SCO members impressed by Tianjin's smart eco-city

A representative from Kyrgyzstan expressed willingness to cooperate with China in smart city construction when visiting the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City on Monday.

"I have rarely seen an eco-city with such a high level of intelligence, especially the smart waste sorting technology, which is very much worth learning," said Aziz Kanatbek, director of the Institute of Geostrategic Studies of Kyrgyzstan.

Representatives from five Shanghai Cooperation Organization member countries gathered in Tianjin for the Global Mayors Dialogue · SCO Summit Cities, which opened on Tuesday.

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City is a joint project between China and Singapore. Initiated in 2008, it is the world's first intergovernmental cooperative eco-city.

In this city, data from smart communities, smart education, smart healthcare, and other scenarios are monitored in real-time by the City Brain.

"The entire city is like being integrated into a supercomputer," said Zhao Kejie, a staff member at the City Brain.

"The City Brain system can process over 100,000 data points per second and promptly push alerts for situations such as heavy rain warnings or elevator malfunctions," she explained.

Kanatbek was also impressed by the experience of riding an autonomous bus. In the eco-city, people can book rides on self-driving buses, which navigate safely using lidar and omnidirectional cameras.

"Even in rainy or foggy weather, the buses can accurately detect pedestrians, vehicles, and even stray cats that suddenly appear," said Wang Hongxi, the head of operations and scheduling at Tianjin Eco-city Green Transportation.

"I hope and believe that Kyrgyzstan will cooperate more deeply with China in the construction of eco-cities," Kanatbek said.

Bao Yan contributed to this story.

yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn