As a powerful earthquake rocked central Myanmar on Friday, strong tremors were felt in Yangon, the country's largest city, where residents were startled and schools carried out emergency evacuations.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 struck 16 km NNW of Sagaing, central Myanmar at around 12:50 local time (06:20 GMT) on Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 22.01 degrees north latitude and 95.92 degrees east longitude.
Although Yangon lies far from the earthquake's epicenter, the city still experienced significant tremors that left a strong impact on the residents.
"When the earthquake was occurring, the whole classroom shook violently. The teachers quickly evacuated the students. The desks and chairs also swayed intensely, and everyone felt dizzy," recalled a local resident.
Another resident, a security guard, said he had never felt such strong tremors, and that his children were also terrified.
"I was on patrol as a security guard during the quake. It was the first time in my life I felt such intense tremors and shaking. I've never experienced anything like it before, and the strong tremors made me feel extremely dizzy. There was no damage at home, but my children were terrified and are still feeling disoriented," he said.
Later on Friday evening, business activities and traffic in Yangon gradually resumed, and many residents who had sought shelter outdoors began returning to their buildings.
At least 144 people have been killed and 732 others injured in the earthquake, according to the Information Team of Myanmar's State Administration Council.
The tremors were felt in China, Thailand, and Laos.
Powerful earthquake hits Myanmar, with strong tremors felt in Yangon
Powerful earthquake hits Myanmar, with strong tremors felt in Yangon
Powerful earthquake hits Myanmar, with strong tremors felt in Yangon
Powerful earthquake hits Myanmar, with strong tremors felt in Yangon
A 10-billion-yuan fund has been established at the just-concluded 2025 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference in Beijing to support China's emerging sectors of strategic importance.
The special fund, worth nearly 1.38 billion U.S. dollars, was announced at the Core Technology Investment and Development Forum on Sunday, aiming to provide financial support for a number of high-quality tech enterprises and help foster an innovation ecology conducive to the development of new quality productive forces.
The fund is established by multiple companies including the Zhongguancun Development Group, New China Life Insurance Company, and the Financial Asset Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
At the forum, projects of nine universities and institutes, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, received investment from the fund, with a total value of nearly 250 million yuan (about 34.45 million U.S. dollars) signed.
"We have built a full-life cycle industrial fund system around different growth stages of enterprises, from Angel investment, venture capital, to mergers and acquisitions, including mother fund, direct investment fund, second-hand share transfer fund, etc. For high-quality core technology projects, we have taken the lead in investing, making heavy and long-term investments. So far, we have cumulatively invested in more than 4,000 science and technology projects, among which over 1,000 national-level high-tech enterprises, nearly 800 enterprises that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products, 96 unicorn companies, and 161 listed companies have emerged," said Pan Jinfeng, chairman of Zhongguancun Development Group.
The 2025 Annual Conference of ZGC Forum ran from March 27 to 31 in the Chinese capital under the theme of "New Quality Productive Forces and Global Technology Cooperation," comprising five major sections, including meetings and technology trading.
The event provided new ideas and insights for global innovative development in large AI models, embodied intelligence, quantum technology, biomedicine, 6G, brain-computer interfaces, and other frontier areas in 128 events, highlighting the transformation of Zhongguancun, China's "Silicon Valley," into a global innovation hub, marked by groundbreaking technologies and the convergence of global expertise.
New fund created at 2025 ZGC Forum to support strategic emerging industries
New fund created at 2025 ZGC Forum to support strategic emerging industries
