BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- For a wind farm facing an approaching typhoon, a forecast is no longer just a warning. It can help operators decide when to stop turbines and when to safely restart them, cutting unnecessary shutdowns and power-generation losses.
China's meteorological services are increasingly embedded in real-world planning and decision-making, a trend on display at the 5th Meteorological Economy Forum, held during the ongoing China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing.
At the forum, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced the nationwide expansion of China's wind and solar resource survey. Built on a dataset covering more than 10 years of hourly data at 1-km resolution, the survey has expanded from pilot programs in six provinces to provide detailed "meteorological genetic profiles" for prospective wind and solar projects, supporting site selection and risk assessment.
Xu Xiaofeng, president of the Chinese Meteorological Service Association, said the survey goes beyond a simple assessment of resource volume to a comprehensive evaluation of resource endowment and development risks -- whether resources are stable, complementary and what risks they may face.
"The survey will provide a unified and reliable data foundation for renewable energy planning, helping with decisions on project siting and the configuration of wind, solar, energy storage and transmission capacity," he said.
Businesses are making similar use of increasingly granular weather data, combining it with operational information to support decisions tailored to specific industries.
Moji Weather, once best known as a consumer weather app, is among those expanding into industry-focused services, bringing weather intelligence into sectors ranging from energy and aviation to rail transit.
Jin Ruichao, general manager of Moji Weather's government and enterprise business department, likened the process to a chef preparing a customized meal. "We bring our meteorological capabilities and data, while clients bring their business data and industry experience," he said. "By putting these 'ingredients' together, we can develop solutions tailored to their specific needs."
For instance, the company has worked with Xizang Airlines to develop tailored meteorological services for high-altitude airports. Its AI model for forecasting plateau thunderstorms provides 120-minute forecasts updated every six minutes, with an accuracy rate of more than 75 percent, helping avoid 44 flight diversions and returns.
The company also unveiled a meteorological solution for China's new power system at the forum, centered on its "ElectroMetis" energy SaaS platform. The platform integrates high-resolution weather data and AI forecasts with satellite, radar and on-site information, delivering more precise support for decisions on power generation, grid operations, trading and maintenance.
AI is further expanding the reach of such services by turning forecasts into operational instructions.
Yuanjing Tianji, a weather foundation model developed by Envision Group, can generate global forecasts up to 45 days ahead at a 5-km resolution, with updates every 10 minutes. It ranked first in the latest WeatherBench 2 evaluation, ahead of models from Google and Microsoft.
During this year's typhoon season, the model provided decision support throughout the entire lifecycle of a storm, from pre-landfall equipment inspections and resource deployment to turbine shutdown and restart decisions, as well as post-storm maintenance planning.
Zhang Pu, a senior executive from Envision Group, said more precise weather information can help turn meteorological uncertainty into better operational decisions. "By quantifying meteorological uncertainty, we can strike a better balance between safety and returns," Zhang said.
China's meteorological services are also extending this decision-support approach beyond its borders. Rather than simply providing weather data, China is increasingly offering forecasting, early-warning and decision-support capabilities tailored to the needs of different countries and sectors.
In cooperation with ASEAN countries, China has established regular mechanisms for meteorological data sharing, joint analysis and technical cooperation, particularly on typhoons, torrential rains and floods. Fengyun satellite emergency services provide high-frequency remote-sensing products to countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia during major weather events.
MAZU, an AI-powered integrated meteorological system for early warning developed by the CMA, is another prime example. It combines Fengyun satellite observations, numerical weather prediction and AI models, and can be deployed through cloud-based services or locally to suit different countries' conditions and disaster risks.
As of July 2026, MAZU had been deployed in seven countries -- Pakistan, Ethiopia, the Solomon Islands, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Djibouti -- while its cloud-based services were in regular use by meteorological authorities in more than 40 countries.
"The MAZU initiative demonstrates the value of international cooperation in building stronger multi-hazard early-warning capacity," said Unny Sankar Ravi Sankar, minister for economic affairs at the Embassy of Malaysia in Beijing. He also noted that China and Malaysia are deepening cooperation in renewable energy, energy storage and smart-grid solutions.
Xu said China is contributing to efforts to strengthen other countries' capacity to monitor and respond to extreme weather, while playing a more active role in global climate governance through meteorological cooperation.
"By sharing data, technology and early-warning capabilities, China can help other countries better respond to extreme weather while making a greater contribution to global climate governance," Xu said. ■
