The 21st CHITEC, or China Beijing International High-Tech Expo, is currently drawing big crowds in showcasing the major benefits flowing from the capital's state-of-the-art technology sector.

Organizers said the show is also demonstrating the key roles being played by young people in shaping Beijing's technological innovation. The aim of the event, which started on Thursday and ends Sunday, is to promote the commercialization, market-oriented operations and internationalization of the technology industry.

Among the areas of endeavor taking center stage are the home automation, industrial internet, new-energy smart automobiles, healthcare and new materials.

The new-energy smart automobile stands display progress in the key technologies related to autonomous driving. Visitors can learn about the intelligent driving simulation test systems developed by Beijing-based HiRain Technologies Co, as well as the low-speed autonomous driving vehicle brought out by Idriverplus, founded in 2015.

Elsewhere at the event, Beijing's Capital Youth Technology Innovation Exhibition invites younger people to learn about commercializing their achievements.

This exhibition displays projects, including those by prizewinners from an innovation and entrepreneurship competition in Beijing, as well as the fruits of extracurricular activities of college students in the city.

Among them is a new generation environmentally-friendly titanium battery, which boasts a clean and pollution-free chain from production to use, developed by a Beijing-based technology company. The company has won important awards at several young people-focused innovation and entrepreneurship competitions.

Tsinghua University is exhibiting a mechanical arm at this year's expo, which won first prize at an extracurricular scientific and technological competition hosted by the university recently. The arm can alter its shape, enabling it to avoid obstacles, making it highly adaptable, insiders said.

The youth-focused exhibition welcomed about 100 young people from Xinghe county in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, with an aim to help broaden the young visitors' horizons and increase their sense of innovation, organizers said.

Local companies in Beijing have also brought along their high-tech products to show off. Tsinghua Unigroup has been exhibiting the progress it has made in innovation in the fields of chips and cloud computing, including a flash memory chip. The group is currently China's biggest comprehensive integrated circuit company and the world's third-biggest mobile phone chip group, according to its official website.

Beijing Automotive Group is displaying its achievements, especially in new-energy automobiles. Visitors have the opportunity to explore the company's technology in new energy cars, its representatives said. They added that the car manufacturer aims to become a world-class new-energy auto scientific and tech innovation leader.

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, a key region in the capital's ambitions to become a national scientific and technological innovation hub, also joined this year's expo.

Its exhibition display consists of six parts - new-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing and robots, biological medicine and healthcare, advanced autos and new-energy autos, new materials, and scientific and technological cultural integration.

More than 60 companies, including e-commerce retailer JD and German automaker Mercedes-Benz, drew in visitors to learn about the area's latest progress in innovation.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/18/2018 page10)