President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the latter's state visit to China from April 22 to 24, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Guo made the statement in response to a media query for details of the upcoming event, saying Aliyev is to pay the vist at the invitation of President Xi.
"China and Azerbaijan are strategic partners. In recent years, under the personal care and promotion of the two heads of state, the China-Azerbaijan relations have maintained a sound momentum of growth, with the two sides' political mutual trust ever consolidated, Belt and Road cooperation bearing fruitful outcomes, and international collaboration effective," Guo said.
"During the visit, President Xi will hold talks with President Aliyev and draw a new blueprint for the China-Azerbaijan relationship. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji will meet with President Aliyev respectively and have in-depth exchange of views on cooperation in various fields. We believe that this visit will further deepen the China-Azerbaijan strategic partnership, and bring more benefits to the people of the two countries," he said.
Chinese, Azerbaijani presidents to hold talks: spokesman
Chinese, Azerbaijani presidents to hold talks: spokesman
Life science experiments conducted onboard China's Tiangong space station will not only help experts to better protect the health of astronauts, but also provide vital new ideas for human disease treatment back on Earth, a Chinese researcher said in Beijing on Wednesday.
Pei Weiwei, an associate researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection of Soochow University, was speaking after a special handover ceremony was held where scientists received the samples brought back by the Shenzhou-19 space mission, which landed earlier that day.
The mission's three crew members touched down safely at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region around Wednesday lunchtime, after their return had been postponed by a day due to unfavorable weather conditions on the ground.
During their six-month stay in space, Shenzhou-19 mission commander Cai Xuzhe, alongside young astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, who is also China's first female space engineer, carried out an extensive series of scientific experiments and medical tests to assess the impact of space travel on human health and on other living organisms.
The returned samples include bone cells, human induced pluripotent stem cells and human bronchial epithelial cells. Scientists will conduct molecular biology research on these key samples, assessing the effects of the zero-gravity environment on human tissues and the impact of space radiation, according to Pei.
"The carcinogenicity of space radiation has always been a focus of our research, and the epithelial cells of the lungs are the most susceptible to tumors. So we are studying the evolution of lung epithelial cells into tumor cells in space radiation and some of its mechanisms. Based on this data, we aim to establish a space radiation risk assessment system suitable for Chinese astronauts. At the same time, we hope to provide some theoretical support for radiation monitoring and a complete radiation protection system," he said.
Pei said that such experiments and related research will not only help protect the health of astronauts, but can also offer new ideas to human health problems back on Earth, such as the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. It will also provide a new theoretical basis and experimental support for exploring health problems such as osteoporosis, muscle atrophy and decreased cardiovascular function, he added.
Space life science mainly studies the responses and changes of life activities at all levels from biomolecules to organisms under conditions such as microgravity, space radiation, and sub-magnetism, as well as their combined conditions, and explores the deep mechanisms of life phenomena.
Space experiments can offer new approaches to tackling human health issues: expert
