News

China-made trains enter service in Istanbul’s new metro line

Published

8 months ago

24/01/2023

ISTANBUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) — A new metro line connecting central Istanbul and the city’s new international airport officially opened to the public on Sunday, featuring China-made automated driverless trains that could run up to 120 kilometers per hour.

“This 800,000 daily capacity metro line will allow travel from Kagithane Station to the Istanbul Airport in 24 minutes,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the opening ceremony.

The fully-automated, driverless trains were built by Chinese company CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd. (CRRC ZELC), which signed a purchase and commissioning contract with Türkiye’s Directorate-General of Infrastructure Investments back in January 2020.

The 34-kilometer metro line between the Kagithane Station in central Istanbul and the city’s new international airport boasts Türkiye’s fastest trains, and the vehicles running the line are China’s first 120km/h automated driverless metro project for the overseas market, according to CRRC ZELC.

The contract was for 176 subway cars and required a 60 percent localization rate in Türkiye.

Haluk Oguz, a management specialist at CRRC ZELC’s subsidiary in Türkiye, told Xinhua that they have delivered 40 vehicles. “Work on the other 136 is ongoing,” he said, adding “they will be manufactured at our factory in Ankara.”

Faruk Bostanci, administrative affairs chief at CRRC Türkiye, said that “new additions (to the line), which will be made as manufacturing continues, will increase the train frequency and provide a faster, more convenient transportation network for Istanbul residents.”

After trying out the train, Istanbul resident Emirhan Ersoy praised the new vehicles. “Both the heating system and the visual screens are very nice, and the sound system works very well,” he said, adding that the high capacity of the cabins was another point of distinction.

The vehicles operate in a 4-car formation with a maximum capacity of 1,100 passengers. The exterior of the trains is decorated with Turkish cultural elements such as tulip motifs.

Yalcin Eyigun, general manager of the Directorate-General of Infrastructure Investments at Turkish Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry, praised the Chinese partner for overcoming all kinds of difficulties during the project despite the COVID-19 pandemic-related setbacks.

Over the past decade, CRRC ZELC has supplied more than 400 metro vehicles to Türkiye, which are now operating in its three largest cities, namely Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

Zhou Qinghe, chairman of the board of the CRRC ZELC, said that his company is willing to strengthen cooperation with Türkiye and write new chapters of “shared growth through discussion and collaboration.”

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Fayyaz: We have no agreement with the Democrats

Published

2 hours ago

04/10/2023

MDP’s Chairperson, Fayyaz Ismail has said today that even if the Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, has said that MDP has agreed to the referendum for changing the governing system, there has been no such agreement between MDP and the Democrats.

Heading today’s Parliamentary sitting, Nasheed said that MDP has informed the Democrats that they will give their full cooperation to the referendum.

“As far as I know, MDP asked the Democrats to not support any party and if they do so MDP will cooperate with the referendum,” Nasheed said.

Speaking to Sun, Fayyaz said, in response to Nasheed, that there is no agreement between MDP and the Democrats and that Nasheed was adding to the truth. He also said that he does not know any reason for Nasheed to do so.

“That is not correct information. I don’t know why Nasheed said that,” Fayyaz said.

Nasheed, who left MDP, after remaining the leader of the party for many years, due to issues between President Solih and himself, said today that he can no longer trust MDP.

After MDP’s primary elections, Nasheed refused to support President Solih. When the relationship between them both soured further and the people who supported Nasheed left MDP and established a new political party called the Democrats.

After the Election Commission registered the party, Nasheed also left MDP and signed up for the Democrats.

The interim council of the Democrats, who received seven percent in the first round of the presidential elections, presented both of the two main political parties with heavy conditions. However, the interim Chairperson of Democrats, Hassan Latheed, even said that they decided not to support either party in the second round as both parties refused to agree to the conditions.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Chinese leader congratulates Muizzu, seeks to reinforce ties

Published

22 hours ago

03/10/2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on winning the Maldives presidential election on Tuesday, expressing keenness in deepening the age-old ties between Maldives and China.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Chinese ambassador Wang Lixin shared a message sent by Xi, congratulating the Maldivian president-elect.

In the message, Xi noted that the friendly relations between Maldives and China date back to ancient times.

“China and Maldives are not only good friends of sincerity, mutual trust and mutual assistance, but also good partners for common development and prosperity,” he said.

Xi said that he attached great importance to the enhancement of Maldives-China relations, and expressed keenness in working with Muizzu on that front.

“I’m ready to work with you to carry forward the traditional friendship and deepen practical cooperation so as to promote China-Maldives future-oriented all-round friendly and cooperative partnership with more progress,” he said.

Maldives and China established official diplomatic relations on April 15, 1972. The relations between the two countries had seen significant enhancement during the first PPM administration from 2013-2018.

Muizzu, from the PPM-PNC, won the presidential election runoff on Saturday with 54 percent of votes, beating MDP’s Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the incumbent president, who won 46 percent.

Source(s): sun.mv

World

Saudi Arabia hosts China-Arab publishing cooperation forum

Published

23 hours ago

03/10/2023

RIYADH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — The China-Arab States Publishing Cooperation and Exchange Forum was held on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Under the theme of “Deepening China-Arab Publishing Cooperation and Exchanges, Promoting Mutual Learning between Chinese and Arab Civilizations,” publishers from China and Arab countries reviewed their cooperation in translation, publishing, copyright trade, book fair platforms and online publishing.

The summit also paved the way for a translation project of 100 Chinese and Arab classics, exploring the establishment of a China-Saudi Arabia online publishing exchange mechanism, jointly expanding the platform for international cooperation, and promoting mutual learning between Chinese and Arab civilizations.

The event was attended by a senior official with the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), representatives from the Arab Publishers Association and the Saudi Scientific Research and Knowledge Exchange Center, as well as more than 100 Chinese and Arab publishers, scholars, experts and writers.

Source(s): Xinhua