July 2021 Newsletter
Dear friends of the HVTT Forum,
We are now only five weeks away from the HVTT16 symposium in China and most of the pieces are falling into place. We have a very exciting symposium to look forward to. There will be around sixty papers with very relevant and interesting content presented during the three days. In addition, there will be several side events in which world-leading developments in the Chinese transport industry will be presented and discussed.
The Covid-19 pandemic still presents a challenge for international travel to China, and so we have planned a unique form of hybrid symposium. The main meeting is, of course, in Qingdao, but we have organised so-called HVTT16 ‘Regional Hubs’ in Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, France, Canada and hopefully also in New Zealand and South Africa. These will allow people attending the conference remotely to join up with fellow conference attendees in-person in their local regions should they wish. The local Covid-19 rules will be adhered to.
The HVTT16 program has been designed to enable real-time interaction across global time zones (https://www.hvtt16.com.cn/en/schedule.php). The plenary sessions and one of the parallel sessions will be livestreamed, including simultaneous translation. All events will be recorded and will be accessible to all participants via the HVTT16 webpage. This will allow participants to view the presentations at any time. The HVTT16 Regional Hubs will receive a program tailored to the local time zone.
Would you like to participate in an HVTT16 Regional Hub? More information on the hubs with local contact details will be made available on soon on the HVTT16 webpage.
In conjunction with the HVTT16 symposium there will be an exhibition on road transport technology. A walk-through of that exhibition will also be made available to all participants. As part of this, China’s first domestically designed B-double combination will be on display!
For the transport industry in China, to contribute to decarbonization here and now the single most efficient measure is to allow for longer vehicle combinations, which can reduce CO2 emissions per ton-km by up to 50%. This is why the HVTT16 symposium is so meaningful. We are expecting to hear official announcements during the symposium that China now will take firm steps to allow for High Capacity Transport. Since China is the world’s largest road transport market, such a change will have a very positive impact on reducing CO2 emissions from road transport equipment globally. This is of course only one of many topics relevant to the HVTT community. At the HVTT16 symposium we will have a wide range of topics, related to all facets of road freight transport, including tyres, infrastructure, road safety, automation and digitization.
The next five weeks will be very intensive for the organizing committees in China and for the regional forums. Please don’t forget to formally register if you have not yet done so, and encourage your colleagues to do so too!. We have extended the early bird discount cut-off date to August 15. You can pay the registration fee via either EFT or via PayPal. For more details see the website (https://www.hvtt16.com.cn/en/register.php). Invoices can be requested from zhang.hao@rioh.cn.
On a final note, as is customary, a few words about the weather. Parts of China have recently been struck by torrential rains and devastating flooding. New strong typhoons are striking the Chinese coast. In China, as in many other parts of the world, this kind of extreme weather may be caused by global warming. Much of the world is committing to reducing CO2 emissions, and China has set a target of net zero emissions by 2060, with peak CO2 emissions by 2030.
See you all soon in the hybrid HVTT16!
Best regards,
Mats Harborn
Vice President, Asia
