Asia's Inaugural Science-Based Innovation, Life Sciences and Technology Summit opened in Beijing on Wednesday.

The three-day symposium, jointly hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Pacific Rim Forum, has attracted 300 participants from 15 countries and regions in the Pacific Rim, including experts of life sciences and representatives from business and financial organizations.

Delegates will discuss such topics as "top themes for science innovation in the 21st century" and "prioritizing investment opportunities: the most promising emerging science and technology? at the symposium.

Vice Chairman Zou Jiahua of the National People's Congress Standing Committee said at the opening ceremony that life sciences would help ease the contradiction between development and environmental protection in developing countries.

The symposium itself was of great importance to the development of life sciences in Asia as well as improving people's living standards in developing countries, he said.

CCPIT President Yu Xiaosong said as a forefront science attracting much attention in the world, life sciences brought great business opportunities in the industrialization process.

Currently, booming life sciences and technology provided good opportunities for Asia to study high-tech successes and attract international capital, Yu said.

Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong said the important role of technological innovation in boosting economic and social development had been widely recognized by governments and academic circles.

As a focus of research and development strategy in all countries and of international science and technology competitions, the life technology industry was becoming another economic growth spot after the information industry, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2002)