1. Efficacy of Sinopharm vaccines tops 70 percent, study finds 

Domestic drugmaker Sinopharm's two vaccines are both more than 70 percent effective against symptomatic cases of COVID-19, according to a study of the world's first third-stage clinical trial of inactivated vaccines, which was published on May 26.

The vaccine, developed by a Beijing unit of Sinopharm's China National Biotech Group, has 78.1 percent efficacy against symptomatic cases of COVID-19, while the vaccine made by the group's unit in Wuhan, Hubei province, has 72.8 percent efficacy, according to results released online by The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study also marks the first time a domestic COVID-19 vaccine maker has had third-stage trial data published in a peer-reviewed international journal.

2. China's new wheat variety can resist crop disease

The scientific research team of Gao Derong, director of the Wheat Lab of the Yangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has successfully bred a new high-yield wheat variety, Yangmai-33, with high resistance to wheat scab and powdery mildew. It is the first of its kind in China.

The wheat variety has passed an expert evaluation organized by the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and is expected to become a leading, next-generation variety in China.

Wheat scab, known as the wheat "cancer", is one of the main crop diseases in China. It not only causes serious yield reductions, but also produces toxins that endanger human life.

The Karachi K2 generator unit in Pakistan begins commercial operations. [Photo/WeChat account: szchtf]

3. China's first overseas Hualong One nuclear reactor begins commercial operations

China's first overseas Hualong One nuclear reactor - the Karachi K2 generator unit in Pakistan - began commercial operations on May 20, after successfully completing 100 hours of continuous and stable operation.

It is a milestone for Hualong One, China's third-generation nuclear power technology with complete proprietary intellectual property rights, and will improve Hualong One technology's competitiveness in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

4. Structural details for COVID-19 variant's immune evasion discovered

Research by scientists from Scripps Research in the United States has revealed the key details of how a gene mutation carried by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) plays a role in evading the immune system. It was found that all the mutations were found to occur at the receptor binging site on the viral spike protein.

Future vaccines and antibody-based therapies will be able to provide broader protection against COVID-19 and its variants by inducing or utilizing antibodies that target parts of the virus that are located outside the receptor binding site.

5. China's FAST telescope detects over 200 pulsars

Scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have recently discovered 201 pulsars using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, which is nicknamed "China's Eye of Heaven".