With the advancement of science and technology comes national prosperity; with strong technology comes national strength. On June 24, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Science and Technology Conference, the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, and the Academicians’ Conference, stating: "Strategic high-tech fields are making new leaps forward, with ‘Chang'e’ exploring the moon, ‘Tianhe’ stationed in space, ‘Tianwen’ probing Mars, and ‘Earth One’ advancing deep into the Earth..." He emphasized that Chinese-style modernization must be supported by technological modernization and that achieving high-quality development relies on cultivating new momentum through technological innovation.
To thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, on August 23, Wu Yan, a member of the Ministry of Education’s Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister, visited the Tarim Oilfield in Xinjiang to conduct an on-site investigation of the "Earth One" 10,000-meter drilling rig. He was accompanied by relevant leaders from the Ministry of Education, Academician Sun Youhong from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and senior officials including Cai Lidong, Executive Vice President of Jilin University, Chang Yi, Dean of the Research Institute, and Yi Changtao, Party Secretary of the College of Construction Engineering, along with leaders from the Autonomous Region’s Department of Education and the Prefectural Education Bureau.
During his visit to the Tarim Oilfield, Cai Lidong expressed heartfelt condolences to Gao Ke, the Director of the Petroleum Engineering Department of the College of Construction Engineering, and Wang Haiyong, a faculty member, for their dedication to the drilling rig site. He thanked them for their outstanding contributions to national technological advancement and the university’s research endeavours. Following this, he engaged in in-depth discussions with Liu Qiang, General Manager of PetroChina Tarim Oilfield, emphasizing the need to strengthen communication and collaboration, leverage talent advantages, and promote the deep integration of industry, academia, and research to advance university-enterprise cooperation into a new phase.
The "Earth One" 10,000-meter continental scientific drilling rig is a significant achievement of the cooperation between Jilin University and enterprises, integrating industry, academia, and research applications. Since May 2019, the "Earth One" rig has been performing ultra-deep oil and gas drilling tasks in the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, having completed the drilling of six wells over 8,000 meters deep and one well over 9,000 meters deep. It has set multiple records in deep oil and gas drilling, completing a drilling depth of 8,745 meters in just 92.96 days, with a maximum single-day drilling depth reaching one mile. The rig is currently engaged in its eighth deep oil and gas drilling project.
