China in Africa

According to the journal, these are:

1. developing clonal seeds from hybrid rice

WANG Kejian, from the China National Rice Research Institute and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, conducted simultaneous genome engineering of meiosis and fertilization genes to develop the clonal seeds

• A slurry tunnel-boring machine challenged a cross-sea project

A 12.26m diameter slurry tunnel boring machine (TBM) designed by CREG excavated a 2.9km long double-track metro rail tunnel under the Suoyu Bay in the city of Dalian in northeast China

• Beijing Daxing International Airport broke several world records

The roof of the terminal building consists of a central skylight, six strip skylights and eight bubble-shaped windows. It needed to be spliced with 12,800 pieces of glass in different shapes and materials, connected by 12,300 spherical nodes and more than 60,000 rods. The roof looks like it is made up of clouds, but weighs more than 30,000 tons

• a first rocket into space was launched from a sea platform

A Long March 11 solid-propellant carrier rocket blasted off at 12:06 pm on June 5 from a mobile launch platform — a modified submersible craft — in the Yellow Sea off the eastern province of Shandong and then sent seven satellites into orbit about 600 kilometers above the Earth,

• a high-speed maglev train prototype was tested

a prototype magnetic-levitation train with a designed maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour was launched in Qingdao,

• work progressed on the  International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Tokamak 

a China Nuclear Power Engineering (CNPE)-led consortium won the bid for an installation project in a Tokamak Assembly Contract 1 (TAC1)

• China’s first private commercial rocket took off into orbit

iSpace, a Beijing-based private rocket company and China’s answer to SpaceX, successfully launched its prototype “SQX-1 Y1” solid rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and 

• Tianhe-2 supercomputer works out the criterion for quantum supremacy

A world’s first criterion for quantum supremacy was issued on Nov.4 in research jointly led by Prof. Wu Junjie at the National University of Defense Technology.

During the research process, a boson sampling task was performed on the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. 

© People’s Daily Engish edition, December 24, 2019

The group of ZHAO Zongbao has built an E.coli cell which uses a non‐natural cofactor and formate driven system for reductive carboxylation of pyruvate. To this end, a formate dehydrogenase (FDH) mutant, FDH*, that favors a non‐natural redox cofactor, nicotinamide cytosine dinucleotide (NCD), generates a dedicated reducing equivalent at the expense of formate. By coupling FDH* and NCD‐dependent malic enzyme (ME*), the successful utilization of formate as both CO2 source and electron donor for reductive carboxylation of pyruvate was shown, with a perfect stoichiometry between formate and malate. 

https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201915303

YU Shuhong, LIANG Haiwei and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China have reported a method for thermally transforming bacterial cellulose into graphitic carbon nanofiber aerogels (CNFAs) through controlled pyrolysis. The carbon aerogel is based on the hierarchical structure of bacterial cellulose, and maintains superelasticity without plastic deformation after 2 × 10⁶ compression cycles. It shows excellent superelasticity and fatigue resistance that do not change with temperature betweens -100 to 500 ° C. 

https://doi/10.1002/adma.201904331

The “Lyra project” was initiated by the CAS in March 2014, after basic research in a cave laboratory at Huazhong University of Science and Technology by Mr LU Shun in 1994. According to the plan, around 2035, three satellites will be placed in an orbit approximately 100,000 km away from earth to form an equilateral triangle with a side length of approximately 170,000 km. This setup will serve as a gravitational wave observatory in space and explore gravitational waves. On December 20, a Long March No. 4B carrier rocket launched a “Lyra-1” satellite and started the space test phase.

Xinhuanet, December 23, 2019

Released features include mainly compilers, simulators, model detection tools, and theorem proving devices. It is expected to provide more related software to China’s proprietary quantum computer. The platform includes a compiler that first converts a quantum program written in a high-level language into a command language, and then processes it with another tool.  A simulator simulates the operation of the quantum program on a conventional computer and checks the operation results. It plays an important role in the design and testing of quantum programs at this stage. Model detection tools can be used to verify various properties of quantum systems. The theorem prover has realized the quantum Hoare logic developed by the team. It can verify the accuracy of quantum programs, overcome computational time and storage capacity limitations in conventional computers, and provide important support for the design of large-scale quantum programs.

Japan JST China news, December 20, 2019

Human papilloma virus (HPV) can cause cervical cancer.  9-valent vaccine can neutralize 90% of cancer-causing subtypes, but cannot protect women who have already been infected with HPV.

Chen Yiyou, Chief Scientist of Nuohui Health Research Center in Zhejiang, has designed a new test for HPV in urine. With this test, detection of the currently recognized high-risk viruses are possible. Sensitivity of HPV type16 and type18 are very high, and sensitivity of detection of precancerous lesions reaches 96.8%.

Sohu news release, December 24, 2019

In 2020, network speed will be improved and costs reduced, with precisely targeted cost reductions in the areas of assistance for the poor and the disabled. Comprehensive countermeasures for nuisance calls will be put in place. In line with the commercialization of 5G, new technologies will be applied such as 4K/8K and virtual reality (VR) / augmented reality (AR), and middle-class and high-class information services will be increased. Software and information technology services revenue is expected to increase by 15%, telecommunications business volume at constant prices is expected to increase by 20% year-on-year, and Internet revenue is expected to increase by 20%.

Japan JST China news, December 24, 2019

The new Chengdu High and New Disaster Mitigation Research Institute will be built jointly with the CAS Institute of Mechanics and cooperate with the National Early Warning Information Release Center. A major target is improved warning on earthquakes.

Japan JST China news, December 25, 2019

The group of WANG Ming has developed a new CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing procedure based on the molecular self-assembly between cationic liposomes and Cas9 messenger RNA (Cas9 mRNA) nanoparticles. They showed that after the mRNA nanoparticles are injected through the tail vein of a mouse and are in mouse parenchymal cells, they are degraded by reduced glutathione in the cell, releasing Cas9 mRNA and translating Cas9 nuclease for gene editing. Using this method, GFP gene editing efficiency was as high as 90%).Cas9 mRNA nanoparticles.

CAS news release, December 27, 2019 

A team around LU Zunfeng at Nankai University in Tianjin has prepared an artificial spider silk made from polyacrylic acid and silica nanoparticles. It consists of hierarchical core-sheath structured hydrogel fibers, which are reinforced by Zn ion doping and twist insertion. The fiber exhibits a tensile strength of 895 MPa and a stretchability of 44.3%, achieving mechanical properties comparable to spider silk. The material also presents a high toughness of 370 MJ m⁻³ and a damping capacity of 95%. 

Nat Commun 10, 5293 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13257-4

According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), data receiving equipment for meteorological data from Fengyun-2H satellites has been delivered to to Kyrgyzstan and Mozambique. China has launched a total of 17 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with seven currently in orbit. The CMA has organized nine international training courses on the application of the satellites since 2013, with nearly 200 trainees attending.

Xinhua news release, November 16, 2019

At the Forum 2019 on Science and Technology for Agricultural and Rural Development in in Nanjing, a poll by experts on the 10 most significant advances in agricultural science were announced. These were:

1. Metabolomics in search of the “lost tomato flavor”. HUANG Sanwen, CAAS Shenzhen Institute of Agricultural Genomics

2. “Selfish genes” controlling fertility of indica-japonica hybrid rice crosses

WAN Jianmin, CAAS Crop Science Research Institute and Nanjing Agricultural University

3. Identification of genes with both high yield and resistance to rice blast 

LI Jiayang, CAS Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology and CHEN Xuewei, Rice Research Institute of Sichuan Agricultural University, 

4. Identification of key genes that balance yield and fertilizer efficiency in co-regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism

FU Xiangdong, CAS Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology

5. 3000 rice genomes resequencing for post-genomic rice breeding

LI Zhikang CAAS Institute of Crop Sciences 

6. Genome resequencing of 419 upland cotton core germplasms in major cotton-growing countries such as China, the United States, and Australia, for better cotton fiber quality and yield

MA Yingying, Hebei Agricultural University, and DU Xiongming, CAAS Cotton Research Institute 

7. High-density mutation map of cotton diploid population showing the molecular evolution of Asian cotton from south to north. 

LI Fuguang, CAAS Cotton Research Institute 

8. Vaccine which blocks transmission of H7N9 virus from birds to humans. 

CHEN Hualan CAAS Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural 

9. Transferable colistin resistance genes in healthy people found as high as 15%, requiring further drug resistance control and controls in livestock breeding in China. 

SHEN Jianzhong, China Agricultural University 

10. Molecular mechanism of multiple pattern recognition of receptor-mediated activation of the silk fibroin kinase cascade in plant resistance

Zhou Jianmin CAAS Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology 

Guangming Daily news, November 20, 2019 

At the China Digital Earth Convention in Beijing, an “Earth Big Data Prototype” system was announced which integrates “balls” of big data scattered around the earth into a “necklace” of big data through standardized display. This project is part of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations, a digital “Belt and Road”, and a panoramic view of China.

Xinhua news release, November 20, 2019

HE Guojin of the CAS Aerospace Information Innovation Research Institute has released a Global Forest Cover Map (GFCM) of  2018 at a 30-meter resolution. The map is based on Landsat satellite data and China-made high-resolution satellite data, using machine learning and big data analysis technology to achieve high-precision automatic extraction of global forest coverage. It correlates with the many goals of sustainable development in the UN 2030 Agenda.

CAS news release, Nov. 20, 2019

A team led by ZHOU Guanghong at Nanjing Agricultural University cultivated pig muscle stem cells for 20 days and harvested 5 g of muscle meat. This is the first meat developed from muscle stem cells in China. According to Zhou, the cultured meat had similar texture and color to ordinary minced pork.

Global Times, November 21, 2019