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China to Inject over 10 Bn Yuan into CAS Pilot Innovation Plan
China plans to earmark about 10 billion yuan over the next five years for the country's first pilot massive knowledge innovation program initiated in 1998, the largest sum ever allocated for a research group in China over the past five decades.
The sum brings the total funding from the central government for the program up to over 15 billion yuan since it was started in June 1998.
Lu Yongxiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said Tuesday the program was designed as a pilot reform to lift China's independent innovation capability in high-technology fields, and provide the country with vigorous scientific and technological support to realize its ambitious medium- and long-term development goals.
China plans to double its gross domestic product by 2005 over that of 2000, and catch up with medium developed countries by the middle of this century.
The academy, the country's leading research organization which employs 36,000 researchers nationwide, was chosen two years ago by the central government to undertake the pilot program and was given 5 billion yuan to start the program during late 1998 and 2000.
President said the CAS plans to consolidate its 123 research institutes nationwide into about 80 ones with powerful innovation capabilities in sciences and technology, and sustainable development capability, including about 30 ones widely acknowledged in the world as high-level research institutions.
He said the academy aims to "turn three or five of its institutes into the best of its kind in the world."
The academy has undertaken institutional and personnel reforms, and massive adjustment in science and research goals in a bid to meet the growing need of the country over the past two years, the most influential and far-reaching reform in the academy's half century history.
Shi Erwei, secretary-general of the CAS, told reporters Monday the academy has selected 784 major research programs as priority research targets, mostly involving new sciences, frontier research ones.
They include research on or development of biological chips, micro communications satellites, nanoscience materials, giant panda cloning technology and environmental changes in western China, said the secretary-general.
In order to build elite research teams, the academy will introduce some of the widely adopted personnel and income distribution systems in the coming five years.
As part of the new measures to be adopted, the academy will also introduce a negotiated salary system on an individual basis, expand the experiment of fixed annual salary system for directors of institutes, according to Shi.
He said the academy is considering inviting famous scientist from overseas to evaluate the academic and research performance of its institutes and individual scientists.
The CAS also plans to employ about 100 outstanding young scientists or senior managerial professionals during each of the coming five years at home and abroad.
Each of the people selected will be offered about 200,000 yuan in housing allowance and 2 million yuan to start his or her research programs at the academy.
Until now, CAS has selected about 10,000 researchers from its 36,000 researchers as task forces for its innovation program, in addition to those introduced from outside the academy.
About 60 percent of the 10,000 researchers are under the age of 45 with improved working conditions and monthly income doubled as well as boosted morale.
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