BEIJING: “There are no shortcuts in scientific research. You have to build from the basics, step by step.” For Wang Yanfeng, general manager of Jinchuan Group Precision Copper Co, those sentiments are more than just words, they are a guiding principle she has followed for over three decades. That principle was put to the test in 2021, when overseas supplies of high-purity oxygen-free copper, a critical material used in heavy-ion accelerators for cancer treatment, were disrupted. The timing couldn’t have been more inconvenient. Heavy-ion accelerator technology had already been established as Gansu province’s signature high-end manufacturing industry. At the time, Lanzhou Ion Therapy Co, one of China’s leading developers of the technology, was ramping up production to meet growing domestic and international demand.
And without a stable supply of the copper, deliveries of the equipment could have been delayed. Wang and her team were tasked with developing the material themselves. “We honestly had no confidence at the beginning,” Wang said. “There was no domestic experience to learn from, and foreign technology was completely blocked.” –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
