China's Chronicle History Advanced by 1200 Years
The study team on the divisions of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, a major project under the national key S&T initiatives for the 9th Five-Year Plan period, announced on November 9, 2000 that they have achieved the phased result which advanced the accurate chronicle of Chinese history from 841 BC to 1200 years.
Chronicles of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the research findings derived from the Project on the Divisions of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties that formally was kicked off on May 1996 have passed the recent assessment and approval check of the judgement panel made up of 500 and more experts. The chronicles have worked out the chronicle framework for the three dynasties for 1200 years in the Chinese history before 841 BC, including the chronicles of West Zhou Dynasty and Later Shang Dynasty.
The Chronicles have shown that Xia Dynasty started from about 2070 BC and the division of Xia and Shang Dynasties came at around 1600 BC with Pangeng moving hiscapital around 1300 BC and Emperor Wu negotiating for the demarcation between Shang and Zhou at about 1046 BC. In addition, the Chronicles have sequenced detailed terms of office served by ten emperors during West Zhou Dynasty and listed approximate chronicles for 12 emperors served from Pangeng to Dixing during late Shang Dynasty.
China's civilization is one of the independent sources of its kind in the ancient world and the only one among the four major world ancient civilizations that has never been interrupted in its course. Unfortunately in comparison with chronicles established for Egyptian Civilization and the other two civilizations over the middle east region, China has a two-thousand-year section in its five-thousand-year history inscribed without chronicles.
From the point of historical views, the said two thousand and more years without chronicle record has basically housed the five-emperor-ruled dynasty and other dynasties such as Xia, Shang and Zhou. The latter three dynasties constitute an important age marking the prosperity and thriving of China's ancient time. From that on, it can be traced back to the origin of Chinese civilization and down to understanding the basic pattern and trends of Chinese civilization. In this context, it is important to establish the chronicles for the said period of time so that we can continue to explore the origin of Chinese civilization and unveil the development stages of this five-thousand-year civilization, laying a sound foundation for the compilation of a complete chronicles of Chinese civilization that will pass from generation to generation.
China Fast S&T Budget Increase
As shown by the statistics bulletin jointly published by Chinese State Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Finance, China had witnessed a strong increase of its S&T budget in 1999 with its proportion in GDP exceeding 0.8% for the first time in the country.
The Bulletin shows that in 1999 the funds raised for S&T activities reached Rmb 146.06 billion, Rmb 17.09 billion more than last year with a growth of 12.5%. In the same year, the national financial appropriations for S&T activities reached Rmb 54.39 billion, Rmb 10.53 billion more than last year, landed a real term increase by 26.8%. The S&T related expenses in the same year amounted to Rmb 128.49 billion, Rmb 15.65 billion more than the previous year, 13% up. The areas registered at the top fives in S&T expenditures are Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong.
In 1999, China's R&D budget went up to Rmb 67.89 billion, Rmb 12.78 billion more than last year, secured an increase of 17.7% and 0.83% of its GDP and recorded a historical level for Rmb 83,000 per capita, Rmb 10,000 more than the previous year. The top five areas enjoying the increasing R&D budget are Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Sichuan.
Major Breakthrough in China's Digital Video Transmission
The Digital Video Transmission Technology Research and Development Center of Tsinghua University has recently applauded its successful development of digital ground multi-media video transmission protocol DMB-T and its application for invention patent. The said result has shown a major breakthrough in China's digital video transmission technology, which is valuable for formulating China's own digital video transmission standards of its independent intellectual property rights.
By taking account of China's existing TV broadcasting system and on the basis of the study of different digital ground TV broadcasting transmission standards available internationally, the researchers of Tsinghua University have worked out the draft plan (DMB-T) on the digital ground TV broadcasting transmission standards of independent intellectual property rights through integrating the cuttingedge digital telecommunication technologies such as TDS-OFDM. As proved by the experts as well as computer based simulation and prototype machine testing, the said system has been preliminarily confirmed as having apparent technical superiority and application perspectives in comparison against the three digital ground TV broadcasting transmission standards published by US, Europe and Japan.
The experts pointed out that the draft plan made the multi-media data broadcasting possible and constituted an economic, fast and practical approach for the integration of TV, telecommunication and computer technologies.
China's New Anti-AIDS Drug
Sitafuding, a new drug treating AIDS patients developed by the resear
chers of Xi'an Jiaotong University has not long before won the approval of the authorities concerned. Experts believed that the new result proved that China has reached internationally advanced level in developing AIDS treating drugs.
As briefed by Associate Professor Lu Yong who chaired the research, sitafuding is one of the best drugs in the world offering most effective treatment to AIDS patients. So far only US and Spain are able to manufacture such drugs.
Lu said that the pricing of the said drug has in the world market reached as high as Rmb 55,000 per kilo against China's much lower rating for only Rmb 18,000 per kilo. The fact that it will take three years for an AIDS patient to consume one kilo of the drug has attracted the world attention. The buyers from nearly ten countries have sent them the orders even though the product have not yet been put out in mass production.
First High Division Full Digital Projector
Shanghai based Huaxian Digital Imaging Technology Co. Ltd., worked out last October its high division full digital large screen projector with its own independent intellectual property rights. Equipped with numerous merits such as high resolution, high brightness, fine colors, lower power consumption, pollution free, lighter weight and lower cost, the new projector integrated with TV and computer technologies has become the best way heading for HDTV. It is planned to complete the small scale of production of the said projector by the end of this year and expand further for a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 sets in 2001.
China Internationally Advanced Anti-Malaria Drugs
In collaboration with Chongqin based Tonghe Pharmaceuticals, Prof. Li Guoqiao of Guangzhou University of Traditional Medicine has successfully worked out dihydro Qinghaosu compound, a new generation anti-malaria drug of China's own independent intellectual property right. It is briefed that the new drug has been clinically tested over the malaria stricken areas in Vietnam, Thailand and Kampuchea since 1996. Characterized by numerous fine treating effects such as fast responding, high efficiency, low toxin, inexpensive cost, convenience, checking the dissemination of malaria and preventing or alleviating the attack of massive epidemic, the new drug has won the experts' approval. As predicted by experts, the new drug will soon replace the traditional prescriptions such as quinine and become the mainstream medicine treating malaria by taking 30%—50 % of the world malaria drug market.
Thanks to its 20-and-more-year efforts. China has upgraded its new Qinghaosu to the internationally advanced level. At present stage, Chongqing based Tonghe Pharmaceuticals has in collaboration with relevant research institutes developed the second generation substitutes for treating diseases like cancer, kala-azar and lupus erythematosus and drug addiction.
Separation and Original Breeding of Nerve Stem Cells
Recently the Neurosurgery Section of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital has completed the purification separation of nerve stem cells and their original breeding, which has landed a major breakthrough in China's studies in the field.
Learning from the overseas experience on embryonic stem cells and blood making stem cells studies, the Hospital's researchers have made numerous purification separation, collected the nerve stem cells from embryonic rats through creatively utilizing advanced immune magnetic beads cell screening approach and eventually obtained the nerve stem cell with a purity of 93%—99%. The stem cells cultivated have shown healthy development, which are fully suitable for the studies of generation breeding and cell transplanting.
Major Advancement of Optical Micro-processing Technology
Full Optical Micro Operational System, a major automation project under the National 863 Program undertaken by Chinese University of Science and Technology have not long before passed the verification and approval check. The experts believed that being an important means studying the life process at cell and biological macromolecule level, the system constituted an ideal device for micro processing at micron level and reached the internationally advanced level of similar systems. The device is of importance to the study of cytobiology, genetic engineering, space sciences, material science and accurate measuring. Its successful development has marked the major progress achieved in China's micro processing technologies.
The device is reliable enough to ensure the accuracy of scientific experiment and theoretical analysis. The new technology is particularly suitable for studying living biological particles and is an important means of studying the life process of cells and biological macromolecules, rendering fine application perspectives for cytobiology, molecular immunology and genetic engineering. Chinese University of Science and Technology has so far developed two generations of optical micro operational and processing devices with which many new results are derived.
World First Internet Based Limited Software System
As disclosed by Chinese Academy of Sciences on November 7, 2000, its Institute of Mathematics and System Science and Beijing Feijian Software Co. have jointly developed an Internet based online limited program generation system, the first of its kind in the world. It is told that S&T people all over the world will soon have the access to the system through Internet and be assisted to work on the complicated programming that usually calls for several months or even several years' efforts and complete the programming in a few days or even in several hours. Having organically integrated the automatic limited original program generation system with the modern Internet technology, this brand new software can be extensively applied in scientific research and designing sectors as well as in the industrial numerical experiments, products designing and numerical simulation of production process, rendering great values for high tech industry.
Yang Le, academician of CAS and a renowned mathematician believed that the successful development of the said system would provide a powerful platform for the computation job of scientific and engineering projects and mark a new beginning for the ideal software applications in the Internet age.
Tsinghua's Breakthroughs for Inductance Laminae
The new generation of high performance and low temperature sintered inductance materials, a major project under the National 863 Program for the 9th Five-Year Plan undertaken by Tsinghua University has not long before passed the experts' verification check. Experts agreed that the two results with independent intellectual property rights, namely low temperature sintered Ni-Zn-Cu ferrite of high magnetconductivity and low temperature sintered VHF plane hexagon soft magnetic ferrite have taken the leading position in the world.
The researchers have on the basis of their four-year efforts achieved the break throughs in preparing highly active chemical oxide nanometer powder with soft chemical process. They have successfully found the solution to the deterioration of material performance under the traditional ceramics preparation approach in low temperature (using additives for low temperature burning) and worked out low temperature sintered Ni-Zn-Cu ferrite of high magnetconductivity for large inductance volume and low temperature sintered plane hexagon soft magnetic ferrite for VHF inductance laminae. The application of the said two low temperature sintered ferrites will make the lamination of inductance components of high volume andlarge power and of the inductance elements working at VHF level such as EMI possible. The result has realized a leap in the inductance components manufacturing and will produce remarkable social and economical benefits.
China's Animal Cloning Base
China's first animal cloning base was recently established in Yangling, Shaanxi Province. Occupied a land of 600 mu(1mu=0.0667ha.), the base is physically a hightech park mainstreamed with cloning activities though integrated with other activities such asresearch and development, diffusion and applications and industrial demonstration of modern biotechnology. The park gives a full coverage of the latest cuttingedge technologies and products of embryological engineering, genetic engineering and biomedicine. It has four major function areas for research and development, results display, fine species breeding and extended processing. The base will produce fine bovine and sheep species and work on in-depth processing by fully taking advantage of cloning technology.
It is briefed that the construction and development of the park will be financed through multiple channels, and it, run by modern industrial management, strives to attract talents from both home and abroad with its new mechanism. In the meanwhile, it will gather together intelligent resources, aiming at the cutting edges of international biotechnologies and becoming the leading power in China's high tech based animal husbandry.
Metal Substitutes
A kind of metal substitute made of waste plastics and coal dust developed by Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry under Chinese Academy of Sciences has recently passed the verification check. The Institute has made in-depth studies on different waste plastics and coal dusts in different composition and their bulking and plastification and worked out metal substitutes with fine resistance to pressure, bending and shocking without adding any skeletons and made them desirable substitutes for metal.
Near-Earth Celestial Body Observatory in China
Zijinshan Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences will establish a near-earth celestial body observatory on Paoma Mount in Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province. It is reported that the purpose of creating the station is to monitor the near-earth celestial bodies that may have potential threats to the earth. So far the development of the telescope watching near-earth celestial bodies has seen smooth progress and the new telescope is expected to be put into operation in 2002. Being a site satisfying the requirements for the astronomical watch of meter-level telescopes and other related development, Paoma Observatory will be equipped with other types of astronomical telescopes in addition to the ones watching near-earth celestial bodies.
Major Breakthrough for China's Aviation
Information Technology
China's aviation information technology system, a national key S&T project has recently passed the verification and approval check organized by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology in Chengdu. The project has for the first time in the country found the solutions to three key technologies needed desperately by Chinese aviation industry such as 3-D digital designing and manufacturing, coordinated designing and manufacturing of different locations and the management of parallel project and system integration. The said technologies are able to integrate the processes of aircraft designing and manufacturing of different manufacturers through network so as to make resources shared and reduce unnecessary overlapping possible and realize the objectives of parallel and paperless designing and manufacturing at different locations.
