BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

MULTICELLULAR FOSSILS

Chinese archaeologists have discovered a batch of fossils of multicellular eukaryotes that date back to 1.63 billion years ago, setting the world’s oldest record of such fossils. These well-preserved microfossils, Qingshania magnifica, were found in the Yanshan Mountains of north China.

The discovery was made by researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It marks another advancement after they found decimeter-sized fossils of multicellular eukaryotes in this region in 2016, and pushes back the emergence of such organisms by about 70 million years.

WORLD ROBOT CONTEST

The World Robot Contest Finals 2023 kicked off in Baishan City in northeast China’s Jilin Province on Friday, with over 5,000 teams and more than 8,000 contestants competing on-site.

The contest includes various categories, such as the brain-controlled robot competition and the youth robot design contest, and will conclude on Jan. 31. The event attracted nearly 300,000 players from over 20 countries and regions, competing in both online and offline matches.

SOFTWARE, INFO-TECH SECTOR

China’s software and information technology services industry raked in 12.33 trillion yuan (about 1.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in business revenues in 2023, up 13.4 percent year on year, with the growth rate increasing by 2.2 percentage points compared to that in 2022.

The number of firms in the sector with annual business revenues exceeding 20 million yuan exceeded 38,000 in 2023.