China in Africa

According to Junfeng ZOU, senior engineer at the Aerospace Institute of Advanced Materials and Processing Technology in Beijing, China has developed her own carbon aerogel products which insulate within a temperature range between – 100 and + 2,500 C. They are also capable to withstand vibrations. They are used on the heavy-duty Long March 5 rockets, on cargo spacecrafts, in space suits and on the future Mars rover.

CAS news release, August 15, 2016

The 10 years program is on the collection, management and use of marine genetic resources and might then constitute the world’s largest marine species diversity information. The program is supported by the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government.

China Bio news release, August 11, 2016

The satellite launched on Aug. 10 is equipped with a radar system that captures images from space with a resolution down to 1 meter, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. It is capable of generating radar images in all weather conditions and can work around the clock. Considering China’s 32,000 km of coastline, 380,000 square kilometers of territorial seas and more than 6,500 islands that have an area of at least 500 square meters, satellites like the Gaofen 3 are said to be very useful in safeguarding the country’s maritime rights and interests.

CAS news release, August 11, 2016

According to the new 5-years plan, Chinese patent applications under the PCT are also expected to double from 2015 to 2020 to about 60.000 filings, roughly the number of PCT filings from the USA.

CAS news release, August 9, 2016

Hkable Biological 3D (China) Co., a joint venture between Hkable US and Jintai in Chongqing, are building a 3D printing factory for medical products, starting with splints and artificial limbs in the beginning, then developping more advanced stem cell-printed products. WU Jun, director of the Burns Institute at the Southwest Hospital in Chongqing, is testing the process for printing human skin on pigs. Across China, there have been a number of successes using 3D printing for surgical purposes.
In June, doctors in Peking University Third Hospital replaced five vertebrae with 3D-printed replicas in a cancer patient. The 3D-printed vertebrae measured 19 centimeters, the longest ever in a successful operation.

CAS news release, August 5, 2016

The tram uses supercapacitor energy storage to operate without external wires. It can be fully charged during a 30-second stop and run for 3 to 5 kilometers. The tram can carry up to 380 passengers and travel at 70 kilometers per hour. It also uses a low-floor design, making boarding easy for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

CAS news release, August 2, 2016

China’s spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang-7 sailed into the ocean from the Yangtze River on Tuesday. She was accompanied by Yuanwang-6. Yuanwang-5 also set out days before. The three will sail into the Pacific and Indian oceans, including maritime tracking of the manned spaceflight Shenzhou-11 in autumn this year. Shenzhou-11 will carry two astronauts to dock with Tiangong-2, China’s second orbiting space lab, carrying two astronauts to live in space for up to 30 days.

CAS news release, July 27, 2016

A new company, APT Mobile SatCom Ltd (APSTAR) has been founded by the Shenzhen government and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). It will construct a high-capacity broadband satellite at an estimated cost of 10 billion Yuan. When complete, China’s global communications system will offer a continuous, reliable and autonomous service that supports the Belt and Road Initiative and other overseas development projects.

CAS news release, July 27, 2016

Financed by 10 billion Yuan joint investment of Central Beijing Taihang Biotechnology Co. and China Infrastructure Construction Investment Group Co., the plant is being built for an annual output of 1 million t of lactic acid and PLA. Raw material is starch and biomass, and annual throughput of corn, straw will be up to 1,5 million metric tons, covering more than 670 km2 of arable land and 600,000 farmers, driving local economic development.

China Bio news release, July 27, 2016

According to Vice Minister of S&T LI Meng, the State Council has approved an increase of R&D spending from the present 2.2 % to 2.5 % by 2020. China also aims to improve its global ranking for national innovation capacity from last year’s No 18 to No 15 by 2020, and its contribution rate of the advancement of science and technology, a universal index used to assess a country’s scientific, technological and economic development, from the current 55.3 percent to 60 percent within four years.

CAS news release, July 26, 2016

The team of Xue-Tao PEI at the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory announced that they had established an „artificial blood“ preparation process leading to concave-form erythrocytes with high hemoglobin content and oxygen carrying capacity. Based on human stem cells, progenitor cells and terminal cells, the team induced erythrocyte formation which when transplanted into mice, survived for four days. Red blood cell-specific antigen was detected, indicating the formation of human red blood cells. Next, the team will focus on the large-scale preparation of red blood cells, plasma and of a specific functional complex, to form a complete physiological artificial blood“.”

China Bio news release, July 25, 2016

According to this research, those areas of the brain responsible for studying and memory are highly changeable. Meanwhile, areas weakly correlated with intelligence include the visual, auditory and sensorimotor areas, which all have low changeability and adaptability. The research shows that high changeability leads to high intelligence and creativity and thus could help to develop artificial intlligence by developing neural networks which are more changeable and adaptable.

CAS news release, July 25, 2016

The inulin polysaccharide is obtained from Jerusalem artichokes which can be grown on marginal land subjected to drought or salinity. The process established at CAS Qingdao’s QIBEBT comprises bio-processing technology with inulinase production, inulin hydrolysis and yeast fermentation to ethanol and leads to ethanol yield of 79.7% at 40 ° C, ethanol production was 65.2 g/L. After metabolic engineering, conversion efficiency was improved at 250g/L substrate to 81.8g/L ethanol and a conversion rate of 92%.

CAS news release, July 23, 2016

The group around Rongfeng LIAO at Anhui Medical University has transplanted a pig cornea to an 18-year-old patient suffering from congenital dermoid tumor. After 5 days, the gauze was removed and vision gradually recovered

China Bio news release, July 22, 2016

The 2014 annual sales of E10 ethanol gasoline were 23 million tons, accounting for about a quarter of gasoline vehicles. At present there are two experimental plants for cellulosic bioethanol, with COFCO’s 50.000 t Zhaodong plant in the lead. It is foreseen that soon about 20 million tons of cellulosic bioethanol will be produced in China, using straw and forest waste as raw materials.

China Bio news release, July 21, 2017