Urumqi, April 4 (ZXS) -- How can Xinjiang scientific expeditions help the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" construction?
——Interview with researcher Chen Xi, deputy head of the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition Working Group of China and secretary of the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
China News Agency reporter Sun Zifa
After carrying out two comprehensive scientific expeditions to Xinjiang (Xinjiang scientific expeditions) in the 20s and 50s of the 80th century, China launched the third Xinjiang scientific expedition in 2021. What are the goals of the third Xinjiang scientific expedition? 2023 coincides with the <>th anniversary of the "Belt and Road" initiative, how will Xinjiang scientific research help the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" construction?
In early April, Chen Xi, deputy head of China's Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition Working Group and secretary of the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led the Altun Mountain Field Surgical Expedition Team of the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition to the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve to carry out a comprehensive scientific investigation.
The following is a summary of the interview:
China News Agency: Why did China carry out scientific expeditions in Xinjiang? What is the focus of the three Xinjiang scientific expeditions so far?
Chen Xi: The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is the largest provincial-level administrative region in China by land area, exceeding 166.5700 million square kilometers, accounting for about one-sixth of the country's total land area. Located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, with a land border of more than <>,<> kilometers and bordering eight countries, Xinjiang was historically an important passage for the ancient Silk Road and East-West cultural exchanges, and now it is a necessary place for the second Eurasian land bridge. It is very important and necessary to carry out comprehensive scientific research in Xinjiang.
In April 2023, during the trip of China's third Xinjiang scientific expedition Altun Mountain Field Surgical Expedition, the "camel stone" on the far shore of Ajakkum Lake. Photo by Sun Zifa
The first scientific expedition to Xinjiang was from 1956 to 1960, when the People's Republic of China was not long after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and everything was in ruins, and the state lacked basic data on Xinjiang's natural resources such as water resources, land resources, and mineral resources, and at the same time lacked basic data on Xinjiang's basic life, ecology and environmental conditions, such as soil conditions, mountains, oases, deserts, etc. In order to develop and build Xinjiang, China decided to launch the first comprehensive scientific expedition to Xinjiang, sending hundreds of people from Beijing, Nanjing and other places to Xinjiang to carry out scientific investigations. After five years of hard work, the expedition team has formed a series of scientific research achievements in Xinjiang, and systematically grasped the background situation of Xinjiang's natural resources, ecological environment and basic conditions for development.
The second Xinjiang scientific expedition was from 1985 to 1989 after the reform and opening up, when Xinjiang faced the second development and construction, which launched the Xinjiang comprehensive scientific expedition focusing on Xinjiang's industrialization layout. This scientific expedition provided a series of research monographs and consulting reports for the development of petroleum and mineral resources, agricultural resources, water resources and land resources in Xinjiang, and provided an important scientific basis for Xinjiang to determine the development strategy of "one black and one white" at that time - "black" refers to mineral resources such as petroleum and coal, and "white" refers to agricultural resources such as cotton. Over the years, Xinjiang's "one black and one white" strategy has developed in an all-round way, cotton output accounts for more than 90% of the country, and oil and coal have also become important national energy bases.
The third Xinjiang scientific expedition was launched more than 30 years after the completion of the second scientific expedition, mainly based on the sustainable use of resources and ecological environmental protection, with the goal of Xinjiang's high-quality development under the conditions of sustainable development and the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, focusing on placing Xinjiang in the overall situation of the "Belt and Road" construction and carrying out comprehensive research on its development strategy in the next 10 to 30 years.
The third Xinjiang scientific expedition Altun Mountain Field Surgical Expedition set out from the Ruoqiang Loulan Museum. Photo by Sun Zifa
China News Agency: What progress has China made in the third scientific expedition to Xinjiang?
Chen Xi: In the 30 years since the end of the second scientific expedition, Xinjiang's resources, environment and ecology have undergone tremendous changes under the intervention of climate change and human activities, and it is urgent to use modern scientific and technological means to carry out the third Xinjiang scientific expedition to meet the new needs of Xinjiang's high-quality development at present and in the future.
At the beginning of 2021, the third Xinjiang scientific expedition entered the stage of substantive promotion, and the implementation was officially launched at the end of the year. The main task of the third Xinjiang scientific expedition is to take water and soil balance and water resources security as the main line, take solving the current and future problems of resources, environment and green development faced by Xinjiang as the breakthrough point, investigate the resources, environment, ecological background and carrying capacity supporting economic and social development in Xinjiang, and put forward the roadmap of Xinjiang's future ecological construction and green development strategy.
The third Xinjiang scientific expedition includes 30 projects such as "construction of scientific expedition digital platform and standard system" and "construction of comprehensive scientific expedition monitoring system integrated with air-space-ground network", corresponding to a total of 30 scientific expedition teams, with more than 4000,3 scientific expedition members from all over the country participating, conducting comprehensive scientific expeditions in Xinjiang for 5 to <> years, and finally forming a series of comprehensive scientific investigation reports and consulting suggestions.
In April 2023, the third Xinjiang scientific expedition Altun Mountain Field Surgery Expedition team went to the Sand Spring in the Kumukuli Desert of the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve for investigation and investigation. Photo by Sun Zifa
At present, the third Xinjiang scientific expedition has made a number of important progress. Among them, the integration of scientific research digital platform and space-ground network mainly includes: the construction of scientific research data platform standard system, the preparation and release of scientific research data collection, management and sharing standards and specifications; In terms of scientific research database, the data collection and storage of four databases: basic database, scientific research history database, thematic database and monitoring dynamic database have been completed; In terms of scientific research big data platform environment and system development, the research and development of scientific research data platform software and hardware environment has been completed; 48 new and updated sites in the ground monitoring network; The remote sensing monitoring system developed 14 kinds of remote sensing algorithms and produced 12 remote sensing monitoring products; The integrated platform of space-space and ground network completed the prototype system.
In March 2023, three young graduate students from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who participated in the third Xinjiang scientific expedition, collected water samples en route in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang. Photo by Sun Zifa
China News Agency: 2023 is the <>th anniversary of the "Belt and Road" initiative, what is the significance and impact of the Xinjiang scientific expedition on the construction of the "Belt and Road"? How will the third Xinjiang scientific expedition contribute to the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" construction?
Chen Xi: China's Xinjiang is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent and the middle zone of the Eurasian land bridge, and the location advantage of "connecting the east and west and connecting the north and the south" is very obvious, and it is also an important gateway for China's opening to the west and the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
In recent years, under the framework of the "Belt and Road" initiative, Xinjiang has been committed to building a highland open to the west, deepening economic and trade cooperation with all parties, and achieving fruitful results.
Under these circumstances, how will Xinjiang develop in the next 20 to 30 years? How to make good use of natural resources and protect the ecological environment? How to integrate into the overall situation of the country's "Belt and Road" construction and play a more important role? It is necessary for the third Xinjiang scientific expedition to provide scientific and technological support, and scientifically draw a development roadmap in conjunction with the construction of the "Belt and Road", especially the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
The third Xinjiang scientific expedition will focus on three aspects in promoting the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road":
First, the current "Belt and Road" regions are facing the impact of climate change, including China's Xinjiang, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe, etc., it is necessary to carry out research on the impact of global climate change on the natural environment, resources, future carbon peaking, carbon neutrality and industrial development in the region, and form a Chinese plan.
Second, from the perspectives of industry, trade, resource utilization and sustainable development, strengthen research on Xinjiang's high-quality development and how to develop win-win results with neighboring countries.
The third is how Xinjiang, which is located in the west, and how to strengthen the alliance and interaction between the eastern and coastal regions of China, and how to complement industries and resources, it is necessary to strengthen relevant research through scientific expeditions to produce greater economic and social benefits.
In April 2023, the third Xinjiang scientific expedition Altun Mountain Field Surgery Expedition team went to the Sand Spring in the Kumukuli Desert of the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve for investigation and investigation. Photo by Sun Zifa
China News Agency: Facing the future, how will Xinjiang scientific expeditions be further planned and laid out?
Chen Xi: After the third scientific expedition to Xinjiang, with the social and economic development, there will be a fourth and fifth scientific expedition, and each scientific expedition will help the construction and development of Xinjiang and the country in different periods. The third Xinjiang scientific expedition is in a critical period of focusing on Chinese-style modernization, aiming to put forward Xinjiang's resource ecological strategic layout and sustainable development roadmap in the next 10 to 30 years based on the major needs of the country and Xinjiang. I believe that the future of Xinjiang will be better and better. (End)
Respondent Profile:
Chen Xi, Secretary of the Party Group of the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Deputy Head of the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition Working Group, Head of the Project of Construction of the Digital Platform and Standard System of the Scientific Expedition, Researcher and Doctoral Supervisor of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director and Director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice President and Member of the Sub-Party Group of the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Engaged in the research of hydrology and water resources in arid areas, remote sensing of resources and environment and geographic information system, he has achieved systematic and innovative research results in the carbon cycle mechanism of arid land ecosystems, the regulation of water use in inland river basin ecosystems and the evolution of arid land ecosystems, and is an academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Tajikistan Academy of Sciences, the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences and other foreign academicians.
He has presided over and completed more than 973 national 10 projects, major projects of national science and technology cooperation, major national engineering projects, and key projects of the National Foundation, published 191 papers indexed by SCI, published 15 books, and won many awards such as the National Science and Technology Progress Award and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Award.
He has won the Outstanding Youth Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Advanced Worker, the National Top Ten Scientific and Technological Worker Nomination Award, the National Innovation Competition Award and other honors, and founded the SCI journal Journal of Arid Land and served as the editor-in-chief.