China has lent its voice to the growing call for the temporary waiving of intellectual property (IP) rights for all Covid-19 vaccines. A groundswell of mostly developing nations have implored vaccine makers and major global players to relinquish IP rights for the life-saving vaccines and therapeutics. Calls to waive IP rights began in October 2020,…
Currently there are over 5 000 cryptocurrencies in existence and China is fast developing its own digital currency pilot programme. The Asian power became the first major economy to trial the concept last year and since then, a slew of tech firms and cities have started circulating China’s ‘renminbi’, or digital yuan. China started testing the…
Chinese engineers have developed a new method of encryption: using infrared radiation from the human body to decrypt sensitive data and create uncrackable passwords. The Chinese engineers from Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University published their findings on using body heat to gain access to, or secure, data in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
After listening intently to the sounds of the universe for 15 months, the world’s largest filled-aperture radio telescope is now available to all scientists who wish to use it. The colossal structure, roughly the size of 30 football fields, is capable of spotting objects 13.7 billion light years away and is potentially humankind’s latest alien-hunting…
China’s largest vehicle for hire company, DiDi Chuxing, plans to expand into South Africa, starting with Cape Town. The SoftBank-backed giant is expected to compete with the global ride-hailing giant Uber, according to Reuters. Founded in 2012, the Beijing-based firm has services in more than 400 cities in China and users in Latin America, Asia,…
Chinese scientists have found a way to deliver life-saving drugs closer to the source of the affliction than ever before, which is a significant breakthrough in the new field of nanomedicine. The method using new microbot technologies is so effective that scientists believe it may even revolutionise treatments for brain disease. Published in Science Robotics…
The table grape season has officially begun in China and with that, the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has launched a market development campaign in China This is the first of its kind and a new opportunity for South African horticulturalists to showcase their premium grape varieties. SATI and Goodfarmer, a Shanghai-based fresh produce…
China continues to roll out wind farm installations worldwide at an unprecedented rate. In a year ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, the globe’s second-largest economy accounted for more than half of 2020’s total installations. The significant increase in wind farm installations in 2020 comes after Chinese President, Xi Jinping said China would become a carbon-neutral…
A team of Chinese scientists have developed a laser capable of seeing through walls from a kilometre away. Once relegated to the realm of science fiction, the significant advancement in quantum electronics may have applications in everything from defence to autonomous driving. Developed by a group of University of Science and Technology of China researchers,…
China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is attempting to use radiation treatment – a method used to clean medical supplies since the 1960s – to kill Covid-19 in the cold food chain. The research was first conducted in December last year when evidence suggested several Covid-19 cases in China were the result of imported frozen food. CNNC’s…