National Programs Support Sustainable Development
On August 20, 2002, the Chinese government issued China's National Report on Sustainable Development. The Report presents a full picture about China's activities and achievements made in numerous aspects such as social and economic development, ecological construction, environmental protection, resources management, local agenda 21, public involvement etc. and further elaborates the plans and policies for further implementing the sustainable development strategy in the country.
The Report states that China has created its preliminary legal system supporting the sustainable development. In 1994, the Chinese government published China's Agenda 21 white paper -China's population, environment and development in the 21st century, which gave a systematic review of the interactions among its economy, society and environment and a blueprint of the integrated, long-term and progressive framework for the implementation of its sustainable development strategy.
As of the end of 2001, China had created new laws or amended the old ones including one on population and family planning, six on environmental protection, thirteen on natural resources management and three on disaster prevention and preparedness. In the meantime, the Chinese State Council enacted 100 and more by-laws and regulations on population, resources, environment and disasters, which made feasible policies available for the legal implementation of sustainable development strategy.
The Report points out that the implementation of sustainable development strategy has promoted industrial restructuring, checked up the excessive population growth, reduced per GDP resources consumption and pollutants emission and promoted the sustainable, fast and healthy development of the national economy. The Report, while citing the great achievements made in China's social and economic development, expressed that China remains a developing nation with its economic development running in an extensive mode, facing the great pressure of population, resources and environment.
The Chinese government will stick to the main lines of taking man as the fundamental and pursuing the harmony between man and nature with economic development as the core, and promoting the coordinated sustainable development of its economy, society, population, resources and environment so as to lay a solid foundation for the preliminary realization of the nation's modernization in the mid 21st century.
China's Master S&T Plan for Sustainable Development
On August 14, 2002, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology published its Master S&T Plan to support the nation's sustainable development. The Master Plan defined the guidelines of “innovation and coordinated development” and principle of “four combinations” to address China's sustainable development in the next decade and the existing major scientific issues. To meet the new development demands, the Master Plan outlined six major tasks: strengthening strategic research, landing breakthroughs in key technologies, strengthening basic research activities, accelerating results spin-off, making demonstration and trial applications and optimizing R&D resources. In addition, it screened out 12 areas to support sustainable development. They are population control, health and major disease prevention and treatment, food security, water security, oil and gas security, strategic mineral resources security, marine observation and resources exploitation and utilization, clean and renewable energy, environmental pollution control and integrated ecological control, disasters prevention and preparedness, construction of cities and small townships and global environment.
Project Owner Responsibility System
Managed under the so-called project owner responsibility system, Project of Taihu Lake Pollution Control and Water Body Repairing Technologies and Associated Engineering Demonstration, a major national environmental protection effort was formally launched on August 6, 2002 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
With a joint investment of RMB 210 million from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and Jiansu Provincial Government, the Project will organize research and development and engineering demonstrations to address major lake pollution control technologies for drinking source water in Meiliang Bay, streams over Yixing area and Wuli Lake. The Project is scheduled to accomplish its pollution control over Taihu Lake system in a timeframe of 3-5 years and will further extend to other control areas with proven technologies, demonstrations and brand new operational and management modes.
Jiangsu Wuxi Taihu Lake Control Co. Ltd., the project owner selected through experts' screening issued a bidding notice on Taihu Lake Pollution Control and Water Body Repairing Technologies and Engineering Demonstration and opened to the public its R&D topics such as Taihu Lake Source Water Quality Improvement Technology, Series Technologies for Lake Surface Pollution Control, Environmental Protection based Mud and Sand Cleaning and Ecological Reconstruction Technology for Seriously Polluted Water Body. The head of the Company expressed that in the process of implementation, the so-called owner responsibility system would be used to select project implementation agency and establish new operational and management mechanism in line with market economy.
China Chips
A dedicated project “ Super Large IC and Associated Software” under the 10th Five-Year Plan will strive to work out China Chips for China's information industry, promoting the proprietary development of home-made chips and software.
It is reported that the Project will aim at core technologies for designing and developing high performance built-in CPU and developing platform technologies for making proprietary CPU. China will establish a number of IC designing and manufacturing bases at national level, targeting on landmark chips for information security, network telecommunication and household electric appliances.
In the field of software development, the Project will develop China's own proprietary core network software platform producing software for operational system, database management system, middle links and major common applications. The Project will diffuse its products through demonstrations so as to improve the product and commercialization level of its core software platform, supporting the information process of the Chinese economy and society, creating product lines from system software to middle links and further to application software, and working out China's proprietary key software and product technologies.
In the process of implementation, the Project will strongly encourage interactiveness. In the area of microprocessor and operational system, an integrated process of development, application and diffusion will be used. In the meantime, the Project will be closely associated with other dedicated projects on computer hardware, telecommunication, and information security under the 863 Program in the same period to allow them to be interacted with each other on a supplementary basis.
World Advanced Ephedrine Synthesizing
On the basis of their many-year painstaking efforts, Chifeng Pharmaceutical Group has successfully synthesized and produced ephedrine through full chemical approach, which makes China the second country following Germany in the world able to produce proprietary synthesized ephedrine through full chemical approach.
It is briefed that in the past China extracted ephedrine from ephedrae roots and massive gathering of such grass seriously damaged the grassland, the field and the ecological balance there. To protect the environment and advocate for sustainable development, Chifeng Pharmaceutical Group has since 1998 invested more than RMB 100 million to work on technical upgrading of its production lines manufacturing ephedrine and other medicine such as osytetracycline hydrochloric, griseofulin and osytetracycline, having harvested remarkable economic growth.
China's Home-Made Anti-AIDS Medicine
Qiduofuding, the anti-AIDS medicine developed by the Northeast Pharmaceuticals has recently won the approval of the Chinese State Drug Administration for its domestic sale. As is briefed by the State Drug Administration Spokesman, the said medicine is China's first anti-AIDS product allowed for its domestic sale, which will soon end up the situation of China's total reliance on imported anti-AIDS medications to fight against the disease in the country. The State Drug Administration will further accelerate the approval of anti-AIDS drugs developed by Chinese pharmaceuticals and support domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers' efforts in the research and development of anti-AIDS medicine, vaccines and diagnosing reagents so as to make them available in the market to help AIDS patients to have more choices in fighting against the disease.
Progress on China's Greenhouse Gases Study
On the basis of measurement and analysis of the ice cores extracted from Dasuopu area, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with their own made high accuracy ice core methane extraction and analysis system, researchers with the Institute of Cold and Arid Environment and Engineering has recently obtained high resolution methane record over the middle and lower latitude atmospheres, which has landed a breakthrough progress on the study of interactions between greenhouse gases and global climate changes.
Upon the careful study on the ice core methane records, researchers found that methane concentration in the air saw a sharp increase since 1850, or 140% up in the past 150 years. In the meantime, the methane emission exhausted by human activities marked a negative increase during the two world wars. Experts believed that the study has provided evidence for the quantitative assessment of the distribution and variations of global atmosphere.
The study also shows that along with the continuous discharge of greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect of earth atmosphere has become stronger and stronger. The so-called greenhouse gases are mainly made up of vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide, freon and others. However, the greenhouse effect of methane is 20 times that of carbon dioxide with fast growing concentration in the atmosphere.
In addition, the study predicts that as the result of massive emission of greenhouse gases, the global temperature will go up extensively, while the ecological system and farming belts at middle latitude will face further bordering towards polar regions with possibly reduced biodiversity and increased frequencies of severe weathers. All these will have direct impacts on man's survival and development.
Anti-explosion Technology Developed
The so-called HAN isolation anti-explosion technology and associated experimental applications developed by Guangdong Shantou Hua'an Anti-explosion R&D Corporation have recently passed the approval check of the Chinese State Safe Production Administration. As it not only has fine capacity for preventing explosion but is also of remarkable effect in suppressing flames, the said technology has been proven effective in addressing security problems in storing and shipping oil, liquid gas and chemical gases that are highly explosive. HAN technology is also able to reduce the thermal radiation to the minimum, which may in turn help to save storing area, reduce chemicals' volatilization and improve the economic performance.
Nearly one-year application experiments and testing results have shown that HAN anti-exploration technology has reached the same level of their internationally advanced counterparts with numerous merits such as low costs for manufacturing, installation and maintenance and easy for diffusion and application.
China's First Unmanned Civil Aircraft
Eagle I, China's first unmanned civil aircraft applauded for its successful experimental flight in Nanchang, Ningbo and Beijing respectively. With a body length of 2.7 m, wing span 3.75 m and taking off weight 53 kilos, the aircraft is able to carry an 8-kilo payload flying at a height of 4500m for 4 hours (180km/hour). Upon the completion of its tasks, it is able to return to the desired destination under the navigation of GPS. It is briefed that such an unmanned aircraft is of extensive application perspectives for weather monitoring, weather modification, geographic mapping, coastal patrol, forest fire watch, and traffic control among many others.
Super Rice and Super Yield
Recently Fujian Provincial Department of Science and Technology literally weighted the yield of Youming 86-II, a new Chinese super hybrid rice variety in the field. The result shows that 103.6 mu of paddy field grown with the variety in Mayang Village, Xicheng Town, Youxi County produced an averaged yield of 847.4 kilos/mu with the maximum reaching 920.3 kilos.
Youming86-II is the second rice variety developed by Xie Hua'an, a renowned Chinese hybrid rice expert after his first high yield variety Shanyouming 86 that has also recorded a high yield of 800 kilos/mu. Last September experts from Yunnan and Hunan provinces verified Xie's experiment result on his super rice. After that Mr. Xie introduced his super yield variety in Shouyuan County, Yunnan Province and recorded a yield of 1196.5 kilo over 1.12 mu of paddy field which is higher than the world single unit record of 1184.8 kilos created by India in 1974.
Nuclear Fuel Fed
Thanks to the joint efforts of both Chinese and Canadian technicians, the generation unit I of Qinshan Nuclear Power Station's Phase III Project has recently applauded for the completion of nuclear fuel feeding. Now the heavy water generation unit I has entered nuclear fuel carrying stage.
Equipped with the Candu-6 commercial heavy water nuclear reactor imported from Canada, the Qinshan Phase III project is of an installed capacity for 2×728 megawatts with a designed life-span of 40 years and annual volume factor 85%. Since its ground breaking on June 8, 1998, the project under the friendly cooperation between Chinese and Canadian constructors has seen smooth progress and the completed construction of 53 milestone points. It is briefed that the project has enjoyed sound management with major indicators such as quality, progress and investment well under control. Thanks to the fine cooperation between the two parties, the generation unit Ⅰ will become part of power grid in November 2002 and see the full power generation at the end of this year.
Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:Mr. Cheng Jiayi, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China Tel: (8610)68512650 Fax: (8610) 68512594
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