Day: October 20, 2022

BRISBANE, Australia, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — BGI Australia’s lab has achieved accreditation from the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) to perform clinical Whole Exome Sequencing in Australia, paving the way for the global life sciences company to provide clinical sequencing services for identifying possible disease-causing genetic changes.

The lab will start to provide clinical services in Australia for the first time after receiving NATA’s Human Pathology Laboratory Accreditation, adding to the numerous regulatory approvals that BGI Group has received for its global labs and operations. The NATA accreditation adopts the internationally-recognised ISO 15189 and meets the accreditation standards for pathology laboratories set by the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council (NPAAC).

“As a world-class life sciences organization, BGI Group continues to lead the development of the industry, including a strong emphasis on quality management,” said Dr. Ye Yin, CEO of BGI Group. “We will continue to simultaneously develop science, technology, standards, quality and intellectual property, with the aim of driving further developments that improve the health of mankind.”

The 460 square metre BGI Australia laboratory, located at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, has been empowering Australian researchers in their life sciences research projects. The NATA-accredited clinical Whole Exome Sequencing service will expand the lab’s services to a broader community. The Whole Exome Sequencing services will be conducted on MGI DNBSEQ-G400 sequencers, a high-throughput genetic sequencer which has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency of the Australian government.

The accreditation helps BGI Australia to provide services to clinical labs, hospitals, and other partners to detect changes in the exome that contribute to rare genetic and paediatric diseases. Building on lessons from the accreditation process, BGI Australia will look to expand its testing scope and demonstrate its capabilities in clinical solutions, as well as seek partnerships in technology transfer.

“NATA’s accreditation procedures are extremely rigorous, and it is a significant achievement that our laboratory, the MGI DNBSEQ-G400 platform that performs clinical Whole Exome Sequencing, and the procedures implemented by our technicians have qualified for the NATA accreditation,” said Dr. Bicheng Yang, Director of BGI Australia. “We will continue to improve and increase the accessibility of clinical sequencing to clinical laboratories, research institutes and hospitals.”

Everything has to meet NATA’s quality system requirements, including a four-layer document system of Quality Management, Quality Procedure, Standard Operating Procedures, and Record Management. To ensure continued compliance to all quality standards, the laboratory will be regularly reviewed by NATA.

Data communication, storage and the process for data deletion are a critical part of NATA’s certification of the lab, which operates a closed loop system. All of the lab’s data are stored in Australia. BGI Australia must maintain NPAAC criteria for the preservation and deletion of data involved in the process.

Globally, BGI Group has more than 100 international quality system certifications, which govern how its laboratories operate and ensure the company meets all local regulations, particularly around data regulation and personal privacy.

“The BGI Australia local staff are some of the highest quality I have worked with,” said Dr Peter Kaub, a genetic pathologist and medical consultant to BGI Australia for clinical Whole Exome Sequencing. “Receiving accreditation means that they can now service clinical Whole Exome Sequencing for any laboratories or hospitals that require it. This is the biggest growth area in medicine and any extra testing capacity is important as it may allow more patients to get results in a more timely manner.”

BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The advancement of law-based governance has become one pillar of China’s four-pronged comprehensive strategy for building socialism with Chinese characteristics since 2012.

In a report delivered at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday, Xi Jinping mentioned the term of “rule of law” 23 times, highlighting the importance the Party has attached to the sector.

“We must work to ensure that the people feel fairness and justice prevail in every judicial case,” Xi said.

People come first

On May 28, 2020, over 2,000 deputies to the 13th National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing broke into long applause as the Civil Code was adopted.

Hailed as “a declaration of the people’s rights in the new era” and dubbed “an encyclopedia on social life,” the law protects Chinese citizens’ rights from cradle to grave.

China has also put in place a legal Great Wall to safeguard national security. It passed laws and regulations including the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law in 2021 and adopted countermeasures against extraterritorial application of foreign legislation.

By the end of September 2022, China had 293 laws and 598 administrative regulations in effect, with more than 13,000 regional regulations, said Yin Bai, deputy secretary-general of the Commission of Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, at a briefing held by the Press Center for the 20th CPC National Congress in Beijing on Wednesday.

Over the past decade, 159 Party regulations have been enacted or revised, Yin said.

Solid achievements have also been made in judicial system reform. For instance, in terms of judicial transparency, China has made public not only court proceedings and judgments, but also trial procedures and the execution of effective judgments; not only the final verdict but also the reasons for the verdict.

The public can access such information not only through media outlets, official websites, white papers and press conferences, but also via 12368 service line and relevant social media platforms such as WeChat and Weibo accounts.

China has also been promoting the reform of the criminal procedure system with a focus on court proceedings and strictly adhering to the principles of legality, evidence-based verdicts and presumption of innocence.

The pre-trial detention rate for criminal cases dropped to 28.3 percent in the first nine months of 2022 from 69.7 percent in 2012, said Tong Jianming, first deputy prosecutor general and deputy secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

“This has shown the solid progress in advancing the judicial system,” said Tong.

A rule of law government

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “Strict implementation of laws leads to order, while lax implementation of laws leads to disorder.”

In an outline for the implementation of a rule of law government (2021-2025) issued in August 2021, China highlighted the importance of improving systems of exercising oversight over administrative powers, and called for greater transparency.

China will build a government that is open, impartial, clean, efficient and honest, with properly defined functions, statutory powers and responsibilities, and strict law enforcement, according to the outline.

Speaking on the “Rule of Law in China over the Past Decade” in July, Huang Wenyi, dean of the Renmin University of China Law School, said China had prioritized the reforms to streamline administration and delegate power, enhance regulation and upgrade government services.

The State Council, for instance, has canceled or delegated to the lower levels 47 percent of administrative approval items and cut 71 percent of intermediary services for administrative approval, said Huang.

“These reforms have, to a large extent, lifted the curbs on companies, resolved concerns for the people, and freed up space for the market. They’ve also helped make a cleaner government, and unlock market vitality and public creativity,” he said.

‘One of the safest countries’

At Wednesday’s briefing, Xu Ganlu, vice minister of public security and head of the National Immigration Administration, said China has one of the lowest rates of homicide, criminal offenses and gun-related crimes in the world.

According to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2021, about 98.6 percent of respondents said they felt safe living in the country, an increase of 11 percentage points compared with 2012.

Citing the data, Xu said, “China is now widely recognized as one of the safest countries in the world.”

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-19/CPC-congress-China-s-rule-of-law-is-serving-justice-to-serve-people-1efRJnbfn6o/index.html 

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X44TtFsi5zY

BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — After over seven decades of arduous exploration and experimentation, China has gradually formed and adopted a complete set of socialist democratic political systems that are appropriate and effective for itself.

At the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday, Xi Jinping pointed out that whole-process people’s democracy is the defining feature of socialist democracy and that it is also democracy in its broadest, most genuine and most effective form.

Xi said China will encourage the people’s orderly participation in political affairs and guarantee their ability to engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management and oversight in accordance with the law.

“We will improve the system of institutions through which the people run the country,” Xi said.

Power to the people

Whole-process people’s democracy is a hallmark of socialist democracy that distinguishes it from capitalist democratic systems, according to Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC).

Unlike the multi-party electoral politics in Western countries, where parties often make promises to voters and accusations at oppositions to win elections, China’s socialist democracy runs through all processes, including elections, decision-making, management and supervision.

The NPC, which is China’s top legislature, plays a key role in the implementation of whole-process people’s democracy.

As the highest organ of State power, the current 13th NPC comprises over 2,900 deputies democratically elected from a wide range of professions and backgrounds, from lawyers and university professors to farmers and factory workers.

During their five-year term, these deputies have voted on a slew of decisions and policies with far-reaching implications. They elected the president of the People’s Republic of China, adopted the country’s first-ever Civil Code, and approved the 14th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint that charts the course of the country’s development during 2021-2025.

At the end of 2020, 2.62 million people were serving as deputies to people’s congresses at all levels nationwide, according to official statistics. Among them, those at county and township levels accounted for roughly 95 percent. Regardless of their sex, age, ethnicity and profession, each deputy casts a vote of equal weight.

Meanwhile, as advisory bodies, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) serves as a platform for parties to achieve multi-party cooperation and ensure good governance for the sake of the Chinese nation rather than being arenas for parties to gain interest for their own sake.

With the unity of the Party’s leadership, the CPC gives play to the important role of socialist consultative democracy through a coordinated approach, which not only guarantees the efficient operation of Party committees, people’s congresses, government departments, people’s courts and other administrative bodies, but also guarantees broad participation of different parties.

Recognized by the world

“My understanding of this ‘whole-process people’s democracy’ is that it is an inner party democratic process whereby you identify, on the basis of meritocracy, which are the most qualified people for the job and who are the [best] servants to the common good,” said Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and president of the Schiller Institute, in an interview with CGTN.

Brazilian law professor Evandro Menezes de Carvalho thinks China’s democracy centers on two main questions: What do the people want? What does the government need to do?

He said compared to many Western countries, China’s democracy allows a wider range of people to participate and comes closer to the real needs and interests of the people.

Whole-process people’s democracy “is a unique model of governance,” said Mustafa Hyder Sayed, executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute. “When you talk about China, we see that whole-process people’s democracy has delivered.”

Wilson Lee Flores, an economic-political analyst and honorary chairman of the Anvil Business Club in Manila, Philippines, describes China’s progressive governance system as a “people’s democracy with Chinese characteristics” as it is a system that aims to support economic and political policies by placing people at the center.

Flores said the system “directly consults with and truly represents the needs, voices and aspirations of the people,” and it is “Confucian in moral values.”

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-19/Whole-process-people-s-democracy-guarantees-people-as-the-master–1eg6y5qPBLy/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X44TtFsi5zY

MADRID, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Global Voice Group (GVG), a global provider of ICT and RegTech solutions for governments and regulatory bodies, will host a webinar on the role of technology in driving domestic revenue mobilization.

The webinar will bring together stakeholders from across the digital financial services sector and expound on the role technology plays in assisting governments to mobilize revenue locally. Participants in the webinar will include Osioke Ojior, Co-Founder & CEO of Covenda (UK) and Board Advisor to RegTech Africa, and Lorraine Masinde, Founder and Senior Compliance Consultant, RegTech Compliance.

James Claude, CEO at GVG, says that the webinar is a great opportunity to bring together players in the technology space to discuss the role of existing and emerging technologies in supporting tax administrations to achieve their collection targets and grow their tax bases. “As part of our work, we develop technological solutions for our partners to assist them in fulfilling their mandate. Revenue mobilization is a challenge for many African nations, with many having tax-to-GDP ratios lower than the World Bank’s recommended ratio of 15%. With the implementation of the necessary digital and technological tools, African governments can greatly improve their tax-to-GDP ratios.”

Only 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have a tax-to-GDP ratio above the World Bank’s recommended ratio of 15%. That is out of the 30 countries analysed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in their Revenue Statistics in Africa 2021 report.

Africa also lags behind other emerging economic blocs, averaging 16.6%, with the Asia-Pacific region having an average of 21%, and the Latin America and the Caribbean economies averaging 22.9%.

“This webinar will be an opportunity to shed greater light on ways African governments can seek to better their yearly collections and secure funding for both local and regional projects,” added Mr Claude.

Those seeking to attend the webinar can register here: https://www.globalvoicegroup.com/upcoming-webinar/

The webinar will take place virtually on Thursday 3^rd November at 15:00 (CET).

About Global Voice Group (GVG)

Global Voice Group is a global provider of RegTech and Govtech solutions to governments and regulatory bodies. Since 2005, we have brought these institutions the benefits of Big Data analytics through advanced technological platforms that enable them to secure reliable and accurate data from crucial economic sectors. Our solutions effectively support them in their decision- and policy-making processes in various critical areas, such as financial inclusion, domestic revenue mobilization, sustainable development and regulatory compliance.

Discover GVG’s website: www.globalvoicegroup.com

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/996162/GVG_Logo.jpg

Please note that the webinar will take place in English only, and that no interpretation services will be available. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding!