Key words at Boao Forum 'future transportation' talks

World
Europe

Recent tech development has brought about anticipations for future transportation, with hyperloop, manned drone and autonomous cars being tested everywhere.

But what will the final result look like? CGTN host Tian Wei has moderated a discussion on this topic at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in southern China on Monday. We extracted some keywords to give you a more realistic sense.

Tian Wei hosts the talk. /CGTN Photo‍

Click here to watch our live rebroadcast of the full discussion.

Technology

Technology enables faster, cleaner and safer transportation means. Liu Hualong, chairman of China's leading train maker CRRC Group, stressed technology as the foundation of innovation.

Liu Hualong speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

Zhang Yue, chairman of BROAD group, shed some light on how technology could shape the future transportation. He says his company is working on lighter material for vehicles, which means faster speed.

Zhang Yue speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

However, He Xiaopeng, Chairman of XPENG Motors, a leading electric vehicle manufacturer, noticed a problem at present regarding technology. He encouraged researchers in China to make more efforts on basic technology rather than tech integration that many researchers are doing now. "That's the most important factor," Mr. He says. "To entirely reshape the future transportation."

He Xiaopeng speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

Efficiency

Efficiency is one of the most mentioned words during the forum. Many panelists shared the viewpoint that transportation in the future should be more efficient, as time is becoming more and more precious to people.

The CRRC chairman is the biggest advocate for efficiency among the attendees. Liu said efficiency does not only mean getting people from one place to another faster, but letting people do whatever they want on the way, helping them save time.

Safety

Safety is the key words to John Chen, executive chairman of Blackberry. He stresses any transportation should put safety first. He also cites the unfortunate accident of self driving car from Uber to validate his point.

John Chen speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

Yasumi Kudo, chairman of NYK Line, said safety matters not only to the people, but also the environment. He mentioned shipping creates a lot of carbon dioxide emissions, and future transportation should be environment friendly.

Yasumi Kudo speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

However, Freeman Shen, founder of WM Motor, pointed out we should not let safety be the roadblock on the way to future transportation. He said if we put too much focus on safety, it's unlikely to have any innovation.

Freeman Shen speaks at the discussion. /VCG Photo

Panelists also discussed the possible geopolitical effect to future transportation. Citing the current China-US trade dispute, Liu from CRRC expressed that there will be no winner in a trade war. The company faces many trade barriers now when exporting their products and it could be an unforgettable factor that influences people's daily lives.