GAC Motors Plans To Establish A Vehicle Assembly Plant In Lagos

Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC Motors) will be visiting Lagos State to study the viability of establishing a Vehicle Assembly Plant.

The development followed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s visit to the Chinese automobile firm’s headquarters in Guangzhou, where the Lagos helmsman held a business meeting with GAC’s management team.

The Governor, who is on a working visit to China, inspected the automobile manufacturing company’s factories, research and development centres as well as its training facilities.

Moved by the huge jobs potential of a similar facility in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu advised the company to consider building an assembly plant in Lagos.

He said: “I am excited at what I have seen in the course of my tour of your facility and I can assure you that there is a huge market for auto brands in Lagos State. We have a population of over 22 million people, and Lagos is the most prosperous city in Africa, with our economy ranking as the 7th largest in Africa.

“On the government side, I think now is the right time for you to come to Lagos because we will support you. There is a free trade zone you can locate your factories and Lagos has a pool of highly talented and innovative people that can provide a steady workforce supply for your operations in our State.”

Sanwo-Olu said his administration’s commitment to business innovation and process review was acknowledged by the World Bank as major drivers of Nigeria’s 15 places upward movement in the Ease of Doing Business Index.

GAC Group chairman Mr. Zeng Qihong, at a meeting, said the Group was considering expanding its business in international markets.

He said: “With the Governor’s invitation, we are quite confident and encouraged that coming to Lagos would be exciting. We will look into the process of establishing an operation base in Lagos after our international business department has visited to carry out a visibility study of the market. We are optimistic about coming to Lagos because of the market size and the significance of the economy to Africa.”



Lagos State Governor, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presenting the business case for GAC Motors Group to locate a factory in Lagos to the management of the company in Guangzhou, China yesterday.

At the meeting were top management members of GAC Motors, including the President of the company, Mr. Feng Xingya, General Director Zhang Yuesai, Director for International Business Mr. Yu Jun and Regional Sales Director for African Region Kamel Zheng.

It is anticipated that GAC Motors operations in Lagos will contribute to the development of the State’s economy and encourage technology transfer between China and Lagos.

GAC Group is ranked 189 on the list of Fortune 500 companies. The company’s total revenue for 2018 was $53bn and profit $10bn. In 2018, the GAC brand passenger car exports accounted for 70% of China’s passenger car exports to Nigeria. It has a national brand store and service centre in Nigeria, and recently completed its first SKD factory in the country.

See China's First Airplane Developed By Private Firm, Sets For Commercial Sales

China's first aircraft independently developed by a private company, the Guanyi GA20, flew at a height of 3,000 meters for the first time during its 50th test flight on Wednesday, and secured intent orders for 100 aircraft.

The GA20 is a four-seater, general-purpose, single propeller-driven aircraft developed by Guanyi General Aviation, a private company in Shanghai. It is produced at an industrial base in the Nanchang High-tech Zone, Jiangxi province.

On Wednesday, pilot Christian Briand boarded the plane at 12:00 pm and flew it into the sky at 12:03 pm at the Hengdian General Airport in Zhejiang province. The 39-minute flight aimed to test flight envelope extension and load factor.

The test showed that the GA20 has the shortest takeoff distance of 400 meters and a landing distance of 350 meters, with a maximum mileage of 1,200 kilometers and a maximum speed of 265 kilometers per hour.

The GA20 can climb up 5 meters per second, and at the height of 2,600 meters, its fuel consumption is 32 liters per hour. Its general performance is better than all the global competitors.

Zhu Songhua, the chairman of Guanyi, said the plane reached a height of 3,000 meters safely showed its excellent performance and it will open up a path for China's independently developed general aircraft to go global.

Wutong Aviation Sci-Tech Co, a leading private aircraft service company in China, signed the underwriting agreement with Guanyi on Wednesday order of intent for 100 planes.

Zhao Haiyang, general manager of Wutong Aviation, said the GA20 has first-class performance and advanced self-owned core technologies in the world, and thus the company is confident of its sales in the global market.

Guanyi began to develop the GA20 for multiple purposes such as aviation training, private aviation, and tourism in 2014. The plane made its debut in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, on May 21, 2018.

With an overall length of 8.1 meters and a wingspan of 9.4 meters, the plane is powered by a Lycoming O-320 engine and equipped with a Garmin aviation system.

On Sept 19, the plane made a 26-minute maiden flight at an airport in Nanchang, and ascended to a height of about 300 meters, made a number of routine tests, before landing smoothly.

This is the 50th test flight for the GA20, and the first time it has reached the 3,000 meter mark, a milestone in the maturity testing of the aircraft.

The GA20 has a maximum range of 1,200 kilometers and can reach 265 kilometers an hour.

The good performance of the GA20 raises confidence in high tech and intelligent products made in China, said Zhu Songhua, the chairman of the Shanghai-based Guanyi General Aviation. He added that he hopes planes made in China demonstrate to the world China's strengths in core technology.

An order for 100 planes was made to Guanyi General Aviation by China's private flight platform, Wutong Airlines, on the day of the latest test flight.

On March 11, GA20 completed its first public test flight at Hengdian General Airport in Zhejiang.

Guanyi will complete 200-300 test flights in accordance with Civil Aviation Administration of China requirements and plans to start the plane's industrialization process, after obtaining certification, around 2020.

China Now Deploys Robots As Traffic Police Across The Metropolis - Video and Photos

Managing road traffic in the world's most populous country is no easy task.

And one Chinese city has enlisted the help from robots to keep the streets in order.

A team of robotic traffic policemen have started patrolling in Handan, a city in northern China's Hebei Province.

A northern Chinese city has put a team of robots into operation to aid traffic police in tasks such as patrolling, information consulting and providing accident alerts.

Developed by parties including the Handan municipal public security bureau in Hebei Province, the robots are China's first "robot traffic police" on duty, according to Zhou Zuoying, deputy head of the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security.

The robots are loaded with sensors and can move autonomously in all directions. They can assist traffic police to take photos of vehicles violating parking rules, direct traffic and verify driver's licenses.

The AI-powered androids, the first of its kind in China, were unveiled by the city's police authorities today.

Three kinds of robotic cops have been deployed including one specializing in patrolling, one focussing on giving information and one in charge of dealing with traffic accidents, according to Handan traffic police.

Engineers have installed facial recognition cameras on all of them, the police said in a series of posts on its official account on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

Ma Zhanshan, chief of Handan municipal public security bureau, said the bureau aims to use the robots around the clock in important public locations such as train stations and airports to reduce the work intensity of local traffic police.

China Unveils Floating MAGLEV Bullet Train With Speeds Of 600km Per Hour

China has unveiled a prototype for a high-speed Magnetic-Levitation bullet train capable of hitting speeds of 600km per hour. The train has been developed by the state-owned China Railway Rolling stock Corporation (CRRC) and is scheduled to go into commercial production in 2021.

MAGLEV – short for magnetic levitation – is a system of train transportation, which employs magnetic forces to help the train achieve high speeds. It uses two sets of magnets, one to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to propel the ‘floating train’ forward.

Taking advantage of the lack of friction, the system allows the train to achieve speeds of up to 600km per hour whilst maintaining smooth acceleration. Trains that currently run on the Beijing-Shanghai line have a maximum operating speed of 350 km/h.

‘Take Beijing to Shanghai as an example — counting preparation time for the journey, it takes about 4.5 hours by plane, about 5.5 hours by high-speed rail, and [would only take] about 3.5 hours with [the new] high-speed maglev,‘ Ding Sansan, CRRC‘s deputy chief engineer, said in comments reported by CNN.

These are some of the images and prototype...

Tesla Gigafactory 3 Building In Shanghai Looks Almost Complete - Photos

A new visual has emerged from Tesla Giga factory in Shanghai. According to the drone video update of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 construction site shows that the main building is almost complete as Tesla rushes to start production in China.

Tesla waited a long time to make its Chinese factory deal happened in order to be able to own the entire plant, which had until recently been impossible due to the country’s protectionism laws.

They moved extremely fast.

About 7 months ago, Tesla announced a deal with the Shanghai government to build a wholly owned local factory and only about 5 months ago, they secured the 210-acres of land for Gigafactory 3 in China necessary.

They officially broke ground in January and plan to be done with the building by this summer.

Considering the size of the building, it seemed almost impossible, but a new drone video update shows that the building is almost complete (from Jason Yang):

Only a few weeks ago, it was mainly a steel structure, but Tesla’s contractors have quickly completed most of the roof and the walls of the factory.

One thing that is almost inevitable considering the speed of Gigafactory 3’s construction is the completion of the Phase 1 buildout, which includes a massive general assembly building for the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. Shanghai official Chen Mingbo, who currently serves as the head of the city’s economic and information technology commission, announced during the annual parliamentary meeting back in March that the initial buildout of Gigafactory 3 should be done in May. That target date falls somewhere within the next couple of weeks.

If China’s workforce meets its target deadline for the completion of Gigafactory 3’s initial construction, it could accelerate the timeline for the electric car maker’s Model 3 trial production. During the facility’s groundbreaking event in January, Elon Musk stated that the first Model 3 could roll out of Gigafactory 3 by the end of the year. If China’s workforce completes the facility’s initial buildout this month, Model 3 trial production could start as early as September.

See photos of the facility below...

Watch the video here

China Tests A Newly-Developed Smart Electric Train Running On Virtual Tracks

In a world of advanced technology and massive engineering, China seems to be at the forefront of making it's nation a point of reference among other nations.

China is test running a train which runs on a virtual train even at low temperature. according to reports, at -20 degrees Celsius! China tests a newly-developed smart electric train running on virtual tracks to see if it can run smoothly in frigid weather.

So what can the new technology do?
Trackless trams are neither a tram nor a bus, though they have rubber wheels and run on streets. The high-speed rail innovations have transformed a bus into something with all the best features of light rail and none of its worst features.

It replaces the noise and emissions of buses with electric traction from batteries recharged at stations in 30 seconds or at the end of the line in 10 minutes. That could just be an electric bus, but the ART is much more than that. It has all the speed (70kph), capacity and ride quality of light rail with its autonomous optical guidance system, train-like bogies with double axles and special hydraulics and tyres.

It can slide into the station with millimetre accuracy and enable smooth disability access. It passed the ride quality test when I saw kids running up and down while it was going at 70kph – you never see this on a bus due to the sway.

The autonomous features mean it is programmed, optically guided with GPS and LIDAR technologies, into moving very precisely along an invisible track. If an accident happens in the right of way a “driver” can override the steering and go around. It can also be driven to a normal bus depot for overnight storage and deep battery recharge.

The standard ART system is three carriages that can carry 300 people, but it can take five carriages and 500 people if needed. In three years of trials, no impact on road surfaces has been found.

See some photos below...

Watch the video below...

Airlines Ground Boeing 737 MAX Planes After Second Crash In Five Months

Airlines in multiple countries have suspended the use of Boeing's new 737 MAX 8 aircraft over concerns about its safety, after an Ethiopian Airlines flight of the same model crashed Sunday killing all 157 on board.

Flight ET302 to Nairobi had just taken off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa Sunday when it reported technical problems and asked for permission to turn back. It crashed shortly afterwards.

As the crash investigation got underway, the Civil Aviation Administration of China ordered Monday that all domestic Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets be out of the air by 6 p.m. local time, due to its principle of "zero tolerance for safety hazards."

China has one of the world's largest fleets of Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating 97 of the planes, according to Chinese state-run media.

The move was followed by an announcement from Ethiopian Airlines that the carrier had grounded its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets as an "extra safety precaution." Cayman Airways also said on Monday it was grounding both of its "new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft ... until more information is received."

Sunday marked the second time in less than six months that a new Boeing aircraft crashed just minutes into a flight. A Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight went down over the Java Sea in last October, killing all 189 people on board.

Both crashes are under investigation and there is no evidence of a link between the two, but similarities in the incidents have prompted caution among some airlines.

"Given in both air crashes, the aircrafts were newly delivered Boeing 737 MAX 8, and both accidents occurred during the take-off, they share certain similarities," the Chinese administration said in a statement. It added that it would contact Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration to confirm "flight safety" issues before allowing the planes to fly again.

Source:

CNN

China’s Car Brand, Aiways U5 All Electric SUV Is Set To Debut In Europe

If there is anything the Chinese are known for in the auto industry, it will be for cloning! They can clone any car and add their names to it. Brands like Range Rover and some other big names have been victims of this cloning. This time, they are back on another project.

If a fully-electric premium SUV like the Tesla Model X, Audi e-tron or Mercedes EQC is outside your price range, then you might just be in luck because China’s Aiways has been pitching its U5 SUV as a more affordable alternative to such cars.

After bringing the U5 to Beijing in concept form, the Chinese startup now has a production-ready version, which aims to become one of the safest and most advanced models in Europe’s mid-size SUV segment.

It looks…interesting?

While we leave it up to you to judge the U5 with regards to styling, the SUV does come with a lot of modern exterior elements, such as the full-LED headlights, a sharp beltline design, hidden door handles, dual-channel rear spoiler and a continuous light strip at the rear.

It measures 4,680 mm (184.2 inches) in length, 1,880 mm (74.0 inches) in width, stands 1,680 mm (66.1 inches) tall and has a wheelbase that spans 2,800 mm (110.2 inches). To put it plainly, it’s considerably smaller than a Model X or even the e-tron SUV, but is more or less comparable in size to the Mercedes EQC.

Loads of tech

The interior of the U5 certainly looks premium, especially with features such as the one-piece sports seats, ambient lighting, floating center console and available AI ID face recognition. There’s also a “tri-fold display” in front of the driver acting as the gauge cluster, joined by a 12.3-inch LCD infotainment display in the middle of the dashboard.

On the move, the U5 offers active safety systems such as Automatic Queuing for Traffic Jams, Automated Highway Driving Assistance or the All-Situation Autonomous Parking function, while over-the-air software updates will ensure that you’re always up to date with the latest advancements.

Of course, it all comes down to its main selling point, which is the fact that you never have to fill it up with diesel or petrol. The Aiways U5 utilizes a 63 kWh liquid cooled master battery back that works in conjunction with the world’s first “AI battery pack” – acting like a range extender. Normally, the driving range is 460 km (285 miles), although once you combine the two, you can cover more than 560 km (348 miles) of open road.

As for performance, maximum power output is a modest 140 kW (188 HP), while peak torque stands at 315 Nm (232 lb-ft). Add the fact that the U5 is front-wheel drive only and you can begin to understand how it will definitely undercut its premium European rivals when it comes to pricing.

More details regarding a release date as well as pricing should surface in due course.

 

See The Making of World's Largest And Biggest Airport: The Beijing Daxing International Airport

At a time when Africa nations are still battling with poverty, some are still planning to produce pencils, United States government is still battling its legislators over the Mexico wall which amounts into trillions of dollars, China is silently developing its nation and making it the eighth wonder of the world by building the largest airport in the world which will accommodate, wait for it, 72 million people, that's about the combination of Ghana, Senegal, Benin Republic, and Niger. And someone will say these Chinese are human beings right? Let's continue...

If you are always fond of getting lost in an airport or sprinting through long terminals to catch your flight, you’re sure to be out of breath when you visit the Daxing International Airport. Opening in 2019, and slated to be the largest airport in the world, China’s newest airport is designed to meet the country’s ever-growing travel needs, and become the new hub for China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.

Beijing is in desperate need of a second global gateway. The existing Capital International Airport is hitting full capacity, making it nearly impossible for airlines to add flights at desirable times.
In 2017, more than 95 million passengers passed through the three terminals of Beijing Capital, the world's second busiest airport behind only Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.

The new Daxing airport, designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and her Chinese partners, is built for the future, boasting four runways and a terminal the size of 97 soccer pitches upon opening of the first phase.

Nicknamed "starfish" by Chinese media for its shape of five concourses connected to the main hall, Daxing aims to reduce walking for passengers, long a complaint against many new mega-hubs.

Travelers can expect a spacious, open interior filled with civic gardens and other sustainable elements. These include shading strategies, high-performance glazing, and roof lights that will optimize the terminal’s energy performance. All of this is predicted to reduce overall energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 50%. “The overall symmetry of the airport,” says the website of Zaha Hadid, the airport’s late architect, “together with its flowing, interconnected forms, create a fluid composition which evokes the harmony and balance evident in Chinese landscapes.”

The airport aims to accommodate 100 million passengers a year, with a 700,000 square-meter energy-efficient terminal designed to make navigation as smooth as possible — or, as smooth as can be expected from one of the world’s busiest airports. With Beijing’s Capital International Airport currently recognized as the second busiest in the world, China’s new airport will play an important role in improving the travel experience to and from Beijing.

The first phase of the airport project is designed with a target of 72 million passengers, 2 million tons of cargo and mail, and 620,000 aircraft movements in 2025, with plans to handle 100 million passengers in the long term.

The Prototypes