Futuristic space fighter, AI-powered holographic technique highlighted at 2025 CSFC

The 2025 China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC), themed "Science Dreams, Creating the Future," opened this week at Shougang Park in Beijing's Shijingshan District, featuring over 30 exhibitions and events aimed at merging science fiction with technological and industrial development.

Co-organized by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Beijing Municipal Government, the ongoing event runs parallel to the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference. It emphasizes commercialization and cross-sector collaboration, spotlighting innovations ranging from aerospace prototypes to AI-driven digital human technology.

The convention features over 30 activities across five key segments, including an opening ceremony, professional forums, competitions, and industrial promotion events, with an emphasis on the full-chain cooperation and the commercialization of new sci-fi products and projects.

Visitors encountered futuristic displays upon entering the venue, including the debut of a life-sized model of the Baidi Type B -- a fictional 6th generation stealth fighter spaceplane reflecting China's ambitions in advanced aerospace engineering.

At an AI holography exhibit, participants generated their 1:1 digital avatars in minutes using real-time motion and voice replication.

Nearby, a screen displayed an interactive "Wukong" digital figure that mirrored users' movements without wearable devices, powered by markerless motion capture cameras. "We bring our in-house markerless motion capture technology here. Our existing marked motion capture system has already achieved sub-millimeter precision, which has been successfully applied in AAA games like the highly popular Black Myth: Wukong, as well as in film-grade special effects production," said an exhibitor.

"I experienced a lot of futuristic technologies and scenarios, and I think what's been presented is a very modern society," said a visitor.

Parents and children crowded exhibits featuring popular sci-fi themes.

"My son likes the science and fiction stuff, and he has read novels in this topic like the Three Body. Usually it is rare to see such science fiction exhibitions with so many exhibits altogether, so I want him to get more personal feel here," said another visitor.

On the other hand, the Zhongguancun Science Fiction Industry Innovation Center launched an immersive exhibition spanning 2,000 square meters.

The convention runs through Monday, with organizers aiming to position it as a global hub for sci-fi innovation.

Futuristic space fighter, AI-powered holographic technique highlighted at 2025 CSFC

Futuristic space fighter, AI-powered holographic technique highlighted at 2025 CSFC

Futuristic space fighter, AI-powered holographic technique highlighted at 2025 CSFC

Futuristic space fighter, AI-powered holographic technique highlighted at 2025 CSFC

The universal "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the United States signals a decline in the U.S. economic dominance and dollar hegemony, as the country is attempting to extract excessive financial benefits from its trading partners, according to economists, who warn the Trump administration is playing a "dangerous game".

U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" before unveiling higher rates on certain trading partners. The policy sent shockwaves throughout the global economy and triggered panic on financial markets, with analysts warning of significant risks and dire economic consequences.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Hong Hao, chief economist of the GROW Investment Group, a Shanghai-based hedge fund, said the tariffs reflect Trump's strategy to extract economic benefits from trading partners, particularly viewing China as a significant competitor. "Trump really believes that the trade terms with the trading partners have been unfair to the U.S., and as a result, the U.S. manufacturing sector has been hollowed out. Therefore, the U.S. is paying an excessive price for globalization, and now, it's time to pay back. I think, from this angle, he is trying to extract economic rent from its trading partners, and also he is trying to see China as one of the major U.S. rivals at this juncture. So, I think, as a result, he is playing a very dangerous game. And, as you can see, it's political theater in the sense that he is trying to dramatize the extreme pressure, so that he can get excessive rent from the opponent," he said

Trump's unilateral imposition of tariffs has eroded global confidence in the U.S. and its dollar's status, leading many to state that the American hegemony may not persist, according to Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University.

"The U.S. economy is at an inflection point. There is a moment where the previous strategies being used to sustain American hegemony were no longer working. And, it's only a matter of time before the U.S. position erodes, given the fact that it's been a house of cards built on the dollar supremacy. And a lot of people don't see that as having a brighter future. This has moved past the theater stage and has moved really directly into one in which no one really has confidence in the U.S. anymore. No one has confidence in the dollar. No one has confidence in the U.S. being committed to the multilateral system, to global trade and so forth and so on," he said.

Trump playing "dangerous game" as tariff measures signal decline in U.S. dollar hegemony: economists