Beijing, China - Nov 3, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of China Science Fiction Convention 2019 in progress, guests at convention
2. Various of promo clips of "Alita: Battle Angel"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Miguel Nicolelis, neurobiologist, Duke University:
"About 20 years ago, we named the Spartan, a 'brain machine interface'. And as the name says the goal here was to try to study these electrical brainstorms by actually linking directly brain study devices that we control very well, like robotic arms, or robotic limbs or even avatars, virtual bodies that we could generate from computer screens. And the idea was can a subject, an animal, or a human being control the movement pf these devices directly just by thinking."
4. Various of sci-fi machinery, space suits, weapons at exhibition
5. Visitors watching video on screen
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Liu Cixin, science fiction writer (partially overlaid with shots 7-8):
"For the first time in history, it directly changes our physiology. For example, it is able to cure lots of incurable diseases in the past by genetic modification on humans. What's even more 'sci-fi' is that it could greatly extend people's lifespan and enhance some abilities of human in certain aspects. All of these are most likely to become the most sought after in the sci-fi field."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Visitors browsing books
8. Various of science fiction stories written by Liu
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9. Visitors looking at robots for children
10. Robots for children
11. Children reading science fiction books
12. Science fiction books on display
13. Various of sci-fi paintings

The China Science Fiction Convention 2019 opened in Beijing on Sunday, gathering thousands of fans and more than 30 masters of the sci-fi genre from home and abroad to share their visions of the future.

First hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology in 2016, this year's convention was themed as "Science Fiction for Creation, Fantastic Imagination for Future", and saw seminars and talks by leading sci-fi figures as well as displays of memorabilia and books.

While enhanced human warriors with mechanical and electronic modifications may have seemed like the stuff of dreams in sci-fi movies, scientists have been working to turn what was once just the work of fiction into a reality.

A speech at the conference by Miguel Nicolelis, a neurobiologist from Duke University, on brain-machine interfaces which seek to make machinery an extension of the human body, offered a glimpse into the science-based future of such sophisticated equipment which could come to be controlled by the power of thought.

"About 20 years ago, we named the Spartan, a 'brain machine interface'. And as the name says the goal here was to try to study these electrical brainstorms by actually linking directly brain study devices that we control very well, like robotic arms, or robotic limbs or even avatars, virtual bodies that we could generate from computer screens. And the idea was can a subject, an animal, or a human being control the movement pf these devices directly just by thinking," said Nicolelis.

Also in attendance at the convention was renowned Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin, who gained greater global recognition this year after the box office success of the film adaption of his 2009 novel "The Wandering Earth."

After experiencing the rise in early space exploration and the digital boom of the Internet era, Liu says he has now turned his interest towards molecular biology-related technologies which he expects will become an important theme for future sci-fi works.

"For the first time in history, it directly changes our physiology. For example, it is able to cure lots of incurable diseases in the past by genetic modification on humans. What's even more 'sci-fi' is that it could greatly extend people's lifespan and enhance some abilities of human in certain aspects. All of these are most likely to become the most sought after in the sci-fi field," said Liu.

Meanwhile, a report issued by the China Association for Science and Technology regarding the Chinese science fiction industry in 2019 was made public at the conference. It noted the output value of China's sci-fi industry in the first half of this year exceeded 30 billion yuan (4.3 billion U.S. dollars), up 40 percent year on year, while the country's sci-fi industry has maintained high-speed development with a range of books, films and TV shows having performed strongly.

The report said the total output value of sci-fi prints in the first half of 2019 has reached 1.38 billion yuan, equivalent to 77 percent of the whole year of 2018. The value of sci-fi genre films released in the first half of 2019 hit over 17.2 billion yuan, of which domestically-made movies accounted for 6.8 billion yuan of the total. The domestic sci-fi gaming industry also made more than 1.1 billion yuan during the first half of the year, according to the report.