Diplomatic envoys highlight big data development, int'l cooperation in China's Guizhou

GUIYANG, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The mountainous Guizhou Province, once among the least developed regions in China, has become a pioneer in the country's big data endeavor and a backbone of the province's high-quality development.

This was what impressed a delegation of diplomatic envoys most during their six-day tour to Guizhou, the country's first national big data comprehensive pilot zone.

From Sunday to Friday, the delegation, which comprised 24 diplomats and representatives of foreign organizations from 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and Europe, visited big data enterprises and learned about how big data is leveraged in various fields in Guizhou.

At the Internet hospital of Longmaster Information and Technology Company in Guiyang, several diplomats consulted with a doctor online in front of a computer screen.

Grasiano Nyaguse, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe in China, inquired about side effects of weight-loss drugs. The doctor asked him about the medications he was taking, his health conditions, blood sugar level, and hepatorenal functions in particular, and informed him of the side effects as well as treatment suggestions.

"It's impressive to talk to doctors online, which enabled us to interact with and get expert advice from qualified doctors in our homes and get assisted," said Nyaguse, adding that he was impressed by Guizhou's technological advancement and how this could be replicated in his country.

At the exhibition center of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone in Guiyang, big data applications in various sectors, including education, tourism, and government management, were exhibited and introduced to the diplomats.

Malick Diarra, first secretary of the Embassy of Mali in China, once pursued his three-year post-graduate study at Beijing-based Capital University of Economics and Business and has started to do diplomatic service between China and Mali since March 2024.

Diarra learned about China through Chinese kung fu movies. He even practiced kung fu for two years and became interested in the country and its people. "I have to go to China to know China and the Chinese. That was why I chose China to study and work," he said.

During his stay in China, Diarra visited big cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, but it was his first time visiting the mountainous province of Guizhou and its big data centers.

He experienced unmanned agricultural machinery and visited the soilless cultivation greenhouse at Guizhou Aerospace Intelligent Agriculture Co., Ltd.

According to Chen Guo, president of the company's smart agriculture research institute, the research team has developed pest monitoring lamps that could lure pests with light and baits and differentiate their species and group size with the help of high-definition cameras.

"The lamps could recognize pests with the smallest size of two millimeters, with an accuracy rate of about 85 percent," Chen said.

Applauding Guizhou's development in the big data sector, Diarra said he would recommend that the Malian authority contact and invite data centers in Guizhou to invest in his country.

Iven Zyuulu, Zambian ambassador to China, said that there would be a lot of scope for cooperation with Guizhou in terms of learning how it has managed to put up such big data facilities. Zyuulu added they could also attempt to set up such facilities to assist their own communities.

"For us developing countries, we are very happy to cooperate with China because we are able to see the path of development. And we can try to follow that path using technology and assistance from China," Zyuulu added.