Day: March 21, 2026

As China undergoes a sweeping economic transition, its regions are also in the process of embracing change. The powerhouses of yesteryear must adapt or risk falling behind, as traditional industries become less reliable growth drivers and new sectors take prominence. In this series, we explore three representative areas of the country as they attempt to navigate this rapidly changing environment. One morning in December, Zhang Li showed up for work as normal at Everwin Toys in Dongguan to find a notice pinned to the factory gates. The message was brief…

China has joined the global top-tier timekeeping club with a new optical clock that could help it play a leading role in redefining the second. A team, led by Pan Jianwei at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, has built a strontium optical clock that would lose or gain less than one second over about 30 billion years – more than twice the age of the universe. The clock’s key parameters, known as stability and uncertainty, both surpassed the level of 10 to the power of…