Sinopharm, one of China’s leading medical companies and a global contender in the race for a Covid-19 vaccination, may develop the much-needed vaccine ahead of schedule. The drug could be available this year, several months ahead of what was originally thought, according to Chinese state media on 22 July. Liu Jingzhen, chairman of the Beijing-based…
South African telecoms company, Vodacom, and Alipay, China’s largest digital payments platform, have announced a collaboration to further Vodacom’s transition from a telco to a tech giant. The two firms announced on Saturday that they would co-develop a ”super-app’ which will serve as a digital marketplace for goods and services for clients whether or not…
Pony.ai, one of China’s leading autonomous vehicle (AV) firms, has announced it will be beta testing self-driving cars as part of its bid to become a leader in the competitive market. The AV start-up, founded by former Baidu developers, James Peng and Lou Tiancheng, announced Saturday that it would be working with city officials to…
The cloud gaming market in China is expected to grow by 400% in the next 24 months, as the rollout of 5G nationwide spurs growth, said research group CNG. The Beijing-based group, which released the 2020 Cloud Gaming Industry Survey Report in June, says the relatively new marketplace will become a US$141 million sector by…
Construction companies in China are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor worker safety, efficiency and on-site conduct, as sites using technology are found to have significantly improved output and worker safety, says a China Academy of Sciences report. The technology, developed by the Institute of Automation in Beijing, syncs with CCTV cameras. It is able…
Shenzen-based tech giant, Huawei, will replicate its mobile, digital classroom, DigiTruck, in five more countries, including France and the Philippines, after the success of its programme in Kenya. The repurposed semi-trailer truck, which was trialled in Kenya, is designed to increase accessibility to digital skills. The DigiTruck Project is a collaboration between Huawei and Belgian…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to play a significant part in China’s battle against poverty and will also benefit the hard of hearing community in an era of compulsory mask-wearing, says iFlytek, a Chinese speech-to-text, translation and online-education technologies company. Chairman, Liu Qingfeng, says his company, along with other prominent IT giants in China, has…
Zambian state-owned power company, Zesco, has announced a partnership with Chinese construction company, PowerChina, to construct three large solar power plants that will add a further 600MW of electricity to the African nation’s grid. The signing of the deal, worth a reported US$548 million, coincides with the news that the Zambian government is aiming to…
Shortly after US President Donald Trump signed a law blocking Chinese telecommunications group Huawei from using US-made hardware and software, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) reported it had received $2.2 billion in funding. The move is part of China’s efforts to end its reliance on US chips. Shanghai-based SMIC, which creates around 6 000 14-nanometre…
School pupils in Beijing are sporting smart wristbands that track real-time body temperatures. The wristbands are one of a variety of wearables Chinese researchers say may help to track, curb and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Final year students attending junior high schools in Beijing have returned to class where they are piloting technology that…