The original Web-to-Web Transformational Medicine Network is included in the topic # 660 contents of the latest research.

This article is original for Translational Medicine Network, please indicate the source.

Author: Tiffany

Introduction: Green tea, the most widely consumed tea, is characterized by clear soup and green leaves. Because green tea has not been fermented, it retains the most primitive substances in the fresh leaves of tea trees to the greatest extent. Among them, tea polyphenols, amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients have been largely retained, which provides the basis for the health care efficacy of green tea. For this reason, green tea is more and more popular with everyone. The popularity and popularity of green tea in the world has promoted the scientific community’s curiosity about it, and carried out research. Scientists want to find out whether this kind of green tea is beneficial to human health. What kind of role does it play? Recently, a group of scientists conducted in-depth research on the efficacy of green tea and made novel discoveries. ……

Lu You once wrote in "Try Tea": "The north window is high and snores like thunder, who will send vanilla for a dream?" It shows that tea has a refreshing effect. Tea is refreshing because it contains caffeine, which can excite the central nervous system and cerebral cortex to a certain extent, and has the effect of refreshing the mind and clearing the heart. In fact, green tea has more than one function, and it plays a certain role in people’s life and health. Here, let’s take a look at some effects of green tea:

Studies have shown that catechins in green tea have inhibitory effects on some bacteria that cause human diseases, and tea polyphenols have strong astringency, obvious inhibitory and killing effects on pathogenic bacteria and viruses, and obvious anti-inflammatory and antidiarrheal effects. Viruses and bacteria breed in summer, so drink more green tea to keep healthy.

In addition, there is a record in the Tang Dynasty’s "Materia Medica" that the efficacy of tea is "slimming after eating for a long time" because drinking tea has the effect of promoting digestion. Because caffeine in tea can increase the secretion of gastric juice and accelerate the digestion and metabolism of food. The cellulose in tea can also promote gastrointestinal peristalsis. Big fish and big meat can help digestion if you don’t digest it.

Also, fluorine and polyphenols in green tea are good for teeth. Green tea soup can effectively inhibit the reduction of calcium in human body, and also cooperate with the effect of sterilization and disinfection, which is beneficial to the prevention of dental caries, tooth protection and tooth fixation.

In addition, tea polyphenols and their oxidation products have the ability to absorb radioactive substances. Clinical trials of relevant medical departments have confirmed that cancer patients may cause mild radiation sickness with leukopenia during radiotherapy, and the treatment effect with tea extract is very good. Office workers spend a lot of time facing the computer, and they are unconsciously injured by radiation. Choosing green tea is indeed the first choice for white-collar workers.

Importantly, green tea also reduces the risk of cancer. Unfermented green tea keeps polyphenols from being oxidized. Tea polyphenols can block the synthesis of nitrosamines and other carcinogens in the body, and can scavenge free radicals and reduce the damage of free radicals to related DNA in cells. There is obvious evidence that free radicals can cause various discomfort symptoms in the body, among which cancer is the most serious one. Drinking green tea often removes free radicals in the body, thus reducing the risk of cancer.

Recently, scientists from the Health Science and Technology Department of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich launched an important research on green tea from two other angles. They wanted to explore the effects of green tea on health and aging, and what kind of relationship they had. These studies can help people make decisions and know how to buy and drink green tea. Let’s take a look at this interesting experiment and the findings from it.

Scientists published their research results in an article entitled "Green tea Catechings EGCG and ECG enhancement the fitness and lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans by complex I connotation" in Aging-US:

In recent years, some clinical trials and epidemiological studies in the scientific community have revealed that drinking green tea can bring health benefits, including: significantly reducing systolic blood pressure and fasting blood sugar, and promoting weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes and obese women. The most abundant polyphenols in green tea are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin gallate (EGC) and epicatechin (EC), which constitute 30-42% of the solid extract of green tea. EGCG and ECG account for about 50% and 20% of the total catechins in green tea. These awkward names actually have great effects on human health. Let me introduce one of the most important ingredients —EGCG:

EGCG is the main catechin component in green tea, accounting for 59% of the total catechin components. It is an effective antioxidant, antiangiogenic and antitumor agent. EGCG has been used to study its role in chemoprevention of various tumors, including liver cancer, stomach cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. Studies have shown that EGCG can induce cell apoptosis, promote cell growth stagnation and prevent cancer by affecting signal transduction pathways. Moreover, EGCG also has inhibitory effects on many viruses, including HCV, HIV-1, HBV, HSV-1, HSV-2, EBV, adenovirus, influenza virus and enterovirus, and several enzymes, including DNMTs, protease and DHFR.

Moreover, EGCG has an unexpected and important inhibitory effect on COVID-19. In 2020, since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Key Laboratory of Pu ‘er Tea Science of Yunnan Agricultural University, in view of the biological characteristics, transmission characteristics and emergency needs of public health risk prevention and control in novel coronavirus, and in conjunction with Kunming Bio-manufacturing Research Institute Co., Ltd., has carried out emergency scientific and technological research on virus prevention and research and development of related preparations, focusing on screening effective molecules that can block virus infection and prevent and treat Covid-19 infection from food and medicine homologous plant molecules. Under the leadership of Professor Sheng Jun, the research team has made breakthrough progress. The research team found that EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), an effective monomer molecule screened from tea, can strongly bind Covid-19 S protein (Kd=121nM) and effectively block the binding between Covid-19 S protein and human ACE2 receptor. At the same time, it is found that EGCG can not only prevent the combination of the two, but also promote the dissociation of the S protein that has bound to the receptor. At present, no molecule has been found at home and abroad that has strong affinity with Covid-19 S protein and can effectively block the binding between S protein and ACE2. This discovery provides very valuable scientific data for the development of related preparations for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 infection, and at the same time provides an innovative model for emergency screening of antiviral components from the treasure house of edible and medicinal plants and rapid clinical use.

A previous randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial confirmed how safe it is to take 400 mg of EGCG daily for one year. Further data showed that after 6 months, the plasma EGCG concentration reached a measurable level. In this new experiment recently, scientists tested the bioavailability of EGCG and various food supplements. After fasting for one night, scientists gave them 150 mg of green tea extract. After 60-180 minutes, their plasma level peaked at 10 ng/ml/kg. Experiments in different model organisms show that the beneficial effects of green tea catechins on life span are due to metabolic adaptation and enhanced resistance to reactive oxygen species (ROS). For example, adding EGCG-rich green tea extract (10 mg/ml EGCG) to the diet can affect the glucose metabolism of Drosophila melanogaster, improve its health quality and prolong its life. In addition, green tea polyphenol water (80 mg/l) can prolong the life span of male C57BL/6 mice. In addition, the treatment of Caenorhabditis elegans with EGCG with a concentration of 50-300 μM can promote the longevity of Caenorhabditis elegans, among which 200 μM EGCG is the most effective dose to prolong the longevity through AMPK/SIRT1 and FOXO.

However, the bioavailability of green tea catechin in mammals is poor, which makes it unlikely to reach this concentration after oral administration in humans. However, some independent clinical trials have confirmed that drinking green tea can improve many health indicators. The maximum plasma concentrations of EGCG, ECG and EC in human body are about 2.5 μM after administration of up to 4.5 g decaffeinated green tea solids. Therefore, we tested whether 2.5 μM is still enough to prolong the life of nematodes by inducing mitogen response. Through experiments and summary, we found that EGCG and ECG enhanced the fitness and life span of Caenorhabditis elegans at the concentration of 2.5 μM m. This relatively low dose is enough to inhibit the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain of nematodes. In addition, the temporary increase of reactive oxygen species may promote the activity of PMK-1, thus promoting the corresponding signal cascade including SKN-1 and DAF-16. These signal pathways can enhance the activities of reactive oxygen defense enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase and catalase, enhance the ability of anti-oxidative stress, improve health level and prolong people’s life span, thus causing adaptive response. As long as the metabolism changes for a long time, the fat content will be significantly reduced.

Although the bioavailability of EGCG and ECG is relatively low, drinking 4 cups of green tea every day for 8 weeks can significantly reduce body weight. It has been reported that EGCG of 50-300 μM can prolong the life of Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we show that 2.5 μM EGCG and ECG can also reach this concentration, which is enough to prolong life. In addition, its function is to increase anti-stress ability through adaptive mechanism. In this cellular rhythmic reaction, EGCG and ECG initially played the role of pro-oxidant by stimulating the increase of reactive oxygen species. EGCG and ECG show anti-oxidation characteristics for a long time because instantaneous reactive oxygen species burst can induce anti-oxidation defense mechanism. At high concentration, EGCG and ECG may have harmful effects due to excessive reactive oxygen species. This feature has become obvious in the study of cancer cells. EGCG is an amphoteric molecule with hydrophilic and lipophilic characteristics, which makes it not only fully soluble and widely distributed in the body fluid environment, but also allows it to cross the cell membrane and combine with intracellular targets. The unique structural characteristics of EGCG endow it with anti-cancer properties, which makes it not only play a role in preventing cancer at the initial stage of carcinogenesis, but also play an important role in controlling the progress and metastasis of cancer. EGCG can be used for many cancer types such as liver cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer. The antioxidant potential of low concentration green tea catechin is considered as a potential solution to prevent tumor occurrence.High dose of catechin may be used as an anti-tumor drug because it can induce the formation of a large number of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis. It is worth noting that EGCG is more effective than ECG in inducing cytotoxicity of human tumor cells and inhibiting the movement of cancer cells. In fact, EGCG takes only 6 hours, while ECG takes 12 hours to affect mitochondrial respiration, reactive oxygen species and ATP levels. However, these compounds have similar effects in long-term use, and they can have similar effects in prolonging life, enhancing sports and resisting stress!

Catechins can not only trigger cell division reaction by influencing transcription factors and enzyme activities, but also exert direct antioxidant potential by scavenging active oxygen. Although some studies have reported a moderate increase in plasma antioxidant capacity after drinking green tea, compared with the antioxidant potential of glutathione reaching 1-11 mM level in cells, the proportion of catechins with complete structure reaching the target tissue is still negligible. Through experiments, we can confirm that it is necessary to increase the initial level of reactive oxygen species in order to induce the adaptive mechanism and improve the antioxidant performance.

Previous studies have shown that in the cell culture model, after the application of 50 μM EGCG, the level of hydrogen peroxide increased and the level of glutathione decreased in a dose-and time-dependent manner. However, the mechanism of reactive oxygen species formation induced by EGCG and ECG is still unclear. In the present study, we found that EGCG and ECG inhibited ETC complex I. Experiments on cerebellar granule neurons in rats show that EGCG accumulates obviously in mitochondria, and this polyphenol accumulates in mitochondria up to 90-95%. This finding is consistent with a large number of literatures describing polyphenols as compounds targeting mitochondria. Therefore, we isolated mitochondria to study the effects of EGCG and ECG on mitochondrial ETC complex. The separated mitochondria are separated from their natural environment and signal transduction process, and the separation process brings the risk of shearing force destroying the mitochondrial membrane. However, the uptake of drugs by mitochondria depends on the integrity of inner and outer membranes of mitochondria, including the functions of transporters and carriers. Since 25 μM EGCG and ECG are necessary to significantly inhibit the activity of mitochondrial complex I isolated from mouse liver and hinder the mitochondrial respiration of mitochondria isolated from rat liver, we assume that the separation process affects the integrity of mitochondrial membrane, so mitochondria have the potential to effectively absorb catechins.

In addition, we found that the temporary obstruction of mitochondrial respiration is accompanied by the temporary increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and the temporary decrease of ATP, which triggers the signal pathways related to life extension. EGCG and ECG can promote life extension, benefit health and enhance stress resistance when used in low doses.

Experimental results

The oral absorption and absolute bioavailability of green tea catechins in mammals are very low. After ingesting no more than 4.5 g of decaffeinated green tea solids, the highest plasma concentration reaches 2.5 μM m.. However, some independent clinical trials have reported the beneficial effects of EGCG and ECG on health parameters. Therefore, we assume that lower concentrations of EGCG and ECG are still effective and improve the life span and stress resistance of nematodes. In fact, the application of EGCG and ECG at a concentration of 2.5μM is enough to significantly expand the medium and thus prolong the life of Caenorhabditis elegans:

Next, we tested whether prolonging life is also related to improving health and stress resistance. Exercise depends on functional muscle mass, connective tissue and neuron signals. Therefore, exercise ability is a suitable sign of health. In our experiment, nematodes were given EGCG and ECG, and after 7 days, it was observed that their motor ability was obviously improved:

In addition, the tolerance of nematodes to free radical generator paraquat was significantly improved after ingesting ECGC and ECG for 7 days. Therefore, our conclusion is that EGCG and ECG can enhance and obviously improve their health and stress resistance! These two indicators are the key to health!

In a word, from our experiment, we found that the application of green tea catechin EGCG and low dose ECG can prolong the life span of nematodes by inducing cell division reaction. Therefore, inhibition of complex I caused a transient increase in ROS, stimulated antioxidant defense enzymes SOD and CAT, and activated PMK-1/SKN-1/DAF-16 pathway. In addition, the inhibition of complex I leads to the temporary decrease of ATP level in cells, thus activating AAK-2/SIR-2.1 signal. In the long run, if these energy-dependent and ROS-dependent pathways are reconnected, it will lead to the reduction of fat content, which will be more beneficial to people’s health and prolong their life.

Our clinical trials have confirmed the safety of EGCG and emphasized that EGCG has great potential in fighting age-related cardiovascular and metabolic diseases! The experimental study on the physical and clinical parameters of rodents over time requires further clinical trials to determine the optimal time and dosage of catechins. Finally, these studies describe the additional effect and downstream mechanism of complex I inhibition. Although promising results have been obtained in animal experiments, the low bioavailability of EGCG still raises a question, that is, whether green tea catechin can effectively produce reliable and beneficial effects in humans. Therefore, scientists need more efforts to identify complex I inhibitors with higher bioavailability.

After reading this article, do you have a deeper understanding of the efficacy of green tea? Its efficacy can be said to be multifaceted. In life, it can not only improve our health quality; In the face of diseases, it also plays a certain role in preventing fatal diseases. Therefore, in life, it should become a role that cannot be ignored!

References:

https://www.aging-us.com/article/203597/text

Note: This article aims to introduce the progress of medical research, and cannot be used as a reference for treatment programs. If you need health guidance, please go to a regular hospital.

Read the original text

　　BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) According to the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on April 28, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held a meeting of the leading group for flood control and drought relief. The meeting pointed out that the overall deviation of China’s meteorological year this year, the trend of regional and staged droughts and floods is more obvious, extreme weather and climate events may increase, and the task of agricultural disaster prevention and bumper harvest is arduous. At present, the southern part of China has entered the flood season ahead of schedule, and spring ploughing and spring irrigation have been carried out in various places, and agricultural flood control and drought relief work has entered a critical period.

　　The meeting stressed that this year is a special year, and agricultural and rural departments at all levels should earnestly strengthen the prevention of agro-meteorological disasters, reduce disaster losses, and strive to win a bumper harvest of grain and agriculture in a well-off year.

　　The meeting proposed that we should base ourselves on preventing floods, fighting droughts, seizing major risks and saving major disasters, and pay close attention to the work of agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation.

　　The first is to strengthen the implementation of responsibilities. It is necessary to perform their duties according to their functions, clarify the list of responsibilities, implement the responsibilities in the whole process of agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation, and refine the implementation from post to person.

　　The second is to strengthen disaster prevention. Prepare the material plan as early as possible, grasp the major weather change trend, and release early warning information in time.

　　The third is to strengthen monitoring and judgment. Strengthen emergency duty, dispatch disasters at the first time, and scientifically analyze and judge the impact of disasters. Do a good job in submitting information, and timely reflect the progress of agricultural disasters and disaster relief work.

　　The fourth is to strengthen guidance services. Formulate scientific disaster prevention, mitigation and relief technical scheme. Timely dispatch work supervision groups and expert guidance groups to carry out roving technical services to help the disaster-stricken areas resume production as soon as possible.

Railway is an important national transportation infrastructure and a major livelihood project, which has always been concerned by all walks of life, delegates and members attending the meeting. Recently, Lu Dongfu, deputy to the National People’s Congress, chairman and party secretary of China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd., accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV reporters and introduced the relevant situation of promoting the high-quality development of railways.

Photo courtesy of China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd.

Focus on making up shortcomings, preventing risks and promoting railway construction with high quality.

Lu Dongfu introduced that during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. adhered to the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary on railway work, and promoted railway construction in a scientific, orderly, safe and high-quality manner. The national railway operating mileage increased from 121,000 kilometers at the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" to 146,300 kilometers, an increase of 20.9%, of which the high-speed rail increased from 19,800 kilometers to 37,900 kilometers, nearly doubling, "four vertical and four horizontal" Especially in 2020, we will conscientiously implement the deployment requirements of "increasing the national railway construction capital by 100 billion yuan" in the Government Work Report, effectively respond to the impact and impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the national railway capital construction investment will exceed the level of 2019, which has made important contributions to the "six guarantees" and the implementation of the "six guarantees" task.

Lu Dongfu introduced that the implementation of the "Proposal" of the 14 th Five-Year Plan of the Central Committee, during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period, the railway construction task is still very heavy, and the scale of projects under construction and approved is 3.19 trillion yuan; By 2025, the national railway mileage will reach about 170,000 kilometers, including about 50,000 kilometers of high-speed rail (including intercity railway). Railways basically cover cities with urban population of more than 200,000, and high-speed rail covers 98% of cities with urban population of more than 500,000. The railway department will more consciously use the new development concept to guide railway construction and strive to achieve high-quality development.

First, insist on making up the shortcomings. Closely connect with the national strategy, focus on organizing and implementing trunk projects that serve the national strategy and land development, take into account existing trunk channel reinforcement, comprehensive transportation hub supporting, undertaking "transit railway" transportation and other short-board projects, and strive to improve investment efficiency and the overall function of the road network.

The second is to persist in doing our best to do what we can. Coordinate the regional economic and social development, the overall planning and layout of the road network, the guarantee of construction funds and other factors, taking into account the needs and possibilities. On the one hand, we will maintain a certain investment intensity and further exert the pulling effect of railway construction investment, on the other hand, we will pay more attention to the efficiency and benefit of railway investment, reasonably control the scale of railway construction debts, prevent debt risks and ensure the high-quality and sustainable development of railway construction.

The third is to adhere to the construction of classification and stratification. Implement the principle of the division of powers between the central and local governments, and adhere to the principle of "who makes decisions, who raises funds, who benefits and who subsidizes". China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. is mainly responsible for the construction of national trunk railways that belong to the common powers of the central and local governments. For intercity railways and feeder railways, the local governments mainly contribute to the construction and bear the responsibility of investment decision-making. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. gives full play to its professional and technical advantages and provides help and support.

Lu Dongfu specially introduced that sichuan-tibet railway is a century-long strategic project planned, deployed and promoted by the Supreme Leader General Secretary, and China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. regards it as the "number one project" of railway construction, and promotes it with the strength of the whole industry. Since the construction started on November 8 last year, all participating units have mobilized elite teachers to overcome many difficulties and quickly form a tough situation. Since the beginning of winter, including the Spring Festival, the contractors have not gone down the mountain in winter construction. At present, the tunnel projects of "two tunnels and one bridge" (Sejilashan Tunnel, Kangding No.2 Tunnel and Daduhe Bridge) which started in advance have all been transferred to the tunnel construction, and the bridge foundation construction has been fully carried out, forming a good pilot demonstration effect; Bidding is being organized for 186 kilometers from Ya ‘an to xinduqiao and 151 kilometers from Bomi to Linzhi, and construction can be started at the end of March; Xinduqiao-Bomi 674km is under special technical review, and preliminary design review is carried out in the near future, so as to bid in August and meet the conditions for construction in the fourth quarter. We will further improve our political stance, strengthen our responsibility, resolutely run the sichuan-tibet railway project, and never live up to the trust and trust of the Supreme Leader General Secretary.

Do a good job in transportation support under the condition of normalization of epidemic prevention and control

Lu Dongfu introduced that in recent years, with the continuous expansion of the high-speed rail network, railway passenger transport has maintained a rapid growth momentum for more than 10 years. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the number of national railway passengers sent reached 14.9 billion, of which 9 billion were sent by EMUs, up by 41% and 152% respectively compared with the 12th Five-Year Plan period. At the same time, measures such as e-tickets, face-brushing verification, online seat selection, online ordering, etc. have been continuously introduced, and service guarantee measures for the elderly and off-line people have been implemented, so that watching China on the high-speed train has become a true portrayal of the vast number of tourists enjoying a beautiful travel life. The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has had a great impact on railway passenger transport. In 2020, the national railway passenger traffic decreased by 39% year-on-year. In order to cope with the epidemic, this year we put forward and implemented the business strategy of "insufficient long-distance transportation, insufficient spring tour in Spring Festival travel rush, insufficient winter in summer and insufficient passenger transportation", and achieved positive results. In the first two months, the passenger traffic completed by the railway decreased by 4.5% year-on-year, but the passenger traffic in the pipeline increased by 3.3% year-on-year. In the next step, we will use big data to accurately implement "one map a day", scientifically allocate transportation resources, organize spring outing and summer passenger transportation, and better adapt to the travel needs of the broad masses of people under the situation of epidemic prevention and control.

Railways can make more contributions to peak carbon dioxide emissions and transportation emission reduction in China.

Lu Dongfu introduced that the central government’s decision to adjust the transportation structure and increase the railway freight volume was implemented, and the railway department intensified the structural reform of the freight supply side. In 2016, the railway freight volume bottomed out and maintained a sustained growth. In 2020, the national railway freight volume reached 3.58 billion tons, accounting for 9.9% of the total social freight volume from 7.7% in 2016, which made due contributions to winning the battle against pollution, especially the battle to defend the blue sky.

Railway is a typical green means of transportation. In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the railway freight volume increased by 227 million tons year-on-year, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 20 million tons compared with the same traffic volume completed by highways. In recent years, the railway’s own energy structure has been continuously adjusted and optimized. At present, the electrification rate of the national railway has reached 74.9%. It is estimated that the railway freight volume will reach 3.7 billion tons in 2021, and the traction workload of electric locomotives will reach 90.5%. The annual fuel consumption of the national railway has dropped from the peak of 5.83 million tons in 1985 to 2.31 million tons, a drop of 60%, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 12.56 million tons every year. We will further seize the favorable opportunity of the national transportation structure adjustment, comprehensively optimize the layout of railway freight according to the target requirements of central peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, make good use of the capacity of freight corridors such as Daqin, Haoji, Tanghu and Wari, promote the special railway lines to enter the port, mine and logistics park, and further stabilize the volume of bulk cargo. At the same time, vigorously develop container multimodal transport, solve the problems of long running time and uncertain delivery time of freight trains, continuously improve the competitiveness of railway freight market, and strive to expand the railway market share.

Deepen the independent innovation of high-speed rail

Lu Dongfu introduced that in January this year, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that high-speed rail was a successful example of independent innovation in China, which fully proved the remarkable advantages of the national system. The general secretary asked us to sum up our experience seriously, continue to improve it and strive for greater development in the 14 th Five-Year Plan. The important instructions of the General Secretary provide us with a fundamental follow-up to further promote the independent innovation of high-speed rail and give great encouragement and spur to the cadres and workers in the whole industry.

During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, China’s railway independent innovation has made great achievements, and its overall technical level has entered the world’s advanced ranks. High-speed, plateau, cold and heavy-haul railway technology has reached the world’s leading level, and intelligent high-speed rail technology has achieved full autonomy. In particular, Fuxing EMU has shown excellent performance in terms of safety, economy, energy saving and environmental protection, and is well received by the market and the majority of passengers. The passenger load factor is 0.7 percentage points higher than the average passenger load factor of EMU. At present, Fuxing serial EMU has been formed, covering the speed classes of 160 km/h to 350 km/h..

To implement the spirit of the important instructions of the General Secretary and deepen the independent innovation of Fuxing high-speed train, several key tasks are currently being organized:

First, before July 1st, this year, the centralized EMU with dual power sources in Fuxing Plateau will be driven into Xizang and Lhasa to achieve full coverage in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). In order to meet the operation needs of Lalin Railway, we independently developed the Fuxing Plateau dual-power centralized EMU, and integrated the high-power internal combustion and electric power systems on the EMU, which can adapt to various complex operating environments such as high altitude, western mountainous areas and multiple tunnels. Many of these technologies are at the international leading level, and some have filled the gaps in the world railway technology.

Second, before July 1 this year, a number of Fuxing intelligent EMUs will be launched in Beijing-Shanghai, Jingha, Beijing-Guangzhou, Chengdu-Chongqing and other high-speed railways to expand the scope of operation experience and let more people enjoy a higher quality travel life. Fuxing intelligent EMU, independently developed by China, was put into operation in Beijing-Zhangjia high-speed railway in December 2019, which was favored by the majority of passengers. This type of EMU has the characteristics of intelligent driving, intelligent service, intelligent operation and maintenance, and the energy consumption and noise in train operation have also been further improved.

The third is to start the "CR450 Science and Technology Innovation Project". In order to fully release the dividend of the developed high-speed rail network, based on scientific analysis and grasping the road conditions, we plan to develop a new generation of new products of Fuxing EMU with higher speed, safer, more environmentally friendly, more energy-saving and more intelligent, mainly through the comprehensive upgrading of the mobile equipment technology of high-speed rail based on the infrastructure conditions of high-speed rail with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, so as to realize the higher commercial operation speed of high-speed rail in China and continuously consolidate the leading edge of high-speed rail in China.

Resolutely hold the political red line and professional bottom line of the railway

Lu Dongfu introduced that railway transportation safety has always been widely concerned by all walks of life, and railway departments have always regarded it as the political red line and professional bottom line of railway work. In recent years, railway transportation safety has remained generally stable through strengthening the foundation to meet the standards, being strict and pragmatic, comprehensively managing, and improving the "trinity" safety guarantee system of civil air defense, physical defense and technical defense. In particular, the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary was implemented, and the railway safety environment was comprehensively rectified, eliminating a large number of environmental safety hazards. Last year, equipment failures caused by environmental problems decreased by 34% year-on-year. At present, 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have formulated and promulgated railway safety laws and regulations, which provide legal protection for strengthening railway safety.

Lu Dongfu said that with the continuous expansion of the scale of the railway network and the continuous extension of the high-speed rail operation cycle, ensuring railway safety is facing increasing pressure and challenges. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will carry out the requirements of overall development and safety, and comprehensively implement safety measures to ensure railway safety, especially the safety of high-speed rail and passenger trains.

Continue to consolidate the achievements of railway safety and environmental governance. Thoroughly implement the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary, further improve the coordination and linkage mechanism with local governments and railway police authorities, strictly implement the measures for the safety management of railway external environment, strengthen road safety management, and achieve the environmental improvement goals of high-speed rail and general railway.

In-depth exploration and grasp the law of high-speed rail operation. Seriously sum up the practice of high-speed rail operation, use big data technology to study the failure mechanism and change law of high-speed rail equipment, strengthen the health management of equipment throughout the life cycle, establish and improve the technical standard system and maintenance procedures of high-speed rail that are more in line with China’s national conditions and road conditions, and continuously improve the safety and security level of high-speed rail and passenger trains.

Comprehensively strengthen basic infrastructure construction at the grass-roots level. With safety, quality and benefit as the core, we will deepen the standardization of transportation stations and sections, strictly manage the safety red line and assess the accountability for safety performance, promote the comprehensive strengthening of the quality foundation of equipment and facilities, and dynamically meet the standards of cadres and workers’ ability and quality, so as to truly establish railway safety on a solid foundation.

Lead the railway reform deeper and deeper.

Lu Dongfu introduced that under the care and attention of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, in 2019, the state-owned railway enterprises fully completed the reform of the company system, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. was officially listed, and the modern enterprise system was initially established; The joint-stock reform of state-owned railway enterprises was accelerated, and Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway Company and Tieke Rail Company were successfully listed, becoming the "first high-speed railway in China" and "the first high-speed railway in science and technology innovation board". The broad masses of the people not only enjoyed the travel convenience brought by high-speed railway, but also shared the benefits of high-quality assets from the capital market.

Lu Dongfu said that in 2020, to implement the three-year action plan for the reform of state-owned enterprises of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. issued the "Three-year Action Implementation Plan for the Reform of State-owned Railway Enterprises (2020— 2022), which clarified the timetable and road map for deepening reform. We will adhere to the strategic positioning of the national railway, adhere to the centralized and unified command of transportation, adapt to the development requirements of railway transportation productivity, and continuously deepen the reform of the national railway enterprises.

Focusing on releasing the dividends of developed road network and advanced technology and equipment, we will deepen the transformation of transportation organization, optimize the operation structure of high-speed rail and ordinary passenger cars, passenger trains and freight trains, realize the coordinated allocation of transportation resources, comprehensively improve the utilization efficiency of high-speed rail network, release the freight capacity of busy trunk lines of ordinary railway, and provide support for increasing the effective supply of transportation products; By deepening the reform of equipment maintenance system, we will establish and improve the equipment quality supervision system, and give full play to the application benefits of advanced technology and equipment while ensuring the safety and reliability of equipment quality.

Focusing on releasing the dividend of the new system, we will further optimize and improve the corporate governance mechanism of China Railway by deepening the mechanism reform, promote the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity, and comprehensively improve the level of market-oriented operation under the rule of law; Pay more attention to the equity management of high-quality assets and promote the reform of railway mixed ownership to take a new step. In particular, we will implement the deployment of the state to promote the market-oriented reform of competitive links in the railway industry, accelerate the construction of a unified, open and fair market-oriented clearing system for the railway industry, and provide a fair market environment for all kinds of railway market operators.

Focusing on satisfying the people’s yearning for a better travel life, adhering to the people’s railway as the purpose of the people, adhering to the direction of market-oriented operation, gradually promoting the floating pricing mechanism of high-speed rail fares, and implementing different discounts according to regions, off-peak seasons, time slots, travel time, etc., so that the high-quality development achievements of railways can benefit the people more; Further improve the level of railway information service, explore new service measures such as non-inductive entry and exit, intelligent security inspection, and promote 12306 to become a comprehensive Internet service platform in the transportation field, providing more convenience for the majority of passengers; Adapting to the diversified market demand, combined with the implementation of passenger transport upgrading plan and Fuxing brand strategy, we will innovate service methods, improve service quality and implement differentiated services, so that the majority of passengers can have a better travel experience.

Make unremitting efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively link with rural revitalization.

Lu Dongfu introduced that since the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the railway system has resolutely responded to the order of the CPC Central Committee to win the battle against poverty, gave full play to the advantages of the railway industry, and made every effort to promote poverty alleviation, so that 109 counties ended the history of being inaccessible to railways and 198 counties entered the high-speed rail era; Adhere to transportation to help the poor, 81 public welfare "slow trains" will not adjust their prices for 26 years, and 12 million people along the line will be transported every year, becoming "brands of state-owned enterprises and socialist advertisements"; Accurate implementation of fixed-point poverty alleviation, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. fixed-point assistance of 4 counties and districts and subordinate enterprises focus on helping 53 villages all lifted their hats out of poverty.

Lu Dongfu said, studying and implementing the spirit of the important speech delivered by the Supreme Leader General Secretary at the National Conference on Summarizing and Commending Poverty Alleviation, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will vigorously carry forward the spirit of poverty alleviation and continue to increase assistance.

The responsibility of compacting and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation. Maintain the overall stability of the assistance mechanism and strength, give a ride to the designated assistance areas, and resolutely hold on to the fruits of victory in poverty alleviation. In particular, give full play to the advantages of railway resources and market, innovate ways and means of accurate assistance, and further enhance the endogenous driving force for the development of poverty-stricken areas.

Continue to do a good job in railway construction and railway transportation assistance and support. Scientifically and orderly promote railway planning and construction in poverty-stricken areas, continuously strengthen railway service facilities in old, less and border areas, rationally arrange train operation plans, increase the effective supply of transportation products, and continuously strengthen the railway’s transportation service support capacity for old and young border areas.

Strengthen the systematic planning of railway service for rural revitalization. Focusing on the objectives and tasks of rural revitalization, combined with the preparation and implementation of the "14 th Five-Year Plan" railway development plan, we will focus on the deployment and priority protection of projects related to rural revitalization, enhance the systematic and forward-looking nature of railway services for rural revitalization, and better play the important supporting role of railways in implementing the rural revitalization strategy.

Realize the "two-wing Qi Fei" of the Central European train and the western land and sea new channel train

Lu Dongfu introduced that in 2020, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will conscientiously implement the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary, give full play to the unique advantages such as the segmented transportation of trains in China and Europe and the new land and sea passage in the west, scientifically and rationally formulate the train operation plan, strengthen the cooperation between domestic transportation organizations and international railway intermodal transportation, and achieve a substantial increase in the number of trains against the trend. China-Europe trains operated 12,400 trains and sent 1.135 million TEUs throughout the year, up 50% and 56% respectively. The western land and sea new channel trains operated 3,600 trains and sent 190,000 TEUs throughout the year, up 73% and 80% respectively. In the first two months of this year, the number of trains in China and Europe and the new land and sea passages in the west increased by 96% and 175% respectively, and the role of international strategic passages became more and more prominent, which played an important role in building a new development pattern, ensuring the smooth operation of China’s foreign trade industrial chain and supply chain, and promoting international epidemic prevention cooperation.

Lu Dongfu said that in the next step, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will focus on improving the quality of train operation, give full play to the role of China-Europe international railway cooperation mechanism and the coordination committee of train transportation in the new land and sea corridor in the west, accelerate the construction of train collection and transportation system, promote convenient customs clearance services, optimize transportation organization and logistics scheme, continuously improve the intensive operation level of trains, strengthen the docking between China-Europe trains and trains in the new land and sea corridor in the west, and better realize the "Qi Fei with two wings".

Resolutely build China-Laos Railway into a　“the Belt and Road"The landmark project of China-Laos friendship

Lu Dongfu introduced that General Secretary of the Supreme Leader attached great importance to the construction of China-Laos Railway and explicitly requested that China-Laos Railway be built into a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative and China-Laos friendship. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. has given full play to its leading role at the enterprise level, pragmatically pushed forward the project construction, especially since last year, doing everything possible to overcome the impact of the epidemic, ensuring the smooth implementation of the project. At present, the main civil works of the Moding-Vientiane section outside China-Laos Railway have been basically completed, and the Vientiane-Luang Prabang section has been paved ahead of schedule, and the station building project behind the station has been accelerated. It is expected that the entire track will be paved in June; At the same time, under the premise of ensuring safety and quality, we will take effective measures to vigorously promote the construction of bridges, tunnels, tracks and four power projects in Yuxi-Mohan section of China. The main structure of the station building has been capped, which can ensure the opening and operation of the China-Laos Kunwan Railway in early December this year and realize direct transportation between Kunming and Vientiane. At the same time, we are organizing the development of a 160-kilometer-per-hour power concentrated EMU based on China standards, which is suitable for China-Laos Railway line conditions and reflects the cultural elements of China and Laos. This type of EMU will be delivered and tested before the end of August, and will be officially put into use when the entire line of China-Laos Kunming-Wanzhou Railway is put into operation.

China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will also co-ordinate the construction of the landmark project of "Belt and Road" in Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, comprehensively promote key projects such as tunnels and bridges, and ensure the realization of node targets. We will promote overseas projects such as the Hungarian Railway in an orderly manner to ensure new progress.

　　The goal of "double carbon" puts forward new requirements for municipal solid waste treatment and high-quality urban development. The low-carbon treatment of domestic waste is an important livelihood project, and it is the key support to accelerate the overall green transformation of economy and society and promote the green and high-quality development of cities. The Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment and Improvement of a Green and Low-carbon Circular Economic System issued by the State Council has clearly defined the treatment of domestic waste. "peak carbon dioxide emissions Action Plan before 2030" clearly puts forward to "vigorously promote the reduction and recycling of domestic waste". In the whole process from the generation, collection, removal and final treatment of municipal solid waste, there is a carbon emission that can not be ignored, which is an important aspect that can not be ignored for the city to steadily promote carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, it is of great significance to accelerate the low-carbon treatment of municipal solid waste, and there is great potential for carbon emission reduction in the whole process from domestic waste production to treatment.

　　

　　At present, due to the unreasonable and low-carbon production and lifestyle, the amount of urban garbage is still growing rapidly. To strengthen the low-carbon treatment of municipal solid waste, we should adopt a more scientific and reasonable technical and policy path, start with source reduction, reduce the generation of kitchen waste, paper and plastic waste, control the carbon emission in the garbage recovery and removal process, and effectively reduce the carbon emission in the whole life cycle of municipal solid waste, which will be more helpful to promote the carbon emission reduction of urban life, promote the green and high-quality development of cities, and accelerate the realization of the "double carbon" goal.

　　

　　Reduce with kitchen waste

　　Be a prerequisite

　　

　　Kitchen waste usually accounts for more than half of municipal solid waste and contains a lot of water, which is the prerequisite and important source to promote the low-carbon treatment of municipal solid waste. If domestic garbage is mixed with other garbage, it will seriously affect the post-treatment efficiency, reduce the energy recovery efficiency and increase the carbon emission during the treatment. Reducing kitchen waste from the source is the key path to reduce the carbon emission of municipal solid waste. First of all, we should actively promote clean vegetables to enter the city, and guide enterprises to complete vegetable grading, cutting and cleaning in vegetable production areas as far as possible through publicity and guidance, financial subsidies and technical improvement, so as to reduce the amount of kitchen waste entering the city from the source. Secondly, the enterprise responsibility system should be established, and the responsibilities of vegetable wholesale and retail enterprises, food processing enterprises and catering enterprises in the reduction of kitchen waste should be clearly defined, and the corresponding rewards and punishments should be given to the degree of completion of enterprises, so as to maximize the on-site disposal of garbage and reduce the generation rate of kitchen waste to a minimum. Third, promote the special channels and equipment for kitchen waste treatment in key enterprises of kitchen waste, reduce the water content of kitchen waste and reduce the difficulty of final treatment. Fourth, encourage citizens to control the total amount of food they buy each time, with the principle of eating enough, eating well and not wasting; Encourage citizens to implement the CD-ROM action, pay attention to health and wellness, avoid waste on the tip of the tongue, and do a good job in special recycling of household kitchen waste.

　　

　　Reduce plastic waste with waste paper

　　Be a key area

　　

　　Waste paper and plastics are the fastest growing parts of municipal solid waste, and they are also the types of waste with the highest carbon content per unit mass. Because both of them are industrial products, they will also produce a lot of life-cycle carbon emissions in their production process. The rapid growth of paper plastics will bring great hidden dangers to control the carbon emission of domestic garbage. From the aspects of product design, manufacturing and use, it is a long-term strategy to strictly control the production of paper plastic waste. First of all, the producer responsibility system should be established. From the perspective of product design, the corresponding reduction principles and targets should be formulated for product design and production enterprises. Consumer goods and product packaging design and production enterprises should be required to minimize the use of paper, plastic and other packaging products in product design, and the packaging design should be as conducive to recycling as possible. Secondly, reduce carbon emissions in the production process of plastic paper, actively innovate the production process, adopt low-carbon production process, and reduce energy consumption. Thirdly, reduce the garbage generated during the use of paper plastic products, promote enterprises and institutions to realize paperless office, and really reduce the use of paper in the office process; Promote consumer enterprises and consumers to reduce the use of paper plastic products such as disposable plates through policies such as separate charges for disposable tableware; Encourage the use and promotion of degradable corn plastics and biological products by reducing the production water fee.

　　

　　To strengthen the classification of domestic waste.

　　Be an important starting point

　　

　　Carrying out domestic waste classification is the only way to reduce urban environmental pollution, reduce resource and energy consumption, build a good living environment, and promote the green, high-quality and sustainable development of the city. We should scientifically guide residents to strengthen the classification of domestic waste, reduce the negative impact on the ecological environment, improve the utilization rate of resources, and form a green and low-carbon lifestyle. Scientific classification and recovery of domestic waste is a necessary way for recycling resources and low-carbon treatment at the end, which can effectively improve the recycling rate of resources and reduce carbon emissions. We should speed up the establishment and improvement of the incentive system for domestic waste sorting and recycling, encourage more enterprises to participate in waste sorting, recycling operation and technological innovation, and provide life services such as door-to-door sorting to realize the life cycle service of waste recycling; Establish an incentive mechanism for urban residents’ garbage sorting, introduce and improve the point system, and realize garbage recycling through mobile phone applications, so as to obtain corresponding points and stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of citizens to participate in sorting and recycling; Introduce new garbage sorting equipment, such as smart trash can, intelligent induction broadcasting system, "bag breaker" and automatic sorting station, to help residents realize garbage sorting more conveniently. At the same time, establish a strict punishment mechanism, and strengthen supervision and punishment for acts that do not classify garbage as required. In addition, strengthen the education and publicity of domestic waste classification and green and low-carbon development, so that the concept of green, low-carbon and environmental protection is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

　　

　　Carbon emission reduction by garbage removal

　　Be the key link

　　

　　Carbon emission reduction of garbage removal is an indispensable key link in garbage disposal and an important hub connecting garbage classification, recycling and final disposal. We should promote the development and use of new energy transportation equipment, replace closed garbage transportation vehicles, and effectively reduce the carbon emissions of transportation equipment. Improve the efficiency of intermediate transportation of garbage, systematically design the placement positions of trash cans, closed stations and transfer stations, optimize the garbage removal lines and methods, and establish a scientific and reasonable urban garbage removal system. Strengthen the environmental sanitation management of garbage transfer stations, improve the transfer efficiency of urban domestic garbage, encourage garbage recovery and removal enterprises to use big data technology to provide new garbage removal services such as online booking and door-to-door recycling, comprehensively optimize the garbage removal process, and promote the green and low-carbon garbage removal link.

　　

　　To innovate the final treatment method

　　For strong support

　　

　　As the most direct carbon emission link in the process of domestic waste recycling, the classification degree, water content and treatment method of waste will affect the carbon emission of final treatment. We should take innovative final treatment methods of municipal solid waste as a strong support, adopt advanced, green and low-carbon treatment technologies and methods, speed up the elimination of the traditional simple landfill mode, and effectively promote the recycling and low-carbon treatment in the final treatment process by more resource-intensive, green and low-carbon, recycling and eco-friendly treatment methods. On the one hand, we should rationally plan and establish a comprehensive domestic waste treatment base, optimize the final treatment structure of domestic waste such as incineration power generation, sanitary landfill and biological fermentation, realize zero landfill of municipal waste as soon as possible, introduce new generation information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to enhance the intelligent level of waste treatment equipment, improve waste terminal treatment equipment and improve the efficiency of waste terminal treatment. On the other hand, we should improve the power generation efficiency of garbage incineration and biogas production efficiency by fermentation, introduce special equipment such as kitchen waste pretreatment and low calorific value garbage incineration which are more suitable for classified garbage treatment, and use new treatment technologies such as garbage pyrolysis and plasma treatment to improve the energy output efficiency of electricity, biogas and hot steam, realize smarter and more efficient energy recycling, promote traditional energy substitution, reduce carbon emissions in energy production, and promote urban green, low-carbon and high-quality development. (The first author is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Urban Studies of Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, and the second author is the director and researcher of the Institute of Urban Studies of Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.)

Continue reading »