From space to the deep sea, China's exploration of new fields is at the forefront

From the vastness of space to 10,000 meters of wells, from the frozen polar regions to the depths of the ocean, the exploration of new fields has lit up the "science and technology tree" of human civilization and upgraded the "engine" of the world economy.

Deep-sea prospecting, starry sky weaving, chip microscopy, quantum questioning...... One new discovery after another is being transformed into a new driving force for China's high-quality economic development.

Explore new frontiers

Where is the boundary of human cognition? China is looking to deep space, deep earth, and deep sea for answers.

Wentian - Among the mountains of Pingtang County, Guizhou Province, sits the "China Sky Eye" 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST) gazing at the starry sky. More than 150 high-level papers have been published from open data, and a total of 883 pulsars have been discovered, more than three times the total number of pulsars discovered by all other telescopes in the world during the same period...... FAST casts the deep eyes of Chinese into the depths of the universe.

Asking the land - China, which was once "poor in oil and gas", is determined to "take a CT picture of the earth" and ask for oil and gas from the deep and ultra-deep underground. In Xinjiang, the "Shendi No. 1" Yuejin 3-3XC well of Sinopec's "Deep Earth Project" Shunbei Oil and Gas Field Base became the deepest well in Asia after the completion of drilling. Not long ago, this record was set by the deep Taco 1 well in PetroChina's Tarim Oilfield.

From the first self-designed manned submersible "Jiaolong", to the deep-sea manned submersible "Deep Sea Warrior", to the first 10,000-meter-class manned submersible "Struggler", which successfully sat at the bottom of the Mariana Trench at a depth of 10,909 meters, China's deep-sea exploration team is growing day by day.

In 2023, China Aerospace completed 67 space launches, all 47 launches of the Long March series of carrier rockets, and a total of 175 consecutive launches...... From space to the deep sea, it shows the courage and wisdom of Chinese explorers.

The good news continues, and new records are being set.

Recently, in the hinterland of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China's first 10,000-meter-deep scientific exploration well officially crossed the 10,000-meter mark; in the Pearl River Estuary Basin, China discovered China's first deep-water deep-100-million-ton oil field; and in Wenchang, Hainan, the "Queqiao-2" relay satellite of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project was launched by a Long March-8 Yao-3 carrier rocket, bringing it one step closer to a manned landing on the moon...... From the deep space, from the deep earth, from the deep sea, the best audio transmission.

Break new ground

China has always been at the forefront of the world in the practical application and industrialization of quantum technology. Looking up, the world's first quantum science experiment satellite "Micius" has been working stably for more than 7 years.

Over the past seven years, Micius has continued to bring new surprises to China and the world: in 2017, two quantum-entangled photons were distributed to a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers and remained quantum-entangled, in 2018, it achieved the first intercontinental quantum key distribution at a distance of 7,600 kilometers, with intercontinental quantum secure communication capabilities, and in 2022, it achieved a new record of 1,200 kilometers of surface quantum state transmission......

Entering the "quantum era", China is not only "weaving a chain into a network" for quantum communication, but also building the "strongest brain" of quantum computing.

There are two main technical routes for quantum computing, namely optical quantum computing and superconducting quantum computing. In 2021, China successfully built a 113-photon 144-mode optical quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhang No. 2", and in the same year, it successfully developed a 62-bit programmable superconducting quantum computing prototype "Zu Chongzhi", which has since been further upgraded to 66 superconducting bits. In 2023, the R&D team of "Zu Chongzhi" will make improvements on the basis of the 66-bit chip, so that the number of qubits that users can manipulate will reach 176 bits. Pan Jianwei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that China is the only country that has achieved the superiority of quantum computing in both physical systems.

Quantum Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Integrated Circuits...... In recent years, China's innovative achievements in various frontier fields have been emerging, attracting the attention of academia and industry.

According to Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Index Report, China is far ahead of European and American countries in the number of cited papers in the field of artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg, Chinese companies are significantly increasing their investment in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and "Chinese technology companies such as Huawei are already leading innovation in areas such as networking, supercomputing and image recognition, and Chinese companies are applying algorithms to a range of businesses, from online shopping to ride-hailing."

A number of overseas research institutions believe that Chinese suppliers have made significant progress in some tracks in the field of chips. Bernstein Research estimates that Chinese domestic suppliers accounted for about 14% of China's wafer fabrication equipment market in 2023, up from 3% in 2018, and this proportion is expected to rise to 29% by 2026.

Step into a new future

Step into a new future, one step at a time. At present, China, as a leader in the field of 5G, is becoming a leader in the field of 6G.

What is the basis for 6G R&D?"China's 5G user penetration rate has exceeded 50%" and "China has released technical solutions such as "6G Network Architecture Outlook"...... China announced the launch of 6G research and development work, and the hoof is moving steadily.

What does 6G mean? Higher speed and capacity, millisecond latency, real-time interaction and application ...... China has proposed that the commercial time of 6G technology will be around 2030, and the goal is clear.

"It is expected that by 2040, the global 6G market will exceed 340 billion US dollars, and China will become an early adopter of 6G technology, as well as one of the world's largest 6G markets" "China has an extremely large user base, Chinese technology companies have independent 6G strategies, and individual countries are unlikely to hinder China's 6G development"...... Market consulting institutions such as the International Data Corporation (IDC) judge this way.

Ascend high and look far, the new future is still in the polar regions and in space.

A few days ago, the "Snow Dragon 2", which carried out China's 40th Antarctic expedition, carried the Qinling station expedition team members across the equator and returned to the northern hemisphere. In order to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China's polar expedition, relevant commemorative activities will be carried out on the way back.

The Ross Sea region, where the Qinling station is located, preserves a rare intact marine ecosystem on Earth, which was once a blank in the layout of China's Antarctic scientific expeditions. In the future, the Qinling Station will carry out surveys and observations and monitoring of marine ecology, sea ice, geophysics, terrestrial ecology, and birds, so as to provide basic support for the assessment of the Antarctic ecological environment and climate change. "With the opening of China's new research stations, there is growing interest in China's scientific research programs in Antarctica. Sputnik said.

China's space program is the focus of international attention.

In 2024, China's aerospace industry is expected to carry out about 100 launch missions, which is expected to set a new record, China's first commercial space launch site will usher in the first launch mission, and the construction of multiple satellite constellations will accelerate the construction of networks.

Marveling at China's growing influence in space exploration, CBS commented after combing through China's space programs in recent years: China plans to realize the dream of landing on the moon for the first time in Chinese by 2030, which will open a new chapter in space exploration.

From space to the deep sea, China will continue to run in the "first echelon" of exploring new fields. (Reporter Wang Wenzheng)

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition