By Shi Yu, People’s Daily

As global trade continues to evolve, China is accelerating efforts to integrate ports, shipping, and trade through more efficient and intelligent logistics networks. A key platform in this push is the Silk Road Maritime, the country’s first comprehensive international logistics service platform centered on maritime shipping under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Launched in southeast China’s Fujian province in 2018, Silk Road Maritime has expanded rapidly. Today, it operates 148 routes originating from more than 10 Chinese ports, connecting to 150 ports across 48 countries and regions. It has become an important link bridging domestic and international markets and connecting land and sea corridors.

The platform has demonstrably improved both efficiency and scale. For instance, a newly launched container route from Fujian to Latin America has shortened sailing time by more than seven days. By February 2026, cross-border e-commerce goods transported via dedicated express shipping lines had achieved an export value exceeding 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion), while bulk and breakbulk cargo routes had handled goods worth over 32 billion yuan.

At Xiamen Port’s Haitian Terminal, a cargo vessel carrying more than 6,000 parcels of cross-border e-commerce goods, including apparel, small appliances, and daily necessities, recently set sail. Just two days later, the shipment would arrive at Manila Port in the Philippines.

Such efficiency was once unimaginable for Sun Kaiyang, general manager of a supply chain company based in Xiamen, Fujian province, the shipper of the above cargo. “In the past, we had to wait until enough goods were consolidated into a full container, then truck them to another port ahead of schedule. Delivery times were hard to guarantee.”

Cross-border e-commerce shipments are typically small in volume, frequent, and highly time-sensitive, posing challenges for traditional shipping logistics. 

To address this, the first Silk Road Maritime e-commerce express route was launched in June 2022. Since then, a growing network of such routes has enabled direct, point-to-point shipping from Xiamen to major ports in countries including Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

“Now we can deliver, load, inspect, and dispatch all on the same day,” Sun said. “The logistics chain has been significantly shortened.” 

Xiamen has also introduced an innovative mixed-container model, allowing e-commerce parcels and general trade goods to be shipped together. This has expanded cargo sourcing and increased flexibility in customs clearance. 

“Overall, transport time is reduced by about two days, and each container saves around 4,000 yuan in shipping costs, significantly boosting competitiveness,” Sun added.

Customs authorities have also streamlined procedures. “We’ve simplified declaration requirements and optimized inspection processes,” said Cai Shaojun, deputy head of the logistics supervision division at Dongdu Customs under Xiamen Customs. 

Compared with traditional models where different types of goods require separate warehousing and export, this integrated approach improves logistics time efficiency by 25 to 50 percent and is expected to cut costs per shipment by 10 to 25 percent, according to the official.

For long-distance maritime transport, reliable weather forecasting is critical.

In early November last year, Captain Zhang Nan of Meico International Shipping Limited faced a difficult decision while navigating a route from Penang, Malaysia, to Nansha Port in China’s Guangdong province, as Typhoon Kalmaegi approached. 

“Before departure, we hesitated — whether to wait it out or detour, both options meant delays and higher fuel costs,” he recalled.

Using Silk Road Maritime’s meteorological navigation service, the crew gained access to real-time visual forecasts covering the next five days, including the typhoon’s trajectory, wind conditions, and wave patterns. Supported by a team of meteorological and maritime experts, they determined that the vessel could proceed safely. The ship continued on its planned course, avoiding a 12-hour delay and saving 10 tons of fuel.

Behind this capability is an integrated meteorological service platform jointly developed by Silk Road Maritime, a Beijing-based global navigation company, and the Xiamen meteorological service center. The platform combines data on wind, waves, pressure, and visibility, forming a full-chain, all-weather support system spanning ocean routes, ports, and inland logistics.

Digitalization is another key pillar of Silk Road Maritime’s development. Its international shipping service platform uses big data and the Internet of Things to integrate resources across the logistics chain, monitoring container movements in real time, optimizing route planning, and delivering more efficient and reliable services.

The platform is also expanding its ecosystem. At the 2026 Silk Road Maritime Annual Meeting held in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on March 26, eight new members joined the Silk Road Maritime Association, bringing total membership to 375. 

“With coordinated support from the alliance, ports can prioritize berthing and streamline vessel handling, significantly improving turnaround efficiency,” said Fan Xiehui, a manager at the Xiamen branch of SITC Container Lines (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., adding that as a member of the association, the company has seen tangible benefits.

Li said the Silk Road Maritime will continue to pool global resources and explore coordinated development models linking ports, cities, industries, and trade, with the aim of building a smarter, more integrated ecosystem for international shipping and trade.

By Liao Ruiling

As the global transition toward green energy accelerates, the energy storage sector is seeing numerous market opportunities.

In March, the Solar Solutions Amsterdam 2026 exhibition was successfully held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

Chinese photovoltaic giant LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LONGi) signed energy storage system supply agreements with two major core European partners during the exhibition, with a combined scale of 600 MWh. 

Meanwhile, the company’s energy storage solutions achieved their first order landing in the German market, as noted by She Haifeng, vice president of the company.

In March,battery manufacturer Hithium signed a letter of intent with the Spanish government to invest about 400 million euro ($472 million) in building a large-scale battery and energy storage manufacturing facility. 

February saw Chinese company Sungrow announced plans to invest approximately 230 million euro in building its first European manufacturing plant, with an annual capacity of 20 GW of photovoltaic inverters and 12.5 GWh of energy storage systems. 

China Aviation Lithium Battery also established a Portugal partnership earlier this year.

This expansion builds on 2025’s breakthrough, when Chinese firms secured 366 GWh in overseas orders — a 144% year-on-year surge. Top markets included Australia, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Chile, with emerging regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia showing rapid growth.

Over 70 Chinese enterprises now operate globally, with battery manufacturers leading the full industrial chain’s internationalization. Demand is diversifying into specialized applications including data centers, microgrids, and island systems, while long-term service agreements and joint ventures have become standard business models.

This surge in China’s global energy storage presence has drawn widespread attention. A Reuters report late last year noted that reforms in China’s power market are reshaping the economics of domestic energy storage. Coupled with rising demand overseas, Chinese manufacturers are experiencing rapid growth, further strengthening their leading position.

To understand this wave of expansion, it helps to first look at how energy storage works.

In simple terms, energy storage refers to technologies that store energy through specific media or devices and release it when needed. Its core function is to address the mismatch in timing between energy supply and demand. 

For instance, wind and solar power are inherently intermittent, so storage systems charge when electricity supply exceeds demand and discharge when supply is tight, turning renewable energy into a stable and continuous resource.

According to Tian Qingjun, senior vice president of Chinese wind turbine company Envision Group, the recent surge in overseas demand is driven by multiple factors, including the accelerating global energy transition, the rapid growth of AI data centers, and technological advances that have significantly reduced system costs.

“Looking at specific markets, Europe and Australia are accelerating deployment based on their energy transition needs, while in the United States, demand growth is largely driven by the expansion of AI data centers,” Tian said.

Several companies seeking growth in overseas markets emphasized that the current wave of large-scale investment is not a short-term trend, but the result of years of accumulated expertise and technological breakthroughs.

“Backed by more than a decade of technical development and project experience, LONGi’s energy storage business has established a mature global delivery system,” said She. “We currently have 31 GWh of in-house storage manufacturing capacity worldwide, with over 13 GWh already connected to grids. Our business now spans key markets including Europe, North America, and Australia.”

Envision Group, for its part, began international expansion as early as 2008, building up extensive experience in technology development, project delivery, and ecosystem partnerships across Europe, North America, Latin America, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. 

According to Tian, the group is keeping accelerating global expansion, and overseas markets are expected to account for about 2/3 of the group’s business in the future.

Multiple energy storage companies noted that advancing the global reach of China’s energy storage sector ultimately hinges on localization, which means adapting technologies to local conditions and needs. 

For example, systems deployed in Northern Europe must operate reliably in extreme cold, while those in Southeast Asia must withstand high humidity and corrosion. This requires continuous innovation and tailored solutions for different environments.

She also revealed that by the end of 2028, the company plans to establish 30 comprehensive local service centers across major solar-plus-storage markets worldwide. The goal is to build an integrated service network that enhances coordination between solar and storage systems while strengthening localized support capabilities.

By Li Junqiang, Jiang Hongbing, Huang Xiaohui, People’s Daily

Recently, China’s National Medical Products Administration has granted the world’s first regulatory approval for an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) device, marking a historic milestone in medical technology. This breakthrough transitions BCI — long considered the pinnacle of human-machine interaction — from laboratory research to clinical application.

BCI technology, first explored by scientists in the 1970s, establishes direct communication between the brain and external devices. “The fundamental principle of a brain-computer interface is to establish an information pathway between the brain and external equipment that bypasses peripheral nerves or muscles,” said Hong Bo, a professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering at Tsinghua University. 

By collecting and interpreting neural electrical signals generated during brain activity and translating them into actionable commands, users are able to control external devices using nothing but their thoughts.

The newly approved implantable BCI system for hand motor function augmentation, dubbed NEO, was jointly developed by Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Neuracle) and the School of Biomedical Engineering at Tsinghua University. 

“For patients with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injuries, who are unable to perform grasping movements with their fingers, we implant a coin-sized device in a minimally invasive procedure outside the dura mater,” said Wang Yujing, product director at Neuracle.

“The system collects and decodes the patient’s brain signals in real time, enabling them to control a pneumatic glove with their thoughts to perform actions such as grasping objects or drinking water,” she added.

“Among all technical approaches, implantable BCIs are widely considered the most challenging,” Wang noted. Directly implanting electrodes into the cerebral cortex involves significant risks and challenges, including craniotomy procedures, long-term biological tissue responses, wireless data transmission, and safe power supply.

In the past, patients often relied on wear wired systems, with visible external leads, to connect the brain to external devices. Muming Poo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, noted that in recent years, BCIs have advanced toward miniaturized chips, faster decoding algorithms, and breakthroughs in high-precision electrode technology, gradually transitioning from laboratory research to clinical application. 

China has already completed dozens of clinical procedures. Trial data show that all participating patients experienced varying degrees of improvement in grasping ability, with some even exhibiting signs of neural remodeling and partial recovery of additional neural functions.

“The key clinical breakthrough lies in achieving stable acquisition of brain signals through minimally invasive implantation outside the dura mater, without contacting brain tissue or damaging neurons, while accurately decoding patients’ motor intentions to enable grasping and drinking,” said Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai.

In 2024, a clinical trial participant surnamed Dong was able, after training, to grasp a cup and drink independently using thought commands, assisted by a pneumatic glove controlled via the BCI system. 

“These were actions he had been unable to perform since sustaining a high-level spinal cord injury,” Mao recalled. With further rehabilitation, Dong not only managed to lift dumbbells using his mind, but also wrote the neatly formed Chinese characters for “thank you” by hand. 

“Seeing BCI technology translated into clinical reality and genuinely improving patients’ lives just touched me so much,” Mao said.

Recently, Beijing Tiantan Hospital and Xuanwu Hospital, both affiliated to Capital Medical University, carried out implantation surgeries using the “Beinao No. 1” intelligent BCI system. An ultra-thin electrode array, feather-light and integrating 128 signal acquisition channels, was precisely placed in the brain region responsible for hand movement, helping patients with spinal cord injuries improve motor function. 

“Clinical practice showed that BCIs are delivering tangible improvements for patients with spinal cord injuries, stroke, and other conditions,” said Li Yuan, business development director at Beijing-based startup NeuCyber Neuro Tech.

BCI devices represent a complex integration of materials science, chip design, algorithms, and rehabilitation technologies. An expert noted that China has now largely established a full industrial chain covering both upstream and downstream segments, although the sector as a whole remains at an early stage. The approval of a complete device this time is expected to stimulate growth in both foundational components upstream and application development downstream.

In July 2025, China issued a set of guidelines aimed at promoting the innovative development of the BCI industry, calling for breakthroughs in core hardware and software, the development of high-performance products, and the acceleration of real-world applications. Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, and other regions have also introduced supportive policies, helping to foster a favorable industrial ecosystem.

According to incomplete statistics, China is home to more than 3.7 million people living with spinal cord injuries, with approximately 90,000 new cases each year, underscoring the vast potential market for BCIs.

Some institutions predicted that by 2027, China’s BCI market will reach 5.58 billion yuan ($818.46 million), with an average annual growth of 20 percent. It is also widely believed in the industry that the sector is poised to enter a phase of steady growth, with medical rehabilitation serving as the primary driver while applications gradually expand into broader fields.

“With strong policy support, continued technological development, declining costs, growing market awareness, and improving regulatory frameworks, BCIs are expected to achieve larger-scale commercial application within the next three to five years, bringing tangible benefits to more people,” Li said.