China

Xinhua | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Accidents

Eight individuals who were previously missing after a steel plant explosion in Inner Mongolia have been confirmed dead, increasing the total death toll to 10. The victims were found without vital signs following extensive search and rescue efforts at Baogang United Steel's plate plant in Baotou City.

The explosion occurred on January 18 and involved a 650-cubic-meter saturated water and steam spherical tank. In addition to the fatalities, 84 people were injured, all of whom remain in stable condition. Over 1,000 personnel from various government departments participated in the rescue operation.

Authorities have initiated a city-wide inspection to identify hidden workplace safety risks. Public security officials have taken legal actions against those responsible within the company. An ongoing thorough investigation is examining the cause of the accident.

Jaw-Hwa International Patent & Trademark & Law Offices | English | AcademicThink | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedBizdev-Partnering

The Israel Patent Office (ILPO) and the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) established a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program, effective January 2, 2026, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed on November 17, 2025. This bilateral arrangement allows applicants with favorable examination results from either office to request accelerated examination at the other office.

To utilize the PPH between Taiwan and Israel, applications must share the same earliest filing date. The Israeli patent application must have at least one allowable claim, and all claims in the Taiwanese application must correspond to those allowable claims. Additionally, the Taiwanese application must not have received a first Office Action but must have a notice indicating that substantive examination will begin.

Required documents for a PPH request include ILPO office actions and their translations into Chinese or English, although applicants may omit these if accessible via the Israel Patents Search system. Translations of prior art references cited by ILPO are not necessary. Applicants must also submit a claim correspondence table mapping Taiwanese claims to allowable Israeli claims. Further inquiries can be directed to the provided email contact.

China Daily | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedTech Development/Adoption

Chinese biometric technology firm Saint Deem has launched its first dedicated vein-recognition manufacturing line in Huainan, Anhui province. The production line, covering more than 10,000 square meters, is designed to produce up to 2 million vein-recognition modules and authentication devices annually. This marks a step toward large-scale commercialization of vein recognition technology, targeting applications across consumer electronics, payments, vehicles, and smart infrastructure.

Saint Deem's new factory is the first specialized manufacturing line in China focused solely on vein-recognition products, addressing a gap in the country's biometric supply chain. Vein recognition identifies individuals by analyzing patterns of veins beneath the skin, offering a more secure alternative to passwords, fingerprints, and facial recognition, which are increasingly vulnerable to spoofing and AI-generated forgeries. Co-CEO Qian Haomin highlighted the shift from an R&D-driven model to one combining R&D and manufacturing, aiming to establish vein recognition as a trusted, universal key connecting people securely to both digital and physical worlds.

The technology has already been deployed in applications such as palm-vein payment systems, smart locks, public transport, and high-security environments. For example, Chengde Public Transport Group in Hebei province has implemented palm-vein payments to reduce reliance on cards and QR codes. Industry experts noted the potential for consumer markets to drive growth, given the relatively low penetration of smart locks in China despite significant sales.

Experts emphasized the importance of unified technical and security standards to ensure trust and prevent industry fragmentation as vein recognition moves toward mass adoption. Academician Zheng Zhiming and IT standardization expert Zheng Yinfei stressed that vein recognition’s higher-dimensional data provides fundamentally stronger security against evolving digital threats like AI-generated deepfakes, and that establishing evaluation and security benchmarks is critical to protect users and unlock the technology’s full value.