China in Africa

The floating device is in operation since 2 years and has since supplied electricity to Dawanshan Island offshore Guangdong. Dawanshan island has an area of 8.1 km2 and a population of about 3,000. 36 m long Sharp Eagle” is equipped with 4 wave energy absorbers symmetrically mounted on a semi-submersible platform, and 2 independent sets of hydraulic systems with a multi-power complementary system generating up to 200 kW wave power, a 50 kW photovoltaic system, batteries, inverters, and devices for data acquisition, monitoring equipment and satellite transmission.”

China Bio news release, July 24, 2017

The groups of LIU Jinhuai and KONG Lingtao’s from the Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, prepared β-cyclodextrin polymers crosslinked with rigid aromatic groups and tested for lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) removal. The negatively charged β-CD polymers showed adsorption capacities at 25 oC for Pb, Cu and Cd of 196, 164 and 136 mg/g when the initial concentration was 200 mg/L. The adsorption process was completed in 5 min.

CAS news release, July 21, 2017

According to a master plan published by the State Council, China will strive to build an AI-based industry worth 148 billion USD by 2030, highlighting China’s determination to achieve breakthroughs in core AI technologies and accelerate its application in the manufacturing, service, agriculture and other sectors. Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu, said China is highly likely to outpace the United States in the application of AI, as local companies scramble to experiment with new ideas and benefit from the country’s huge user base. The company plans to mass-produce its driverless vehicles within four years.

CAS news release, July 21, 2017

The insurance which is controlled by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and includes representatives from the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions has defined 36 drugs which are now included in the 2017 drug catalogue. The 36 drugs include 31 Western and 5 Chinese pharmaceuticals. Compared with the average retail price in 2016, the average prize reduction reached 44%, the highest reached 70%, and most of the imported drugs are lower compared to international market prices. Half of the drugs are antitumor drugs, 15 of them from Western companies. The article contains a list of all 36 drugs and the negotiated prices.

China Bio news release, July 20, 2017

Simvastatin (Zocor) is among the top pharmaceuticals on the market. A group at CAS QIBEBT, in cooperation with Hisun Pharmaceuticals, has elaborated an improved pathway for the production of this chemical which includes microbial production of lovastatin through Aspergillus terreus fermentation, alkaline hydrolysis of lovastatin to produce monacolin J, and chemical transformation of monacolin J to simvastatin. Engineered mutants of an Aspergillus terreus strain cleave the side-chain of lovastatin with high selectivity and hydrolyze about 95% of the biosynthesized lovastatin to monacolin J.

CAS news release, July 20, 2017

The book gathers nearly 3,000 species of medicinal plants from 22 families which have been used as phytomedical resource for generations in regions throughout China, including Tibet, Taiwan and Hongkong. The 10 volume study was published on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Zhejiang Province’s Food and Drug Research Institute.

China Bio news release, July 19, 2017

WU Zhongshuai, BAO Xinhe and others from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and REN Wencai and CHENG Huiming from CAS Institute of Metal Research have developed a flexible micro-supercapacitor for energy storage. They stacked phosphorene nanosheets and electrochemically exfoliated graphene in ionic liquid electrolyte by layer-by-layer deposition. A customized interdigital mask assistance is needed during this process. The films were then directly transferred onto a flexible substrate who showed good uniformity, flexibility, conductivity (319 s/cm) and structural integration. The energy density of such micro-supercapacitors can reach up to 11.6 mWh cm-3 in ionic liquid electrolyte. They are considered promising power sources candidates for fully integrated electronics

CAS news release, July 19, 2017

The center will be built in Liaoning’s medical industry clinical demonstration base and focus on medical robot R&D including clinical applications.

China Bio news release, July 18, 2017

After public concerns on the import of 61,000 t of genetically modified corn by COFCO, the government has clarified that currently 11 kinds of genetically modified corn are allowed for import. A Development and Reform Commission official said that the import of genetically modified corn cannot affect the domestic market, because the import quota is only 7.2 million tons, less than 5%. of the total domestic consumption of 150 million tons. The import is strongly opposed by Greenpeace China, with arguments that even if the genetically modified crop itself does not seem the problem temporarily, there are lots of uncertainties in the process of traveling through the sea to China.

China Bio news release, July 14, 2017

According to an NFDA official, China produces nearly 5,000 drug raw materials (APIs) providing an annual income of over 2.5 trillion yuan. Cose to 50 pharmaceutical companies are certified by European and American agencies and export APIs for over 13.5 billion US$. Problems to be solved are excess product production capacity caused by low-cost competition, export tax rebates, the pressure of RMB appreciation, and lack of extension of the value chain within China.

China Bio news release, July 13, 2017

The world’s total soybean production is 338.8 million tons, of which non-genetically modified soybean is 54 million tons (15%). 25% of the world’s non-GM soybeans are produced in China. China’s demand is 86 million tons of soybean imports. So the import of genetically modified soybeans is inevitable. Productivity of US genetically modified soybean is 176 kg/mu, whereas China’s main soybean-producing province Heilongjiang achieves around 130 kg/mu. In order to change this situation, the Chinese government promotes independent research and development of transgenic technology, but the public opinion is skeptical.

China Bio news release, July 12, 2017

The group of Qianwang CHEN has developed Ruthenium-cobalt nanoalloys encapsulated in nitrogen-doped graphene as an improved catalyst to produce hydrogen production from alkaline water. The catalysts displays remarkable performance with low overpotentials of only 28 mV and 218 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively, and shows excellent stability of 10 000 cycles. Ruthenium is the cheapest Platinum group metal and its amount in the catalyst is only 3.58 wt.%, showing the catalyst high activity at a very competitive price.

CAS news release, July 12, 2017

The Guangzhou-based consortium will include KingMed Diagnostics, Daan Gene and others in a South China Precision Medical and Translational Medicine Center” which includes gene sequencing,in vitro diagnostics, molecular imaging, cancer treatment, a maternity hospital and an auxiliary reproductive center, and immune cell therapy applied research. The consortium will also help to develop modern TCM which is considered a genuine Chinese personalized medicine and might offer a much more rational approach in future through the use and management of “big data”. “

China Bio news release, July 7, 2017

The group around TAN Tianwei of BUCT has described the metabolic network of Corynebacterium glutamicum in a network model which contains 773 genes, 950 metabolites and 1207 biochemical reactions and can accurately predict the specific growth rate of Corynebacterium glutamicum using different carbon sources. Using the network, a L-proline engineering strain was designed and constructed. L-proline yield was 66 g/L, the conversion of sugar and acid was 0.26 g/g, and production rate was 1.11 g/L/h in an essential medium with glucose as the sole carbon source.

China Bio news release, July 6, 2017

Somatic cloning of dogs is considered difficult due to problems in estrus identification, complex oocyte maturation and poor quality of dog oocytes. Sinogene Co. has achieved success to overcome all three problems in Beagles and has established embryo transfer technology for the breeding of dogs cloned from somatic cell lines. In addition, Sinogene has used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing techniques to knock out the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, thus developing an atherosclerotic disease model dog. From somatic cells of this dog, a dog Longlong (“Dragon”) was cloned on May 28, weighing 200 g. Sinogene Co. will offer commercial dog cloning services worldwide by establishing a gene-editing development and research base and a bank for somatic cells and genes. Sinogene will also offer to pet owners to use the company’s biological sample repository to store genes and cells of their pets for future stem cell therapy.

CAS news release, June 5, 2017