BDS-equipped harvesters have been introduced to enhance efficiency. The system allows farmers to access real-time geological and topographic data, while adjusting the paths of harvesters based on precise positioning and navigation.

"The harvester is equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. All we need to do is to set the route within the designated area, and the machine can harvest automatically, with an error margin of zero to two centimeters. The accuracy is at the centimeter level. It is very precise and boosts efficiency," said Cao Qianyu, a farmer at the 290 Farm.

Meanwhile, at a grain processing center in Zhongxiang City of central China's Hubei Province, the BDS was introduced to monitor grain drying and manage daily grain input and output.

"In Zhongxiang City, 80 percent of dryers are equipped with BDS terminals. We can monitor the grain drying process of the whole city and access the overall data. Under extreme weather conditions, we can adjust grain drying in accordance with the capacities of processing centers, ensuring that no grain is wasted and ensure food security," said Liu Dandan, a technician of Zhongxiang Cloud Intelligence Agricultural Development Corporation, which provides BDS monitoring service for the city.

Currently, around 2.2 million sets of agricultural machinery in China are equipped with BDS terminals, vastly improving efficiency and promoting agricultural modernization.

China's BeiDou navigation system champions smart agriculture

China's individual income tax cuts exceeded 70 billion yuan in 2023, greatly reduced the burden on its residents, while foreign trade and inbound tourism showed positive signs in the first eight months of this year, according to the latest data from the State Taxation Administration on Friday.

China has raised the bar of special additional deductions for individual income tax, covering children nursing expenses, children's education, and elderly care expenses, to further benefit its people and improve their livelihoods.

"About 67 million taxpayers nationwide have benefited from an increase in special additional deductions for individual income tax. The total individual income tax reduction surpassed 70 billion yuan (about 9.93 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, including 36 billion yuan, 29 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan, respectively, for children's education, elderly care, and nursing expenses for infants under three years old," said Shen Xinguo, director of the administration's department of tax service.

The taxation data also indicated enhanced resilience of China's foreign trade and a boom in inbound tourism.

"From January to August, the direct export tax refunds handled by taxation departments nationwide for enterprises were up 10.1 percent year on year, showing the resilience and fast growth of export enterprises. Meanwhile, tax refunds for the goods bought by overseas travelers increased by 1.5 times, showing soaring popularity of China travel among overseas visitors," said Huang Yun, director of the general office at the State Taxation Administration.

Chinese border ports saw a whopping 110 million inbound and outbound trips in July and August this year, averaging nearly 1.78 million per day, the country's National Immigration Administration said in early September.

A total of 10.89 million trips were made by overseas travelers, marking a 52.8-percent rise from last year.

China's individual income tax cuts exceed 70 billion yuan in 2023: data