Starting this year, the state will allocate 800 million yuan
(US$96.4 million) annually to fuel technology development in small
and medium-sized firms, a senior scientific official revealed
Friday.
Nurturing small and medium-sized firms is one of the jobs listed in
the Scientific Development Blueprint for the 10th Five-Year Plan
period (2001-05), said Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Deng
Nan at a conference Friday in Beijing.
The conference was held to elaborate the blueprint and lay out the
tasks for regional scientific administrators.
Statistics from the State Economic
and Trade Commission indicates that the number of small and
medium-sized firms constitute 98 per cent of the country's total
industrial sector.
The money will be used to help these firms upgrade technology and
improve equipment, said Deng.
Accelerating agricultural development through advanced technology
is another big section of the science development plan, Deng
stressed.
The Ministry of
Science and Technology has allocated 100 million yuan (US$12
million) this year to develop new farming techniques and to teach
farmers how to apply these techniques in agricultural production,
Deng said.
With regard to the widely discussed western development campaign,
Deng said her ministry will organize regional scientific
departments, especially in more developed areas, to focus on such
fields as high efficiency use of water resources, and
commercialization of herbal medicines, which are crucial to the
economic improvement of western areas.
To
ensure all the investment in these scientific projects pays off,
the State will invite experts, including foreign experts, to
evaluate the feasibility and operation of all aspects of the
project, said Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua.
Xu
called on regional scientific administrations to support more on
technological innovation, particularly patented technology, in
order to activate local economic development.
The Scientific Development Blueprint for the 10th Five-Year Plan
period, which has been officially announced by the State
Development Planning Commission, also stresses the development of
high-tech industries, such as computer software, pharmaceuticals
and communications.
By
2005, high-tech industries are expected to make up 6 per cent of
the country's gross domestic production, compared with the present
4 per cent, according to the blueprint.
(China
Daily 09/01/2001)