A second-generation HPV vaccine has been approved by China Food and Drug Administration for clinical testing, the developer said Wednesday.

It is the world’s second second-generation human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine to reach the clinical test stage, following one developed by Merck & Co., Inc (MSD), which also obtained permission for clinical testing in China.

The research is led by the National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, based at Xiamen University in east China’s Fujian Province. The vaccine will be produced in Xiamen, if approved.

Compared with the first-generation vaccine, the new one can protect against five more high-risk types of HPV and two more low-risk types. It is estimated it will be able to prevent about 90 percent of cervical cancers and genital warts.

Developers at Xiamen University said the vaccine uses more cost-effective coliform bacteria as the effective antigen, while foreign companies use yeast or insect cells, giving it an edge in the market.

The Chinese HPV vaccine is expected to enter the market in 2022 after four to five years of clinical testing.

A four-day tour for experts and journalists from home and abroad opened in Zunyi, a city of southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on Nov. 21, 2017. It offered a chance to review what the province has achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party over the past five years.

A four-day tour for foreign and Chinese experts to exchange, entitled “Progress along the Long March of the New Era” opens in Zunyi, a city of southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on Nov. 21, 2017. [Photo by Sun Tao/China.org.cn]

A four-day tour for foreign and Chinese experts to exchange, entitled “Progress along the Long March of the New Era” opens in Zunyi, a city of southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on Nov. 21, 2017.

Entitled “Progress along the Long March of the New Era,” the activity attracted more than 30 foreign and Chinese experts and journalists, offering a platform for them to exchange their views on Guizhou’s rapid growth through visiting historical and cultural sites, such as the site of the 1935 Zunyi Conference, the five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) and the Big Data hub, as well as chatting with residents of Huamao Village.

It was at a crucial meeting in Zunyi during the famous Long March that Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong finally emerged as the highest authority of the Communist Party of China.

This milestone in Party history has ensured that the place has become a pilgrimage site as well as a symbol of the communist revolution.

“The first time I knew about Zunyi was when I translated an article about it. And then I was very curious about this history and always looked forward to visiting the site,” said Su Li, a postgraduate from Russia who is now studying international media development at the Communication University of China.

She said that, thanks to the activity, she finally had an opportunity to see the old pictures in situ, adding that, inside the Zunyi Conference Memorial Museum, one could get a better idea of Zunyi’s significance in modern Chinese history.

Generation by generation, the spirit of forging ahead was carried forward and encouraged more Chinese people to realize the Chinese Dream in a new era, especially for the younger generation.

Conducting visitors through the Zunyi Conference Memorial Museum and delivering a commentary on the exhibits from time to time, Yuan Changjie, a 12-year-old boy who volunteered to act as a tour guide of the site, said he was very proud of his role.

“I always bear in mind that a nation will prosper only when its young people thrive. The spirit I learned from the history encourages myself to aim high and bravely fulfill my responsibilities and dreams.” Yuan said in a firm and confident voice.

“The security of Tian’anmen Square is of great symbolic significance to national stability.”

As political commissar of the tenth detachment of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force Beijing division, Wang Jianhua is fully aware of the importance of his job.

Wang’s detachment is in charge of security around Tian’anmen Square, the world’s largest city square, the geographic and symbolic center of Beijing. The security of Tian’anmen Square, the Palace Museum and the National Museum of China are all the detachment’s responsibility.

“Tian’anmen Square is a place of utmost importance because of its political significance. This poses a tremendous challenge to our work,” said Wang.

HIGHEST STANDARD

Wang’s detachment has every reason to be on full alert. Being the heart of the People’s Republic of China, Tian’anmen Square has been the site of many milestone events in Chinese history, including the founding of the republic.

Since the 1980s, more than 300 million people have come to Tian’anmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony.

On the walls of the dormitory of the National Flag Guard, part of the tenth detachment responsible for the escorting, raising and defending China’s national flag in the square, hangs a banner that reads “Out of this door is the No 1 sentry post of our homeland”.

China’s No 1 sentry post demands the best armed police force.

Efforts of the detachment have contributed to the success of marquee political events in China, including national congresses of the Communist Party of China, annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and state visits of foreign leaders.

This year’s CAPF Beijing combat capability competition was won by the detachment’s special operations squad.

A new soldier with the National Flag Guard has to practice marching steps for tens of thousands of times everyday. After two years of training, his march will cover a distance of more than 13,000 kilometers on average.

The region around Tian’anmen Square and the Palace Museum is home to some of Beijing’s most famous architecture. Construction of new buildings is generally not allowed, so the detachment has to make do with old buildings.

“Our dormitories may not be the best, but our morale is unrivalled,” said Du Zeheng, logistics head at the detachment.

PUBLIC FACE

The detachment works in the public eye.

“People see in us the image of Chinese military, so we always keep our boots highly polished and our uniforms spotless,” said Zhang Haizhou, a squad leader with the detachment.

“Sometimes tourists and their children salute us. That always makes us proud,” said Zhang.

Zhang recalled a policeman from Australia who asked for a photograph with him while he was on duty. After Zhang told him it was against the regulations, the policeman praised Zhang for his sense of duty.

In case of important international meeting or gathering, such as the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the soldiers act as guards for state guests. Soldiers with better English help those who are weaker in the language to learn simple dialogues.

“Newer soldiers generally have better education and are better at English,” said Liu Yu, 23, who scored 130 points out of 150 in the English test of China’s college entrance examination before joining the military.

“What’s interesting is when foreigners try to talk with us in simple Chinese,” added Liu.

Yawning, eyelids sagging, nodding off — in the future, these signs of exhaustion will be captured and a warning to stop driving will sound.

The on-board AI system collects information of facial expressions, computes, and tells the driver to pull over.

“AI may someday help eradicate accidents caused by fatigue,” said Ye Jianjie of Sense Time, developer of the system.

At the 19th China Hi-tech Fair that closed Tuesday in Shenzhen, AI products were on display that may change the path of transportation forever, making traffic safer and roads less congested.

At the AI pavilion, Tong Xianqiao was showing off an autonomous driving system. Tong, with a doctorate in robotics, and his two partners established a business in Shenzhen this year after quitting jobs in the United States.

The roof box they designed passed a road test in Silicon Valley, enabling an ordinary car to run without a driver.

“The test run lasted around 30 minutes, and the difference with the assigned route was only five centimeters,” he said.

In formerly-congested Hangzhou, where Alibaba is based, AI has optimized urban transport. The smart transport system, or “brain of the city,” was set up by Aliyun, Alibaba’s cloud computing subsidiary.

Wang Jian, a technical officer from Alibaba, said the system analyzes real-time traffic flow and adjusts traffic lights accordingly.

Since its launch in October 2016, the average speed of cars has increased by 15 percent with congestion time dropping by 9.2 percent during rush hour, said Wang.

In the city’s Xiaoshan District, ambulances are given a green light at all intersections, which has cut the average arrival time for ambulances by half.

A national plan on AI was issued by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, in July. The plan said the AI industry should be a major new growth engine and have improved people’s lives by 2020, and set the target of China becoming a major center for AI innovation and leading the world in AI by 2030.

AI applications in the transport sector are a hot investment destination. According to the Tencent Research Institute in July, financing for aided or driverless driving reached 10.7 billion yuan (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in China, third AI-related industry after vision-image analysis and voice processing.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced an AI innovation platform for unpiloted driving in cooperation with Baidu, as well as a platform for “brains of cities” by with Alibaba.

“AI is making urban traffic safer and more efficient,” said Peng Jinzhan, a designer of an unpiloted driving system.

A former deputy security chief of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption, including taking bribes and arranging jobs in the legal system, according to China Judgments Online (wenshu.court.gov.cn) on Monday.

Xie Hui accepted about 42.3 million yuan ($6.4 million) in bribes, ignored his duty, held property worth about 49.8 million yuan from unclear sources and caused economic losses of 127 million yuan, the judgment said.

Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Xie and confiscated property worth 4.5 million yuan on Nov 6.

Some 221 workers in Xinjiang’s justice and prison systems paid Xie about 8 million yuan in return for promotions or job transfers during his time as deputy head of the region’s Public Security Department, the judgment said.

Xie, who is of Han ethnicity, was born in Altay in 1963 and was admitted to the Communist Party of China in 1986, according to his resume published on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection website.

He had a long career in Xinjiang’s prison system, starting in 1986. He was named head of the Xinjiang Prison Management Bureau in 2010, a position he held until his promotion in 2013 to deputy head of the public security bureau of the autonomous region.

Xie was suspected of corruption and placed under investigation in July 2015, the CCDI said on its website.

He was placed in criminal detention in December 2015 and arrested in January 2016, and was expelled from the Party and removed from office the following month. Xie’s case was heard in April this year.

The cases of seven workers in Xinjiang’s prison system were transferred to judicial departments, with allegations of malfeasance, while another 42 in Xie’s case were punished by administrative and Party disciplinary agencies, according to a report in China Discipline Inspection Daily on March 23.

From 2002 to 2013, 174 projects in Xinjiang’s prison system went forward without open bidding under Xie’s influence. Xie directly designated contractors for some projects, according to the report.

The investigative team in Xie’s case told China Discipline Inspection Daily that Xie’s disciplinary violations seriously undermined the political ecology of Xinjiang’s justice and prison systems.