Gansu province in northwest China has transitioned from a resource-intensive province to an industrial hub, employing advanced technologies to protect the ecology, upgrade agriculture, and promote green transformation of industries.

Protecting China's mother river

In Lanzhou city, the provincial capital, a water monitoring station uses state-of-the-art devices to monitor key indicators such as dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen and phosphorus in real time. Zhang Wei, head of the Lanzhou environmental monitoring station, said these devices also enhance the accuracy and timeliness of data.

In Gannan Xizang autonomous prefecture in southwest Gansu, remote sensing and drones are used to monitor the wetlands and grasslands of the Yellow River, Luo Yongcheng, director of the ecological environment bureau of the prefecture, said.

Maqu, which means "the Yellow River" in the Tibetan language, is a county boasting extensive grasslands and wetlands. To restore degraded grassland, a variety of measures such as planting grass, fencing and irrigation were adopted to increase the vegetation coverage and improve the ecological environment. Today, Maqu's lush green grasslands are a beautiful sight along the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

Enabling orchid cultivation

Thanks to smart technologies, orchids, a typical southern flower, now grow on a large scale in northwest inland Gansu, and promote local economic development.

In the orchid industrial park of Jikou town, there are six high-standard smart greenhouses equipped with a 5G IoT automatic control system.

"When the temperature deviates from the normal, the light in the greenhouse will flash and automatically turn on the corresponding settings," said Zhang Jingping, technical director of the orchid industrial park. Zhang added that through sensor monitoring and computer data analysis, the intelligent control system helps ensure the best growing environment for orchids in the greenhouse in all seasons and weathers.

This park has achieved a full industrial chain from breeding to sales of orchids, especially butterfly orchids. It produces 2 million pots of orchids annually, with a combined output value of around 40 million RMB and has created jobs for more than 100 locals.

Fostering clean energy

Gansu is vigorously developing clean energy such as wind and photovoltaic power, promoting the green development of industries.

"Our wind turbine assembly capacity is of advanced international level, and all core large components are domestically developed and produced," said Wang Jun, deputy director of the Jiuquan Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee.

Through technological innovation and industrial upgrading, the zone has formed a complete wind power equipment manufacturing industrial chain, with products sold both at home and abroad. Many products are exported to central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan.

Today, the Jiuquan Economic and Technological Development Zone has become the largest onshore wind power equipment manufacturing base in China, with a complete onshore wind power industry chain.