Huawei Technologies is a front - runner again in the smartphone market with a new phone powered by an advanced chip (芯片) though banned by US, which may have a great influence on both Chinese and US semiconductor (半导体) industries, experts say. The new Mate 60 Pro, uses a 5G application processor (处理器). showing “a made - in - China design and producing milestone”, according to analysts.

The team believes the 7 - nanometer (纳米) processor was made by China’s leading chip factory, SMIC. “It shows China’s semiconductor industry has been able to make the advanced processor without EUV machines (极紫外线光刻机),” said Dan Hutcheson. “The difficulty of this achievement also shows the adaptability of the country’s chip technological ability.”

The most up - to - date EUV machines are used to produce advanced chips. SMIC has no chance to use EUV machines because of US export controls. Industry experts said it could use some older equipment to produce advanced chips.

Huawei has been on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List, which limits its chance to use US technologies. The new phone’s 5G chipset, the operating system HarmonyOS (鸿蒙) and other technical differences from its competitors show that “Huawei is back after three years in the wilderness”, said George Koo. He believes the achievement would not be possible without partners in China and a domestic supply chain, from design software and semiconductor production to necessary chemicals and materials.

Huawei’s technological advances have promoted some US lawmakers to ask for tougher restrictions, who suggested the US should end all its exports to both Huawei and SMIC. “America’s shortsighted plan to separate from China will lose the profits of leading US providers of advanced chips.” said Koo. “These providers will see their advantages disappear. In the short term, they are not allowed to sell to China. In the long term, China will not need to buy from them.”

The technological breakthrough was expected to help Huawei in China, especially in competition against Apple. “If Huawei can supply and increase the production of its own Kirin (麒麟) 9000S (chip), we see the Mate series phone as an opportunity for Huawei to increase its shipments and regain its market share, potentially causing risk to iPhone sales, especially in the Asia - Pacific,” analysts at BofA Securities said last week.

We are in the middle of another technology revolution. The digital economy will contribute 48% of GDP in China in 2035, up from 23% in 2020.

With the implementation(实施) of 5G and consumer AI, smart cities are no longer just a concept. Indeed, in a surprising silver lining to the Covid-19 pandemic, smart city apps have shown they can help China contain the spread of the virus, helping to recover the economy. Other successful examples include applications for better traffic management, flood control and crime reduction.

The number of smart street lights required in China is estimated at 13million assuming a 30% penetration rate(安装率) of all street lights in 2025. When the network of smart street lights increases further, it will also likely expand to cover more functions. In addition to basic lighting, it could include monitoring cameras, auto-police calling when the data shows abnormalities, weather information collection, WI-Fi hotspots converting telecommunication signals, e-vehicle chargers, and so on.

In order to deal with the difficulty of parking, Shenzhen has combined 5G and AI to enhance the efficiency of car park usage. For example, drivers can seamlessly book a parking space at a hospital at the same time as scheduling a doctor’s appointment. Drivers also know whether all of the parking spaces are occupied at the time of the doctor’s appointment and can choose other transportation. Besides, Robots and sensors installed in the auto-valet parking lots work together to find a space and park the car for drivers, which provide much convenience for drivers.

With more technology applications，there is bound to be disruption(扰乱) to existing activities and the labour they require. If smart cities help driverless cars to take off, the thousands of drivers of taxis or delivery drivers that find low skilled employment in China’s cities could be displaced and struggle to find alternative employment. New jobs will certainly arise from the implementation of smart city technology, but will likely require different skills and knowledge to those being displaced. The government will need to assist those whose employment is disrupted to find alternatives.

Contemporary (当代的) art has been greatly influenced by the rapid development in digital technology and by the new, more attractive and tougher materials that artists can work with. Both these innovations (新事物) have opened new artistic fields. They have also allowed contemporary artists to reduce time spent making artwork to a minimum, thus freeing them to focus more on creativity and developing new ideas, as well as sound preparation for artwork.

In the past, painting and drawing depended on the artist’s skills in using his traditional tools — the pencil, brushes, or chalks. The artist, through traditional steps, was in control of the color, the degrees of the different shades, or the realism of his works of art. Artists today operate with clicks of the mouse, video tools and digital colors.

The various options now available to artists through new technologies may sometimes have a dangerously negative effect because they offer the artists means of expression that they never imagined were possible. Faced with so many options, the artist may be confused and these emotions are immediately reflected in his works. His artwork may become increasingly lacking in imagination or spirit. There is no doubt that the human touch in the classical school of painting had a major influence on the shape of the painting and the effect of the tools, particularly when an artist used his or her fingers to place the special effects and touches on his or her work. Today’s modern technology has, however, reduced the need for the human artistic touch. Computer-oriented artists sometimes produce masterpieces by accident. Consequently, the artwork upon completion may be entirely different from the artist’s original thought of the painting.

Contemporary artists are facing increasingly more complicated challenges to present special artwork. That’s because many recent technological advances have expanded and diversified (使多样化) the art world. Clearly, artists today find it more challenging than ever to present original and innovative ideas, and they need to stretch their imagination to succeed.