On alert Direct sales of California braces for severe wildfire e-cars spur Ready to soar season amid intensifying drought excitement Skateboarding is poised for Olympic debut, SPORTS, PAGE 19 WORLD, PAGE 12 BUSINESS, PAGE 14 but is it losing its soul? CHINADAILY MONDAY, May 31, 2021 www.chinadailyhk.com HK $10 Scientists hail Xi’s speech on innovation President calls for more breakthroughs in core tech, higher-level self-reliance By ZHANG ZHIHAO National Congress of the China Asso- [email protected] ciation for Science and Technology. These feats include the country’s Noted scientists and engineers Mars and lunar probes, the Beidou hailed President Xi Jinping’s latest Navigation Satellite System, the speech on science and technologi- construction of the Chinese space cal innovation as insightful, station, new quantum computers inspiring and instructive, saying and deep-sea submersibles. He they will fulfill Xi’s call to enhance also mentioned that China has basic research, train quality pro- become a global leader in fields fessionals, promote international including 5G communication and collaboration and conduct image and voice recognition. A Long March 7 rocket, carrying the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft, blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on reforms to unleash the full poten- However, China’s ability to make Saturday. TU HAICHAO / FOR CHINA DAILY tial of those working in science. original breakthroughs is still rela- Xi, who is also general secretary tively weak, Xi said. The nation of the Communist Party of China also needs to improve the effective- Central Committee and chairman of ness of its innovation system, make the Central Military Commission, better use of its research resources Tianzhou 2 cargo ship docks with space station module called on the Chinese scientific com- and optimize its systems for train- munity to make more break- ing talent and evaluating scientific By zhao LEI When astronauts from the throughs in core technologies and output, he added. [email protected] Shen zhou XII spacecraft board help the country achieve a higher Xi urged the Chinese scientific Tianhe in the near future, they level of self-reliance and strength in community to be aware of the chal- Tianzhou 2, a cargo spacecraft will gradually move living materi- science and technology. lenges of the time, break new launched on Saturday evening, als and mission payloads from Xi highlighted on Friday many sci- ground and make new findings in docked with Tianhe — the recently Tianzhou 2 to the core module. entific and technological achieve- key sectors, train higher-quality deployed core module of the coun- Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens, ments in his speech addressing the talent and proactively participate try’s permanent space station — ear- was lifted by a Long March 5B heavy- general assemblies of the academi- in the global governance of science ly on Sunday morning, according to lift rocket at the Wenchang launch cians of the Chinese Academy of Sci- and technology. the China Manned Space Agency. center on April 29. The module, the ences and the Chinese Academy of A Long March 7 rocket, carrying largest and heaviest spacecraft China Engineering, as well as the 10th See Speech, page 4 Tianzhou 2, blasted off from the has ever built, is the first part of the Wenchang Space Chinese space station, named Tian- Inside Launch Center on the gong, or Heavenly Palace. coast of the southern Before docking with Tianzhou 2, Solidarity seen as crucial See more, island province of Tianhe carried out a series of tests to page 3 Hai nan at 8:55 pm on verify its designs for rendezvous and Saturday. docking maneuvers, astronaut A composite image shows the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft (left) After a 10-minute flight atop the accommodation and experimental docking with the Tianhe space station core module. XINHUA to revive global economy 53-meter rocket, the craft entered a equipment. low Earth orbit, unfolded its solar Hao Chun, director of the By ZHANG YUE and CHEN JIA that improvements in public health panels and began to execute the rap- manned space agency, said previ- time after a technical problem on two parts — a cargo cabin and a pro- are strongly related to strong eco- id autonomous rendezvous and ously that the Shenzhou XII space- the rocket was detected. pulsion section. Such vehicles are 10.6 The international community nomic growth. Such investment not docking procedures, which lasted craft, carrying three astronauts, Over the past 10 days, engineers and meters long and 3.35 meters wide. must come together to empower only saves lives, but also saves money about eight hours, the agency said will launch and dock with Tianhe technicians from the China Academy The craft, which has a liftoff weight of the current global governance sys- and drives economic growth, he said. in a statement. early in June. The crew will stay in of Launch Vehicle Technology, which 13.5 metric tons, can transport up to tem and increase investment in He urged global financial institu- Tianzhou 2 successfully docked the module for three months. designed and built the rocket, raced 6.9 tons of supplies to the space sta- healthcare systems in a fairer and tions to work more proactively with with Tianhe’s rear hatch at 5:01 am. Tianzhou 2’s launch was original- against time to pinpoint and solve the tion, according to Bai Mingsheng, more equitable manner, to revital- the World Health Organization as Next, it is programmed to conduct ly scheduled for the early morning problem and managed to make sure Tianzhou’s chief designer at the China ize the pandemic-hit global econo- well as the United Nations’ agencies, autonomous refueling operations of May 20, but mission commanders the rocket could be launched on Satur- Academy of Space Technology. my as soon as possible, according non-government organizations and and carry out some equipment tests, decided to postpone it shortly day, according to the academy. to business and financial leaders. the private sector, to ensure health according to the statement. before the predetermined ignition A Tianzhou cargo spaceship has See Docking, page 3 Jin Liqun, president of the Asian support becomes more inclusive Infrastructure Investment Bank, and to create more access to expert- has called on the international ise and resources, including vacci- INSIDE community to build global govern- nes, to cope with the pandemic. ROAMING ELEPHANTS WREAK HAVOC ance into a system with “power, Through such cooperation, the Guizhou, once authority and teeth”, particularly financial sector is playing an increas- ◆ during this unusual time. ingly critical role, particularly as the mired in poverty, While addressing the Internation- world needs to grow in a greener, banks on high Alerts issued as animals make 400-km journey in Yunnan al Finance Forum 2021 Spring Meet- more sustainable manner in the technology while ings on Saturday, he said that as low- post-COVID-19 era, said Zhou Xiao- By YANG WANLI in Beijing income, developing countries chuan, former governor of the Peo- aiming for and LI YINGQING in Kunming tended to be much more vulnerable ple’s Bank of China. He urged industrialization amid the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening the global and region- any people from Yun- development banks and other devel- al financial safety net to stabilize the Path to glory, p5-8 nan province often opment partners need to work faster macroeconomy and promoting glob- claim to have seen to help their governments build up al trade to support supply chains. wild animals, includ- strength in their healthcare systems. Some developing countries are Ming elephants, roaming local streets, “We all know that nobody is safe facing increased debt risks as a as the province is known as the until everybody is safe,” he added. result of the pandemic. China has nation’s “kingdom of wildlife”. Also addressing the forum but fully implemented the initiative pro- However, such claims have recent- via video, Kristalina Georgieva, posed by G20 members to suspend ly been verified beyond a doubt. managing director of the Interna- debt in the poorest countries, or the Video footage taken on Thursday tional Monetary Fund, called for G20 Debt Service Suspension Initia- in the Eshan Yi autonomous county faster and fairer vaccine rollouts to tive, offering more than $1.3 billion shows a herd of 15 wild Asian ele- safeguard recovery from the shock in debt relief — the largest amount phants roaming the streets in a A herd of wild Asian elephants makes its way in Yuxi’s Eshan Yi of the virus. of all the G20 countries — said Zhou, downtown area at night after leaving autonomous county, Yunnan province, on Friday. HU CHAO / XINHUA At least 40 percent of the global who delivered a speech at the forum. their habitat in Xishuangbanna population needs to be vaccinated Jin, the Asian Infrastructure National Nature Reserve in the by the end of this year, and at least Investment Bank president, said the south of Yunnan last year. 60 percent by mid-2022, accord- bank has created a new department The herd originally consisted of ing to an IMF estimate, she said, focusing on supporting and invest- 17 elephants when it left the nature and such a plan would cost ing in healthcare systems to com- reserve, but two of the animals around $50 billion globally. pensate for the COVID-19 challenge. gained access to alcohol in a village Kunming COVID-19 is a warning that “It (the pandemic) has told us that and became inebriated, according Yunnan investing in public health is essen- no nations can stay safe and sound to local officials. The pair was later Yuxi tion from the media and locals.