Ministry moves to ensure all rural households have water access
水利部采取行动确保解决所有农村家庭用水问题
The Ministry of Water Resources will roll out tailored measures to ensure that all rural households will be covered by water supply projects.
Li Guoying, minister of water resources, made the remark at a conference on rural water supply in Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Wednesday.
Li said the promotion of the integrated development of urban and rural water supply systems should be prioritized, especially in areas with major water diversion projects and medium-sized and large reservoirs.
For places where urban water supply systems can't be extended to rural areas, local water resources should make all-out efforts to build centralized water facilities that supply over 1,000 metric tons of water or serve 10,000 people every day, he noted.
In other areas, the ministry will promote standardized small-scaled water supply facilities to make sure that "not a single household will be left behind", he stressed.
Li also pledged to intensify efforts to strengthen the management of rural water supply facilities.
The ministry will establish unified systems for the management, monitoring and maintenance of the facilities in all county-level areas, he said.
He said by the end of this year, all rural centralized water supply facilities will be equipped with purification and disinfection equipment.
China establishes expert working group to boost public psychological services
中国成立专家工作组促进公共心理服务
China's National Health Commission has set up a specialized expert working group to support the country's efforts to improve its system of public psychological services.
According to an NHC statement, the team comprises over 20 members from prestigious universities, hospitals and government organs nationwide. They have been working at the frontline of China's battle against psychological and mental illnesses.
The experts are tasked with evaluating the quality of China's public psychological services and distilling successful experiences from different regions. They will also support and guide provincial health authorities and other relevant entities.
Additionally, the group will work on developing additional plans, management systems, and evaluation criteria aimed at enhancing the public psychological services system.
The expert working group, appointed for the period running from May 2024 to May 2027, will be subject to adjustments by the NHC, depending on work requirements.
Ningxia upgrades industries to build up high-quality development
宁夏升级产业打造高质量发展
The development of new quality productive forces and the establishment of a modern industrial system have helped to build up the high-quality development of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, senior regional officials said on Monday in Beijing.
"Despite its relatively small economic scale, Ningxia has seen rapid growth in the quantity and quality of its economic development," said Zhang Yupu, governor of Ningxia, at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.
The intelligent, green and integrated levels of local industries have experienced significant advancements, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of new quality productive forces, he added.
"In the first quarter of this year, the regional gross domestic product increased 5.8 percent, maintaining a top 10 ranking nationwide for eight consecutive quarters," Zhang said. "Notably, the region's growth rate of added value of large-scale industries surpassed all the other provincial-level regions, and that of the total output value of agriculture climbed to No 3 nationwide, both of which are record highs."
Chen Chunping, executive vice-governor of Ningxia, said: "The traditional sectors of coal, electricity and metallurgy hold a substantial share in Ningxia, accounting for more than 60 percent of the industrial added value. The region has facilitated the development of these traditional industries by implementing measures such as equipment upgrades, technological empowerment and transitioning to low-carbon practices."
Mai Yanzhou, vice-governor of the autonomous region, cited the local coal-to-liquids technique, which uses the indirect liquefaction method to produce oil. This approach, which won first prize in the national scientific and technological progress awards, has helped tackle the nation's persistent imbalance of more coal and less oil, and has broken foreign technology monopoly, he said.
Restructuring adds vigor
With the restructuring of traditional industries and the use of innovative technology, industrial clusters have taken shape that incorporate the coal-to-liquids process, coal-based olefins, which are building block materials for products such as plastics, and high-performance fibers.
"The scale of the modern coal and chemistry industry has exceeded 30 million metric tons, with the annual capacity of the coal-to-liquids project exceeding 4 million tons for three consecutive years, ranking first nationally, and that of coal-based olefins exceeding 4.7 million tons, accounting for one-fifth of the national production capacity," said Zhang, the Ningxia governor.
More than 20 types of high-end products produced in Ningxia, such as special fabric yarns and premium perfume ingredients, have entered the domestic and international markets, he added.
Ningxia, the only region in the nation situated entirely within the Yellow River Basin, boasts a thriving agricultural industry. Leveraging technological advancements, the region has pioneered the world's first-ever fully intelligent dairy facility, leading to decreased costs and increased efficiency. The facility can yield 1 million tons of liquid milk per year with a workforce of 100 employees, resulting in a remarkable output value of 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion), Zhang said.
With a sound blend of coal, electricity, oil and natural gas as well as wind and solar resources, the average costs of land and electricity, water and gas consumption are 30 percent to 50 percent lower than those in East China, making Ningxia an appealing place for developing green energy and the data economy, said Mai, the vice-governor.
"The national inaugural comprehensive demonstration zone for new energy has supplied abundant green electricity resources to Ningxia," Mai said.
With a total installed capacity of 70 million kilowatts and annual electricity generation of 200 billion kilowatt-hours, Ningxia leads the country in both per capita installed capacity and per capita electricity generation, according to local authorities. Its installed capacity of new energy has surpassed 37 million kW, accounting for 51 percent of its total, and the utilization rate is 97 percent, making it the provincial-level region with the highest intensity of new energy development per unit of land area nationwide, according to the local government.
AI advancement
Under the national guidance of channeling more computing resources from the eastern areas to the less-developed western regions, Ningxia has stood out for hosting the National (Zhongwei) New Internet Exchange Center and serves as one of the nation's integrated computing hubs, Mai said.
He also said the region established a base last year for artificial intelligence chip adaptation to offer testing and verification services for domestic chips. Ningxia will continue to nurture a top-notch development and testing environment for artificial intelligence advancement and will broaden the technology's application scenarios, he added.
"In the next step, we plan to make every effort to build the computing capital of China and contribute to the construction of digital China," Mai said.
From: Chinadaily.com.cn
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