China's new Four Great Inventions were recently announced, with hybrid rice, Chinese character laser printing, synthetic bovine insulin, and artemether compound tablets against malaria making the cut.

According to Zhou Zhaolong, deputy director-general of southern China's Guangdong Association of Invention, one of the co-sponsors of the selection, China's New Four Great Inventions were voted for by both the public and experts in line with the requirements that they be creative and original, have worldwide significance and have a big social impact. 60 percent of the votes were cast online, while 40 percent were taken from experts.

On top of the list is hybrid rice, which was first developed in 1973 by Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, thereafter called the Father of Hybrid Rice. The new breed has enabled China, with its immense population but comparatively limited area of arable land, to solve its long standing food problem and contribute a great deal to the world food industry.

Another major breakthrough, the techniques for Chinese character laser printing, was developed by late scientist Wang Xuan, known as Bi Sheng, Father of Printing in Modern Times. First introduced to newspaper printing in December 1987, his techniques brought about a revolution in the printing and publishing industries. Allowing China's printing industry to bid farewell to its age of clay and lead printing, since being adopted Chinese laser printing has increased the efficiency of domestic printing, promoted the spread of Chinese culture, and had a far-reaching impact on the printing industries of other countries, including South Korea and Japan.

Also, synthetic bovine insulin, which was fully developed in 1965 following 6 years of hard work by a group of Chinese scientists, was the first case of human beings synthesizing live proteins. The success made it possible for Chinese scientists to deflate the traditional concept that said synthetic live proteins were by definition impossible as life stems from nature. Synthetic bovine insulin marked a significant breakthrough in the field of life science and has substantially influenced human endeavors in finding out the secrets of life.

Finally, artemether compound tablets, which were first developed in the mid-1980s by Chinese scientists, have proved to be the most effective anti-malaria medicine worldwide. With their brand-new chemical structure first discovered by Chinese, they are often compared to Atom Bombs, a milestone in the history of man’s fight against malaria

日前，中国的“新四大发明”名单公布，“杂交水稻”、“汉字激光照排”、“人工合成牛胰岛素”、“复方蒿甲醚”榜上有名。 据本次评选的发起人之一广东发明协会副理事长周兆龙介绍：“新四大发明”的评选采用网友投票和专家评审互补的模式进行。具有原创性、具有世界级影响力、能产生社会效益是对‘新四大发明’的基本要求。网友投票结果占总分值的60％，专家评审占总分值的40％。 名列“新四大发明”榜首的是杂交水稻。1973年，中国科学家袁隆平首先培育出了杂交水稻，这之后他也被称做为“杂交水稻之父”。人口众多、人均耕地面积不多的中国，不仅解决了自己的粮食问题，还为全世界粮食产业作出了巨大贡献。 另一项重大突破是汉字激光照排技术。发明者是已故的科学家王选，他享有“印刷术之父，新时代的毕升”的称号。1987年12月他的印刷术首次用于报纸印刷，同时也带来了一场出版印刷业的变革。在告别旧时代印刷术并促进中华文化传播的同时，激光照排技术也对包括日、韩等国家的印刷出版业产生了深远的影响。 同样，人工合成牛胰岛素在许多中国科学家的共同努力下，历经6年，于1965年完成，是人类有史以来第一次人工合成有生命的蛋白质。过去世界普遍认为生命体是天然的，大都认为人工合成生命体是不可能的，是中国人首次让它变成可能。人工牛胰岛素的合成，是生命科学领域的重大突破，对于人类探索生命奥秘的影响是巨大的。 最后，复方蒿甲醚是由中国科学家于80年代中期首先发现的，也是在国际上获得广泛认可的疟疾治疗药品。由于这一崭新化学结构被被中国人首先发现， 复方蒿甲醚常被称为医药界的“两弹一星”，它在人类疟疾治疗史上占有里程碑的地位。