By Gu Yekai, People’s Daily

Recently, Dawning 8000, China’s first all-domestic 100,000-card AI supercluster, has been completed and put into operation at the national supercomputing internet core node in Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan province. This marked the beginning of a 100,000-card deployment stage for China’s computing infrastructure development.

In its first week of operation, Dawning 8000 reached full utilization, processing an average of  150,000 computing jobs per day, with a peak daily workload exceeding 500,000 jobs. The system has already completed compatibility testing for a wide range of integrated supercomputing and intelligent computing applications, supporting scenarios including large model training, high-throughput inference, and scientific computing.

Both supercomputing and intelligent computing are essential for processing massive datasets and advancing cutting-edge science and technology.

Supercomputing primarily serves scientific research, tackling major scientific and engineering challenges that require high computational precision, such as weather forecasting, aircraft design, and earthquake simulation. 

Intelligent computing, on the other hand, focuses on AI algorithms and model innovation. While it places less emphasis on numerical precision, it prioritizes performance to support applications such as large model training, natural language processing, and autonomous driving.

As large AI models grow larger, computing scenarios become increasingly complex, and AI applications expand rapidly, there is an urgent need for a new generation of computing infrastructure capable of handling high concurrency, high throughput, mixed precision, and multi-task workloads.

Dawning 8000 was developed specifically to meet this demand. As a supercluster, it interconnects tens of thousands of computing cards at ultra-high speed, logically integrating them into a single, centrally scheduled “mega computer,” delivering massive parallel computing power.

“Dawning 8000 adopts a supercomputing-AI fusion architecture, combining high-precision scientific computing with lower-precision intelligent computing on the same platform,” said Li Bin, senior vice president of Chinese tech firm Sugon, which developed the supercluster.

“It supports computing precision ranging from 64-bit double precision down to 32-bit, 16-bit, 8-bit, and even lower, while providing flexible mixed-precision scheduling to meet the needs of scientific research, large model training, AI inference, and industrial simulation.” Li added.

The system is a true engineering marvel. It integrates three billion electronic components, incorporates over 1,600 kilometers of interconnection cables, and weighs approximately 1,500 tons. Yet the entire system had to be assembled with a structural precision of less than 0.05 millimeters—thinner than a sheet of A4 paper.

In terms of system development, Dawning 8000 features a fully self-developed domestic AI infrastructure spanning the entire technology stack, including chips, computing, storage, networking, cooling, applications, and services. Every stage, from the development of core components to full system deployment, has been achieved with domestically developed technologies.

“Scaling up from 10,000 to 100,000 accelerators is far more than simply multiplying the number of devices by 10. The real challenge lies in ensuring that the expanded system delivers the performance and efficiency expected at such a scale, “Li said.

He explained that, in terms of computing coordination, as system architectures evolve toward increasingly complex heterogeneous computing, any bottleneck in either computing or networking nodes can significantly reduce overall performance. 

Moreover, the sharp increase in the number of components raises the theoretical failure rate, while the greater complexity of the system architecture makes maintaining stable operation even more challenging.

China’s rapid progress in domestically developed AI chips and the underlying hardware and software ecosystem has provided strong support for the construction of Dawning 8000. 

For example, the distributed storage technology used by the system topped both the production full-node and 10-node categories in the IO500 rankings, a global storage performance benchmark, released in June this year. 

The storage system is capable of supporting the massive data read-and-write requirements of large model training and scientific computing, ensuring the efficient operation of large-scale computing clusters and demonstrating China’s world-leading capabilities in high-end storage technologies.

In addition, high-speed networking, digital twin-based operations and maintenance, and unified scheduling across heterogeneous computing resources have further enhanced the operational efficiency and application adaptability of ultra-large-scale clusters. 

Industry experts believe that establishing a fully domestic technology stack from chips and complete systems to foundational software and intelligent applications, and building a new generation of intelligent computing infrastructure carries profound strategic significance.

Immediately after entering operation, Dawning 8000 was connected to the national supercomputing internet and, through it, integrated into China’s national integrated computing power network. 

It now provides computing services to research institutions and industrial users, supporting applications including weather forecasting, materials design, energy exploration, biomedicine, quantum computing, fluid dynamics simulation, industrial simulation, and large model training and inference, while enabling broader nationwide computing resource coordination and application support.

The system has already completed deep adaptation for more than 300 key applications across over 20 industries.

China officially launched the national supercomputing internet in April 2024. It has since become the country’s largest integrated computing network and application service platform, bringing together more than 3.5 million CPU cores and 250,000 GPUs. 

The platform now serves more than 1.4 million registered users, with the average user age continuing to decline, making high-end computing resources accessible to everyone from secondary school students to professional researchers.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation recently held its 2026 meeting in Urumqi, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. 

Against a backdrop of global turbulence and change, council members held in-depth discussions on how to advance Belt and Road cooperation more effectively — focusing on capturing new opportunities, addressing emerging challenges, and deepening connectivity.

As uncertainty in the global economy grows, Belt and Road partner countries remain committed to connectivity, common development, and mutually beneficial cooperation. Together, they are channeling positive energy into the world — strengthening unity, collaboration, and shared success — while contributing to greater stability in an increasingly volatile international environment.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), offering the world a vision of shared development rooted in Chinese wisdom. In today’s complex and rapidly evolving global landscape, the initiative’s foresight and relevance have only become more  apparent.

Council Members spoke highly of the global significance and enduring value of the BRI, noting that it has enhanced the resilience and growth potential of the world economy.

Over the past 13 years, the BRI has evolved from a Chinese proposal into a widely embraced international endeavor and an important global public good. More than 3/4 of the world’s countries have joined the Belt and Road cooperation framework. More than 4,000 cooperation projects have been launched, with cumulative investment exceeding $1 trillion.

Through concrete outcomes, the initiative has helped build a belt of development and a road to happiness to benefit all parties.

Thanks to the joint efforts, Belt and Road cooperation has entered a new stage of high-quality development. Infrastructure connectivity continues to improve, cooperation on rules and standards has deepened, and people-to-people ties among partner countries have grown increasingly close.

Over the past decade, China-Europe freight train services have seen their annual freight train trips skyrocket 10.8-fold, providing strong support for the stability and smooth operation of global supply chains. 

During the same period, the Port of Piraeus in Greece, operated by a Chinese company, has been transformed from an aging Mediterranean port into an international shipping hub. 

Meanwhile, the China-Laos 500-kilovolt power interconnection project is creating an “electricity highway” that provides new momentum for Laos’ development.

From landmark infrastructure projects to “small yet smart” livelihood programs, roads, bridges, ports, industrial parks, and equipment projects have facilitated the international application of Chinese technologies, standards, and equipment. 

More importantly, they have addressed the development priorities of partner countries and the practical needs of local communities, ensuring that the benefits of cooperation take root and improve people’s lives.

As the world faces an ever-growing number of shared challenges, the BRI offers a development-centered approach to tackling global issues. It not only creates new opportunities for participating countries but also contributes Chinese wisdom to global governance.

At a time when unilateralism, protectionism, and bloc confrontation continue undermining the multilateral international order and fragmenting global cooperation, the BRI remains committed to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. It seeks to promote political trust, economic integration, and people-to-people exchanges, while advancing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

In the first half of this year, China’s trade with Belt and Road partner countries reached 12.97 trillion yuan ($1.92 trillion), up 14.8 percent year on year and accounting for 50.9 percent of the country’s total foreign trade. These figures underscore China’s unwavering commitment to opening up and its determination to further expand engagement with the world.

Mari Elka Pangestu, former managing director of development policy and partnerships at the World Bank, observed that China has taken the initiative in building multilateral cooperation platforms and proposing practical solutions, adding that Belt and Road cooperation has become an important platform for sustaining open global trade and technology transfer.

To address global challenges such as climate change, public health crises and imbalances in digital governance, China has actively promoted forward-looking international cooperation under the Belt and Road framework in areas such as green and low-carbon development, the digital economy and artificial intelligence. 

Working with partner countries, China is advancing the development of the Green Silk Road, the Health Silk Road, and the Digital Silk Road, creating new opportunities and expanding new frontiers for global development and governance.

Looking ahead, China will remain a reliable partner to all participants in Belt and Road cooperation. Together with all parties, China will continue to promote the steady and sustained progress in Belt and Road international cooperation, ensuring that this broad avenue of mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and shared prosperity continues to expand.

By Xiakedao

Workers produce electronic components for exports at a factory in Xinle, North China’s Hebei Province, on June 16, 2026. Photo: VCG

In psychology, there is a concept known as “attribution theory”: People tend to attribute their successes to internal factors, such as their own efforts, while attributing their failures or problems to external factors.

This tendency is especially pronounced among trade protectionists. When some countries’ industries fall behind, become outdated or suffer from domestic deindustrialization, they shift the blame onto others, claiming that China is at fault.

In response to these phenomena – politicizing trade issues, hyping up the “overcapacity” problem in China, and escalating restrictions on the country – the Chinese Ministry of Commerce officially released a document titled “China’s Position on the So-called Excess Capacity Issue.”

The 12,000-word document essentially uproots the “overcapacity theory” in one fell swoop.

What does overcapacity mean? Does large production capacity necessarily mean overcapacity?

Simply put, overcapacity occurs when supply exceeds demand. However, market supply and demand are in constant flux. For example, refrigerators sell very well in summer but less so in winter. We cannot conclude that production is insufficient based solely on summer demand, nor can we conclude that there is overcapacity based solely on winter demand.

The document clarifies that excess capacity is a dynamic phenomenon in the market economy. Capacity supply and demand in the world economy go through the dynamic cycle of “balance – imbalance – rebalance”, without lasting capacity balance. Whether there is surplus capacity depends on supply and demand with dynamic adjustments in the life cycle of the industry. Supply-demand balance is relative, while imbalance is universal.

As a complex concept, excess capacity should be approached from the perspective of macroeconomic scenarios instead of a narrow focus on the absolute level of capacity and a limited perspective confined to a particular time or region. There are no globally accepted criteria for determining the reasonable range of capacity utilization, as it differs across economies. Data from relevant institutions indicate that the median capacity utilization rate for advanced and fast-growing economies mostly falls in the 75-80 percent range, whereas that for less developed countries usually stands between 50 percent and 64 percent.

As the “world’s factory” and “world’s market,” China’s industrial capacity utilization rate is generally within a reasonable range. In 2025, China’s industrial capacity utilization rate for enterprises above a designated size reached 74.4 percent, with high-tech manufacturing, high-end equipment manufacturing, and strategic emerging industries utilizing capacity more fully. The capacity utilization rate in some traditional raw material industries was temporarily lower, mainly due to adaptive adjustments brought about by structural reforms and green transformation.

Xu Yingming, director of the Institute of International Market Studies at the Ministry of Commerce’s Research Institute, said that judging a country’s capacity utilization rate is generally done by comparing it with its long-term equilibrium or average value. The long-term average capacity utilization rate in the US from 1967 to 2007 was 81.4 percent, while the average from 2008 to 2021 was 76.1 percent, a decrease of 5.3 percentage points. 

In contrast, in the past three years, China’s average capacity utilization rate in key sub-sectors such as general equipment manufacturing and electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing has remained within a relatively healthy range, basically close to the average capacity utilization rate since 2006.

Regardless of whether trade protectionists are genuinely confused or feigning ignorance, the document provides an objective analysis of the relationship between industrial subsidies, trade surpluses, economic imbalances, market competition, and “overcapacity,” offering a solid and factual reality check.

For example, there is no necessary link between industrial subsidies and overcapacity. Multiple reports from the UN Conference on Trade and Development indicate that the number of global industrial policies has grown rapidly in the past five years, with providing research and development subsidies, tax incentives, and low-interest loans to emerging industries becoming international practices. Reasonable industrial subsidy policies help correct market failures, promote technological innovation, environmental protection, poverty reduction, and balanced development, and do not cause “overcapacity.”

A large trade surplus does not necessarily mean overcapacity. Eighty percent of US-produced chips are exported, and about two-thirds of Boeing’s commercial aircraft are sold to customers outside North America; the EU’s 2025 trade surpluses in automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics reached $92.2 billion, $214.6 billion, and $11.6 billion respectively. China does not deliberately pursue a trade surplus. In the first half of the year, China’s merchandise imports grew 22.1 percent, significantly faster than exports. Foreign-invested enterprises contributed 16 percent of China’s trade surplus in 2025 and reaped substantial returns. “The surplus is in China, but the benefits are shared by all parties.”

The claim that “insufficient domestic demand in China leads to excess capacity” is also inaccurate. According to World Bank purchasing power parity calculations, China’s total retail sales in 2025 were equivalent to 1.7 times those of the US, making it the world’s largest consumer market for goods. China ranks No.1 globally in physical goods consumption, and per capita annual consumption of some industrial products is approaching the levels of developed countries.

In fact, market competition itself is the most effective mechanism to prevent disorderly expansion of production capacity; otherwise, unsold goods, losses, and market elimination will occur. The number of market entities in China has exceeded 200 million, creating a highly competitive market environment. A survey by the US-China Business Council shows that 92 percent of surveyed US companies were profitable in China in 2025, and a survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China shows that 75 percent of companies believe their production efficiency in China is higher than in other parts of the world.

Cui Fan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, said that the document’s discussion of four pairs of relationships clarified some vague and erroneous understandings prevalent internationally regarding the issue of production capacity. For example, if issues such as climate change are left entirely to the market to resolve, it may not meet the urgent need for low-carbon emission reduction. Only a combination of an effective market and a capable government can better address these challenges.

Data from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows that over the past 10 years, the average cost per kilowatt-hour for global wind power and solar power has cumulatively decreased by over 60 percent and 80 percent respectively, largely thanks to Chinese innovation, Chinese manufacturing, and Chinese production capacity.

The purpose of uprooting the “excess capacity theory” is not to engage in verbal battles, but to clarify doubts and promote win-win cooperation. As the document states, mutually beneficial and pragmatic cooperation on industrial and supply chains that makes the pie of global development bigger serves the common interest of all countries.

In recent years, China has continuously expanded its opening-up, reduced import tariffs, expanded the opening-up of service trade, and implemented a strategy to expand domestic demand, Cui said. For some products with rapid export growth that are prone to trade friction, China has proactively reduced or canceled its export tax rebates to maintain export order. The decline in industrial competitiveness in some economies is not due to “excess capacity” in China. China has been actively expanding imports, promoting balanced import and export development, and providing more market opportunities for its trading partners.

The data speaks for itself: China has ranked second globally in imports for 17 consecutive years and is a major export destination for nearly 80 countries. It has also implemented zero-tariff on 63 countries, making it the first major economy in the world to achieve full coverage of zero-tariff coverage for all African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, as well as all least developed countries that maintain diplomatic ties with it. China is the only country in the world to host the China International Import Expo. Having successfully held eight sessions, the expo has achieved a cumulative intended transaction volume exceeding $580 billion. During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the cumulative import volume surpassed 90 trillion yuan ($13.3 trillion).

These facts point to an irrefutable conclusion: China is not only an increasingly powerful “world factory,” but also a vibrant “world market.” China’s modern industrial development is not a “China shock 2.0” for the world, but rather a “China opportunity 2.0.”