Xi sends congratulatory message to 38th African Union Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to the 38th African Union (AU) Summit, extending warm congratulations to African countries and people.

In the face of the current complex and intertwined international situation, the Global South, represented by China and Africa, has grown significantly, Xi noted.

Over the past year, the AU has united and led African countries in vigorously advancing integration, actively responding to regional and global challenges, and speaking in unison as the "voice of Africa," Xi said.

Noting that these efforts have led to a continuous boost in Africa's international status and influence, he sincerely wishes African countries and people even greater success on the path of independence, self-reliance and development.

Xi said that the year 2024 saw vigorous development of China-Africa relations.

With the successful Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and Africa have embarked on a new stage of jointly building an all-weather community with a shared future for the new era, and stayed at the forefront of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi noted.

He expressed readiness to work with African leaders to promote the implementation of the six proposals for jointly advancing modernization and 10 partnership actions, so as to bring more tangible results to benefit over 2.8 billion Chinese and African peoples.

Shenzhen Futian launches DeepSeek-based AI employees and first national AI goverance regulations for govt affairs in China

Futian district in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province deployed 70 DeepSeek-powered "AI public servants" to assist in administrative governance, ensuring document format corrections with an accuracy rate of over 95 percent. The district also pioneered China's first AI governance framework for government assistance, according to a statement released on its WeChat account on Saturday.

The AI employees were built on the full-size DeepSeek R1 model. They mitigate inefficiencies in conventional administrative workflows. Leveraging a domestically-produced computational power platform for localized sector-specific training, and tailored to the actual business processes of various departments, these personalized intelligent agents are initially deployed across 240 administrative scenarios.

The 70 digital employees were deployed in 11 functional areas, enhancing efficiency across the government service ecosystem, including document processing, public service, emergency management, and business development and investment promotion, among others.

The AI system has reduced the time needed for personalized content generation from five days to just a few minutes. The accuracy rate of document format corrections exceeds 95 percent, cutting audit times by 90 percent, and the error rate remains below 5 percent.

According to the article, with the assistance of these digital employees, the accuracy in processing public service requests has increased from 70 percent to 95 percent. The safety compliance AI assistant has enhanced rehearsal script generation efficiency by 100 times. The AI investment attraction assistant has streamlined corporate analysis and screening, increasing efficiency by 30 percent. The AI task supervision assistant has boosted cross-departmental task delegation efficiency by 80 percent, and the on-time completion rate has increased by 25 percent.

"Compared to humans, AI outperforms humans in both efficiency and accuracy, making it a significant asset in handling government affairs," Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert, told the Global Times on Monday. "In public service, AI's objectivity helps mitigate the high time costs when dealing with the public. When engaging with some emotional citizens, digital employees can accurately extract key information, understand and respond to public needs, and respond swiftly while adhering to legal and regulatory frameworks."

"However, this does not imply that AI services will be devoid of human warmth. One of the standout features of domestically developed models, including DeepSeek, is their focus on training language styles. When faced with the same facts, these models generate responses that are both engaging and contextually appropriate, enhancing user experience. This is a valuable aspect," Xiang said.

The article stated that the Futian district converted raw data into structured, actionable intelligence. It has aggregated 120 million pieces of government data in the past decade, constructing a dedicated knowledge pool covering policies, regulations, service guides, historical cases, and more. By applying text processing techniques compatible with the DeepSeek model, the platform connects the knowledge base to the model through advanced embedding techniques.

Moreover, in terms of institutional innovation, Futian district has introduced China's first regulatory framework for government assistance AI. This framework outlines the full process management for the procurement and use of government assistance robots, establishing ethical guidelines and defining technical standards, application scope, safety management, and regulatory requirements, thus providing institutional support for the legal and compliant operation of intelligent robots in government affairs.

"Although there have not been significant ethical issues arising from the government's integration of AI for smart governance, it's wise to consider regulatory frameworks proactively. This approach will help ensure that any issues emerging during implementation can be addressed in a timely and standardized manner," said Xiang.

China, Australia hold defense dialogue; move important to avoid miscalculation, experts say

China and Australia held the 23rd China-Australia Defense Strategic Dialogue in Beijing on Monday, with the two sides exchanging in-depth views on relations between the two countries, their militaries, regional security and other issues of common concern, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of National Defense.

The dialogue was co-hosted by General Xu Qiling, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department under China's Central Military Commission (CMC), Air Marshal Robert Chipman AO CSC, Vice Chief of the Australian Defense Force, and Hugh Jeffrey, Australian Deputy Secretary of Defense Strategy, Policy and Industry Group.

The two sides agreed to continue strengthening strategic communication in the defense field, properly handle disputes and differences, and carry out exchanges and cooperation, the statement said. 

Australia's defense news platform Defence Connect hyped that this dialogue was held against the backdrop of Australia claiming that an Australian air force patrol aircraft experienced an "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction with a Chinese Air Force aircraft in the South China Sea recently. 

Australia has been hyping up the PLA's expulsion of an Australian warplane. Against such a backdrop, it shows that it is important for timely military communication to avoid misjudgments, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"This kind of dialogue provides an opportunity for Australia to understand where the boundaries and limits lie, and where China will undoubtedly make a firm response," Chen said. 

In response to the Australian defense ministry's claim that an Australian air force patrol aircraft experienced an "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction with a Chinese Air Force aircraft in the South China Sea on February 11, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference on February 13 that the Australian military aircraft deliberately intruded into China's territorial airspace of Xisha Qundao without China's permission, infringing on China's sovereignty and endangering China's national security.

The Australian statement claimed that on February 11, a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft conducting a routine maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea experienced an "unsafe and unprofessional interaction" with a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force J-16 fighter aircraft.

"The facts are very clear: the Australian military aircraft intruded into China's territorial airspace of Xisha Qundao, violating China's sovereignty and security. It will definitely be met with expulsion by the PLA, which is a justified action of defense and a legitimate right. No country would tolerate foreign military aircraft intruding into its airspace, and every nation would take corresponding measures in response, applying different levels of interception and countermeasures based on the nature of the provocation," Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times in an earlier interview on February 13. 

"The latest China-Australia defense dialogue is aimed at avoiding miscalculations. However, Australia is continuously coordinating with the US to meddle in Asia-Pacific affairs," Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Australia should deeply recognize its own position: it is an Oceanian country, not an Asian country, and it should clearly define its own stance and not follow the US in creating trouble in the Asia-Pacific region, Song said.  

"If Australia wishes to cooperate with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, it is welcome. But if it intends to assist the US in confronting certain countries within the region, this is unacceptable," Song added. 

The China-Australia Defense Strategic Dialogue is a high-level forum between the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Australian Department of Defence, established in 1997. It was last held in 2019.

6.2-magnitude quake hits Tainan city in Taiwan region: CENC

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Tainan City of China's Taiwan, at 12:17 a.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time), according to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicenter, with a depth of 14 km, was monitored at 23.24 degrees north latitude and 120.51 degrees east longitude, the CENC said.

The earthquake caused strong tremors across the entire island of Taiwan, with noticeable shaking reported in Quanzhou, Xiamen and Fuzhou in East China's Fujian Province, and Ningbo, Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, as well as Shanghai also felt the tremors, according to CCTV News on Tuesday.

Chinese foreign ministry responds to reported death of Chinese national in northern Afghanistan

When asked whether she could confirm the reports that a Chinese worker at a local mining company was killed in northern Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday that "I'm not clear about what you mentioned, but I believe our embassy in Afghanistan will do its best to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and should be following up on the situation."

China's new transport drone to make deliveries to remote regions

China's new-generation CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft on Monday completed a full-load taxiing test under full working conditions in Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei Province. This cargo drone has been described as a "pickup truck in the air," and will hopefully provide a new logistics solution to "remote regions that lack free shipping."

The Global Times noted that the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft adopts a typical transport aircraft design with two engines and a high wing. In order to ensure that the cargo can be conveniently and efficiently delivered to the cabin, it is equipped with an upward-flipping nose door. It is also equipped with a belly hatch, which can be used for special needs such as emergency airdrops, pesticide spraying or firefighting.

Huang Wei from Aerospace CH UAV Co Ltd told the Global Times that the taxiing test is a landmark mission node following the advent of the unmanned transport aircraft. Generally speaking, important mission nodes in aircraft development, including unmanned aerial vehicles, include low-speed and high-speed taxiing, first flight, flights with different mission loads, verification test and demonstration flight.

Huang said that unlike the taxiing and flight tests of manned aircraft, which rely on test pilots, comparable tests of the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft rely on autonomous program control. The operator only needs to upload relevant instructions to the drone, which can interpret the route information and taxiing runway information by itself and make corresponding actions according to the actual situation. 

As a result, the taxiing test for the drone has very high requirements for the reliability of related control programs and equipment. At present, the control system of the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft mainly comes from the mature technology of the CH-3D armed reconnaissance drone, which includes a variety of protection measures, so the overall performance is very reliable, according to Huang.

The CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft project was launched in March 2024. Based on the rich experience of the Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics' Aerospace CH UAV Co Ltd with unmanned aircraft, the drone applied many mature technologies and products on the shelf. A prototype of the drone was publicly displayed during the Zhuhai Airshow in November last year, and it has now smoothly completed its taxiing test in a sign of rapid progress.

After the taxiing test, the project team will further optimize and test the unmanned transport aircraft to ensure that its performance is more stable and reliable before conducting the first test flight. 

Huang said that the precautions for drone test flights are slightly different from those for manned aircraft, and more attention is paid to the reliability of the equipment. During the first flight, the drone will place greater emphasis on environmental safety and try to eliminate unfavorable and interfering factors. When other conditions are ripe, the takeoff and landing tests in harsh field environments will be carried out.

Huang explained that the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft has corresponding defense measures against hacker attacks, including the use of a dedicated radio communication network. 

In recent years, there have been frequent cases of drones being interfered with, an eventuality that Huang said the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft is also prepared for. One of the protection measures that has been adopted allows the drone to return to the departure airport along the originally set response route if it encounters interference and loses contact with the ground command center.

 "The unmanned transport aircraft we developed is like a 'pickup truck in the air.' We hope to achieve efficient air transportation at only a slightly higher cost than land transportation, meet the logistics needs of remote areas, and solve the problem of high delivery fees and slow delivery time in regions such as Xizang and Xinjiang," Huang said.

He said that in the future, towns and villages with inconvenient land transportation can rely on unmanned transport aircraft to fill the shortfall, improve their express delivery distribution systems, and promote the convenience of online shopping.

In addition, the CH-YH1000 drone relies on sensors to fly autonomously, which means it makes little difference whether it flies during the day or at night. Therefore, this unmanned transport aircraft, with its large transport capacity of 1,000 kilograms, can operate in the second half of the night when there is no civil aviation activity to achieve high-density air transport. It will bring new solutions to fields such as logistics, emergency rescue and military supply, and will strongly promote the development of China's unmanned transport aircraft industry and inject new vitality into the development of the country's low-altitude economy.