China expects to become a technology-driven economic power during
the next century.
To achieve this
goal, scientific departments will join hands with industrial
sectors to accelerate nationwide technological innovation
projects, Zhu Lilan, minister of science and technology, said
during an interview.
A major step this
year will be the guidance given to some technology research
institutes that will allow them to become technological leaders
acting within the market economy as companies, said Zhu.
Nurturing small
and medium-sized firms using State-allocated funds and preferential
policies is another top programme, said Zhu.
In another move,
China will speed up the development of information technology,
biological programmes, new materials, energy and environmental
protection technologies. The effort is expected to provide
long-term technological support for industrial restructuring
and economic growth and China's entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO), said Zhu.
"Increasing
our technological contribution to economic growth is a goal
of the ministry as it helps draft the 10th Five-Year Plan
(2001-05)," she said.
The ministry has
sent specialists to Tibet, the Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia
Hui autonomous regions, Chongqing Municipality, and Shaanxi,
Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. The move was
made to survey and study these areas' technological needs.
Based on the survey,
the ministry will coordinate efforts to help these areas to
apply advanced technologies, said Zhu.
(China Daily 01/03/2000)
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