Recently, Tianjin Municipal Education Commission announced the results for the second round of application into Tianjin think tanks. Totally, six university research institutions were selected while two college think tank institutions entered the cultivation stage. The Center for Biosafety Research and Strategy of Tianjin University (hereafter Center) has been selected into Tianjin think tanks. The “Threats and Countermeasures of New Dual-Use Biotechnology to China's Biosafety” written by the center experts won the first prize of excellent decision-making consulting research results.
The Center was established in September 2016 to implement the major deployment of the general security concept of President Xi Jinping, and to deal with bioterrorism, large-scale infectious diseases, and misuse of biotechnology. In December of the same year, the Center was approved by the Ministry of Education's Science and Technology Commission Strategic Research Base. It is also the first non-governmental organization in Asia registered with the Biological Weapons Convention in the United Nations. As a professional international think tank, the Center has maintained close ties and good cooperative relations with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the decision-making and consulting services.
The article “Threats and Countermeasures of New Dual-Use Biotechnology to China's Biosafety” written by Prof. Youhai Sun and Dr. Yang Xue of the Center for Biosafety Strategy Research, won the first prize for excellent decision-making consulting research results. The “Threats and Countermeasures of New Dual-Use Biotechnology to China's Biosafety” was published in the “Ministry of Education's Briefing (University Think Tank Special Issue)”, focusing on strategic planning, regulatory system, legal guarantee, scientific research capability and social popularization. When the report was received, the Vice Premier of the State Council, Comrade Liu Yandong, affirmatively approved the article and transferred it to the relevant departments.
