LAUREATE IN LIFE SCIENCES

　　Yuen Kwok-Yung， a 65-year-old professor at the University of Hong Kong， won the Future Science Prize in life sciences on September 12 for his discovery of SARS-CoV-1 as the causative agent of the global SARS outbreak in 2003. He shares the honor with his colleague Sriyal Malik Peiris.
　　Yuen’s team treated the first SARS patients in Hong Kong and managed to isolate SARS-CoV-1 from their clinical specimens in 2003， proving critical to the design of diagnostic tests and disease characterization.
　　In addition， Yuen’s continued studies on SARS-like viruses predicted the potential re-emergence of a SARS-like epidemic and stressed the importance of public health preparedness.
　　The Future Science Prize is a privately funded science prize established by a group of renowned scientists and successful entrepreneurs in 2016.

Consumption Centers

　　Economic Daily September 13
　　As Shanghai， Beijing， Guangzhou， Tianjin and Chongqing take the lead in developing into international consumption centers， many cities have adopted new measures to achieve the same goal.
　　In 2020， per-capita consumption expenditure of China stood at 21，210 yuan（$3，300）， nearly double that of 2010. From 2013 to 2019， spending on services increased from 39.7 percent to 45.9 percent of the country’s total consumption.
　　On the one hand， the five aforementioned cities all have a relatively solid consumption base. For instance， retail sales of consumer goods in Beijing and Shanghai have exceeded 1.37 trillion yuan （$212.7 billion） and 1.59 trillion yuan （$250 billion）， respectively. On the other hand， featuring service consumption， these cities managed to rapidly upgrade their consumption structure.
　　It is estimated that service-related spending will reach 55 to 60 percent of China’s total consumption in the next five to 10 years. The country will adapt to digitalization， strengthen digital empowerment and tighten supervision on new consumption models.

Digital Agriculture

　　Outlook Weekly September 6
　　Digital agriculture， the practice of integrating advanced technology into farming， is driving China’s rural vitalization. Unmanned transplanters and harvesters and intelligent irrigation control systems are examples of technologies central to smart agriculture.
　　Equipped with a self-driving system based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System， smart transplanters can independently finish the transplanting of rice， dodge obstacles， and turn around automatically when necessary. There is also a digital agriculture platform in China that gathers information on environmental factors， soil fertility and crop growth along different stages， offering scientific guidance for agricultural field management. 　　The 14th Five-Year Plan （2021-25） proposes that China improves its agricultural science and technology innovation system and employs new ways to promote agricultural technologies and develop smart agriculture by large.
　　Intelligent technologies have become an essential part in the push for agricultural modernization， freeing up manpower， improving production efficiency， and increasing farmers’ income to facilitate the transformation of traditional agriculture.
　　Compared with the forecast of 200 billion yuan （$31.06 billion） in 2020， it is estimated that by 2050， the agricultural digital economy will reach some 1.26 trillion yuan（$200 billion）， accounting for 15 percent of agriculture’s added value. Online sales of agricultural products will reach 1 trillion yuan（$155.3 billion） by that time.

Restricting Excessive Packaging

　　People’s Daily September 9
　　Recently， a new national standard， entitled Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging—Food and Cosmetics， was released to address excessive packing and support green development.
　　Research has indicated that packaging waste accounts for 30 to 40 percent of urban waste in China. Nowadays， some food and cosmetic items still come with too many packaging layers and high costs.
　　This standard will take effect on September 1， 2023， so that relevant enterprises will have sufficient time to adjust their production lines. Enterprises should meet its requirements as soon as possible， provide green， high-quality and low-carbon products and grab hold of more market opportunities in green consumption.
　　Food and cosmetics are closely related to daily life. This standard makes it easier for consumers to assess the material， layers and volume of their packages and see if these are excessive or not.
　　Moreover， the newly revised guideline， Prevention and Control of Environment Pollution Caused by Solid Waste， proposes that producers adhere to the compulsory standard of restricting excessive packaging.

U.S. OPEN WINNER

　　Zhang Shuai won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title together with Samantha Stosur of Australia on September 12.
　　Zhang， 32， started playing tennis at 5. Alongside Li Na， Zheng Jie， Peng Shuai， and Wang Qiang， Zhang， ranking No. 49 in the world， is one of only five Chinese tennis players in history to have reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
　　She contemplated retirement at the start of the 2016 season. It was Stosur who encouraged her to carry on—leading to Zhang’s first Grand Slam breakthrough in the Australian Open quarterfinals that same year. 　　Their intermittent partnership reached the semi-finals at the 2018 U.S. Open ahead of their best grand slam finish， winning the 2019 Australian Open.
　　“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership would add new vitality to East Asia economic integration because the agreement integrates and optimizes both the region’s economic and trade rules.”
　　Huang Xilian， Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines， during an online forum on China-ASEAN relations on September 15
　　“If we compare China-U.S. relations to a giant ship， then economic and trade cooperation has been its ballast and propeller. When the ship sails against heavy winds and huge waves， we need to add more strength to the ballast and propeller.”
　　Qin Gang， Chinese Ambassador to the U.S.， during a virtual meeting with board members of the U.S.-China Business Council on September 13
　　“Huawei has designed this program so that we can help the nation materialize the ‘Digital Bangladesh’dream by facilitating the youth with the necessary skills and leadership qualities.”
　　George Lin， President of the Enterprise Business Group with Huawei Technologies （Bangladesh） Ltd.， during the virtual inauguration of Seeds for the Future 2021 Bangladesh on September 13
　　“There’s never been a more urgent time in history for the U.S. to look inward and resolve its growing socioeconomic and political contradictions which threaten to spiral out of control if they aren’t addressed as soon as possible.”
　　Andrew Korybko， an American political analyst， in an article on the CGTN website on September 15