On Dec 2, Israel opened its third Consulate General in China in the city of Guangzhou, after Shanghai and Hong Kong. Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang sent his congratulation during his meeting with Israeli Professor Ada Yonath, the Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry and H.E. Amos Nadai, the Ambassador of Israel to China.
Wang pointed out that there are potentials for both sides to cooperate in technology, trade, culture and other fields.
The curtain of the new Consulate General was raised by Song Hai, Guangdong Vice Governor, Professor Ada Yonath, Ambassador Amos Nadai and Avraham Nir, the first Consul General of Israel in Guangzhou in a gala dinner "Science and Technology for Better Future Israel and China Partnership."
Ambassador Amos Nadai said on the dinner that Israel chose Guangzhou for its role as the development engine of China. The Consulate General will be very busy to follow up the cooperation plans raised during their one day Guangzhou visit.
A total of 37 Consulate General had opened in Guangzhou, making the city the second biggest Consulate General location, after Shanghai.
Professor Yonath's visit to Sun Yat-sen University
Professor Yonath also visited Sun Yat-sen University yesterday afternoon, and had a lecture "From Basic Science to Improved Antibiotics", which drew not only a big crowd from its medical school, but also related researchers from all over the provinces. Professor Yonath explained how she got inspiration from polar beer hibernation to find ways of crystallising ribosomes. After that she exchanged opinions on the antibiotics development and traditonal Chinese medicine application with the crowd.
She said on the gala dinner later that she appreciated the young academics in China, who raised the questions that she was often thinking. And she thought Guangzhou had a major change after her last visit in 1986 and now it is a city of chance for researchers.
Why so popular?
Yonath was born in Jerusalem in 1939. She's now a professor of structural biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Yonath has spent most of her career working to expose the structure of the ribosome and her finding revolutionized structural biology worldwide. She's regarded as a pioneer and leading researcher in this field. Last year, she was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry. She is the fourth woman to win the Nobel chemistry prize and the first since 1964.
(By Wing)
