China Quick Take brings you six stories you may have missed last week – from space seeds to ancient shipwreck relics and sea predator fossils. 

Fossils of prehistoric 'sea monster' discovered

Chinese scientists have discovered fossils of the Himalayasaurus, a prehistoric deep-sea predator, approximately 4,000 meters above sea level in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. 

Two Himalayasaurus fossils were found near Gangkar Town in Dingri County, about 100 kilometers away from the mountaineering base camp of Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest peak. This latest discovery will further our understanding of the largest known prehistoric animal found on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and will contribute to the study of the evolution of life in the region during the Mesozoic Era.

China unveils world-class industrial cluster plan

China plans to build world-class advanced factory clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) region focused on products such as electric vehicles and biomedicine, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Tuesday, as the country seeks to improve its technological self-reliance and competitiveness in global production chains.

According to the plan, the region's development will focus on sectors such as integrated circuits, network security and power equipment and the biopharmaceutical industry, aiming to overcome key technological problems in the industrial chain.

Major shipwrecks from Ming Dynasty unveil their secrets

China announced the discovery of two major shipwrecks at a depth of 1,000m underwater in the northwest slope of the South China Sea. One contains a vast collection of porcelain artifacts, dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The other yielded well-preserved timber.

China approves two vaccines against XBB COVID-19 variant

China has already approved two COVID-19 vaccines against XBB variants and there are about four more waiting for approval, said top Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan at a sub-forum of Greater Bay Area Science Forum 2023 in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province.

Space seeds are sprouting

Over 4,000 hibiscus seeds with four new varieties, which were taken to space by the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 manned spaceships, were brought back at the end of 2022. Researchers at the Chengdu Botanical Garden in southwest China's Sichuan Province planted these seeds in the soil on March 9.

Endangered level of nearly 500 wild species downgrade

China has downgraded the endangered level of nearly 500 wild species, according to its latest assessment of higher plant and vertebrate species.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Chinese Academy of Sciences released an updated red list on China's biodiversity in southwest China's city of Kunming on Monday. The updated version of the red list shows that the health of the country's wild plants has been improved and that the deterioration of the threatened status of vertebrates has slowed.

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