IN BRIEF (Page 24)

China Mobile to begin 5G scale tests next year

China Mobile Communications Corp, the world's largest telecom carrier by subscribers, will start 5G scale tests next year and launch a pre-commercial service in 2019, with the aim of fully commercializing 5G-the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards-in 2020. "We will accelerate the research and development of 5G and carry out 5G outfield tests in five cities this year," said Shang Bing, chairman of China Mobile, during the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Shanghai. Shang said China Mobile has already participated in setting up 5G international standards and has established a 5G joint innovation center, adding it will ramp up efforts to develop 5G key technologies and promote innovative applications related to 5G. The company recently established the country's first 5G base station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and carried out a 5G outfield test in cooperation with a telecom equipment maker. Furthermore, China Mobile will start the construction of a mobile internet of things in 346 cities across the country this year, with an expectation to commercialize the network in some key cities by the end of the year, Shang said.

Cutting-edge cable system starts operations

A 25,000-kilometer submarine cable system linking Asia, Africa and Europe has entered service, as China United Network Communications Group, a key participant in the cable project, accelerates steps to build internet infrastructure for countries and regions related to the Belt and Road Initiative. The Asia-Africa-Europe-1 cable system, better known as AAE-1, has been officially launched, with services beginning from Europe to the Far East, says the AAE-1 consortium, which is coordinating efforts to complete the project. China Unicom is a key member of the alliance. The AAE-1 is the world's largest submarine cable system built in more than a decade. It can provide the lowest latency express internet route among dozens of countries and regions across Asia and Europe, China Unicom said in a statement. It did not disclose the specific investment in the project. The cable system connects Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France.

DJI signs agreement with Dow on drones

Shenzhen-based drone maker DJI Innovation Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Dow AgroSciences on June 27 to work on the research and application of crop protection drones and technology. Dow AgroSciences, which is a wholly owned agricultural subsidiary of the United States' largest chemical company, Dow Chemical, specializes in crop protection and seed products sold in more than 130 countries. The two companies will conduct experiments to test the crop protection products carried and sprayed by drones. They will test and track the effect of drones spraying Dow AgroSciences' herbicide, insecticide and other products. The experiments will first be carried out in Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, starting the trial with rice. According to Zhu Yue, general manager of Dow AgroSciences in China, it is the first time that the agricultural company has worked with a drone maker. Even in the US, where Dow AgroSciences is based, there is no such cooperation yet. They will look for opportunities in other markets once the attempt in China proves fruitful.

Express delivery spending up in 2016

Chinese customers spent more on express delivery services last year, while average delivery costs continued to decline, according to an industry report. Average spending in China on express delivery stood at 287 yuan ($42; 36.80 euros; ￡32.40) last year, up by 42.7 percent year-on-year, according to the State Post Bureau. Meanwhile, average costs dropped from 13.4 yuan per item to 12.7 yuan, and consumers were increasingly satisfied with the services. A total of 31.3 billion parcels were delivered last year, up by 51.4 percent year-on-year. The sector generated 397 billion yuan in revenue last year, up by 43.5 percent, the bureau says. The target annual revenue of the courier sector will be 800 billion yuan in 2020, according to a policy document released by the State Council in October.

Market for business travel still growing

The Chinese business travel market is expected to maintain steady growth this year, according to an industry report. AirPlus, a leading German travel services provider, says managers had a positive outlook toward the business travel market, with about 45 percent of those surveyed expecting increased travel this year, outperforming the global average. About 41 percent of the managers believed that the Chinese economy would support the business travel sector and that the Belt and Road Initiative was set to increase international business exchanges. The report also found that more than 90 percent of business travelers used mobile payment tools to pay for their trips.

Completion target set for airport's expansion

Expansion work on Ethiopia's largest airport, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, is expected to be finished in time for the 30th Ordinary Summit of the African Union in January 2018. Fully funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, the $345 million airport expansion project will increase its annual passenger handling capacity from the current 7 million to 22 million. The project, on 74,000 square meters of land, is being constructed by China Communications Construction Co. "Ethiopia aims to become a tourist destination and a favored destination for conferences, but the current airport's capacity is overstretched, hosting sometimes 9 million passengers annually," says Hailu Lemu, chief engineer of Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, the state-owned entity that administers Ethiopia's airports. "Once the airport expansion project is completed, I expect Addis Ababa Bole international Airport to be one of the busiest, if not the busiest, international airport in Africa," he says.

Kenya, China to ink deal on tea trade in July

Kenya and China are set to sign a memorandum of understanding on tea trading in July, a Kenyan official said on June 27. Samuel Ogola, head of Kenya's Tea Directorate, said that under the agreement, Kenya's tea industry will receive training on how to process tea that will appeal to Chinese consumers. "Kenya has high-quality tea, but we lack expertise in high-quality processing. So the training will help Kenya to penetrate the huge Chinese market," Ogola said on the sidelines of a meeting about the agreement. Ogola said that China has a rich tea-growing culture that spans over 3,000 years, which Kenya can borrow to expand its tea sector. The agreement will be signed in China by Kenya's ambassador to China and the China Tea Marketing Association. Currently, Kenya exports between 4 million and 5 million kilograms of tea annually to China out of a production of approximately 472 million kilograms.

Ethiopia-Djibouti water project almost ready

The Ethiopia-Djibouti cross-border potable water project will be completed and begin operations in about three months, according to Demelash Mulu, project manager. The water project, funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, is under construction by the Chinese company CGCOC. The project, which is expected to provide safe drinking water for more than 700,000 Djibouti nationals, was tested three weeks ago and proved successful, Ethiopian local media FBC quoted Demelash Mulu, manager of the project, as saying on June 27. The Ethiopia-Djibouti water project, which includes the construction of water wells and reservoirs and the installation of 102 kilometers of water distribution pipeline, will supply groundwater from the Ethiopian town of Hadagalla to Djibouti's key towns of Ali-Sabieh, Dikhil, Arta and the capital, Djibouti' City.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/30/2017 page24)