On Monday, an official from the UK Department of Trade and Industry said that his country's scientific cooperation with China will be deepened by holding a series of conferences or workshops.

Lord Sainsbury, UK minister for science and innovation, was speaking at the opening session of the two-day UK-China High Technology Forum, the third event of its kind.

Scientists from both nations will have additional opportunities to conduct exchanges as China's rapid economic growth and scientific development continues, he noted.

Through the China-UK Scientific Park program that was launched in 2003, Chinese high-tech firms have entered the UK to develop and commercialize their technologies, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology's Department for International Cooperation.

Sources from the department said the ministry and the energy company BP have signed a memorandum of cooperation for building hydrogen stations to support the use of fuel cell-powered vehicles, powered by cleaner fuels.

Sainsbury said that cooperation in space has also been initiated, such as in air-to-surface observation for environmental-monitoring.

He added the UK is working with other countries, including China, on technological standards that are important to world trade.

During a plenary session yesterday, Huang Xing, director of the China Science and Technology Exchange Center and head of China-EU Science and Technology Cooperation Promotion Center, said China is willing to further cooperate with the UK in information and communications.

He said business-to-business cooperation should constitute the bulk of bilateral scientific exchange to make high-tech cooperation more substantial.

Barry Furr, chief scientist from the Project Evaluation Group of international pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca, said there is potential for cooperation in the development of medicines, clinical research, genetic studies and in chemistry, because China has good expertise in these fields.

He said his team will be visiting major universities in China to seek collaborative partners.

(China Daily January 18, 2005)