High-tech Projects to Aid DevelopmentThe Chinese Academy of Sciences, the leading research institution in China, has been carrying out 746 key research programmes in information technology, biology and other high-tech areas over the past two years.Shi Erwei, secretary-general of the academy, said these programmes had been selected because they would aid economic and social development in China. He said 654 of these were involved in ground-breaking scientific research in line with global trends. He said they were hoping to make breakthroughs in 81 other projects. Costing a total of 820 million yuan (US$98 million), the programmes involve research and development into biological chips, micro communication satellites, nanometre materials, animal cloning technology and environmental changes in western China, Shi said. The academy has also invested 810 million yuan (US$97 million) in building and upgrading research facilities, such as the one for controlled nuclear fusion. An additional 1.5 billion yuan (US$180.7 million) was used to improve working conditions for guest researchers in Beijing and Shanghai. |
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