The following are the major high- tech projects China is set to undertake during the 2006-2010 period, listed in the draft guidelines of the five-year development?guidelines?being deliberated by Chinese lawmakers at their ongoing annual session:

-- Integrated circuits and software: establishing integrated circuit research and development centers, industrializing the technology for 90-nanometer and smaller integrated circuits, and developing basic software, middleware, large key applied software and integrated systems.

-- New-generation network: building next-general Internet demonstration projects, a nationwide digital TV network and mobile communication demonstration networks with independent property rights.

-- Advanced computing: making breakthrough in technology for petaflop computer systems, building grid-based advanced computing platforms, and commercializing the production of teraflop computers.

-- Biomedicine: Building a number of demonstration projects for commercial production of vaccines for major diseases and gene- modified medicines, improving the modern traditional Chinese medicine system, and enhancing the capability for new medicine invention and production.

-- Civil airplane: developing planes for trunk and feeder lines, general-purpose planes and helicopters, as well as advanced engines.

-- Satellite application: developing new meteorological, oceanographic, resource and telecommunication satellites, and poison- and pollution-free thrust augmented carrier rockets; building earth observation and navigation positioning satellite systems and facilities and application demonstration projects for civil satellite ground systems.

-- New materials: building demonstration projects for commercial production of high-performance new materials badly needed in information, biological and aerospace industries.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)