Renowned academic journal Nature will soon be publishing scientific research from Beijing's Zhongguancun Life Science Park, according to a recently signed cooperation agreement between the park and Springer Nature Group.

Springer Nature Group has established an office in Beijing and will continue cooperating with the city's relevant departments. 

Before signing the cooperation deal, scientific research results from projects at Zhongguancun Life Park had been published in the journal Nature many times. Last September, Feng Shao's research group at the Beijing Institute of Life Sciences in the park published an article in Nature introducing the team's research results on new NOD-like receptor molecules.

The research team recently published another article in Nature, revealing the mechanism that a new pathogenic effector protein uses to block the inflammation signal pathway of a host. The paper reported for the first time that cysteine methylation plays a key role in regulating signal transduction.

Huang Song, deputy director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, introduced that the NIBS has published nearly 500 high-level academic articles in the past decade, of which about one-tenth were published in the three prominent life science journals, Cell, Nature and Science.

Last year, the park celebrated its 20th anniversary. 

After years of development, this high-tech professional park focusing on research, development and innovation in life science research, biotechnology and biomedicine-related fields has attracted more than 550 institutions and gathered a group of industry leaders. 

The park has created an entire resource chain covering basic R&D and pilot trials, production, drug distribution and terminal medical treatment. It is now one of the most concentrated innovation resource parks in the field of life sciences in China.

The innovative results consistently produced by the Life Science Park are responsible for attracting Springer Nature Group's attention. 

The group oversees a series of high-quality products, including journals, databases and researcher services, covering life sciences, physics, chemistry and applied sciences. 

Among them, the famous publication Nature was founded in 1869 and is the world's leading science magazine. 

The group also publishes a series of subscription journals and important multidisciplinary Open Access Journals like Nature-Communications.

According to the letter of cooperation intent, Springer Nature Group will provide the Life Science Park with a rich, diverse and authoritative international academic resource and service network to enhance the park's scientific research and transformation service capabilities. 

The two parties also signed a brand content service agreement. According to which, the park will regularly display its scientific research results in the primary issue of Nature, along with information about its transformation, incubation, innovation and entrepreneurship services.

Beijing's innovative strengths have also attracted Springer Nature Group to seek more cooperation. 

"In the past 20 years, China has developed into an important scientific research force in the world, and Beijing is at the forefront," said Arnout Jacobs, president of the group's Greater China Region. "Since 2017, we have tracked the output of high-quality natural science papers. According to data from the Nature Index, Beijing has consistently ranked first among the global scientific research cities."

Last September, Springer Nature Group attended the Zhongguancun Forum and released the supplement to Nature, namely, the 2020 Nature Index --- Research City. 

Arnout mentioned that in the future, Springer Nature Group would continue to strengthen its cooperation with Beijing. The group will discuss training, international conferences, academic exchanges, cooperative publishing, scientific research evaluations and more with Beijing through its platform and global network. 

The two sides will cooperate in multiple fields to promote academic exchanges between Beijing and the global scientific research community, support Beijing to build a scientific and technological innovation center with global influence, and further enhance Beijing's global competitiveness, Arnout noted.