The booths showcasing these products were set up by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, which aims to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by replacing plastic products with bamboo items.
At one of the booths, Sichuan Vanov New Material Co., Ltd. showcased its bamboo-fiber paper brand named “Babo.” In 2021, the company worked with Starbucks to make new materials by mixing coffee grounds with natural bamboo fiber, helping the U.S. coffee giant significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in packaging materials.
“At CIFTIS, we hope to find more partners that champion the concept of low-carbon sustainable development, and jointly protect our home, the Earth,” said Huang Manqi, a staffer at Vanov’s booth.
During this year’s CIFTIS, a large number of Chinese and overseas participants united in their endeavors to work toward the reduction of global carbon emissions, driven by a collective belief in pursuing green development.
The green development of global trade in services has become the general trend, and is expected to have promising prospects and great potential, said a report released during the CIFTIS.
The report also noted that international exchanges and cooperation in cutting carbon dioxide emissions will continue to deepen.
Veolia is a French transnational company that designs and provides solutions for water, waste and energy management. Since entering China in the early 1990s, the company has contributed to the ecological transformation across the country.
Green development and ecological transformation are major areas in China’s international exchanges and cooperation with the world, and they have played a very important role in China’s relations with major countries and regions, Huang Xiaojun, senior vice president of Veolia China, said at a forum during the CIFTIS.
Huang highlighted the importance of the circular economy, noting that it helps people save and reuse resources, which is a key way to pursue green development.
“Veolia is willing to make its due contribution by working with people from all walks of life in China to protect our beautiful home through a green and low-carbon transition,” Huang added.
As an innovative tech company, Amazon has reaffirmed its commitment to using digital means to empower industry users in order to achieve sustainable development.
“Enterprise customers can reduce their carbon footprint simply by moving their businesses to the cloud,” said Marco Su, a senior manager in the Greater China Region of Amazon Web Services.
Su added that Amazon’s cloud technology can reduce customers’ carbon footprints by nearly 80 percent, and the company aims to elevate the figure to 96 percent by 2025
Interview: BMW senior official says BMW against decoupling from China
MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — German carmaker BMW is against decoupling from China, Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
“Decoupling from China is impossible,” Zipse said. “China is so important in terms of raw materials, manufacturing competence, size, and economies of scale.”
In the first half of this year, the BMW Group delivered more than 390,000 BMW and MINI brand vehicles to the Chinese market, an increase of 3.7 percent year-on-year, and among these vehicles, sales of BMW pure electric models increased by 283 percent year-on-year, according to the BMW Group.
“China is BMW’s largest market, and we are very connected and involved in the Chinese market,” Zipse noted.
According to the BMW senior official, independence is impossible for the automotive industry, and the discussion should instead focus on how to cooperate.
There are many types of cooperation, and “cooperation is always a super positive thing,” he said, adding that he believes benefits can only be achieved together and in both ways, for BMW and also for its Chinese partners.
Zipse mentioned the Spotlight joint venture, an example of successful cooperation between the BMW Group and the Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors. Cars made by Spotlight in Zhangjiagang, east China’s Jiangsu Province are going to be exported.
Referring to incoming Chinese automakers, Zipse said that competition and free trade should be embraced
Across China: China’s agricultural technology inspires Pakistani postdoctoral to contribute to home country’s grain production
LANZHOU, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) — Asfa Batool, a Pakistani postdoctoral fellow at Lanzhou University in northwest China’s Gansu Province, is conducting dryland agricultural research in China. Her aim is to leverage her knowledge and different technologies to increase the grain production in Pakistan.
Asfa has been a part of Lanzhou University since 2012, when she first arrived to pursue her master’s degree. Over the course of 11 years, she successfully obtained her doctoral degree in ecology in 2018, before starting her postdoctoral research at the university.
While talking about her experiences studying in China, she expressed immense gratitude towards her advisor, Xiong Youcai, a professor at the college of ecology at Lanzhou University. Xiong had previously given a lecture during her undergraduate studies at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan and introduced Chinese dryland agriculture and water saving technology.
Asfa was inspired by Chinese agricultural technologies and hoped to learn from him to improve the current state of agriculture in Pakistan.
Sponsored by the Chinese government scholarship, she applied to be a graduate student at Lanzhou University and began her study under professor Xiong in 2012. She has been actively involved in research work focusing on agriculture and biotechnologies to improve plant growth and productivity.
“Chinese dryland agricultural technology provides a potential innovative approach to upgrade the productivity of crops in arid and semi-arid regions. It is a key solution to boost the agricultural production system, and Lanzhou University is a well-known institute in China for agriculture studies. That’s why I chose to study here,” said Asfa, adding that she hopes that Chinese technologies can be utilized in Pakistan, because dry areas in Pakistan need more attention, as the crops there rely solely on rainfall.
According to Xiong Youcai, Chinese dryland agricultural technology can not only avoid resource waste and effectively save water but also improve soil fertility and reduce evaporation at the soil surface. The most important aspect of this technology is the easiness of use and low costs.
With Xiong’s support, such as helping her set up research objectives, providing lab facilities and the funding projects provided by Lanzhou University, Asfa has conducted a lot of research on wheat and maize. This includes conducting split root experiments to study the role of phytohormones in drought stress. She also applied China’s water-saving technology to maize and wheat planting experiments in Pakistan.
“I learned that how flat planting and ridge furrow planting can help Pakistan to increase the yield and the crop productivity there, compared Chinese technology with the local planting technology, and also especially focused on how the poor people like local farmers can increase their yield and get benefits from Chinese technology,” said Asfa.
Based on experiments and research, she said she believes that China’s ridge and furrow mulching technology, a part of dryland agriculture, can produce more yield than flat planting. While conducting experiments in dry areas in Pakistan, she felt confident that her implementation of the technology would lead to excellent results.
She has also visited many places in Gansu Province where local farmers applied the water saving technology to get a harvest and feed their families.
For her, China has really made unremitting efforts to help the poor people to have a good life. “That’s what Pakistan needs,” Asfa said, adding that she really wants to take Chinese agricultural technology back to Pakistan to benefit more local farmers and improve their life quality.
She has also actively communicated with scientists in China, Africa, Australia and Pakistan. Serving as a volunteer, she has helped participants with their accommodation and participation at many international forums and meetings hosted by Lanzhou University.
“These were all impressive experiences because they provide a platform for me to share and communicate different ideas among the people who come from different parts of the world,” said Asfa.
Asfa said she is eager to implement Chinese agricultural technologies in the farmland in Pakistan after graduation, and hopes for deepened cooperation between China and Pakistan in more fields.