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CHINA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
The Ministry of Science and Technology
People's Republic of China
N0.307
September 20,2002
IN THIS ISSUE
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*
Foreign Businesses Offered with Foreign Trade Right
*
Further Opening Chinas Legal Services
* R and D
Projects Properly Supervised
* China-Germany Software
Lab
* Japanese Scientist Won Chinese Award
* The First China Home-Made Nanometer
Screen
* The Smallest Bacteria Killing Device
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SPECIAL
ISSUES
Foreign Businesses Offered with Foreign
Trade Right
Sun Peng, Deputy Director, Dept.
of Foreign Capital, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and
Economic Co-operation expressed at the 6th China Investment
and Trade Fair opened on September 9, 2002 that China would
keep its promise to grant all foreign businesses in China
with foreign trade right in a timeframe of three years after
its accession to WTO.
At present MOFTEC is
working on further opening issues in the field of foreign
trade and China will according to its promise duly loosen
the conditions for approving foreign invested foreign trade
firms in the country, open up all geophysical locations and
abolish quantitative limit previously imposed. In the
meantime, China will rename the title of its previous
Interim Methods on Establishing Experimental Joint Foreign
Trade Firm between Chinese and Foreign Parties to Interim
Methods on Establishing Joint Foreign Trade Firm between
Chinese and Foreign Parties. In addition, foreign invested
foreign trade firms approved by the state according to the
law will be granted with right to its domestic
distributions. Up to date, the renamed Interim Methods has
been submitted to the Chinese State Council for approval.
Authorities concerned are working on relevant policies to
further promote the opening in the field of foreign trade.
To further expand the export procurement scale of
multinationals in China, MOFTEC is under the unified plan of
the State Council working on relevant policies allowing
foreign businesses to establish their own independent export
procurement centers and allowing foreign invested businesses
to have more import and export rights.
To
attract more foreign investors to make their investment in
China, the Chinese Government at the right beginning of its
opening has entitled foreign invested businesses with a
series of privileges such as the right for exporting their
self-made products and importing equipment, facilities and
raw materials for their own use. In addition, foreign
invested businesses such as the foreign trade firm, the
foreign investment firm, the foreign invested manufacturing
businesses with an annual export volume of USD 10 million
and above, the foreign invested businesses in duty free
zones, the foreign invested experimental commercial
businesses and R and D centers, are allowed to engage in
import and export businesses and partial foreign trade
businesses upon the approval.
Further Opening
Chinas Legal Services
Zhang Fusen,
Chinese Minister of Justice expressed on September 18 2002
that China would continue to push for further opening of its
legal services to meet the increasing needs of economic
globalization and the nations modernization
construction. This means China will take full advantage of
the legal resources both at home and abroad and step up
turning out a high quality Chinese attorney contingent.
Zhang added that China would take all it can
to improve the professionalism of Chinese attorneys while
encouraging them into newly emerged technological and
economic fields so as to provide their high quality legal
service for economic, trade and technical cooperation
between China and other countries. China has in line with
its promise to WTO enacted the Regulations on Management of
Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China and
other related by-laws, improving market accession conditions
and service environment for foreign law firms to establish
their branches in China. It is briefed that since 1992,
China has opened up its legal service industry and up to
date there are a hundred and more foreign law firms who have
been approved to engage in foreign law related services in
China. In addition, several dozens of Hong Kong based law
firms have opened their businesses over the mainland
handling Hong Kong and overseas law related legal services.
Of the 50 world top legal firms, there are over a half who
have set up their branches in China. These
representative offices have been working on foreign law
related legal assignments within the scope defined by the
Chinese authorities with their legal businesses covering
foreign trade and technical cooperation in 20 and odd
countries or regions.
R and D Projects
Properly Supervised
Recently the Chinese
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) entrusted a
professional management firm to exercise full range
supervision of its R and D projects.
It is
reported that being the first R and D project contracted to
external supervision in the country, Electric Vehicle R and
D Project, one of the 12 major dedicated R and D activities
sponsored by MOST, was placed under the watch of
professional management. The project has won a total budget
of RMB 2.4 billion, of which RMB 880 million comes from the
state treasury and the rest from the local government and
the enterprises.
It is briefed that in the
past R and D projects supported by the state investment were
all placed under the direct supervision of governmental
agencies, which more often than not resulted in weak quality
control as government officials who managed the projects
were either not professional enough or lack of enough time
for such supervision. Along with the changes in governmental
functions, China has gradually allowed the third party
management firm to be part of its supervision efforts. Major
dedicated R and D projects usually involve both huge
investment and numerous contracted parties from different
sectors. Besides there lie great differences in those
sectors' management mechanism. In this context, it is
necessary to invite experts and professional market
evaluation firms to supervise whether the money is properly
used and the project is following a sound technical line. It
is briefed that the professional management firm will
examine the progress and implementation status of its
sub-projects once every year and it may propose to change
the contracted implementers if the progress is proven
undesirable.
It is reported that MOST will
mobilize in line with the principle of external supervision
more social resources to participate in the supervision of
those major dedicated R and D
projects.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Geological Line for Biological Extinction
Upon their preliminarily joint study and
analysis of volcanic tuff collected over Jiaying County
located at the lower and middle reaches of Heilongjiang
River, the Chinese, U.S., German and Russian scientists
confirmed that they have discovered the geological
demarcation line dividing the biological extinction and
coming back to life occurred 65 million years ago.
65 million years ago, 70% of the living
creatures on the earth suddenly went extinct which ended up
the dinosaur age that had lasted as long as 160 million
years. After that biological lives came back to their
thriving which formed the primitive shape of today's
biosphere in which we are living. The geological mark
telling the process sits between the Cretaceous Period and
Tertiary Period, or K/T demarcation line in brief. Before
this, no discovery of K/T line was made in Asia.
China-Germany Software Lab
On
September 15, 2002, the Institute of Computation Technology
under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and German ISST
jointly announced the establishment of China-Germany Joint
Lab for Software Integration Technology and expressed that
both sides would work together for extensive cooperation in
the said field.
Han Yanbo, the chief research
fellow of the joint lab briefed that the lab would mainly
work on the medium technology related to information and
software integration, and apply technologies for developing
and deploying large coordinated information system and
methodology for next generation software integration. The
Lab is the first research entity jointly created by China
and Germany in the field. Up to date, some of its research
topics have been listed as major research projects under the
German Ministry of Science and Education and won great
support from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology
and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It is
reported that the Lab is planning to work together with
industrial sectors on research topics of their mutual
interest and large projects so as to stimulate the
development of software integration, especially in the
fields of dynamic software integration and associated
standards, striving for breakthrough progress in addressing
actual needs and laying a solid technical foundation for the
sustainable development of software industries in both
countries. In the meantime, the Lab will play the bridging
role in technology transfer, consultation, academic
exchanges and personnel training.
Japanese Scientist Won Chinese Award
On the morning of September 19,
2002, Prof. Kuroda Yoshimasu was conferred with 2001 China
International Science and Technology Cooperation Award at
the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
Being an
internationally renowned lithologist and geochemist, Prof.
Kuroda Yoshimasu has made numerous eye-catching achievements
in the fields of lithology and mineralogy. Being an old
friend of China and with his great love to the country, Mr.
Kuroda Yoshimasu has since 1990 devoted himself to the
establishment of the intergovernmental technical cooperation
project Chinese Mineral Resources Investigation and
Research Center between China and Japan and rendered
outstanding contribution to raising China's level in mineral
resources investigation and research. In addition, he has
worked very hard for China's accession to IUGS and winning
China's sponsorship of its 30th Congress in China.
Created in 1994, China International Science
and Technology Cooperation Award has up to date honored 26
winners from 12 countries. Mr. Kuroda Yoshimasu is the third
Japanese scientist who was conferred with the honor.
China Became Part of AMS
On
September 18, 2002, Prof. Xie Shengwu, President of Shanghai
Jiaotong University inked a cooperation agreement with Dr.
Ding Zhaozhong, a Noble Prize winner in Shanghai, which
marked the formal participation of Shanghai Jiaotong
University in the international cooperative studies of AMS,
a large international space station based project. Jiaotong
University will establish a special team made up of experts
in the fields of physics, aeronautics and space
technologies, automation, information technology,
instruments, machinery manufacturing, measuring and control
and materials. The team will work together with the
corresponding institute based in Switzerland to develop the
super magnetic control system for AMS and other control
mechanism for AMS sounding systems aboard the space
station.
Tsinghua's International Incubator
Recently the International Incubator announced
its formal establishment at Tsinghua High Tech Park. Being a
major step making the Park an international home for high
tech businesses, the Park will provide incubation services
for Japanese enterprises and the first group of Japanese
businesses are expected at the end of this year.
To promote the development of its
international incubators, the Park has made an area of 1,000
m2 available from its Innovation Building for providing
integrated services necessary for Japanese businesses
entering Chinese market such as consultation, human
resources, collaborative partners, banking and legality.
Tsinghua Park not only has created the position for Japanese
project but will also open its representative office in
Japan responsible for the applications of Japanese
businesses and providing relevant service. The Park is
planning to open its incubators for the businesses in
European countries, the U.S., Korea and other countries in
the following years. According to its development blueprint,
by 2005 the Park will have 1,500 enterprises, 100 research
institutions and 10 incubators stationed over its
domain.
NEWS BRIEF
The First
China Home-Made Nanometer Screen
Thanks to
their two-year efforts, the researchers of Changchun
Institute of Applied Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of
Sciences have successfully developed the first display
screen made of nanometer rare earth in the country.
Before this China's projector TV screens were
mainly imported from other countries with an average cost of
RMB 2000 a piece. Now the home-made nanometer rare earth
screen of similar specification only costs RMB 1000. The
commercial production of such screens will greatly reduce
manufacturing cost and create more development perspectives
for China's color TV industry.
The Smallest
Bacteria Killing Device
Chinese Academy of
Nuclear Energy announced on September 5, 2002 that applied
with accelerator and electronic radiation technologies, it
has worked out an electric accelerator capable of killing
bacteria possibly concealed in the mails such as anthrax,
cholera, smallpox and pestilence.
It is
reported that capable of handling ten thousand mails a day
and with a weight of 5.5 tons, the device will soon be
installed at a domestic mail processing center.
Experts express that the device is not only the
first of its kind in China but also the lightest and
smallest self-shield accelerator device in the world which
needs a space of only 40m2. As the device is able to
shield itself, operator may easily work on it in a regular
structure without worrying about its radiation.
Chinas Rice Genome Sequencing
Dr. Han Bin, Director of National Genetic
Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences
disclosed at the International Rice Conference that China
has completed the accurate sequencing of 4th rice
chromosome, part of the international rice genome sequencing
project. Chinese scientists have discovered 4,658 genes over
this chromosome with its accuracy reaching 99.99%.
Dr. Han briefed that rice has 12 chromosomes.
Sequencing of rice chromosomes may help scientists to
accurately understand its genetic structures and provide
molecular genetic basis for improving rice and other crops.
Projects and Talents for the West Region
To help returned overseas Chinese to establish
their own businesses in China, promote the conversion of
high tech findings and let more talented people and projects
flow into the west region, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
will sponsor in the early November 2002 an international
workshop on the development and utilization of Chinese human
resources and arrange theme oriented exchanges and talks so
as to create a practical approach to addressing the flow-in
of talented people as well as technology into the west
region.
It is briefed that the Workshop will
invite a hundred scientists from different research
institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the
Chinese Academy of Agriculture to present their respective
findings before a hundred city or county leaders. Meanwhile,
high caliber personnel from renowned domestic universities
and Chinese graduates returning from abroad will also become
a major part of the Workshop.
Rare Peach
Jellyfish
Recently people have spotted the
peach jellyfish, a rare biological species over the water
surface of Dinosaur Island of Zhelin Lake, Jiangxi Province.
As is verified and confirmed by Hangzhou Institute of
Biology, the peach jellyfish is a very ancient living
creature, belonging to jellyfish coelenterate, or a small
community under polypite class of cnidophore phylum. Unlike
the ordinary jellyfish, the peach jellyfish lives in fresh
water, which makes it an extremely rare species. It is
briefed that the peach jellyfish has a living history of 1.5
billion years and is as precious as the panda. Before this,
peach jellyfish was only seen at Zigui of the Three Gorges area.
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