GDP tops ¥100t

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan (US$15.42 trillion) threshold in 2020, official data showed on Monday.

The country, which saw its GDP increase 2.3 percent year on year to 101.6 trillion yuan last year, is expected to be the only major economy to post growth in the pandemic-ravaged year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The hard-earned achievement marked a new economic milestone for the Chinese economy after the country’s GDP per capita exceeded US$10,000 in 2019 for the first time in history.

Trapped miners

Rescuers have sent bottled nutrients, medicines and bandages below ground and talked with trapped miners via phone in Qixia, East China’s Shandong Province, local authorities announced at a press conference on Monday.

Eleven miners are trapped in one section and one is trapped in another. Another 10 miners are still missing, officials said. The rescuers will keep communicating with the trapped miners, and searching for the missing ones with their help, according to the press conference.

Vaccine uptake

Over 100,000 drivers for online platforms under ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing have made reservations for COVID vaccines in Beijing, according to the company.

As of 2 p.m. on Saturday, more than 46,000 drivers have been inoculated in the city, the company said. Having already administered vaccines to 50,000 employees of takeout and delivery services, the city’s vaccination team will inoculate another 30,000. Beijing currently has 205 vaccination sites with more than 8,700 people engaged in vaccination work. As of Saturday, about 1.7 million people have been inoculated in the city.

Superfast maglev train

A prototype locomotive using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev technology was rolled out last week in Southwest China’s city of Chengdu.

The domestically developed maglev train boasts a designed speed of 620 kph, according to Southwest Jiaotong University, one of the train’s designers. A 165-meter line to test the new train was launched on the same day. At the launch ceremony, the 21-meter-long silver-and-black locomotive was seen floating slowly along the track. Experts hailed the key development of HTS technology emerging from lab tests in China.(SD-Agencies)