China EU’s No.1 trading partner

China surpassed the US becoming the EU’s No.1 trading partner in 2020, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said on Monday. This was due to an increase in imports (+5.6%) and exports (+2.2%) with China. With the EU-China CAI making progress while the future of transatlantic trade remains unclear.

International Scientific Lunar Station

2-12-21 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has instructed Roscosmos, Russia’s state space agency, to complete a Memorandum of Understanding with China confirming cooperation on the creation of an International Scientific Lunar Station, Russian media reported on Friday.

China’s Tianwen-1 probe successfully enters Mars orbit

Tianwen-1, China’s first Mars probe, successfully reached the Red Planet on Wednesday at around 7:52 pm, homing in on the Earth’s planetary neighbor after an epic seven-month journey of nearly 500 million kilometers.

After a 15-minute firing of its 3,000-newton thrust engine, the spacecraft reached an elliptical Mars orbit at around 400 kilometers from the planet, according to a statement China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) provided to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Tianwen-1 circuitous flight has seen the spacecraft travel some 475 million kilometers, taking it some 192 million kilometers from Earth, with all systems in good condition, CNSA said. The communication time delay between the probe and Earth is about 10.7 minutes. 

It will carry out several orbital course corrections before finally selecting a landing spot and touching down, which is scheduled to happen between May and June. 

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Quantum computer operating system

2-8-21 China’s first homegrown quantum computer operating system was unveiled in Hefei, E.China’s Anhui Province on Monday.

The system, developed by Origin Quantum Computing Technology Co Ltd., will be used on quantum computers – a type of new computers that have been touted as being able to solve complex computational problems much faster than any classic computers.

The new OS has been optimized for the resource management and parallel processing capabilities of quantum computers. It can also calibrate the quantum chips automatically, according to the company.

Currently, only dozens of quantum computers are available in the world. Experts believe if they are not being used effectively, their incredible computing power will be wasted. 

Tianwen-1 image of Mars

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe sent back its first image of Mars. It has travelled about 465 million kilometers, reaching more than 184 million kilometers from earth and 1.1 million kilometers from Mars as of 8 pm Friday.

Satellite-6

2-4-21 China has successfully sent its communication experimental satellite-6 into preset orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket at 23:36 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.

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Dr. Xiaomei Havard has been chosen to serve as an MP in South African Parliament

Following a 17-year political career in South Africa, Dr. Xiaomei Havard 晓梅·哈瓦德(张晓梅) has been chosen to serve as an MP in Parliament. She replaces the late Jackson Mthembu, who passed away last week. Despite the doctor’s wealth of experience, Havard has also been embroiled in scandal before – and her Chinese background has drawn some uncomfortable reactions.

Chinese Xiaomei Havard Mthembu

“If a black person born in China can never be a member of the Chinese Parliament… Why does SA allow a Chinese-born person to be a member of the SA Parliament, and make laws for South Africans?” “The Chinese protects the economy for its people, and has an expansion program for its industries across the world. With so many China malls/towns in South Africa and around the world, how many African malls or towns are there in China?”Vuyo Zungula, leader of the African Transformation Movement, LOL