A Science Town for New Century
It is disclosed that the master plan for restructuring Zhongguancun Science Town is prevailed with the development of infrastructures and associated with residential areas. Infrastructures for scientific research activities will be
the main theme of the development with due attention paid to matched development of businesses in the fields of high tech, banking and investment and services.
Coordinated development of research, living and environmental facilities will run through planning and construction processes so as to make the infrastructure development in the town matching with environmental construction and create a
desirable environment for working and fine ecological environment for living.
According to the master plan, the restructured science town will be lined with modernized traffic and public utility systems. The town will be divided into three major function zones, namely a number of socalled well-to-do residential areas with modern infrastructures, several innovation bases which are housed
world first class labs and equipped with advanced research facilities and an integrated development park for spinning-off and industrialization of research results. A number of modern intelligent high mansions will sit in the center of the integrated development park as the symbol of the town. A piece of green land occupying 20,000 m2 will serve as a major square for public activities in the science town. In addition, a gymnasium of 30,000 m2 with full functions and facilities will also be constructed in the town. Two leading projects in the master plan, namely Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Youth Apartment Tower will be kicked off soon. A transformer
station of 110 KV for the town will be completed next year. The Beijing Municipality will start the construction of the north-west fourth beltway this year and restructuring of the existing Qinghuanan Road and Chengfu Road is also expected to be completed in two years' time.
Five Major Techniques for the
Focal Point of Light Industry
The near future will witness China's favored development of electronic information technology, new materials, biotechnology, new energy and energy efficient technology and environmental technology in its light industry sector.
Pan Beilei, Deputy Administrator of Chinese Light Industry said that the Guide for S&T Development in the Field of Light Industry which has been published recently serves for the purpose of providing macro guidance to technological innovation and promoting S&T development in the field of light industry. The newly published Guide has covered four major sections including policy orientation of S&T development, major technical outlines for S&T development,S&T development projects and brief introduction of major national S&T projects in the field.
Pan Beilei added that policy orientation of S&T development and major technical priorities for S&T development are the summary introduction of current national policies on S&T development in the sector including S&T system reform. S&T projects listed in the Guide are major topics for research, products development, high tech industrialization and new technology diffusion on the
basis of predictions for S&T development and the market call in the sector.
It is reported that the Guide has listed five major technologies such as electronic information as major priorities for S&T development in the sector and has also listed 24 businesses including paper making, timepiece and electronic household appliances manufacturing and products in 16 areas into
the project guide for S&T development. In addition, 65 technologies or techniques are defined for further diffusion. State Light Industry Administration will screen out research projects undertaken by research institutions, universities or enterprises and recommend them to the 10th Five-Year Plan and other national programs for new products, high tech industrialization and new technology extension so as to win the policy and fund support from the central government.
Five Years of Excellent
Youth Science Foundation
Initiated by Chinese Academy of Sciences and approved by Chinese State Council, National Excellent Young Scientists Foundation was created in 1994. In its five-year existence, the Foundation has received the donation of Rmb 268 million and financed 426 excellent young scientists. In addition, Overseas Young
Scientists Cooperation Fund and Hong Kong Young Scholar Cooperative Research Fund established in 1998 have financed 28 overseas and 2 Hong Kong excellent young scientists respectively for their research efforts in the mainland.
Among the recipients of National Excellent Young Scientists Foundation, 342 (80%) are returned scientists and 399 are doctorates (94%). The proportion of those acquiring their doctorates at home went up annually from 47% in 1994 to
68% in 1998. The average age of the recipients is 37 years old with the youngest at 29.
Many of the recipients have become or are becoming excellent academic leaders. Some newly elected academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering such as Chen Zhu, Bai Chunli, Wang Zhixin and Liu Depei were the beneficiaries of the foundation.
Most of the beneficiaries have made major progress in their basic theoretical studies. As shown by the statistics, at the end of June 1997, 130 recipients who have successfully completed their studies in 1994 and 1995 published 1520 papers in core academic journals both at home and abroad, of which 752 in
overseas publications, 29 monographs and 47 delivered at international seminars or conferences. Their achievements have caught the attention of scientific communities.
New Plan of CAS's Mathematics School
After series of reforms of its operation system, management and distribution mechanism in the past half-year, Institute of Mathematics and System Sciences, one of experimental bases of Chinese Academy of Sciences for knowledge innovation has put forward its plan for recruiting visiting professors and
scholars as a component part of academic innovation. The plan weights more than counterparts of other domestic institutions and universities in terms of the strength and scale.
Yang Le, Dean of the Institute announced that his Institute will recruit 45 one -year and 120 short-term (less than three mouths, visiting professors or scholars both from home and abroad. The recruitment will give the opportunities mainly to mathematicians under 45 years old with active research experience and potential innovation capability.
It is disclosed that the Institute has set a 2 million Rmb budget for the plan. Visiting professors may take part in academic activities and seminars run by the Institute during their visit and obtain sufficient living allowances.
Yang Le said that mathematics is a discipline that needs frequent visits and exchanges between mathematicians. CAS has provided desirable resources and conditions for the Institute and hopes to see a better development of mathematics in China through the realization of the share of talented mathematicians resources.
Yang Le also added that the plan is completely in line with the basic policy of opening and mobility. It is reported that the restructured innovation base has 60 research fellows, 48 associated research fellows or senior engineers and 23 assistants, the plan will bring about very high proportion of mobile personnel, while the students who are studying their doctorate and research people of post doctorate are taken into consideration.
In addition, this year will also absorb a small number of visiting scholars who are not working for the innovation base and provide them with similar treatment and rights as their counterparts in base.
Selected visiting scholars will arrive when new scholar year begins.
China Enhances Investment
in Environmental Protection
Xie Zhenhua, said on a news briefing sponsored by News Office of the State Council that China will continue to increase its investment in environmental protection.
Xie Zhenhua said that the proportion of China's investment in environmental protection in its GDP has seen steady increase annually with the figure of last year reaching 1% of the GDP.
During the 8th Five-Year Plan period (from 1991 to 1995), China's investment in environmental protection was 0.83% of its GDP.
Xie Zhenhua added that China's current investment proportion of its environmental protection in GDP topped that of other developing countries in the world. China's investment in the same area even runs the highest against that of developed countries at same development level.
However, he pointed out that China still saw its distance in invesment in improving its entire environment quality and will continue to increase its input.
Xie Zhenhua expressed that last year Chinese Government has made great efforts in environmental protection and achieved major progress in controlling total pollutants emission, making industrial pollution meeting required standards and integrated control of urban environment. Some national priorities such as Taihu Lake pollution control and prevention has seen phased progress. Beijing has been listed as a national priority for its pollution control. In addition, the State Council has published "National Plan on Ecological Environment Construction" which in turn starts the national efforts for protecting natural forests and ecological construction and protection.
However, he said that China is still facing serious environmental problems. Environmental pollution in many areas has not been effectively checked but to certain extend got worsen. Some other areas have suffered from serious
environmental problems such as soil erosion, desertification and deterioration of forests and pastures. As a result, China saw the attack of flush floods, red tides and sand storms last year.
98' China Environment Bulletin published recently shows that China has invested Rmb 72.18 billion in environmental pollution control, 43.7% up than that of the previous year, of which Rmb 45.6 billion was invested in urban environmental infrastructures construction, 77.7% more than the previous year and Rmb 12.38
billion in cleaning up the old pollutions, 6.3% up than the previous year.
Fast Laser Moulding Techniques
A socalled fast laser moulding device (CPS series) and EDM graphitized electrode moulding device developed by Xi'an Jiaotong University for the applications in enterprises, higher learning and research institutions has passed the verification recently at an appraisal meeting organized by Shan'xi Provincial
S&T Committee. The new products have been put into small scale production. The new development has marked a major breakthrough in China's manufacturing techniques and an important step towards industrialization of the research results in the field.
Four results of the project, including LPS-600 ultraviolet fast moulding device, photocureable resin, CPS-250 fast moulding device and GET-500 EDM graphitized electrode moulding device, have constituted the technical strength and basis for China's manufacturing fast moulding equipment. China-made fast moulding equipment is in a full position to be the substitute of imported ones with a price only at one third or even one fifth of the latter. The development has laid a foundation for further extension of the techniques. Of the said achievements, China has become the second country following US in the world who has mastered graphitized electrode moulding technology, a revolutionary progress in the moulding industry with its performance much better than the imported counterpart. Ultraviolet fast moulding device has replaced laser resources with ultraviolet which has led to cost reduction by one tenth of that for a laser generator. The development is the first of its
kind in the country with its own intellectual property right.
Transgenic Cotton with Animal Keratin
Transgenic cotton with animal keratin, a high tech product developed by Chinese scientists, the first of its kind in the world was announced for its birth in Shanghai on June 9, 1999. The development has for the first time in the world made traditional cotton fibers process the quality of cony hair or wool, which earmarked a major creative breakthrough in transgenetically improved cotton-a forward topic of the improvement of cotton quality. The result has passed the verification of experts and been defined as a project
in National 863 Program.
It is reported that transgenic cotton with cony or wool keratin is obtained through genetically introducing cony or wool keratin into cotton and making their characteristics expressed specially in cotton fibers. With the improved fiber quality, the cotton developed some fine properties of cony hair and wool such as elasticity, warmness, finer and longer fibres and better feeling and color while retaining traditional properties of cotton. The result developed by Shanghai Shihua Plant Genetic Engineering Co. Ltd. will lead to a new fiber product for shirts, underwear, bed coverings and high grade textile materials with greatly improved quality. Furthermore, the new product will not lead to
great changes to traditional weaving machines and techniques and will make cost reduction and output increase for China's traditional cotton textile industry possible. At present, the project has entered the stage of seeds breeding and field growing.
It is also briefed that this project was completed jointly by Shanghai Shihua In ternational Financial Consulting Co.Ltd.
and Shanghai Plant Physiology Institution of CAS by means of risk-taking investment. The success of this project also provides an example of the risk-taking investment operation in China.
Studies of Ship-board Aircraft Erosion and Fatigue
Life span determination for 5 types of aircrafts of Chinese navy
forces chaired by Prof. Duan Chengmei of College of Navy viation Technology has been completed with 6 major achievements made during the 8th and 9th Five-Year Plan periods.
The dedicated studies have created 9 firsts on ship-board aircraft fatigue in a period of 3 decades and made China reach the international advanced level in the field of engineering applications for the studies.
Aviation fatigue study is a tough systematic engineering project measuring and modifying flying life, taking-off and landing life and calendar life of aircrafts with scientific approaches. Prof. Duan screened out different parts of aircrafts vulnerable to fatigue on the basis of painstaking calculation efforts and tested the coefficients of associated primary vulnerable parts and components. As the result of several hundreds of air-born testing, Prof. Duan worked out China's first chart for aircraft
fatigue and payload.
During the period of almost a decade, Prof. Duan successfully chaired the compilation of ship-board aircraft flying chart and fatigue chart and life span determination of ship-board aircraft erosion and fatigue and created 9 firsts in domestic studies of aircraft fatigue with 22 achievements conferred with national or military awards for S&T advance. With the assistance of remote sensing instrument and jet flow circle technique, he effectively
solved the difficulty measuring helicopter'shigh-speeding
components such as rotors and tailpiece in the air and worked out China's first helicopter fatigue and payload chart on the basis of large quantity of data being collected and processed.
At present, Prof. Duan is working on creating two labs on fatigue testing and laser. Together with his students, he is planning to treat aircraft erosion and prolong its life span with a number of new techniques such as laser surface treatment, compound materials and glue treatment.
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