Western China - news and development

[ahojunk]

Taklimakan Rally Tour 2015

The Taklimakan Rally Tour 2015 involves 143 vehicles, 22 motorcycles, and 308 drivers, with a scale only second to Dakar rally, making it among the best events in the Asia-Pacific region.

The rally kicked off in Heshuo county and close in Altay. From June 20 to July 1, the 12-day event is divided into nine sections with a distance of 5,500 km, where the road with special conditions totaling 3,000 km, and a long part for Marathon match reaching 600 km, all of which making a cross-rally record in China.

A glimpse of China Around Taklimakan Rally
The Taklimakan Rally is held in northwest China's Xinjiang Region. On June 25 the racers began racing on the 602-kilometer Dahaidao racetrack. This section, characterized by sandstone roads, Gobi desert and Yardang landform, is known as the most difficult one in the rally. The racers were given up to ten and a half hours to finish it.

=====================
More pictures from the Taklimakan Rally 2015.
They came from far and wide in the pursuit of adventure, and the competitors in theannual 5,500-kilometer Taklimakan Rally got that and a lot more besides, not the least of which was the exquisite beauty of the ever-changing landscape of the Xinjiang.

 

[ahojunk]

Haval Team crowned in 2015 Taklimakan Rally

On July 2, 2015 the Taklimakan Rally wrapped up in Beitun, Xinjiang. Haval Team's Han Wei/Pan Hongyu pair steering the No. 104 race car was crowned in the car category with an overwhelming advantage of four hours over the runner-up.

Perfect pair Han Wei/Pan Hongyu wins

With the successive arrival of motorcyclists, there was dust in the distance kicked up by cars. "Red, it's Haval!" someone waiting at the finish shouted. No. 104 racecar steered by the pair Han Wei/Pan Hongyu which started and arrived first had interpreted a familiar model. Crossing the finish line, the car was encircled by those waiting there. Journalists from different medias reached their equipment to the new champion pair.

The co-driver Pan Hongyu told the press, "I feel very happy to reach the finish line of the last stage, for Haval Team and for our efforts." When asked about the performance of the Haval racecar, he said, "The car had the best performance in the hot day, we nearly could not stand such high temperature, but the car had no problem, it was commendable and the basis of our brilliant results." Speaking of his feeling about this event, he said, "This was our first time to be paired for such a long-distance rally, there is still much room for improvement. We found a lot to be improved in the rally and will make up for it in the next competition."

Off-road heroes gather, organizer presents championship award to Haval Team

Following the rally, the organizer delivered a ceremonious finishing and victory ceremony at Beitun Culture Square. To the cheers of the crowd, cars cruised to the finishing platform slowly one after another. The moment Han Wei, Pan Hongyu and their No. 104 racecar ascended the platform and received the trophy, champagne splashed, arousing cheers of congratulations. Relaxed smiles appeared on their faces. To Haval Team, they are deserving heroes. All competitors in the rally are undoubtedly heroes.

In the rally crossing southern, eastern and northern Xinjiang, teams from around the country left spectacular scenes from south to north. Haval Team retained the lead from the very beginning, and experienced various harsh conditions such as dunes and deserts. Despite turnovers and other thrills, the team won seven stages, showing its tremendous comprehensive strength.

With a first-rated operation team, a first-class racecar and top drivers, Haval Team passed the acid test of the Taklimakan Rally by virtue of its professional strength, and is gearing up for the upcoming China Grand Rally. To Haval Team, which won by overwhelming superiority, the rally is undoubtedly a good drill. By challenging various off-road competitions to test the quality of Haval SUVs, constantly improving products and enhancing the sports gene of Haval SUVs, Haval is enhancing its image as the SUV leader step by step.

In the rally, Haval organized interaction with local distributors and fans at the camp of each station, and presented Haval H9 Taklimakan Challenge along with the organizer to display the elegant demeanour of Haval's mass-manufactured model. From that, we can see Haval has returned to international competitions and not only focuses on results of specific competitions, but also values the inheritance and promotion of off-road culture more. In this sense, Haval as the SUV leader ,is showing its product strength by action.

 

[TaiShang]

Haval Team crowned in 2015 Taklimakan Rally

On July 2, 2015 the Taklimakan Rally wrapped up in Beitun, Xinjiang. Haval Team's Han Wei/Pan Hongyu pair steering the No. 104 race car was crowned in the car category with an overwhelming advantage of four hours over the runner-up.

View attachment 238894
Perfect pair Han Wei/Pan Hongyu wins

With the successive arrival of motorcyclists, there was dust in the distance kicked up by cars. "Red, it's Haval!" someone waiting at the finish shouted. No. 104 racecar steered by the pair Han Wei/Pan Hongyu which started and arrived first had interpreted a familiar model. Crossing the finish line, the car was encircled by those waiting there. Journalists from different medias reached their equipment to the new champion pair.

The co-driver Pan Hongyu told the press, "I feel very happy to reach the finish line of the last stage, for Haval Team and for our efforts." When asked about the performance of the Haval racecar, he said, "The car had the best performance in the hot day, we nearly could not stand such high temperature, but the car had no problem, it was commendable and the basis of our brilliant results." Speaking of his feeling about this event, he said, "This was our first time to be paired for such a long-distance rally, there is still much room for improvement. We found a lot to be improved in the rally and will make up for it in the next competition."

View attachment 238897
Off-road heroes gather, organizer presents championship award to Haval Team

Following the rally, the organizer delivered a ceremonious finishing and victory ceremony at Beitun Culture Square. To the cheers of the crowd, cars cruised to the finishing platform slowly one after another. The moment Han Wei, Pan Hongyu and their No. 104 racecar ascended the platform and received the trophy, champagne splashed, arousing cheers of congratulations. Relaxed smiles appeared on their faces. To Haval Team, they are deserving heroes. All competitors in the rally are undoubtedly heroes.

In the rally crossing southern, eastern and northern Xinjiang, teams from around the country left spectacular scenes from south to north. Haval Team retained the lead from the very beginning, and experienced various harsh conditions such as dunes and deserts. Despite turnovers and other thrills, the team won seven stages, showing its tremendous comprehensive strength.

With a first-rated operation team, a first-class racecar and top drivers, Haval Team passed the acid test of the Taklimakan Rally by virtue of its professional strength, and is gearing up for the upcoming China Grand Rally. To Haval Team, which won by overwhelming superiority, the rally is undoubtedly a good drill. By challenging various off-road competitions to test the quality of Haval SUVs, constantly improving products and enhancing the sports gene of Haval SUVs, Haval is enhancing its image as the SUV leader step by step.

In the rally, Haval organized interaction with local distributors and fans at the camp of each station, and presented Haval H9 Taklimakan Challenge along with the organizer to display the elegant demeanour of Haval's mass-manufactured model. From that, we can see Haval has returned to international competitions and not only focuses on results of specific competitions, but also values the inheritance and promotion of off-road culture more. In this sense,
Haval as the SUV leader ,is showing its product strength by action.

H9 in action

 

[ahojunk]

I hope this thread will consolidate all the news of development in Western China.

Western China is the region in red colour. The three biggest cities are Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an.

This area has 12 provinces, 70% of China's territory, 25% of china's population and 13% of China's GDP.

I have attached this map, which is a more accurate representation of China's western region.

The 12 provinces in the western region
- Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet.

@TaiShang @Shotgunner51 @AndrewJin @Shotgunner51 @terranMarine @JSCh @jkroo @cirr

 

[TaiShang]

I hope this thread will consolidate all the news of development in Western China.

View attachment 284338
Western China is the region in red colour. The three biggest cities are Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an.
This area has 12 provinces, 70% of China's territory, 25% of china's population and 13% of China's GDP.

@AndrewJin @TaiShang
------------------------------
Guizhou on the high road to success
By YANG JUN/ZHAO KAI (China Daily)
Updated: 2016-01-01 07:34

Construction workers inspect a bridge that connects the highway between Bijie and Duge in Guizhou province in October. LIU YELIN/CHINA DAILY

For 53-year-old Tang Hua, a farmer in Daozhen county, Guizhou province, Chongqing is a big city on the other side of a mountain near his home. It used to take six hours to get there. Not any longer. On the last day of 2015, an expressway linking Daozhen to the rest of the province and beyond opened. It was the last county in Guizhou to be linked to the transportation network.

"The muddy mountainous path to Chongqing will be deserted, as well as many old ways of life," said Tang.

Guizhou's rugged and rocky terrain can make traveling a burdensome task, increases transportation costs and aggravates poverty. By the end of 2015, about 4.9 million people in the province lived on less than $1.25 a day, a sharp reduction from the nearly 12 million in 2011.

"Traffic has been the main issue hindering the province's development," said Wang Bingqing, director of the provincial transportation department.

By the end of 2006, the total length of highways in Guizhou was less than 1,000 kilometers, a level that some coastal provinces in East China had attained by the late 1990s.

In early 2009, Guizhou focused on infrastructure, aiming to weave all of its 88 county-level regions into a highway network by 2015. The total investment was about 410 billion yuan ($68 billion). The province now has 5,126 kilometers of highways.

"The investment and construction scale are both all-time highs in the province's history," Wang said.

Wang Jianguo, chief engineer of the Wengan-Daozhen highway project, said the length of tunnels and bridges accounted for more than 50 percent of the highway, which "increased both budget costs and difficulties for construction".

Compared with areas where the terrain is flat and the highways go across plains, the cost of building a highway in Guizhou is generally about 30 percent higher, Wang said.

Building tunnels and bridges take up a great deal of time as they must be designed and measured to pinpoint accuracy, he added.

China Communications Construction Co will operate the road for 30 years, and use the earnings to repay loans that were spent building it. It will then present the road to the local government.

Li Ruguo, deputy general manager of the company, said this arrangement saves the government money, and ensures construction quality. "About two thirds of Guizhou's highways go through less well-off areas, and increased traffic will greatly boost logistics and attract investment", said Wang Bingqing, head of Guizhou transport department.

"The improvement in infrastructure gives the county government more confidence to attract investors," said Gan Liyi, deputy director of Meitan county's industrial park. "We had lost so many good investors due to the lack of a highway."

The Meitan industrial park was established in 2001, and up until 2010, when the two highways were finished, it had largely remained empty.

Now it's our turn to get businesses to settle in the industrial park, Gan said. "The road changes our status."

The highway network in Guizhou also integrates into regional cooperation in Southwest China that involves the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan as well as Chongqing municipality, said Deng Ling, a professor of economics and development at Sichuan University.

"Guizhou is a member of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, a regional development plan made by the central government. A developed highway network in Guizhou can make it a regional hub connecting nearby provinces and let productive factors, say resources, funds and man-power penetrate into the less well-off areas in Guizhou," she said.

Li Yang contributed to this story.

Nice thread. Anything related to the defined region, we can info-pool here.

@cirr , @Shotgunner51

 

[ahojunk]

Guizhou on the high road to success
By YANG JUN/ZHAO KAI (China Daily)
Updated: 2016-01-01 07:34

Construction workers inspect a bridge that connects the highway between Bijie and Duge in Guizhou province in October. LIU YELIN/CHINA DAILY

For 53-year-old Tang Hua, a farmer in Daozhen county, Guizhou province, Chongqing is a big city on the other side of a mountain near his home. It used to take six hours to get there. Not any longer. On the last day of 2015, an expressway linking Daozhen to the rest of the province and beyond opened. It was the last county in Guizhou to be linked to the transportation network.

"The muddy mountainous path to Chongqing will be deserted, as well as many old ways of life," said Tang.

Guizhou's rugged and rocky terrain can make traveling a burdensome task, increases transportation costs and aggravates poverty. By the end of 2015, about 4.9 million people in the province lived on less than $1.25 a day, a sharp reduction from the nearly 12 million in 2011.

"Traffic has been the main issue hindering the province's development," said Wang Bingqing, director of the provincial transportation department.

By the end of 2006, the total length of highways in Guizhou was less than 1,000 kilometers, a level that some coastal provinces in East China had attained by the late 1990s.

In early 2009, Guizhou focused on infrastructure, aiming to weave all of its 88 county-level regions into a highway network by 2015. The total investment was about 410 billion yuan ($68 billion). The province now has 5,126 kilometers of highways.

"The investment and construction scale are both all-time highs in the province's history," Wang said.

Wang Jianguo, chief engineer of the Wengan-Daozhen highway project, said the length of tunnels and bridges accounted for more than 50 percent of the highway, which "increased both budget costs and difficulties for construction".

Compared with areas where the terrain is flat and the highways go across plains, the cost of building a highway in Guizhou is generally about 30 percent higher, Wang said.

Building tunnels and bridges take up a great deal of time as they must be designed and measured to pinpoint accuracy, he added.

China Communications Construction Co will operate the road for 30 years, and use the earnings to repay loans that were spent building it. It will then present the road to the local government.

Li Ruguo, deputy general manager of the company, said this arrangement saves the government money, and ensures construction quality. "About two thirds of Guizhou's highways go through less well-off areas, and increased traffic will greatly boost logistics and attract investment", said Wang Bingqing, head of Guizhou transport department.

"The improvement in infrastructure gives the county government more confidence to attract investors," said Gan Liyi, deputy director of Meitan county's industrial park. "We had lost so many good investors due to the lack of a highway."

The Meitan industrial park was established in 2001, and up until 2010, when the two highways were finished, it had largely remained empty.

Now it's our turn to get businesses to settle in the industrial park, Gan said. "The road changes our status."

The highway network in Guizhou also integrates into regional cooperation in Southwest China that involves the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan as well as Chongqing municipality, said Deng Ling, a professor of economics and development at Sichuan University.

"Guizhou is a member of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, a regional development plan made by the central government. A developed highway network in Guizhou can make it a regional hub connecting nearby provinces and let productive factors, say resources, funds and man-power penetrate into the less well-off areas in Guizhou," she said.

Li Yang contributed to this story.

More pictures

Construction workers inspect a bridge that connects the highway between Bijie and Duge in Guizhou province in October. LIU YELIN/CHINA DAILY

Construction workers inspect a bridge that connects the highway between Bijie and Duge in Guizhou province in October. LIU YELIN/CHINA DAILY

Construction workers inspect a bridge that connects the highway between Bijie and Duge in Guizhou province in October. LIU YELIN/CHINA DAILY

 

[AndrewJin]

By 2014, GDP of Western China reached around 2 trillion US dollars with highest growth rate(8-10%).
I'm looking forward a more prosperous west on par with the rest of China.
@ahojunk Nice thread. I'll help contribution to this thread once there is something new!

 

[beijingwalker]

Wow...almost unreal

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

@TaiShang What about East Turkestan (Xingiang), do they see any relief upon the lifting of one-child policy?

 

[JSCh]

Asia's longest suspension bridge opens to traffic in Guizhou
Published on Dec 31, 2015

A suspension bridge opened to traffic on Thursday morning in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Qingshuihe, the Asia's longest steel girder suspension bridge in the mountainous region and the world's second highest one, was built at 406 meters above the Qingshuihe River with a main span of 1,130 meters.

The 2,171-meter-long bridge was built by 75 huge steel girders joint together with each weighing up to 180 tons.

The bridge, which costs 1.54 billion yuan (240 million U.S. dollars) and has taken two years to construct, is part of the Guiweng Expressway.

It will shorten the travel distance between Weng'an County and Guiyang from 160 km down to 38 km, said Gao Heng, director of the construction.

 

[TaiShang]

@TaiShang What about East Turkestan (Xingiang), do they see any relief upon the lifting of one-child policy?

There is no East Turkestan term in our official literature. Like the rest of China, it is a province where people from every walk of life can freely live and do business.

About the one-child policy, since it did not use to cover minorities, the easing of the policy should not have much impact on them.

China has a lot of policies that positively discriminate the minorities, such as special university quotas, job quotas, not being subject to now-defunct one-child policy. In fact, one-child policy had never been a straight-jacket policy, it had lots and lots of exemption clauses. In the end, it mostly targeted the urban dwelling populations.

***

By 2014, GDP of Western China reached around 2 trillion US dollars with highest growth rate(8-10%).

I'm looking forward a more prosperous west on par with the rest of China.
@ahojunk Nice thread. I'll help contribution to this thread once there is something new!

That's exactly one of the targets of the five-year plan (2016-2020). Lots of reforms and improvements are on the line.

 

[JSCh]

First nuclear plant in ethnic minority region begins operations
2016-01-01 22:36:45

NANNING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The first nuclear power plant located in one of China's ethnic autonomous regions began commercial operation of its first reactor on Friday.

The No. 1 reactor of the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region can supply 24 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a day, catering to the needs of a medium-sized city, said Gong Guangchen, the plant's spokesperson.

Based on the domestically developed CPR-1000, the No.1 reactor began generating power in October 2015. The plant's No. 2 reactor is expected to begin operating in the second half of 2016, Gong said.

The two reactors are expected to contribute 8 billion yuan (1.2 bln U.S. dollars) to the local GDP and create 64,000 new jobs annually. They will also cut coal burning by 4.82 million tonnes and CO2 emissions by about 11.9 million tonnes every year.

China has seen rapid nuclear power growth in recent years, but it suspended approval of new programs after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Construction projects did not resume until 2014.

China currently has operating capacity of 25.5 million kilowatts and aims to raise installed nuclear power to 58 million kilowatts by 2020 in order to reduce pollution from coal-burning generators and deliver on its promise to reduce carbon emissions.

Editor: Tian Shaohui
​

 

[ahojunk]

I thought that China would have managed this a little better.
Wonder when China is improving Xinjiang's outbound grid transmission.

------------------------
Xinjiang's new energy plants struggle to survive winter
English.news.cn | 2015-12-19 10:54:18 | Editor: huaxia

URUMQI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Many wind farms and solar plants in far west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region may not survive this year's harsh winter as they have been suspended due to overcapacity.

Electricity demand drops during the colder months of the year as people turn off their air conditioning units in favor of the government managed, and coal-powered winter heating. Having a large number of alternate energy plants, Xinjiang lacks sufficient infrastructure to transfer power out of the region. As a result, the regional State Grid has ordered that all, bar a few, cease operation and hibernate for the winter.

"The whole year's investment almost down the drain," said Cui Wei, a sales manager of a wind farm affiliated to Beijing-based Goldwind Science and Technology Co., one of China's wind turbine manufacturing giants.

The company built a 7.5 billion yuan (1.15 billion U.S. dollars) wind farm with power capacity of 1.5 million kilowatt-hours in Xinjiang, however, 40 percent of the plant has been temporarily shut and the whole plant will suspend business by the month end, Cui said.

According to Yang Yongli of the State Grid's Xinjiang branch, in winter the region's power consumption is almost half of the summer peak as many manufacturers and construction sites halt work when the cold front arrives.

New energy's contribution to the State Grid is limited to below 300,000 kilowatt-hours to make way for the power generated by coal-power plants, while the total installed capacity in the region stands at 15 million kilowatt-hours, the branch said.

The unstable nature of solar and wind power generation means, at the current time, it is not an appropriate power source for the winter heating. As such, when the winter winds blow into the westerly region, many thermal power stations begin to warm up, bringing with them air pollution, the State Grid said.

Heavy smog in winter is a nightmare for Urumqi, the regional capital, grounding flights, closing roads and forcing residents to stay indoors.

A new trading system, which is unique to Xinjiang, is being tested by the region's electricity authority as a way to shift power generation from thermal plants to new energy.

Instead of transmitting electricity to the overloaded state grid, new energy stations supply power directly to factories that have been ordered to shut down their own power plants. The authority pays a subsidy of 0.2 yuan for every kilowatt-hour those factories buy from new energy plants.

So far 55 wind farms and 36 solar plants with a total capacity of 5.35 million kilowatt-hours have joined the deal, and another 8.43 million kilowatt-hours have begun to be added to the trading list starting from late November, said Gong Wenjun of the regional power exchange center.

Yet, a lot of new energy companies are still waiting to be included in the scheme, with many citing the lack of infrastructure as the largest obstacle.

Xu Xiaofeng, an operation director of a new energy plant, said the company's 50,000 kwh wind farm in the suburban district of Dabancheng in Urumqi has sold nearly 7 million kilowatt-hours via the trading scheme this year, but its other wind and solar plants, which boast 110,000-kwh-capacity, have been left idle.

Industry insiders said the new trading system could recoup some of the losses for new energy companies, but the only real solution is to improve the region's outbound grid transmission.

Xinjiang has transferred 53.1 billion kilowatt-hours of power out of the region since 2010, equivalent to coal delivery of 16.5 million tonnes. New energy accounts for 6.1 billion kilowatt-hours, or about 11 percent of the total delivery.

The regional government plans to add another four outbound channels, pushing the total delivery capacity to 50 million kilowatt-hours by 2020.

"Xinjiang's winter wind and solar resources have been wasted for nothing," said Cui, whose company has suffered a loss of nearly 500 million yuan this year alone. "The situation should take a turn for the better next year."

 

[AndrewJin]

Western China's most important high-speed railway project of 2015
Chengdu-Chongqing High-speed Railway(300-350km/h)

 

[TaiShang]

New energy's contribution to the State Grid is limited to below 300,000 kilowatt-hours to make way for the power generated by coal-power plants, while the total installed capacity in the region stands at 15 million kilowatt-hours, the branch said.

They could have thought of reducing energy generated by coal-powered plants in order to open room for renewables during winter time until enough transmission and storage capacity is installed but there is a major drawback to this: Wind and solar energy is not perfectly reliable (being subject to natural conditions). Therefore, traditional resources still matter. Hopefully, in a few years time, the grid will be able to meet the extra supply. This would also ease the dependency on coal, which, I turn, would help reduce stress on the environment.