Excess of waste is a result of inefficient practices

Panelists speaking on the second day of the 8th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF) considered that the urban development recycling industry should be downsized if measures are introduced to avoid the excess of waste.

Panelist Tang Wei, vice president at the Shanghai Construction Group Co Ltd, suggested during the talk, titled “Smart City and Sustainable Infrastructure Development, ” that Chinese enterprises should share their advanced technology with the world in order to contribute to the development of global recycling efforts.

“When we acquire advanced technology domestically, we will welcome and be willing to integrate them in international business operations,” said Tang. 

Huang Zheng, vice president of Volvo Group China’s Public Affairs and Communication department, pointed out that it would be interesting to examine if large vehicles, such as trucks and other construction vehicles, could be shared in a similar manner to bicycle-sharing schemes.

Huang noted that unlike bicycles, heavy vehicles have a stable customer base, which makes it an area worth exploring.

ZTE Corporation vice president Guo Jinzhang offered his opinion on cyber and data safety, stating that ZTE has indeed encountered cyber and data safety problems.

He explained that “a city, during its development process, ends up forming several intelligence-isolated islands, such as transportation, education and medical networks.”

He clarified that “intelligence-isolated islands” referred to sectors that do not share data with each other, which makes data sharing and integration within city sectors a matter of utmost importance.

Despite this, Guo asserted that it is crucial to ensure that each network’s data is safely and properly shared.

Tang also emphasized the importance of achieving sustainability for a construction company. “I think development stems from reusing urban development waste and from recycling resources,” he said, adding that “regarding the construction waste industry, […] we all hope that the waste can be integrated and reused as it is a type of resource.”

Tang expects that the urban development recycling industry will decrease in size because “if we can achieve more precise manufacturing [methods], there will be less and less waste,” remarking that the present excess of waste was a result of inefficient practices.

However, Tang admitted accumulating large amounts of urban development waste was inevitable at the current stage.

In another discussion, the panelists voiced their opinions regarding the possibility of working from home.

In Huang Zheng’s opinion, “from a technological point of view, working from home is already attainable.”

He noted that challenges of having a society where people work from home are worth discussing, such as whether it would be deemed socially acceptable.

In a separate talk, Guo discussed the problems societies encounter when developing cities into “smart cities” – of which the biggest problems of the transition are, according to him, related to investment and data sharing. JZ

IIIEF concludes with 24 business contracts

According to the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, more than 220 sessions of business talks and 24 business contracts, framework agreements or memorandums of understanding were arranged during the IIICF, which concluded on Friday. Over 1,700 participants from 63 countries and regions attended. The participants included 57 guests of ministerial level.