Clear Objectives for Soil Erosion Control
As defined by National Plan on the Construction of Ecological Environment approved by the State Council and National Plan on Soil Conservation and Construction of Ecological Environment published by Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, China’s overall objectives for soil conservation and construction of ecological environment are: basically control the soil erosion in major areas through 15 years efforts, control all the soil erosion in the country and basically realize beautiful mountains and clean waters by mid-21st century.
Now China’s soil conservation has unprecedented development opportunities. The Chinese Government has made trans-century strategic arrangements for soil conservation and construction of ecological environment and put forward detailed objectives, targets, priorities and measures for the purpose. The Chinese State Council has laid out the framework for soil conservation and construction of ecological environment of the next century.
Its short-term objectives: increase 600,000 square kilometers of newly controlled area by 2010 with success rate reaching 35%; basic results be seen in major soil conservation projects; firmly check the soil erosion caused by man-made activities; basically curb the deterioration trend of ecological environment; reduce sludge and silt in major rivers by 10% to 20%; establish soil conservation monitoring system and soil erosion monitoring network in the nation’s soil erosion areas and further improve legislatures on soil conservation.
Mid-term objectives: by 2030, 75% of soil erosion areas in the country be under control with apparent results witnessed in major soil conservation projects; completely check new soil erosion caused by man-made activities; remarkably improve ecological environment with the ecological environment in major controlling areas in healthy cycle; reduce sludge and silt in major rivers by 20% to 30%; establish national network monitoring and preventing soil erosion in dynamic manner and perfect legislatures on soil conservation.
Long-term objectives: by 2050 establish healthy ecological system suitable for the sustainable national economic development; all soil erosions be basically under control; consolidate and maintain the results and improve environmental quality with the help of legislature and scientific and technological advance.
Import & Export Bank Support for High Tech Export
Recent years have witnessed increased weight of high tech export in China’s foreign trade. It is reported that since its foundation China Import & Export Bank has provided strong policy oriented banking support to the high tech products support in the field of machinery and electronics, which has made the Bank accumulate rich experience in supporting the export of non-machinery and non-electronics high tech products. To launch the new business as soon as possible, China Import & Export Bank has made the following decisions:
- Starting from October 1st, 1999, it will provide banking support such as export credit, preferential loans, export credit guarantees for high tech products export;
- The support will be implemented in accordance with the category defined for high tech products export and Category for China High Tech Products Exports jointly published by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and China Import & Export Bank. Before the publication of the said category, the support will be implemented pursuant to 97’ China High Tech Products Export Category jointly published by MOFTEC and former State Science and Technology Commission. High tech products that are not listed in the said Category will be granted with the same support once approved by MOFTEC and MST;
- Provide priority support to high tech products export by taking full advantage of buyer’s export credit and seller’s export credit, preferential loans for overseas buyers, export credit guarantee and guarantee for foreign banks;
- The interest rate of seller’s export credit for high tech products export shall be calculated in the first category of seller’s export credit in Rmb. The current annual rate is 4.05%;
- Provide appropriate consideration to insurance for high tech products export credit.
To support the expansion of high tech products export in an efficient manner, China Import & Export Bank will in the near future organize business trips to investigate trade and payment modes of high tech export in some major areas and major businesses and work out operational procedures and management tailored to credit, insurance and guarantee business for high tech products export so as to ensure the healthy development of the business against possible risks.
Import & Export Certificate Registration
System for Research Institutes
Not long ago Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) published the Circular on Import & Export Certificate Registration System for State or Collectively Owned Research Institutes and High Tech Enterprises.
The Circular stipulates that any state or collectively owned research institutes or high tech enterprises whose business license has qualified such nature and research institutes or high tech enterprises with state or collective owned equity shares of over Rmb 2 million as the registration capital, when exporting their own products or technologies, may apply for import & export certificate.
The Circular points out that in the principle of associating the place where the business license is registered with the one where the import & export certificate is issued, research institutes and high tech businesses shall send their applications for their import & export certificate to authorities concerned in the places where they are granted with their business licenses. Research institutes and high tech businesses registered at State Administration of Industry and Commerce may send their application for import & export certificate to authorities concerned in the place where they are headquartered. Once they are granted with PRC Certificate for Import & Export Business, they may start their import & export business right away . The said development is an important stimulus encouraging high tech export and is a concrete step moving towards the registration system from original permit system. MOFTEC will further explore better ways to help high tech business have more autonomy.
New Medicine for Better Memory
Thanks to their more than a decade efforts, researchers of Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have unveiled the mysteries on how memory enhancing peptide improves brain memory.
So far scientific papers relating to this study, including Polypeptide, Neurological Report and Progress in Brain Studies, have been published in international major journals in the field of peptide.
The study group headed by Du Yucang, a research fellow of Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, not only successfully synthesized brain memory enhancing peptide for the first time in the world in 1993, but also discovered and elaborated the role position of memory enhancing peptide in brain and molecule reaction path on the basis of their careful and thorough studies of neuropeptide through understanding the relationship between molecule composition and nervous functions and nuclei cluster-cell-molecule level.
Du briefed that the working principle of memory enhancing peptide is that: on one hand it may readjust the plasticity of neurocynapse so as to prolong its transmission time and enhance brain’s short term memory function; and on the other hand it may improve the expressions of some key protein genes (such as neurogrowth gene, calmodulin protein and cholinergic neurodifferone) in keeping normal activities of neurocells which in turn prolongs brain’s long term memory.
Up to date, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry has developed new drug named MEP for practical applications. It has been granted with patent right in China, UK and US respectively. Clinical testing has shown that oral MEP is of apparent treatment effects in enhancing patients’ memory.
Chinese Scientists Defined Carbon-60 Directions
Not long ago Chinese scientists have for the first time in the world defined Carbon-60’s directions on the silicon surface with the combined assistance of super high vacuum lower temperature scanning tunnel microscope and computer based imagery simulation.
Prof. Hou Jianguo, Prof. Yang Jinlong and Academician Zhu Qingshi of China University of Science and Technology and their collaborators acquired electron cloud distribution pattern within carbon-60 in different directions under positive bias at a temperature of 4.5 K with the help of super high vacuum low temperature scanning tunnel microscope. At the same time, they have for the first time in the world defined the direction of individual molecule through computer based simulation of microscope imagery. The methodology they used has proved to be of important value to studying other individual molecules in three dimensional structures. The result was published in Physics Review of American Association of Physics. The Association has also published relevant pictures on its news website. This is the first time of the site to publish pictures reflecting research results of Chinese scientists.
China's Largest Industrial Automation
Control Software Package
On November 4, 1999, “Industrial Process and Optimized Commercial Engineering Software” and “Development of On-line Control System”, two major projects on the list of Chinese national 9th Five-Year Plan with Rmb 39 million investment from the government and a total budget of Rmb 80 million, passed the approval of Ministry of Science and Technology at Zhejiang University. Both projects realized the commercialization of their products in the process of research and development and found their applications in the sectors such as iron and steel making, oil refining, chemical industry, paper making, building materials and biochemistry in 20 cities or provinces in the country. The results have created an industry with an output value worth Rmb 100 million and more with its annual output volume reaching over Rmb 200 million.
“Industrial Process and Optimized Commercial Engineering Software” and “Development of On-line Control System” are the two largest projects undertaken by Zhejiang University in the 9th Five-Year Plan period. They are the national class one projects undertaken by National Engineering Institute of Industrial Automation, Zhejiang University, with the involvement of Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University. The research team has achieved a number of major breakthroughs: completing the development of internationally advanced control software package, real time monitoring software platform, process on-line optimized software package, real time on-line group software package; working out solutions to eight internationally acknowledged technical difficulties in industrial automation. Their products have found successful applications in different facilities of large oil refineries and paper mills. In the development of “on-line control system software”, they created 7 supporting products including HART protocol based intelligent transmitter and JL paperless recorder, 5 experimental bases and 4 production lines. Their products have taken a domestic market share compatible with that occupied by foreign brand products with their merits of low consumption, high reliability and simple operation.
Oldest Vertebrate Fossils Discovered in China
China’s studies of early animal evolution saw major breakthroughs: “Kunming Fish” and “Haikou Fish”, the oldest vertebrate fossils thus far, were discovered. Experts agreed that this is the most advanced and highest animal fossils known in the world. The new discovery presents the most important and critical breakthroughs in the studies of large explosion in Cambrian Period which lasted for one and half centuries.
Life explosion in Cambrian Period is the largest life evolution event of farthest reaching significance in 3.8 billion years of life evolution history on the earth. It only took 1% of the time of earth life to create 90% of animal families on the earth. In a period of more than one hundred years before 1995, animals discovered for the studies of the period were all invertebrates. Since 1996, Prof. Shu Degan, Director of Early Life Research Institute of Northwest University, and others have published their papers in Nature for four times, reporting their major discoveries on earlier life studies, including semi-vertebrates transforming from invertebrates to vertebrates original vertebrates and other animals. In their paper titled “South China’s Vertebrates in Cambrian Period ” published in Nature on November 4, 1999, they reported two original vertebrates named as Kunming Fish and Haikou Fish. The fossils were unearthed in Cambrian stratum dated back to 530 million years ago in Haikou District, Kunming Municipality by Early Life Research Institute of Northwest University and Yunnan Institute of Geological Sciences. The two jawless vertebrates look alike in fish shape with a length of 3 cm. Haikou Fish was buried after it died in a normal manner with slightly rotten rear part. Kunming Fish was buried alive with a perfect preservation. In addition to clear view of visceral pouch and major skeleton, scales and cardiocoelom remain intact. In the mouth of Haikou Fish, soft bone gill basket can be seen and there appeared fin ray on its back, which means that it is higher than Kunming Fish in evolution.
The discovery of two fish fossils has not revealed major breakthroughs on the studies of large explosion in Cambrian Period but also provided key and reliable evidence for the origin and evolution of major organs of vertebrates. It has advanced the record of vertebrates at least of 40 million years.
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