Year-end review: Major innovative achievements in Chinese science and technology in 2021

2021 is the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan. This year, my country's major innovative achievements have emerged one after another, innovation capabilities have continued to improve, and the "pulse" of innovation has been particularly strong.

Looking into the "deep blue", the "Manatee II" drilling rig set a new record of 231 meters; looking at the starry sky, the Ocean No. 1D satellite and the Ocean No. 2C satellite "shine" in the galaxy; advancing into the mountains and rivers, in the Baihetan Hydropower Station on the Jinsha River, waves splash and electric currents shuttle, and the world's largest single-unit capacity and power of one million kilowatts of hydropower generators are put into operation to generate electricity... This year, we have also fought against the virus and earned dignity for life. The approval of my country's first new coronavirus neutralizing antibody combination treatment drug with independent intellectual property rights, ambavirizumab and romisvirizumab, has won patients a golden treatment period of up to 10 days...

The journey is long, and only struggle can lead to success! Facing the world's technological frontiers, the main economic battlefield, the country's major needs, and the people's life and health, innovation is an inexhaustible driving force, and scientific and technological self-reliance is the mission of the times.

1

The world's first commercial operation of Hualong One reactor

my country's independent third-generation nuclear power technology ranks among the best in the world

Tens of thousands of builders have been working hard all year round, and more than 5,300 equipment manufacturing companies have worked together. Since the construction started in May 2015, the world's first "Hualong One" reactor has started to "accelerate" and finally delivered its report card more than five years later.

On January 30, the world's first "Hualong One" reactor, China National Nuclear Corporation's Unit 5 of the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian, was put into commercial operation, marking that my country has become a world leader in the field of third-generation nuclear power technology.

The No. 5 unit of the Hualong One nuclear power unit in Fuqing, Fujian, photographed on January 30, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan

"China has become the country that has truly mastered independent third-generation nuclear power technology after the United States, France, Russia and other countries." Yu Jianfeng, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation, said that as the "national business card" of China's high-end manufacturing industry going global, "Hualong One" is one of the most accepted third-generation nuclear power models in the current nuclear power market.

A series of data generated by the "foundation" of scientific and technological self-reliance can serve as a footnote to the status of "Hualong One": the design life is 60 years, the reactor adopts a 177 core design, the core design refueling cycle is 18 months, and the innovative use of "active and passive" combined safety systems and double-layer containment technologies meet the highest international safety standards in terms of safety. All core equipment of the first "Hualong One" reactor has been domestically produced, with a localization rate of 88% for all equipment, and it is fully capable of mass production.

"The commercial operation of the world's first 'Hualong One' reactor is of great significance to optimizing China's energy structure, promoting green and low-carbon development, and helping to reach carbon peak and achieve carbon neutrality goals." Yu Jianfeng's words are true. It is reported that each unit of "Hualong One" can generate nearly 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which can meet the annual electricity demand for production and life of 1 million people in a moderately developed country. At the same time, it is equivalent to reducing the consumption of standard coal by 3.12 million tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16 million tons, which is equivalent to planting more than 70 million trees.

2

"Manatee II" drilled 231 meters

Breaking the record for deep-sea drilling depth

With a height of 7.6 meters, a waist circumference of 10 meters and a weight of 12 tons, it successfully drilled 231 meters in the South China Sea at a depth of over 2,000 meters, setting a new record for the world's deep-sea submarine drilling rig. The creator of this record is the "Manatee II" submarine large-hole deep pressure-maintaining core drilling rig system independently developed by my country and led by Hunan University of Science and Technology.

During the sea trial on the evening of April 7, the "Manatee II" also filled the gap in my country's deep-sea drilling equipment with a seabed drilling depth greater than 100 meters and pressure-maintaining coring capabilities.

Photo by Jin Yongping

Subsea drilling rigs are essential high-tech marine equipment for conducting marine geological and environmental science research, marine mineral resource exploration, and subsea engineering geological surveys.

The development of "Manatee II" relies on the "Deep Sea Key Technology and Equipment Special Project" of my country's National Key R&D Program to develop a seabed large-hole deep pressure-maintaining coring drilling rig system with an operating water depth of not less than 2,000 meters, a drilling depth of not less than 200 meters, and a pressure-maintaining success rate of not less than 60%. It will eventually form a complete set of seabed large-hole deep pressure-maintaining drilling and coring equipment technology and results with independent intellectual property rights, providing equipment and technical support for my country's seabed natural gas hydrate exploration.

"Although it is huge, it is still very flexible when diving into the seabed. It is also the only deep-sea drilling rig in the world that can drill deeper than 200 meters," said Wan Buyan, project leader and professor at Hunan University of Science and Technology.

It is understood that the entire subsea drilling rig mainly overcame four major technical difficulties, including large-hole deep remote control full-hole pressure-maintaining rope coring, intelligent and expert operation system, large-capacity drill pipe storage and rapid loading and unloading of drill rods, and safe and reliable lowering and recovery of the subsea drilling rig.

These new technologies have significantly improved the drilling efficiency, coring quality, and pressure-maintaining success rate of the drilling rig. At the same time, the weight of the drilling rig has been greatly reduced compared with similar foreign drilling rigs, greatly reducing the difficulty of underwater retraction and deployment operations.

3

"Deep Sea No. 1" delivers gas to the sea

Annual gas supply can reach 3 billion cubic meters

Advancing towards the deeper and farther "deep blue", there is no end.

On June 25, my country's first self-explored and developed 1,500-meter deepwater gas field, "Deep Sea No. 1", was officially put into production in Lingshui, Hainan. This marks that my country's offshore oil and gas exploration and development has moved towards "ultra-deep water".

On June 25, my country's first self-operated 1,500-meter deepwater gas field, "Deep Sea No. 1", was officially put into production. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Pu Xiaoxu

The "Deep Sea No. 1" large gas field is 150 kilometers away from Sanya City, Hainan Province. It was discovered in 2014 and has proven natural gas reserves of over 100 billion cubic meters. The maximum water depth exceeds 1,500 meters and the maximum well depth is over 4,000 meters. It is the deepest offshore deepwater gas field independently discovered by my country and the most difficult to explore and develop.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation overcame many challenges and, during the peak period, organized more than 5,000 people and 17 large crawler cranes to carry out operations in more than 100 work sections, successfully completing the land construction and closure work 18 months ahead of schedule.

After the "Deep Sea No. 1" large gas field is put into production, deepwater natural gas will be connected to the national natural gas pipeline network through submarine pipelines, with an annual gas supply of 3 billion cubic meters.

A relevant official from the National Energy Administration said that the official production of the "Deep Sea No. 1" large gas field is an important progress in my country's deepwater oil and gas exploration and development, and an important exploration for the high-quality development of my country's marine oil and gas industry. It indicates that my country's deepwater oil and gas exploration and development has huge potential and broad prospects.

4

The first batch of generating units of Baihetan Hydropower Station started operation

Achieve 1 million kilowatts of full-load power generation

On the morning of June 28, amid the boiling cheers at the scene, the first batch of units of the Jinsha River Baihetan Hydropower Station completed 72 hours of continuous test operation with load and officially started to generate electricity. The two million-kilowatt hydroelectric generators, Unit 1 on the left bank and Unit 14 on the right bank, rotated at high speed, converting the water energy resources of the Jinsha River into electricity and continuously sending it to the East China region. Among them, Unit 14 on the right bank successfully carried a load of 1 million kilowatts. This is the world's first grid-connected power generation and the world's first unit to achieve full-load power generation of 1 million kilowatts.

On June 28, the first batch of units of the Baihetan Hydropower Station on the Jinsha River were put into operation. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Bingjie

Baihetan Hydropower Station is located at the junction of Ningnan County, Sichuan Province and Qiaojia County, Yunnan Province, standing on the mainstream of the lower reaches of the Jinsha River. The total installed capacity of the power station is 16 million kilowatts, and a total of 16 million-kilowatt hydroelectric generators independently developed by my country are installed. It is a major national project for the implementation of "West-to-East Power Transmission" and the largest and most technically difficult hydropower project under construction in the world today. The world's largest single-unit capacity and power of a million-kilowatt hydroelectric generator has achieved a major breakthrough in my country's high-end equipment manufacturing.

The innovations of the Baihetan million-kilowatt hydropower unit are: first, the generator has jumped from the original 800,000 kilowatts to the current 1 million kilowatts; second, the turbine uses long and short blade impellers, achieving efficient and stable operation over a wide load range.

After the completion of the Baihetan Hydropower Station, the average annual power generation will reach 62.443 billion kWh. All units will be put into operation in July 2022. After the completion of the power station, it will become the world's second largest hydropower station after the Three Gorges Project.

It is estimated that after the Baihetan Hydropower Station is put into operation, it can save about 19.68 million tons of standard coal per year, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 51.6 million tons, and reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 170,000 tons. By then, the Baihetan Hydropower Station will form the world's largest clean energy corridor together with the Three Gorges Project, the Gezhouba Project, and the Jinsha River Wudongde, Xiluodu, and Xiangjiaba Hydropower Stations.

5

600 km/h high-speed maglev rolls off production line

It accelerates from zero to 600 km/h in just 3.5 minutes

Tough and elegant double-sided stacked edges, a unique "track-holding" structure, and stronger climbing ability... On July 20, the 600 km/h high-speed maglev transportation system developed by CRRC and with completely independent intellectual property rights was successfully rolled off the production line in Qingdao. This is the world's first high-speed maglev transportation system designed to reach a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, marking that my country has mastered the complete set of high-speed maglev technology and engineering capabilities.

With a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, this is the "fastest" means of transportation currently available on the earth. Therefore, high-speed maglev is also figuratively called "flying close to the ground."

On October 27, at the "13th Five-Year Plan" Science and Technology Innovation Achievement Exhibition, the "real car" of the 600 km/h high-speed maglev train attracted many visitors. People's Vision

"The high-speed maglev transportation system with a speed of 600 kilometers per hour adopts mature and reliable conventional conductor technology." Ding Sansan, chief technical engineer of the high-speed maglev project and deputy chief engineer of CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd., said that its basic principle is to use electromagnetic force to achieve "contactless" operation of trains.

The suspension frame at the bottom of the vehicle is equipped with an electromagnet, which attracts the iron core laid under the track, generating an upward suction force, thereby overcoming the gravity and making the vehicle "float", and then using a linear motor to drive the train forward.

"During high-speed maglev operation, the current in the electromagnet is precisely controlled to ensure that a suspension gap of about 10 mm is always maintained between the vehicle body and the track," said Ding Sansan.

The contactless operation mode of high-speed maglev replaces the mechanical contact support of traditional wheel-rail, fundamentally breaking through the constraints of the traditional wheel-rail relationship, thereby achieving a higher operating speed and realizing a top-speed "flight" of 600 kilometers per hour.

Because it is not restricted by wheel-rail adhesion, high-speed maglev also has stronger acceleration and deceleration capabilities. It takes 6 minutes for a wheel-rail high-speed rail to accelerate to 350 kilometers per hour, while it only takes 3 and a half minutes for a high-speed maglev to accelerate from zero to 600 kilometers per hour. Quick start and stop allow it to fully utilize its speed advantage.

6

Ocean "Double Star" put into commercial operation

Forming the operational capability of ocean observation satellite networking

On July 29, the Ocean-1D satellite and Ocean-2C satellite were officially delivered to the Ministry of Natural Resources and put into commercial operation, which marked that the commercial operation capability of my country's ocean observation satellite network has been basically formed.

The Ocean No. 1D satellite and Ocean No. 2C satellite were launched in June and September 2020, respectively. The National Satellite Ocean Application Center, together with various system construction units such as satellite, measurement and control, ground, and application, carried out industry application tests in the fields of natural resources, ecological environment, water conservancy, agriculture and rural areas, emergency management, and meteorology, and successfully completed all in-orbit testing content.

At 12:03 on May 19, 2021, the Ocean-2D satellite, developed by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center by a Long March 4B carrier rocket. Image source: China Aerospace News

The Ocean No. 1D satellite and the already launched Ocean No. 1C satellite form my country's first ocean business satellite constellation. They conduct network observations in the morning and afternoon, filling the gap in my country's ocean color satellite afternoon observation data, and greatly improving the observation coverage and timeliness of global ocean color, coastal resources and ecological environment, and ocean ship positions. They have been used in my country's forecasting and monitoring of green tides, enteromorpha, marine aquaculture, sea ice, typhoons, oil spills, and other areas.

The Ocean-2C satellite, the Ocean-2B satellite already in orbit, and the subsequently launched Ocean-2D satellite form my country's first ocean dynamic environment satellite constellation, which has greatly improved the global observation coverage and timeliness of my country's ocean dynamic environment elements.

7

Synthesizing proteins with carbon monoxide

The synthesis yield under industrial conditions reaches 85%

The large-scale biosynthesis of proteins under artificial conditions using naturally occurring carbon monoxide and nitrogen sources (ammonia) has long been regarded by the international academic community as a revolutionary cutting-edge science and technology that influences the development of human civilization and the understanding of life phenomena.

On October 30, good news came from the Feed Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

On the same day, the institute announced that it had achieved the world's first synthesis of protein from carbon monoxide, and had formed an industrial production capacity of 10,000 tons. This move broke through the time and space limitations of natural protein plant synthesis, provided a national weapon to make up for the biggest shortcoming of my country's agriculture - the excessive dependence on foreign feed protein, and was of great significance to promoting the realization of the country's "dual carbon" goals.

The production process of ethanol Clostridium protein. Photo provided by the Feed Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

After years of joint research, the Feed Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Beijing Shoulang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. have made breakthroughs in the core key technology of ethanol Clostridium protein, greatly improved the reaction speed, and created a world record of up to 85% yield of biosynthetic protein under industrial conditions.

This research uses industrial exhaust gas containing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide and ammonia water as the main raw materials, and creates a new feed protein resource, ethanol Clostridium protein, "out of nothing", converting inorganic nitrogen and carbon into organic nitrogen and carbon, achieving independent innovation from 0 to 1, and has completely independent intellectual property rights.

8

China-Laos Railway completed and opened to traffic

The whole line adopts "Chinese standards"

Laos, where Champa flowers bloom all year round and are the national flower, is 80% mountainous and plateau. The special geographical location and backward transportation have seriously restricted Laos' economic development.

On December 3, with the completion and opening of the 1,035-kilometer China-Laos Railway, the "Lancang" train will run all the way, connect to the Chinese railway network, and head to the world. The China-Laos Railway is built entirely in accordance with Chinese management and technical standards and is an international railway directly connected to the Chinese railway network.

The EMU passes through the Xinhe Nanli River Bridge. Photo courtesy of the Laos-China Railway Company

As a strategic docking project between China's "Belt and Road" initiative and Laos' transformation from a "landlocked country" to a "land-linked country", the China-Laos Railway is a major strategic cooperation project personally decided and promoted by the top leaders of the two parties and countries.

The China-Laos Railway is located in the southern extension of the Hengduan Mountains. It starts in Kunming, Yunnan, China and ends in Vientiane, Laos. The line passes through three mountains and crosses four rivers. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep. The relative height difference between the highest and lowest points is as high as 2,900 meters, and the terrain conditions are extremely complex.

The China-Laos Railway is a road of science and technology, which has overcome one world technological challenge after another through technological innovation.

The Friendship Tunnel is located on the China-Laos border and is the only cross-border tunnel on the China-Laos Railway. "The salt content in some parts of the tunnel is as high as 80%, which is highly corrosive to the tunnel structure and is rare at home and abroad." Pan Fuping, deputy manager of the Yunnan-Mo Railway Project Department of China Railway Erju Group, said that in order to overcome the rare geological difficulties, the construction unit invited experts in tunnels, geology, materials, etc. to discuss and determine the design plan of "grouting water blocking, full waterproofing, circular multi-layer structure, and enhanced material anti-corrosion". The concrete finally developed met the requirements of the entity strength index and overcome the world's difficult problem of high corrosiveness of rock salt.

All equipment along the China-Laos Railway was independently developed by China, from special bridges to the precise paving of extra-long track-laying vehicles, to the "Lancang" trains that all use the "Fuxing" train technology, and the full support of China's railway train control system, all of which reflect the wisdom and "Chinese power" of China's railway builders.

9

The first special medicine for COVID-19 is approved

Win 10 days of golden treatment period for patients

The novel coronavirus is still raging around the world, and it is important and urgent to have targeted clinically effective drugs. Fortunately, good news came not long ago.

On December 8, my country's first novel coronavirus neutralizing antibody combination therapy with independent intellectual property rights was approved. The combination drug was jointly developed by Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital and Brii Biopharma.

On December 9, Professor Zhang Linqi of Tsinghua University showed samples of my country's first special medicine for COVID-19 at a press conference. Photo courtesy of People's Vision

The approved combination of ambavir and romisvir (BRII-196/BRII-198) buys more time for treatment. Compared with other COVID-19 treatment drugs in the world, this combination provides a golden treatment period of up to 10 days. The final results of the Phase III clinical trial showed that whether the patient went to the outpatient clinic for treatment 1-5 days after the onset of symptoms (early stage) or started treatment 6-10 days (late stage), the hospitalization and mortality rates were significantly reduced. This provides a longer treatment window for COVID-19 patients.

"Compared with the new coronavirus antibody drugs that have been approved for emergency use in Europe and the United States, we are the only one that has evaluated the treatment effects on patients infected with mutant strains and obtained data," said Zhang Linqi, head of the research and development team and professor at Tsinghua University School of Medicine.

It is reported that the U.S. FDA has previously identified the activity of the two antibody combination regimens against the main mutant virus strains. The results showed that the BRII-196/BRII-198 antibody combination regimen is sensitive to all major international mutant strains: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Ipsilon, Delta, Lambda, and Miu.

In order to prolong the efficacy of the drug, the research team also genetically modified it to extend the half-life of the drug, making it effective in the human body for several months. In addition, the application of bioengineering technology has greatly reduced the risk of antibody-mediated dependent enhancement.

In addition, Fosun Pharma is actively advancing the registration application for ambavirizumab/romidevir combination therapy in other mature and emerging markets around the world to obtain market access.

◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Jin Feng

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Zhang Qiqi

Review: Julie

Final review: Liu Haiying