On December 9, 1999, Dr. Wu Nanjian who have studied semi conductor quantum elements and computation for eight years at Japan’s National Electronics University passed his oral examination on quantum telecommunication organized by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). If Dr. Wu passes the following examination and final approval of Selection Committee, he will become another talent absorbed by CAS to be an academic leader for its innovation projects with a budgeting support of Rmb 2 million.
　
On Dec.8 and Dec.9, there were altogether 7 Chinese scholars from US, Japan and Germany attended the oral examinations organized by Selection Committee, CAS for recruiting outstanding overseas talents in 1999.

In the meanwhile, the Selection Committee membered with people from Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, CAS and National Natural Science Foundation have had their final examination of 53 candidates who have passed their oral examinations. The said candidates were screened out from 100 and more applicants. Most of them have achieved their doctorates and had long research experiences with remarkable academic achievements.

Before this, CAS had successfully recruited 108 outstanding talents from 300 applicants through strict examinations. The first group of 47 of them have obtained their research appropriations of Rmb 2 million. The approval of the second group of 61 is underway.

Since the starting of knowledge innovation projects, CAS has strengthened its efforts of training, absorbing and gathering fine talents from both home and abroad, especially its efforts of attracting overseas talents. The national authorities have created a dedicated fund of Rmb 600 million for absorbing overseas talents. As planned, 300 world class talents will be absorbed to be academic leaders of innovation efforts within a period of three years.
 

On December 9, 1999, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology disclosed 41 major priority projects listed in National Development Plan for Basic Studies and issued certificates to 53 chief scientists involving in these projects.

Important cutting-edge studies such as genetic studies of major rice properties, prevention and control of coal burning pollution, large scale scientific computation, evolution of China’s survival environment, prediction for drought trend in North China, prevention and treatment of major epidemic diseases, the major issue of astrophysics in the 21^st century----formulation and evolution of planets have been listed in the Plan that was approved for the implementation in 1998 with a total budget of Rmb 2.5 billion in the next 5 years.

It is briefed that the 41 newly selected projects will focus on major issues relating to agriculture, energy, information, resource environment, population and health, and materials. While taking into account the long term development of China’s science and technology, some major cross-discipline frontier topics were also picked up so as to achieve some breakthroughs there.

Officials of Ministry of Science and Technology said that these projects represented the level of China’s basic studies and have become a core attracting high level research forces at home. Together with 15 projects implemented last year, these projects covering major national needs have constituted the framework of the Plan.

It is reported that these projects will be organized and implemented under the responsibility system of chief scientists. Chief scientists will appoint the head of research group on their own and exercise management according to the progress and targets to be achieved.
 

To encourage technical innovation and high tech development, China State Administration of Taxation and Ministry of Finance have jointly published their regulations on the taxation in the area.

As far as added value tax is concerned, while selling computer software developed on his or her own, the taxpayer will enjoy an instant refunding of its taxes paid when the actual tax payment goes over 6% after paying his or her due tax (17%) according to law.

In the area of business tax, it is stipulated that business tax will be exempted for the revenues gained from technology transfer, technology development technical consultation or from technical services related to the said area.

Referring to income tax, it is stipulated that the funds invested by social forces for research and development of new products, technologies and techniques, upon the approval of taxation authorities concerned, can be deducted from the taxation payable in the year.
　
As for the income tax of foreign funded and foreign businesses, the investment by foreign funded or foreign businesses in financing non-related research institutions for their research efforts can be fully deducted from their taxes payable in the year with reference to taxation on donation regulated in Tax Laws for Foreign Funded or Foreign Enterprises.

In the area of import & export taxation, it is stipulated that equipment, technology and parts needed for manufacturing products listed in National Catalogue of New Technologies and Products or defined in contracts, shall be exempted from added value tax in the process of import and export, except for the items listed under Catalogue of Non-Duty Free Commodities for Domestic Investment published in No. 37 Document (1997). While introducing advanced technologies listed in National Catalogue of High Tech and Products and paying software expenditures to overseas collectors according to contracts, customs duty and added value tax in the process of import and export shall be exempted. Any products listed under China’s Catalogue of High Tech Commodities Export, when its export refunding has not reached the taxation rate, may get refunded according to current taxation and refunding regulations upon the approval of State Administration of Taxation.
 

As disclosed at the first news briefing of the 11^th Signatory Conference of Montreal Protocol, being a large country producing substances which consume ozone, China has not only taken an active part in sky patching activities but also advanced its timetable for outdating the production of ozone depleting substance in some industrial sectors.

As briefed by officials from State Bureau of Environmental Protection, according to Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances signed by many countries, developing countries are supposed to cease their production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in 2010. However, according to China’s National Plan on Gradually Outdating Ozone Depleting Substances approved by Chinese State Council for implementation, the timetables set for Chinese fire suppression, auto air conditioning and cleaning sectors have been advanced to the end of 2006, 2001 and 2009 respectively.

Recent years have witnessed China’s efforts made in outdating ozone depleting agents in its fire suppression, chemical and auto air conditioning sectors with a total amount reaching 50,000 tons. The efforts have gained the support of multi-lateral funds for implementing Montreal Protocol.

Halon and freon are the major substances damaging ozone layer. As shown by statistics, in 1995 China’s consumption of these substances reached 105,000 tons. Recent years have seen nearly 30 policies formulated by Chinese Government on protecting ozone layer such as licensing management on production of halon and freon, forbidding the additional establishment of production facilities depleting ozone layer. Starting from 2002, auto freon based air conditioners will be banned from being equiped with new automobiles; and from July 1^st, 1999, to the end of next year, about 10,000 tons of freon production capacity will be wiped out.

China’s first exceptionally large space environment experimental unit of internationally advanced quality passed experts’ verification on November 30, 1999, in Beijing.

The said unit is a major facility necessary for making important experiments for the development of manned spacecraft in the conditions of the space vacuum, cooling black, solar radiation environment, heat equilibrium and thermal vacuum. Only a few countries in the world such as US, Russia, Japan and a limited number of countries in Europe are able to manufacture the facility on their own. Thanks to their 5-year painstaking efforts and bold innovation spirit, Beijing Institute of Satellite Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Aerospace Technology, have made the unit run successfully once with its performance reaching the designed requirements and criteria for such experiment.

The appraisal panel believed that the successful development of the said unit has earmarked a major breakthrough in China’s development of large space environment lab and associated technologies, which will meet its demand for future space environmental experiments. With its general performance reaching the internationally advanced level, the unit has become one of five typical space environmental experimental facilities and one of three major space environment labs carried by manned spacecrafts in the world.

Experts nicknamed wind tunnels the cradle of flying machines. Experts participated in the launching of China’s first spacecraft said that wind tunnels nurtured the “divine ship” and made it able to take off.

China’s has the largest wind tunnel base in Asia serving for the development of aircrafts, missiles, satellites, spacecrafts and spaceshuttles.

It is briefed that the wind tunnel base has achieved many breakthroughs in assisting the implementation of manned spacecraft program such as blunt wedge technology in electric arc wind tunnel and low density material burning test for returnable cabin of the spacecraft. The experimental results were directly applied in designing of returnable cabin of spacecraft. By taking advantage of semi-oval drizzling technique, they developed thin-wall thermal measurement technique suitable for electric arc wind tunnel. They also successfully conducted experiments on the impacts of air flow dynamics of simulating rescuer flying machine model which tells the real requirement for the shape of real flying machine. The Ballistic target has made the launch and retrieval of sub-transonic model a success. These techniques have filled in the domestic blanks with their world class quality.

With its over one year efforts, Tianjin Lishen Battery Shareholding Co. Ltd., China’s first high tech business producing lithium batteries, made the debut its lithium battery products recently. The industrialization of lithium batteries is regarded as one of the major high tech projects of Tianjin. Tianjin Lishen will complete the construction of an assembly line producing 5 million cylindrical lithium cells a year at the end of this year.

No. 18 Research Institute of Electronics, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom Industries, is the first one in the country starting to develop lithium batteries and established a demonstration assembly line annually producing 300,000 lithium cells of Chinese patent right. By combining the said high tech result with industrial capital, Tianjin has established Tianjin Lishen’s, the largest of its kind in the country, pursuant to modern enterprise system. No. 18 Research Institute is one of the shareholder of the new company as well as its R&D center.

While constructing its assembly line, Tianjin Lishen is now accelerating the process of technology development and products upgrading with the expertise of No. 18 Research Institute so as to match market changes. So far Tianjin Lishen has expanded the specifications of its batteries to 5. To meet with the market demand for prismatic cells, Tianjin Lishen another assembly line for 5 million prismatic lithium cells has begun its construction in September, 1999.
 

NEWS BRIEFS

The socalled S&T Research Coordination Network linking Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei together was put into official operation recently, which marked a new step in the direction of resources sharing at the expense of breaking up the fence confining the outflow of local S&T research resources.

As briefed by S&T committees of the three localities, in the principle of mutual benefiting, resources sharing, governmental support and running in accordance with the law of socialist market-oriented economy, the full-fledge S&T resources sharing will mainly find expression in exchanging and sharing of S&T instruments, experimental animals, chemical agents and books and reference materials. By taking advantage of modern information technology, they will also start to establish Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei S&T Resources Information Management System so as to integrate S&T resources with market demand through information highway.

S&T management experts believed that the said efforts would make S&T resources in the cities under the framework be of more service targets and wider market space and provide stronger S&T resource support for users along Bohai Bay area. It is of great strategic importance to improving the overall S&T level of the region, constructing S&T innovation environment and accelerating S&T advance, economic and social development in the region.

It is reported that the said network is the result visualizing the spirit of national S&T innovation conference.

Co-sponsored by China Telecommunication Equipment General Corporation and China International Exhibition Center and assisted by China Telecommunication Administration and Wireless Administration of Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom Industries with the involvement of Hong Kong based Yashi Exhibition Service Ltd. for inviting overseas participants, PT/Wireless Comm Beijing'99 was held during Nov.9-13, 1999 at Beijing based China International Exhibition Center.

Thanks to opening and reform, China's information industry has witnessed fast development, especially in the area of wireless telecommunication. By the end of September 1998, mobile telecommunication subscribers in the nation has reached 20.95 million, switching volume 36 million lines, signal channels 1.09 million and base units 26000. Collaborating with 51 operators in 33 countries and regions, it has opened international roaming service with an coverage of 318 cities, 94% of the nation's total. Being the major carrier network of China's mobile telecommunication, now China's GSM mobile telecommunication system has become the largest in the world.

With the participation of nearly 160,000 governmental officials, professional and tradesmen from China (Hong Kong), Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Korea, Sweden, Singapore, US and UK and a total displaying area of 15000 m2, the said exhibition is the largest telecommunication fair held in 1999 in the country.

With its equity capital of Rmb 2 million and two-year intensified efforts, Hunan based Longsheng New Material Co. Ltd. has successfully developed China's own substitute products for wood. The result has filled in a domestic blank in the area with its major performance indicators betterthan that of its Japanese counterparts.

Without any trace of wood substance, the socalled "Wood substitute" is a new chemical compound made of processed raw materials such as glass fiber, multiple organic alcohol, silicon foam stabilizer, delayed aminating agent and polyisocyanic acid. The said product feels and looks extremely like natural wood in addition to its processing plasticity. As shown by the testing result of Authorized Hunan Provincial Monitoring and Supervision Station for Forestry Products, the said product is of better indicators than those of its Japanese counterparts for its static bending, pressure and shock resistance, plasticity and surface hardness in addition to its fine saw cutting and boring capacity. Two indicators on its inner binding strength and screw holding capability are better than those of natural wood with medium density. Its abrasion resistance is the best among any decorating surfaces made of natural wood.

       Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:Mr. Dong Jianlong, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China  Tel: (8610)68512650 Fax: (8610) 68512594, or Mr. Wang Jianping, Editor,NEWSLETTER, 15 Fuxing Road Beijing 100038, PR China, Tel:(8610) 68515544 Ext. 2921

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