A leading space participant in China's space program on Wednesday thanked Hong Kong and Macao Chinese for supporting the country's space development.

Wang Liheng, director of the Science and Technology Commission under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said he was deeply moved by the support and interest of compatriots of Hong Kong and Macao in the just-concluded Hong Kong visit by Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, and other officials.

Wang, former deputy president of China National Space Administration, and director-general of the Stanley Ho Astronautics Training Foundation, said Macao business tycoon Stanley Ho set up the foundation in 1990, well before the country's manned space program launched in 1992.

More than 400 institutions and at least 500 young professionals had benefited from funding support from the Hong Kong-based foundation, and many were leading experts or engineers in China's manned space project and other areas, he said.

The foundation had offered funding support totaling 39 million Hong Kong dollars to about 100 training and exchange programs for young professionals.

The funding support was crucial for the young professionals who benefited from the programs and the corporation as Chinese space professionals had been paid insufficiently until recently.

Some of the space personnel who benefited had become managers of related companies or leading officials of space institutes.

Wang said he was also impressed by the plan by Tsang Hin-Chi, chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, who announced last week his decision to donate 100 million Hong Kong dollars (US$12.88 million) to set up the Tsang Hin-Chi Space Development Fund.

The fund was designed to reward space experts and astronauts who made eminent contributions to the country's space development.

The space sector on the mainland would promote exchanges and cooperation with compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao to help train professionals to meet the growing need for the country's ambitious space programs, Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2003)