On March 18th, Li Xi, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, went to Guangzhou to go in-depth into the key state  and provincial laboratories, universities, and research institutes to inspect the  implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions in the investigation of scientific research on the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Beijing, and  further promotion of the scientific research on the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Guangdong Province.

Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory is one of the first four provincial laboratories in Guangdong. The person in charge introduced that after the outbreak of the epidemic, the laboratory urgently launched a number of emergency research projects. At present, it has achieved phased results in the areas of rapid detection, emergency drugs and vaccine development, and some of the results have been widely used in anti-epidemic practice. Li Xi walked into the laboratory building and talked with the research team to learn more about the research and development of testing reagents, medical equipment, drugs and vaccines. He encouraged everyone to make persistent efforts, concentrate on scientific research and pool available resources to promote research projects for more results as soon as possible, and to accelerate the transformation to the front line of epidemic prevention.

Guangdong Research Center of Integrated TCM and Western Medicine for Metabolic Diseases has provided a number of professional opinions for improving the emergency response, prevention and control strategies of the epidemic in Guangdong Province. The study of TCM compounds has played an important role in inhibiting the novel coronavirus, preventing and treating COVID-19. Li Xi visited the expert teams there to conduct on-site inspections on scientific research and clinical application. He hopes that everyone will actively take advantage of the long-term accumulated R & D advantages in the field of integrated TCM and western medicine, strengthen the research and clinical verification of the mechanism of TCM treatment, develop more targeted and effective formulas and drugs, and promote the role of TCM in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of epidemics. 

The State Key Laboratory of Precision Electronics Manufacturing Technology and Equipment was set up in Guangdong University of Technology. The wireless handheld ultrasound scanner and nano-fiber membranes developed by several scientific research units have provided important technical support for clinical diagnosis and treatment, and the repurposed enterprises to produce protective clothing and masks. Li Xi inspected the research progress of new technologies and materials on the spot, expecting that everyone will aim at the needs of epidemic prevention and control and the shortcomings of high-end equipment to carry out scientific research work, actively carry out international cooperation, coordinately accelerate key and core technology research, make full use of Guangdong's industrial advantages to strengthen industry-university-research cooperation, promoting the transformation and application of research results as soon as possible.

At the Guangdong Science Center, Li Xi heard a report on the overall situation of scientific research on epidemic prevention and control in Guangdong Province. He emphasized that it is necessary to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions, treat epidemic prevention and control as a major and urgent task. we should make full use of Guangdong ’s scientific and industrial advantages and increase investment in scientific research. Through strengthening multi-disciplinary centralized research, we should work hard to overcome the key and difficult issues of epidemic prevention and control, so as to contribute to the scientific and technological front to defeat the epidemic, and continuously improve the ability and level of Guangdong Province to respond to major public health emergencies. First, we must strengthen the research and development of effective drugs, medical equipment, and technological innovation in treatment, adhere to the synergy of clinical research and clinical treatment, develop and screen more and more effective drugs, and expand the clinical application of advanced treatment methods such as the convalescent plasma, stem cells, and monoclonal antibodies, advancing the front-line clinical treatment through scientific research. Second, we must strengthen the research on the origin of the virus and its transmission pathway, make full use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to conduct epidemiological and tracing investigations, and understand the source and key characteristics of the disease as soon as possible. Third, we must accelerate the development of vaccines with multiple technical routes, support scientific research institutions, universities, enterprises, and hospitals in joint research, strive to achieve breakthroughs as soon as possible, and provide a fundamental method for epidemic prevention and control. Fourth, we must increase investment in science and technology in the field of health, integrate research, clinical, and production resources, strengthen basic research in the field of life sciences, accelerate breakthroughs in key and core technologies in the field of health, master more hard-core products with independent intellectual property rights, and build a technological defense for  safety of the public and biosecurity.

Zheng Yanxiong, Member of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, and Qin Weizhong, Vice Governor, participated in the inspection.