To promote high-quality development of meteorology in China, the country’s State Council issued an outline of its plan on May 19.

By 2025, a modern weather forecast system using scientific innovation, service, business and management will be further upgraded, and core meteorological technologies will become completely self-reliant. By 2035, major breakthroughs in key meteorological technology areas will be made, as China becomes a world leader in meteorological monitoring, forecasting and services. Meteorology modernization featuring smart technologies will be achieved by 2035, according to the outline.

China will intensify independent innovation on meteorological technologies, accelerate research on core technologies, and strengthen deeply integrated application of artificial intelligence, big data, and quantum computation with meteorology. Furthermore, more efforts will be made to build the meteorological technology innovation platform and mechanism.

Fundamental meteorology will be developed by building a land-sea-air-space integrative, cooperative and highly efficient precise meteorological monitoring system, with forecasting becoming increasingly precise. Digital and intelligent transformation will also be facilitated, while building an open data and sharing platform.

As meteorology is the first line of defense in disaster prevention and mitigation, China will improve meteorological disaster monitoring and forecasting and early-warning in order to build a national emergency early-warning information publishing system. By promoting 5G technology and community broadcast, China will enhance the whole society’s meteorological disaster prevention and management abilities.

Plans will be formulated and implemented to enhance the country’s ability to modify weather.

High-quality meteorological services for the national economy will be boosted. In order to better serve the agricultural industry, advanced technologies and devices such as hyperspectral remote sensing will be further applied in agriculture monitoring.

Meteorological services will also be seen supporting the marine industry and transportation industry. Meteorological services will be mainly offered to major transportation projects such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, the new international land-sea trade corridor, and South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

Meteorology will bolster regional coordinated development, providing high-quality services to support Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development, Yangtze Economic Belt, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrative growth of the Yangtze River Delta, and the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.

An innovative public meteorological service model will come into being, covering both urban and rural areas.

China’s Fengyun meteorological satellite will enhance its global services for countries along the Belt and Road, according to the outline.