MH.Yang
Trusted Member
Do the Chinese need to see the streets of China through Google Street View?
I am introducing a channel to the Indians and Americans to know the real China. Are afraid to see it?
Chinese Economy: General News, Updates and Discussions
- Thread starter Beijingwalker
- Start date
Do the Chinese need to see the streets of China through Google Street View?
I am introducing a channel to the Indians and Americans to know the real China. Are afraid to see it?
Beijingwalker
VIP Member
- Thread starter
- #902
To power this vast HSR network, you need lots of electricity
Beijingwalker
VIP Member
- Thread starter
- #903
How China Powers Its Electric Cars and High-Speed Trains
By Keith BradsherPhotographs by Gilles Sabrié
Reporting from Guquan, China
In China, the longest ultrahigh-voltage power line stretches more than 2,000 miles from the far northwest to the populous southeast — the equivalent of transmitting electricity from Idaho to New York City.
Sources: Chinese state media, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The power line starts in a remote desert in northwest China, where vast arrays of solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity on a monumental scale. It snakes southeast, following an ancient river between mountain ranges before reaching Anhui Province near Shanghai, home to 61 million people and some of China’s most successful electric car and robot manufacturers.
That’s a single power line. China has 41 others. Each is capable of carrying more electricity than any utility transmission line in the United States. That’s partly because China is using technology that makes its lines far more efficient than almost anywhere else in the world. The feat is owed to China’s ambitious national energy policies and the fact that few residents along the path of these lines dare object — even though the lines cause small electric shocks that local people said they could feel when holding a metal fishing pole.
“As long as you don’t fish directly underneath the wires and keep the fishing line from getting tangled in the wires, it’s basically fine,” Shu Jie, an air-conditioning repairman, said matter-of-factly, showing off a six-inch fish he had just caught.
China’s aggressive embrace of clean energy technologies, at a faster pace than even its own government expected or planned, has left it with an unquenchable thirst for electricity. Half the country’s new cars are battery-powered, and the 30,000 miles of high-speed rail lines run on electricity. Wind and solar energy provided over a quarter of China’s power in April, a milestone that few other countries can brag about.
But much of that clean energy is produced in the country’s sunny, windy western and northern regions, far from most of its people and factories. More than 90 percent of China’s 1.4 billion people live in the east, where cloudy days, windless nights and sluggish rivers limit the potential for clean energy. So to move the electricity to where it is needed most, China is urgently upgrading its power grid.
Beijing’s central planners, having underestimated the country’s swift adoption of solar and wind energy, are building the world’s first nationwide grid of ultrahigh-voltage power transmission lines.
Beijing’s expansion of its power grid contrasts sharply with President Trump’s “Drill, baby, drill” approach of doubling down on fossil fuels and rolling back federal programs to spur greater use of clean energy.
In July, the Energy Department terminated its commitment to provide a $4.9 billion loan guarantee for construction of the Grain Belt Express power line to take wind power from Kansas to cities in Illinois and Indiana. That 800-mile ultrahigh-voltage line, which would have covered a shorter distance than dozens of lines already built in China, ran into criticism from rural landowners and Republican lawmakers.
Even before Mr. Trump took office, other renewable energy projects in the United States had to wait as long as 17 years for permits to be approved for transmission lines running a few hundred miles.
Many of China’s ultrahigh-voltage lines use direct current technology, which allows them to carry electricity for long distances with barely any of the transmission losses that affect most high-power lines in other countries.
China’s more efficient power lines have broad consequences for the global race against climate change. They will help determine how quickly China can reduce its world-leading use of coal, a stain on the country’s clean energy track record. China uses as much coal as the entire rest of the world, and emits more greenhouse gases than the United States and the European Union combined.
The more advanced power grid is starting to address a central problem facing China’s energy planners. In its western regions, where the weather is favorable for solar, wind and hydroelectric power, China produces more renewable energy than it can use.
Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, set a goal in 2020 of tripling the country’s capacity to generate wind and solar energy by 2030. The country reached that mark last year — six years ahead of schedule.
The country’s government-owned electricity transmission giant, State Grid, was caught unprepared.
“State Grid is good at building things, but not six years ahead,” said David Fishman, an electricity consultant in Shanghai.
In some recent months, a tenth of China’s wind and solar capacity has gone unused partly because the grid was unable to move all the power generated.
“To improve the power system’s ability to absorb new energy, we must accelerate the construction of power grid projects supporting new energy,” Du Zhongming, electricity director of the National Energy Administration in China, said at a news conference last year.
China already consumes twice as much electricity as the United States. By 2050, China plans to triple its count of ultrahigh-voltage routes.
The most recent public Chinese data, from the end of 2024, showed 19 lines transmitting power at 800 kilovolts. Another 22 lines operated at 1,000 kilovolts. One of them, the behemoth terminating in Guquan, transmits enough electricity at 1,100 kilovolts to power more than seven million American households or 40 million to 50 million Chinese households.
A tea plantation below the world’s longest and most powerful ultrahigh-voltage power line near its terminus in Guquan in south-central China.
To put the scale of China’s power grid build out in perspective, consider that the United States has a handful of 765-kilovolt lines and a few running at 500 kilovolts or less, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research group. The 765-kilovolt lines together total about 2,000 miles — the length of a single line across China.
The Soviet Union built a power line in Central Asia that was designed to operate at 1,150 kilovolts. But it used less powerful equipment and has not run at full tilt for decades.
The development of China’s ultrahigh-voltage lines was given a push in 2009, during the global financial crisis. The central government approved enormous investments in their construction to create jobs and head off an economic slowdown. China’s leaders staked ambitious plans for electric vehicles and high-speed rail lines around the same time.
In March 2011, the construction of ultrahigh-voltage lines gained further momentum from the partial meltdown of three nuclear reactors after an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan. Beijing delayed many prospective nuclear reactors, which had been planned near cities, and doubled down on transmission lines from remote areas.
Construction of the power lines has helped China reduce its emissions of toxic air pollution and greenhouse gases. A University of Chicago analysis of satellite data, released in August, found that air pollution in China had plunged 41 percent since 2014. That added almost two years to the country’s average life expectancy.
Beijing, once notorious for smog, mostly stopped burning coal for electricity in 2020 and now relies partly on wind power delivered from hundreds of miles away.
China’s ultrahigh-voltage network has helped the country limit its dependence on imported oil and natural gas, but it has also created new vulnerabilities. Much of northwestern China, where many of the lines are being built, is mountainous. As a result, lines had to be closely bunched as they hug a single, flood-prone tributary of the Yellow River that passes between earthquake-prone mountain ranges from Dunhuang to Lanzhou in Gansu Province.
For decades, countries have talked about building power lines similar to China’s. They have found it difficult to persuade people living along the routes to accept any high-power lines, much less ultrahigh-voltage lines.
China can build faster because of its top-down industrial planning, government control of information and intolerance for public dissent.
Some villagers in Anhui Province living near China’s longest ultrahigh-voltage line said they had reservations about the line, although they did not try to stop its construction.
The line carries mostly solar and wind energy, as well as some coal-fired power, from the Gurbantünggüt Desert in Xinjiang. It helps supply electricity to big eastern Chinese cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing.
Xu Shicai, a farm manager in Xuchong, a village next to lines that pass within 30 yards of homes, expressed concern.
“When you hold an umbrella in the rain, sparks will fly from it, and you’ll feel numb,” he said. “When fishing, it’s hard to hold the pole under the wires, as your hands feel very numb.”
The village’s small fish pond lies directly under the power lines. A “no fishing” sign has a cartoon of a skeleton being electrocuted and a graphic photo of a badly burned man who was apparently electrocuted. But Mr. Xu and other residents said that did not stop many villagers from fishing because the pond was so close by.
Mr. Xu said he accepted the power line because it was an important national project, but he worried it might scare off visitors. “I’m used to it now,” he said. “But honestly, we don’t want more lines built here.”
ety
Trusted Member
Lol, it's true some parts of London are becoming more like Indian cities, people piss on the streets and rubbish are easily seen.
Hamartia Antidote
Elite Member
Are you sure it is Google Streetview?
not much is covered...you can't drop the street view man
in many places.Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com
i think you mean Baidu maps
Last edited:
drkrn86
Registered Member
Because China is our immediate competition. Even if we reach to a position of China in next 30 years, its an achievement.
MH.Yang
Trusted Member
I don't understand what you mean. Are you accusing Google of stealing Baidu's resources? Do you understand that this is a very serious accus for Google?Are you sure it is Google Streetview?
not much is covered
Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
i think you mean Baidu maps
Beijingwalker
VIP Member
- Thread starter
- #908
China dominates industrial robotics: 2 million machines in factories
Redazione RHC : 12 October 2025 08:07
China is consolidating its position as a global manufacturing powerhouse thanks to an unprecedented pace of production and installation of industrial robots. According to a report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released Thursday, the number of robots operating in Chinese factories will surpass 2 million in 2024 , with nearly 300,000 new installations in just one year —more than the rest of the world combined. The United States , ranked third in terms of robot installations, has only 34,000 units .
Automation is now at the heart of Beijing’s industrial strategy, supported by public funds and government policies aimed at making Chinese companies global leaders not only in robotics, but also in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) .
Over the past decade, a New York Times article reports, China has launched an intense campaign to integrate robotics into manufacturing processes, while developing a domestic industry of robots and advanced technological components. “Chinese companies have been investing in this sector for many years,” explained Su Lianjie , chief analyst at Omdia , emphasizing that the growth is not the result of chance but of long-term planning.
Since 2017 , the country has been consistently installing more than 150,000 industrial robots per year , an expansion that parallels the growth in manufacturing output. Today, Chinese factories produce nearly a third of the world’s goods , surpassing those of the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom combined.
Behind China, the countries with the highest robot usage are Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Germany . However, the number of new installations in these countries is declining. Japan , for example, installed 44,000 robots in 2024, a decrease from the previous year.
The Chinese government made robotics a priority back in 2015 with the “Made in China 2025” plan, aimed at reducing dependence on imported technology goods. Since then, strategic sectors have benefited from subsidized loans , acquisitions supported by state-owned banks , and direct injections of public capital . In 2021 , Beijing introduced a national robotics strategy , which has further boosted the sector’s growth.
According to the IFR, China’s share of global robot production rose to 33% in 2024 , up from 25% in 2023 , while Japan’s share dropped from 38% to 29% . Furthermore, nearly 60% of robots installed in China now come from local manufacturers, a reversal from previous years, when imports dominated.
Chinese factories now use five times more robots than American ones . At the Zeekr Auto plant in Ningbo , for example, automated trucks transport heavy materials completely autonomously.
The report does not include humanoid robots , which are still in the experimental stage, but government support has already fueled a vibrant network of startups in the sector . Among these, Hangzhou-based Yushu Technology Co., Ltd. has announced plans to go public by the end of the year. Its latest model, priced at 39,900 yuan , is significantly cheaper than products from international companies like Boston Dynamics .
Despite progress, China remains behind in the production of key components for humanoid robots, such as sensors and semiconductors , still dominated by manufacturers from Germany and Japan . “A high-end humanoid robot would still be made almost entirely of foreign parts,” Su Lianjie notes.
China’s strength in the industrial sector remains evident: the country has a large pool of specialized technicians and programmers . However, the demand for robot installers is so high that their average annual salaries have reached 430,000 yuan .
At the same time, the domestic artificial intelligence industry is helping to optimize factory management. According to Cameron Johnson , a supply chain consultant in Shanghai, “Chinese companies are using AI to analyze machine performance and identify inefficiencies in real time.” Outside China, he adds, this approach “is not yet as widespread as it is in Chinese factories.”
Hamartia Antidote
Elite Member
Last edited:
Hamartia Antidote
Elite Member
What parts of my replies are you not understanding?
I corrected you by saying Google Street View doesn't work in most of China so I'm not sure why you even mentioned it.
For instance try and drop the yellow streetview man
onto a street on this Beijing map.Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com
Beijingwalker
VIP Member
- Thread starter
- #911
MH.Yang
Trusted Member
If Google Street View can't show all the Chinese street views, you can try Baidu Street View.What parts of my replies are you not understanding?
I corrected you by saying Google Street View doesn't work in most of China so I'm not sure why you even mentioned it.
For instance try and drop the yellow streetview man View attachment 153510onto a street on this Beijing map.
Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
AZ_HighCountry
INT'L MOD
It may be my browser and security add-ons but am unable to translate Chinese to English when using Baidu.
MH.Yang
Trusted Member
I use Chrome. It can easily translate Chinese into English.
AZ_HighCountry
INT'L MOD
Good to know, thanks. Will try it then on an older tablet I have.
FF user here with too many add ons. Not keen on tracking, pop-ups, ads, etc.
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