Scholars of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) have recently selected the top 10 Chinese scientific and technological discoveries in 1999.

The successful launch of China's first experimental spacecraft topped the list. The spacecraft "Shenzhou" was launched with a new model of the "Long March" rocket on November 20 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province. "Shenzhou" landed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, successfully completing its inaugural flight.

A major breakthrough in single-walled carbon nanotubes SWNT, made by a research group from the Shenyang Metallic Institute of CAS, came second.

Other major discoveries included heavy depletions in the ozone layer on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; the finding of perhaps the earliest vertebrate in the world; archaeological evidence for dating the Xia (about 2100 B.C.-- 1600 B.C.) and Shang (1600 B.C. -- 1100 B.C.) dynasties; China's first North Pole expedition; the cultivation of a transgenetic cattle with human albumen genes; thelaunch of China's first satellite for earth resources; the successful cloning of Panda's embryo and the development of blood substitutes.

The scholars also selected the top 10 scientific discoveries worldwide during 1999. The deciphering of the complete genetic sequence of chromosome 22 topped the list.