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During the National Day holiday, 5 intercity bus lines just opened in Wuhu took the spotlight in passenger transportation with a full line of 80 new energy electric buses and a passenger volume of 115,000 people.

From October 1 to October 7, there were 774 flights and a passenger volume of 22,894 people on Wuwan Line (Bus 501), 707 flights and a volume of 21,040 passengers on Wanshi Line, 712 flights and a volume of 28,331 passengers on Wufan Line (Bus 503), 788 flights and a volume of 35,327 passengers on Wunan Line(Bus 505), and 280 flights and a volume of 7476 passengers on Wuwu Line(Bus 506).

The operation of intercity bus lines allows county residents to enjoy the benefits of the bus fares as well as the convenience of public transportation. Reporters learned that ticket prices of the above five bus lines dropped significantly compared with the original lines in accordance with the principle of “the government subsidizes a little, enterprises give a little and citizens enjoy the preferential treatment.”  

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Instant food sales surged globally after the novel coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, as more people started remaining at home and consuming snack products. Dehydrated vegetables, a major ingredient in most of the convenience food products, saw a rebound in sales in the domestic as well as overseas markets.

Consumers from the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, which have been hit hard by the pandemic, have been increasing their convenience food purchases and companies have been sourcing the same from markets like China. During the first four months of this year, Huzhou, a city in Zhejiang province in East China, exported more than 800 metric tons of dehydrated vegetables, up 81.3 percent on a yearly basis. The export value of the products was 20 million yuan ($2.94 million), up 78.1 percent on a yearly basis, according to the local government.

“We thought the pandemic would negatively affect our business, but the number of overseas orders increased after we restarted production, and hence we had to keep increasing our production capacity,” said Qian Qin, general manager of Huzhou Fresh Food Co Ltd, a major retailer of dehydrated vegetables. The company, however, did not disclose exact volume of sales, according to a report published in Qianjiang Evening News.

Huzhou Fresh Food’s dehydrated vegetables were mainly exported to the United States and Europe. Some of its products like dehydrated tomatoes, red peppers and cabbages were exported to Belgium, said company officials.

Xinze Food Industry Co Ltd, a dehydrated vegetable maker based in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has been successfully processing onions and carrots and exporting them to Europe and Southeast Asian countries. The company has set up a factory with an initial investment of 80 million yuan, which can process about 10,000 tons of fresh vegetables into dehydrated vegetables every year.

Xinze plans to further expand its production capacity and build more vegetable dehydration assembly lines, while systematically developing its deep-processing capacity.

Even as the frozen vegetable companies are expanding their production capacities, they are also finding new use for their products in popular snack products like instant noodles to attract more consumers.

Companies have come up with instant noodle products containing common vegetables such as beans, celery, green pepper, cucumber, sweet potatoes and potato chips and the same are dehydrated via freeze vacuum drying before being added to the noodles. The dehydrated vegetables can retain their original color and taste after a few minutes of being immersed in hot water along with the noodles.

“Consumers expect convenience food products to taste more like freshly-made meals, and retailers are launching more varieties to cater to the new demand. Instant food innovations should offer more added value in terms of flavor, food safety, healthiness, quality of raw materials and production technologies,” said Annie Jiang, a food and beverage analyst at Mintel.

That said, products like high-calorie biscuits, chocolate and candies are no longer as popular as they used to be in China, said industry experts. In the domestic market, fruit and vegetable crunches are the new categories that are gaining traction, they said.

Major Chinese snack makers such as Wuhu, Anhui province-based Anhui Three Squirrels Electronic Commerce Co Ltd, and Wuhan, Hubei province-based Bestore Food Co Ltd, have benefited from the trend, since they have been developing healthier and high-quality snacks like fruit and vegetables crunches in recent years.

In fact, besides edible oil, rice and noodles, dehydrated vegetables and crunches can also serve as an important disaster prevention food. Unlike fresh vegetables, dehydrated vegetables have a long shelf life and taste good when cooked, while retaining the nutrition.

Still, the scale of the dehydrated vegetable segment is relatively small in China. The growth of the sector can provide more business opportunities and sales channels for rural vegetable farmers, said industry experts.

HEFEI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — A new rail-road bridge over the Yangtze River opened to traffic Tuesday in the city of Wuhu, east China’s Anhui Province.

With a span of 588 meters between the two main towers, the double-deck cable-stayed bridge has eight lanes for vehicular traffic on the upper deck and four rail tracks on the lower level.

Two of the tracks have been designed for the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway, which started operations on June 28 this year. The other two tracks are reserved for rail transit lines.

“There is an airport near the bridge, therefore we had to keep the height of the towers within certain limits. The height of the tower above the bridge is only half that of a normal cable-stayed bridge, a great challenge for us during construction,” said Liu Xingfu, the project manager.

The new bridge is expected to ease traffic pressure and promote the regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta, local authorities said. 

SHANGHAI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — A new free-trade zone (FTZ) was inaugurated in east China’s Yangtze River Delta on Thursday, along with the expansion of another one, representing new steps to ensure high-quality, integrated development for the region and further momentum for the country’s opening-up.

The two new developments consist of a pilot FTZ in Anhui Province and the expansion of the existing FTZ in Zhejiang Province. Together with similar projects in Jiangsu and Shanghai, they ensure that all four areas of the delta have FTZs, featuring institutional innovations to facilitate trade, investment and business, and undertaking distinctive roles in developing industries.

Thursday also saw the inauguration of two newly approved FTZs beyond the delta region, in Beijing and the central province of Hunan, raising the total of FTZs nationwide to 21.

The pilot FTZ in Anhui will focus on promoting the in-depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and the development of the real economy. It will accelerate the pace of its pioneering role in scientific and technological innovation and the cluster development of advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, and promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

The expanded area in Zhejiang will focus on building a new type of international trade center and a global shipping and logistics hub, as well as the construction of a commodity resource allocation base centered on oil and gas. It will also see the construction of a digital economy development demonstration zone and a cluster area for advanced manufacturing industries.

Last year, China unveiled an outline for the regional integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the country’s most economically active, open and innovative regions, producing nearly a quarter of the country’s GDP.

The central authorities expect the entire delta region to provide quality products and serve as a source of high-level technologies to support the national high-quality economic development. The region is also urged to take the lead in forming a new development pattern that takes the domestic market as the mainstay and allows the domestic and foreign markets to boost each other.

The new pilot FTZs, together with the expanded one, will strengthen the industrial and supply chain through scientific and technological innovation and enhance its advancement, stability and competitiveness, while leading the high-quality development of industries, said Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce.

INTEGRATION, HIGH QUALITY

“After having a business meeting in Shanghai in the morning, I take the high-speed train to Hefei for work after lunch, and meet my partners for dinner in the evening. I can return to Shanghai on the same day with a relaxed schedule,” said Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO Inc., a leading Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer.

With the company’s global headquarters in Shanghai, its China headquarters in Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui, and a leading new-energy auto-parts manufacturing base in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, NIO has most of its important institutions in the delta region, forming a highly innovative and efficient layout.

Improved connectivity within the region, such as the opening of new high-speed railways, has facilitated the flow of talents and resources, as well as the integrated development of the region.

Over the past year, local governments in the delta region have launched more than 30 innovative regulations on integrated development, signed more than 120 cooperation agreements, and built more than 60 cooperation platforms, statistics with the regional cooperation office of the Yangtze River Delta showed.

In the first half of this year, Jiangsu’s foreign trade stood at 2 trillion yuan. During the same period, Zhejiang Province reported 1,133 newly established foreign-invested enterprises.

As part of the FTZ in Anhui, its section in Hefei will be developed into a comprehensive national science center and a leading area in industrial innovation, based on industries such as high-end manufacturing, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and quantum information.

According to Liu Qingfeng, chairman of voice-recognition giant iFlytek in Hefei, a spate of supporting measures introduced in the FTZ plan will bring favorable policies to AI industries in terms of technological innovation and application development.

Meanwhile, the city of Wuhu will focus on industries such as intelligent connected vehicles, intelligent household applications, robots, and cross-border electronic commerce.

Wuhu-based auto-maker Chery Automobile Co. is one of the trail-blazers in developing the intelligent connected vehicle. With its self-developed intelligent connected system featuring facial recognition and remote control, the company continues to make breakthroughs in autonomous vehicles.

Chery Automobile Co. will continue to develop cutting-edge technology and cooperate with external resources to build an open system of innovation, according to company sources.

“The coordinated development of FTZs in the Yangtze River Delta will spur greater momentum,” said Sun Yuanxin, an expert with the Collaborative Innovation Center of China Pilot Free Trade Zone at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

A few days ago, the signing ceremony between Conch Group and Shanghai Jiao Tong University for the project of the joint research and development center of intelligent equipment was held in the headquarters of Conch Group. The R&D center will be located in Fanchang Economic Development Zone, which will further boost our city’s “intellectual strength”.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a nationally first-class and internationally renowned comprehensive university with 9 national first-level key disciplines and 17 national “double first-class” disciplines. It has formed a comprehensive, research-oriented and internationalized school structure. Conch Group adheres to the innovation-driven approach. In recent years, it has continuously increased investment in scientific research and development, actively strengthened industry-university-research cooperation, and promoted digital transformation of traditional industries with big data, artificial intelligence and other modern technologies. Two projects of unmanned vehicle in Haibo mining area and Conch Zhongnan Intelligent Robot, invested by Conch Group, have been settled in Fanchang Economic Development Zone successively.

    The settlement of the intelligent equipment project in Fanchang Economic Development Zone will help the construction of Haibo and Zhongnan intelligent robot. At the same time, it can also promote the construction of scientific research team of Conch Group, enhance the level of innovation, and provide technological support for Conch Group to strive for the title of the first class enterprise with global competitiveness.  

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

On September 12, the Sub-conference of World Manufacturing Convention Jianghuai Online Economic Forum in Wuhu was officially opened. Party Secretary Pan Zhaohui, Municipal Leaders Zhang Zhihong, He Xiangyang, Fang Guohua attended the sub-meeting, and witnessed the signing of the projects on spot. Directors and leaders with specific duties of each county (city), district and development zone participated in the activities as well as relevant municipal departments and representatives of entrepreneurs.  

This conference innovatively adopted the “cloud” mode of organization. Sub-conferences have been set up in 16 cities across the province, which were connected to the main conference hall in Hefei via video link. Guests at the wuhu sub-venue watched the opening ceremony and keynote forum via webcast. In the subsequent “cloud signing” link, projects of Wuhu in the main venue and sub-venue signing simultaneously. Among them, 7 projects were signed in the main venue with a total investment of 17.1 billion yuan, and 28 in wuhu sub-venue, reaching a total investment of 15.2 billion yuan. In addition, there are 41 projects signed by counties (cities) districts and development zones, with a total investment of 45.7 billion yuan, including new display, new energy, new materials, new infrastructure, equipment manufacturing and other fields.

In recent years, Wuhu has focused on the development of strategic emerging industries and seized the opportunities of new infrastructure , paving the way for industrial transformation and upgrading, forming industrial agglomeration effects in intelligent manufacturing and robotics, new energy vehicles, general aviation, modern agricultural machinery and other fields, and attracting a large number of leading enterprises and major projects. In the first half of this year, the city’s investment in strategic emerging industries grew up by 12.3%, and the number of new projects launched this year that are more than 100 million yuan  increased by 133 compared with the same period last year. New industries and projects have played a significant role in driving the economy.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

HEFEI — More than 600 projects with a total investment of 600 billion yuan ($87.7 billion) were signed Saturday during the online World Manufacturing Convention held in Hefei, capital of East China’s Anhui province.

China’s domestic market has huge growth potential and the development of the country’s manufacturing industry will bring the world greater investment opportunities and broader investment prospects under the new economic development pattern of “dual circulation,” said Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen at the opening ceremony of the convention’s Jianghuai Online Economic Forum.

Xu Lijin, chairman of Efort Intelligent Equipment Co Ltd, who took part in the online deals signing, said he has full confidence in the future as China’s economy is resilient and dynamic.

The World Manufacturing Convention was held online for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focused on promoting high-quality growth of manufacturing and digital economy as well as on guiding the digital eocnomy to deeply integrate with the real economy.

Zhang Xi, vice governor of Anhui Province, said 1,073 projects with a total investment of 962.2 billion yuan were signed during the World Manufacturing Convention in 2018 and 2019.

By the end of August, 1,008 projects had finished company registrations and 880 projects had started construction, Zhang said.

    HEFEI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — A business symposium focusing on cooperation between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the high-end manufacturing industry was held Friday in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province.

    More than 90 business representatives and government officials from both sides attended the meeting, including those from Chinese semiconductor display manufacturer BOE Technology Group, Chery Automobile, and ROK chemical giant LG Chem.

    The symposium was co-hosted by the foreign affairs office of the provincial government of Anhui, the Anhui provincial department of economy and information technology, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and the Korea Display Industry Association.

    Cooperation in the new display, integrated circuit and automotive industries between Anhui and the ROK has a good foundation and wide market prospects, said Niu Nutao, director of Anhui’s department of economy and information technology.

    Economic and trade exchanges between Anhui and the ROK maintained steady upward momentum in the first half of 2020. Data from Hefei customs showed that in the January-June period, the trade volume between the two sides topped 14.74 billion yuan (about 2.16 billion U.S. dollars), up 37.1 percent year on year.

    Jang Ha-sung, ROK’s ambassador to China, said both countries have a solid industrial foundation and strong innovative power. The two should utilize this advantage and deepen cooperation in high-end manufacturing and emerging industries. 

On the morning of September 5th, a citywide photography exhibition namely “Chinese Dream • Labor Beauty”, co-sponsored by Wuhu Federation of Trade Unions, Wuhu Media Center (Group) and The City Photographers Association, was officially launched in the City Workers’ Cultural Palace. A series of excellent photographic works recorded the laboring scenes of workers from all walks of life in the city.

According to the introduction, in order to give full play to the appeal and educational function of photographic art creation, vigorously promoting the spirit of model workers, labor spirit and artisan spirit, since June, the organizers have issued the photo work solicitation. All levels of the city’s trade unions and the general staff responded positively, a total of more than 400 valid entries were received. 100 winning works were selected and exhibited after the comprehensive evaluation by experts. At the scene, the works exhibited focused on the themes of urban construction and the fighting against the pandemic, floods and emergency and recorded the touching moment when the front-line workers united as one and overcame the difficulties together. They attracted many photography lovers and workers to visit and study.

The exhibition will last for one month and will be streamed online at the same time, according to a person in charge of the city workers’ cultural palace. Through this exhibition, it is expected to further show the wonderful stories of workers’ struggle for the decisive victory of overall well-off society and the decisive battle against poverty, and eulogize the  industrial workers’ joint efforts to build the Chinese dream and contribute to the new era.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

HEFEI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) — The delivery of trains manufactured in China as part of an order of 72 trains by Thailand has begun, CRRC Puzhen Bombardier Transportation Systems Co., Ltd. (PBTS) said.

Assembly of the first two trains was completed on Friday and they left the city of Wuhu in east China’s Anhui Province, where the company’s manufacturing base is located, for Thailand.

In June 2017, PBTS signed an agreement with Thailand railway for the manufacture and delivery of 72 trains, made up of a total number of 288 cars. The order is to be completed by early 2022.

The trains, to ply in Bangkok, are equipped with fully-automatic unmanned driving technology and comply with advanced international standards emphasizing safety, reliability and comfort, PBTS said.

They will be used for two urban rail transit lines, which will be opened in 2022.