Previously, technology exchange houses were all affiliated to governmental organizations in China. Mu Yonghui, board chairman of the Dalian Yicheng Technology Exchange Market, said that he does not expect the exchange to yield profits in two or three years, but it will be worth the investment of 40 million yuan in a longer term.

The businessman, with six years of experience operating an electronic device market in Dalian, said that Jiang Zemin's report at the opening of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China reinforced his confidence in the development of the private sector.

Despite the country's improving scientific research power, there is a lack of effective channels to commercialize technological results. It is estimated that less than 20 percent of China's scientific results are turned into commercial use every year.

Inflow of private capital into technology trading is expected to bring innovations to the management mechanism of the trading system, said a research fellow with the Dalian Chemical and Physical Research Institute.

Private investors injected some one billion yuan into promoting hi-tech sales in Dalian over the past two years, said Xu Xiaofei, director of the Dalian Technology and Science Bureau.

These private firms offer low-cost but good services, he said.

By the end of June, the number of registered private firms in China reached 2.2 million employing 29.3 million people, with registered capital amounting to 2.1 trillion yuan, statistics showed.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2002)