Innovation gives strong impetus to Shandong's development

Models and photos of Shandong's key achievements in scientific research and the manufacturing sector were exhibited during a news conference convened on July 16 by the State Council Information Office to introduce the province's economic and social development since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

A miniature version of Petrel-L, a Chinese long-voyage underwater glider, is exhibited. Independently developed by the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) and Tianjin University, the long-distance glider can work continuously under the sea for 30 days. In April 2018, a Petrel had made a technological breakthrough when it dove to a record depth of 8,213 meters in the sea near the Marianas Trench and returned with valuable hydrological data. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

A miniature version of Blue Whale 1 is exhibited. Blue Whale 1, the ultra-deep-water semisubmersible drilling rig built by the nation's largest semisubmersible platform manufacturer China Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore, made headlines around the world when it succeeded in collecting methane gas trapped in ice-like crystals beneath the surface of the South China Sea in May 2017. Its sister rig Blue Whale 2 is the latest version of the Blue Whale series developed by China Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore. Its platform is as tall as a 37-story building with a deck as large as a soccer field. It is able to drill to a depth of 15,240 meters. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

Visitors interact with a smart robot developed by a Shandong company at the exhibition on July 16 in Beijing. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

China's first marine drug PSS, which helps treat cardiovascular diseases, those diseases related to heart or blood vessels, and cerebrovascular diseases, as well as the Alzheimer's drug called GV-971 and BG136 for colon cancer are exhibited. GV-971, developed by the Marine Biomedical Research Institute of Qingdao, is extracted from brown algae. The first phase of clinical trials has been completed. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

"Seawater rice" seedlings are displayed at the exhibition. The Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, led by Yuan Longping, China's "father of hybrid rice," has developed salt-resistant rice strains that can survive and return high yields in water with 0.6 percent salt content. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]

A miniature version of a prototype magnetic-levitation train line is exhibited. China rolled off the production line a high-speed maglev train testing prototype with a designed maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour at CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd in Qingdao, Shandong province, which filled the gap in travel speed between aviation and high-speed rail passenger transport in the country. [Photo by Wang Qian/chinadaily.com.cn]