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)