Stories of High-Quality Development | AI-powered weather warnings reach across the globe

Narrator: Zhang Tianhang, Senior Engineer, World Meteorological Center Beijing Operation Office, China Meteorological Administration

When a storm hits, why are some communities evacuated to safety, while others pay the ultimate price?

I am a member of the team behind MAZU, China's intelligent meteorological early warning solution. For the past few years, we've been working to find ways to use technology to change the answer for the better.

We've developed a family of AI forecasting models called "Feng," meaning "wind." "Fenglei" tracks short-lived severe convective weather. "Fengqing" handles short- to medium-range global forecasts. "Fengshun" predicts long-term climate trends.

Take "Fengqing," for example. It generates 15-day global forecasts in under three minutes. This is more than just a speed boost. It's a shift from chasing the weather to anticipating it before it arrives.

But the benefits of AI aren't within everyone's reach. Some small developing countries, in particular, are facing multiple challenges including weak infrastructure, insufficient funds and a lack of talent.

The four letters of MAZU stand for multi-hazard, alert, zero-gap and universal. Its mission is clear: to take early warnings to the places that need them most but still lack access to them.

Since 2023, we've trained nearly 1,000 meteorological professionals from more than 100 developing countries. MAZU is currently used via the cloud in more than 50 countries, and customized versions have been deployed in eight.

Sri Lanka began using a customized version of MAZU in early 2026. Dulari Gangani Fernando Asurappulige, additional director general (covering) of the Department of Meteorology, said during a training session that the platform is easy to use. She said she hoped more accurate forecasts would reduce losses from landslides, floods and other disasters during the rainy season.

Ryan Rampersad, a trainee from Trinidad and Tobago, said MAZU delivers more precise and localized weather warnings, which is exactly what his country needs.

Over the next five years, the customized MAZU solution will be rolled out in 30 countries. As global competition in science and technology intensifies, we've chosen a different path. Instead of keeping the technology to ourselves, we help others build it with us and teach everyone to use it together.

MAZU is keeping watch over every home and bringing peace to people everywhere. As AI sweeps across the world, our ability to harness technology evolves, but our millennia-old commitment remains unchanged: to uphold the belief that the people are the foundation of the nation and to pursue universal harmony.