Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｒａｎｋｓ Ｆｏｕｒｔｈ ｉｎ Ｗｉｎｄ－ｐｏｗｅｒ Ｃａｐａｃｉｔｙ等

China Ranks Fourth in Wind-power Capacity

China has a total installed capacity of 12 million kW of wind power, placing it fourth in the world after the U.S., France and Spain.

China is rich in wind power resources, with an explorable reserve of 253 million kW in the hinterland and 750 million kW in coastal areas. The country is carrying out an active policy of promoting renewable energy, and over 10,000 generating sets and 200 wind power plants had been installed by the end of 2008, with 12.8 billion kWh of electricity generated.

Beijing Electron-positron Collider Upgraded

The High-energy Physics Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced success in a five-year upgrading project on the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II (BEPCII).

Finished in 1988, the BEPC is one of eight high-performance accelerators in the world, which enables Chinese scientists to carry out cutting-edge research in high-energy physics. In January 2004, the CAS launched phase II of the BEPC. Following upgrading, the capability of the collider has been raised more than 30 times, making it five times better than the world record set by Cornell Universitys collider CESR, said Academician Chen Hesheng, director of the institute.

The state-of-the-art collider is expected to help Chinese scientists maintain their leading position in this field.

Disaster-relief Robot

Recently a disaster-response robot was jointly developed by the Shenyang Institute of Automation, CAS, and the National Earthquake Response Support Service (NERSS). It successfully completed a simulated rubble search and rescue maneuver which included unmanned take-off and landing, hovering, flightpath point tracking, and hedgehopping for information collection.

Shaped like a mini-helicopter, the robot is in the 40-kg class and has a rotary wing. Its highest speed is 90 km per hour, its longest flight time one and half hours, and its ceiling three kilometers. The robot is expected to collect information and perform rescue work in earthquakes, fires or floods.

Aigo Launches the First MP6 Product

EMusicPlayer (EMP), the first desk-top MP6 player, made its premiere at the China Beijing High Tech Expo recently. It can access the Internet directly and broadcast MP3 or WMA audio files found online. The whole set includes a wireless reading-point pen, a music magazine with over 1,000 songs and a music player.

According to the manufacturer Aigo, the new eMP applies popular Wi-Fi technology to enable users to listen to music online instead of using the download-and-save model. Using this domestic recreation terminal, users can order any song from anywhere, as long as they have an Internet connection.

Tianjin Airbus Passes Test

The first Airbus A320 plane assembled in China has passed its trial test flight from Tianjin Binhai International Airport. “Every aspect of its performance met expectations,” said Harry Nelson after completing the trial run. “The A320 assembled in Tianjin is no different from those produced in Europe in terms of quality and performance.”