China has 128.61 million hectares of arable land, well above the country's farmland red line of 1.8 billion mu (about 120 million hectares), according to a bulletin released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Friday.
The ministry released a 2024 natural resources bulletin in China, detailing the country's overall natural resources.
The national land survey conducted in 2023 reveals that China has 19.61 million hectares of orchards, 283.70 million hectares of forests, 263.22 million hectares of grasslands, and 23.52 million hectares of wetlands.
The country also discovered 173 types of mineral resources by the end of 2023, the bulletin said.
Five key forest zones, including the national park for Serbian tigers and leopards and the Genhe River, have completed natural resource rights registration.
In 2024, China issued 71.53 million property ownership certificates nationwide, marking a 3.2-percent year-on-year increase.
China had 12,646 exploration rights licenses over 2.66 million square kilometers of mines, and 30,391 mining rights licenses over 351,800 square kilometers by the end of 2024.
In addition, the country has yielded significant results in the new round of mineral exploration.
Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021 -2025), China has put in 400 billion yuan (about 55.27 billion U.S. dollars) for mineral exploration, leading to major breakthroughs in copper, aluminum, iron, lithium, zirconium, and rare earth.
Minerals such as tungsten, molybdenum, and graphite have also seen substantial growth, further consolidating China's resource advantages.
China has 128.61 million hectares of arable land with improved ecosystem: survey
Tiangong Ultra, an upgraded version of the China-made "Tiangong" humanoid robot, is currently undergoing tests in preparation for a half-marathon next month in Beijing.
The race, set for April 13 in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in the capital city's southeast, will feature both robotic and human athletes competing on the same route but on separate tracks to ensure safety for all participants.
The competition is open to global robot companies, research institutes, robot clubs and universities. So far, 23 organizations have signed up for the competition.
Developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, Tiangong Ultra has a bigger size, longer legs, and a stronger hip compared to its old version. In addition, unlike Tiangong, which has two iron sheets as feet, Tiangong Ultra wears a pair of "shoes" to minimize impact on its feet and ankle joints from running, according to engineers at the center.
"Aside from upgrades to Tiangong's body and structure, we have also greatly improved its motion algorithm, strengthening its capabilities for gait planning, body coordination, and motion control," said Wei Jiaxing, director of branding and public relations at the center.
In a race between Tiangong and Tiangong Ultra, the upgraded version demonstrated larger strides, a more stable running form, and a significantly higher speed.
"Its highest speed can reach 12 kilometers per hour. Considering the stability and endurance of the Tiangong robot when running outdoors, we may slightly reduce the speed. But we are still very confident that it can complete the half marathon," Wei said.
Bolstered by strong capital investment, China' robotics industry is growing rapidly, with versatile applications becoming increasingly prominent across a wide range of fields, including industrial automation, healthcare and service industries.
According to a report on the humanoid robot industry released at the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, China's humanoid robot market scale was approximately 2.76 billion yuan (about 381.28 million U.S. dollars) last year.
By 2029, it is expected to expand to 75 billion yuan (about 10.36 billion U.S. dollars), which would account for 32.7 percent of the global market.
Humanoid robot set to run Beijing half-marathon
