From robots back on duty to factories roaring to life, China races toward a strong post-holiday sprint

As the Spring Festival holidays end, China is entering a nationwide phase of post-holiday work resumption, marked by the return of factories and construction sites to full operation, and even robots reporting back to work, signaling a broad push to secure a strong economic start to the year.

Building on the public attention sparked by robots' high-profile appearance at the Spring Festival Gala, intelligent technology is also returning to everyday urban life as work resumes. On Wednesday, cities across Central China's Hunan Province entered the post-holiday work resumption phase, with smart robotic vending attendants returning to duty on the streets of Changsha, chinanews.com reported.

Capable of selling beverages and snacks with ease, the robots also engage passersby through interactive conversations and intelligent responses, highlighting the growing presence of cutting-edge technology into everyday consumer settings, the report said.

Against this backdrop of technological vitality, enterprises nationwide are accelerating production and construction to sprint toward a strong start to the year.

At the beginning of the new year, regions across China have focused on advancing high-quality development, preparing for a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, CCTV News reported.

Multiple major transportation projects are now in full swing. High-speed railway construction in Southwest China's Sichuan Province has accelerated with six key high-speed rail lines fully resuming work, said the CCTV.

Meanwhile, in the Yangtze River basin, the Huayang River flood storage and detention project spanning East China's Anhui Province and Central China's Hubei Province is advancing at full speed. Several major sluice gates and pumping stations have recently topped out, with overall progress exceeding 72 percent, making it a key flood-control project for the region, CCTV said.

In Central China's Henan Province, production lines at a petroleum equipment manufacturer in Nanyang have fully resumed operations to fulfill the first batch of post-holiday orders. The company's core products, integrating advanced sensor technologies, are exported to Kazakhstan, the Middle East, and other markets.

While industry regains momentum, agricultural regions are also wasting no time in preparing for the new farming season.

Shortly after the holidays, townships across Moyu county in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region moved quickly to organize farmers for spring plowing and seasonal preparations. Efforts are focused on collecting used plastic mulch, properly disposing of agricultural waste, and stocking up on farming supplies, laying a solid foundation for agricultural production in the year ahead. The collection and recycling of used plastic mulch has become a priority in the early stages of spring farming, reported chinanews.com on Wednesday.

At the same time, logistics hubs are stepping up operations to meet rising demand. With the holidays ending, enterprises in industrial parks and agricultural cooperatives across Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province, have entered a peak period of production resumption. Demand for power-generation coal and spring farming supplies is climbing steadily. In response, Nanchang Port has strengthened coordination with railway and highway authorities, optimized transport coordination, implemented 24-hour shift operations, and dynamically adjusted loading and unloading frequencies.

These measures aim to expand material supply capacity, keep "green channels" open for coal and fertilizer transport, and ensure rapid transfers and efficient distribution for both industrial production and agricultural preparation, reported People's Daily Online on Wednesday.

Targeted employment measures are helping workers return to their jobs smoothly. As the holidays come to an end, regions across China have launched initiatives to assist migrant workers in returning to work, including free chartered trains and buses, as well as job-matching services, the CCTV said.

As a major employment destination, South China's Guangdong Province has seen a concentrated release of labor demand. Local human resources authorities have rolled out customized services to connect workers' homes, transport hubs, and factory gates seamlessly, reported xinhuanet.com.

According to statistics from Zhongshan's human resources department, labor demand in the city rose by 43.97 percent month-on-month in February, with high-tech industries and equipment manufacturing emerging as key drivers of job growth. From February 22 to March 6, Guangzhou plans to further increase train services from many other regions, with more than 10 chartered trains expected to bring back over 8,000 workers, reported xinhuanet.com.

As work resumption and employment stabilization gain momentum, the labor market is also showing renewed vitality. On Tuesday, Taiyuan in North China's Shanxi Province hosted its first large-scale post-holiday job fair. The venue was bustling with job seekers consulting employers and submitting resumes. A total of 179 companies participated, spanning manufacturing, energy, technology, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors, offering positions to meet the needs of diverse job seekers, reported the CCTV.