Home > Announcement Board
No.341

 
 
 


CHINA  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
The Ministry of Science and Technology
People's Republic of China


N0.341 August 30,2003
 
IN THIS ISSUE

* Ten Major S&T Projects for 2008 Olympic Games

* Two More New Genes for Hepatitis B

* Key Technologies Ready for Dual Satellites

* Progress on Ion Liquid Study

* Major Progress on Digital TV

* China Watches Global Earthquakes

* Aquatic Industrial Integration


 
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 

Ten Major S&T Projects for 2008 Olympic Games

Not long ago the S&T Organizing Committee for Beijing Olympic Games unveiled ten major S&T projects and a number of other priority projects for the preparation of the Olympic Games in 2008. The ten major S&T projects are: planning and implementation of the intelligent traffic system (ITS) for Beijing municipality, electric automobile demonstration, R&D and associated industrialization, clean energy demonstration, key technology development and demonstration for sand prevention and control over Beijing area, high performance mini satellites for ground observation and associated applications, multi-language based intelligent information service network, key technologies for food security, key technologies for Olympic Games information security and software simulation testing, technical standards and application demonstrations for green building constructions, and analeptic testing techniques and associated instruments development.

In the right month when China was announced the host of the Olympic Games in 2008, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the Beijing Municipality and other 11 governmental agencies proposed, on the basis of many rounds of discussions and assessments, the so-called Olympic Games (2008) S&T Action Plan. Ten major S&T projects such as the planning and implementation of the intelligent traffic system for Beijing municipality and the electric automobile demonstration, the R&D and associated industrialization had kicked off the preparation of draft plans from the first half of last year.

At present, these projects have seen the completion of their implementation plans with the establishment of 167 sub-projects covering 249 topics. In addition to the governmental appropriations for guidance, a huge amount of social fund (59.5% of the total) has been raised to support the preparation of the S&T Olympic Games. Up to date, some projects that had started earlier have achieved important phase results. These projects will see the completion one after another during the period from next year to 2008.

Two More New Genes for Hepatitis B

The research team headed by Dr. Cheng Jun, a tutor of doctorate students with No. 302 Army Hospital have recently announced their discovery of two new coded genes in the hepatitis B genome, namely front-front-S gene and front-X gene and associated new starting subsequence for guiding the expressions of these two new genes. The discovery has led to the conclusion that the open coding frameworks of the hepatitis B genome are not 4 but 6 in number. Correspondingly the gene starters are not 4 but 6 in number either. In the meantime, researchers have conducted the systematic study of the new genes and their structures and functions, expression and control, and biological and clinic values through a variety of techniques such as yeast based dual and mono hybridizing, genetic chip, depressed hybridizing and phagosome surface extension.

Researchers believed that the new discovery has changed the traditional understanding of hepatitis B viruses, which is not only a push for the further explorations in the field of molecular biological study of hepatitis B viruses, but also a stimulus to the preventive study of hepatitis B related diseases such as virus based hepatitis, hepatocirrhosis and liver cancers.

Key Technologies Ready for Dual Satellites

On August 19, 2003, China National Space Administration announced that China will employ the advanced Long-March IIC rocket to launch the two satellites under the so-called dual satellite program. The development of the new carrier rocket has resulted in the breakthroughs in a number of key technologies.

The dual satellite program is a space exploration initiative firstly proposed by the China National Space Administration and started under the cooperation framework with the European Space Agency. The program is planned to send satellites to explore the space areas that have never been touched before by human beings. The equator satellite to be launched under the program will become the most distant satellite China has so far launched as the satellite could be 60,000 km and farther away from the earth on the maximum. As a result, the launch of the satellite requires a corresponding enhanced thrust of the carrier rocket. To make the satellite reach its prescribed orbit height, researchers have added a third phase onto the existing Long-March IIC rocket. The third phase of the rocket has a large thrusting power, a solid fuel based engine for orbit-changing and the associated control and remote measuring systems.

While witnessing the smooth development of the new carrier rocket, the equator satellite to be sent in the first place under the dual satellite program has also been completed with its whole-body assembling recently. The satellite is expected to be launched at the end of the year. The second satellite is scheduled to join its sister next year. By then, the two will together with the four other satellites of the European Space Agency currently working in the orbit constitute a six-point based 3-D explorations of the earth space environment, the first of its kind in the man's history.

Accurate Family Tree for SARS

Prof. Hao Bailin, an academician with the Institute of Theoretical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his study group have recently, by using a brandnew process, achieved a substantive progress on understanding the kinship among the various viruses attached to the SARS virus and the evolution relationship between the SARS virus and other coronaviruses.

Researchers selected in the first place 6 complete SARS genomes and the complete genomes of other 14 known coronaviruses under the family of Nidovirales. Then they worked on the evolutionary relationship among these selected genomes through 'grouping and vector method'. Researchers have found in the evolutionary tree that the selected 6 SARS viruses have a closer relationship with one another at the full genome level and single themselves out as an individual group in the tree. In the meantime, the known coronaviruses have shown some distances from SARS viruses, which has confirmed the fact that the SARS virus has become an independent coronavirus variety under Nidovirales.

As there is a very limited difference among the various viruses attached to SARS coronaviruses, the evolutionary tree so established has not been sufficient to tell the kinship among them. On the basis of the traditional range matrix method, researchers employed the transgression to work out a kinship tree bearing the roots with accurate structures, which makes a more meaningful result compared with the rootless kinship tree obtained in the previous study.

Progress on Ion Liquid Study

Based on the 7-year painstaking study, the research team headed by Deng Youquan, a research fellow of Lanzhou Institute of Chemophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered that ion liquid may serve as an effective catalyst to work out TOLUENE DIISOCYANATE (TDI) medium in the reaction between amino compounds and carbon dioxide. The finding has made nontoxic carbon dioxide being the substitute for toxicants such as phosgene possible, which may possibly make the TDI production a safe green process and create a new approach to the utilization of carbon dioxide. In addition to the merits of reducing greenhouse gases and protecting the environment, the ion liquid can be reused to reduce the TDI production costs. The most worth of this discovery is that it may make China a proprietor of TDI production with carbon dioxide as the raw material. The finding has been published in the latest issue of Applied Chemistry in Germany and its patent application has also been made and published to the world.

Major Progress on Digital TV

The project of 'digital TV ground broadcasting technology' chaired by Prof. Zhang Wenjun, of Shanghai Jiaotong University has recently claimed a major progress. On the basis of the analysis of the development trend of the digital TV technology both at home and abroad, the broadcasting business requirements and the associated industrialization model, researchers have defined the technical plan with ADTB-T as its core. In other words they are to realize the VBR through the technology of the mono carrier-wave and to receive ADTB-T in a high-speed and moving manner. Thanks to their 3-year concerted efforts, Chinese researchers have for the first time in the world worked out the solutions early this year to the technical difficulty that mono carrier-wave could not realize the simultaneous fixed and mobile receptions under the digital TV ground broadcasting system. As of the end of July, 2003, Chinese researchers had, through repeated testing of the increasingly improved ADTB-T system, achieved a successful rate of reception and transmission both better than those of the European DVB-T system.

China's High End Computer over 64 Digits

On August 17, 2003, Shuguang Information Industrial Co. Ltd. made the debut of its servers in four models capable of the simultaneous computation at both 32 and 64 digits. It is briefed that they are the first servers interfaced with two different computation technologies in the country.

In collaboration with the multinational chip manufacturer AMD who had just made the debut of its 64-digit processing chips, Shuguang found the solutions to marrying the separation between 32-digit and 64-digit based computation systems and developed the above mentioned four dual-purpose servers, which broke up the bottleneck of the 32-digit computation technology and made it smoothly and lightly into the 64-digit computation system. 

 NEWS BRIEFS

Advanced Techniques for Wetland Survey

China launched its wetland survey experiment at the National Mangrove Nature Conservation Park in Dongzhaigang, Hainan Province. Applied with the so-called 'Three S' techniques, namely satellite based remote sensing system, geographic information system and geographic positioning system, the nation wide wetland resources survey will ensure a timely access to the basic information on the wetland resources in the country in terms of their basic types, areas, distributions and major wild animals and plants.

Under the sponsorship of the State Forestry Administration, the nationwide campaign for wetland investigations will cover all the streams of a width above 10 meters, natural wetlands with an area over 8 hectares, water reservoirs, paddy fields and urban scenic water surface, collecting the information on water body and dwelled animals and plants over these wetlands.

Aiming at understanding the basic 'assets' of China's wetland resources, the survey results will become the evidence for the rational utilization, scientific protection and management of wetland resources in the country. Being a concrete implementation initiative of Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, China will make such a survey a regular activity once every five years.

China Watches Global Earthquakes

To improve its seismological observation and forecast, China will soon readjust the distribution pattern of its seismological observation network and will work on the development strategy to establish a global seismological observation network. It is briefed that China will, based on scientific debates and a unified planning, gradually establish an integrated seismological observation network at global, national, regional and public levels so as to primarily meet the needs of seismological observation and forecast and associated scientific researches.

At present, China has established a three tiered seismological observation network at national, provincial and township levels. The readjustment will be made on the basis of the existing observation stations and network with its focus on enhancing the density of observation stations and the observational capacity by taking full advantage of the existing resources and through increasing or readjusting the existing observational means or methods. In the meantime, the readjustment will, by taking into full account the seismological forecast requirements for different time scales and scientific researches in the field, rationalize the distributions of seismological observational stations so as to establish a four tiered observational network at global, national, regional and public levels. China will strengthen its seismological monitoring efforts in the major targeted areas, the economically developed and densely populated areas, and the large and medium cities. China will also strengthen the construction of seismological observation network for experimental monitoring and forecasting purpose, promoting the cooperation with the adjacent countries and regions and further enhancing the monitoring capacity of China's seismological observation network.

Aquatic Industrial Integration

Aquatic industrial integration and healthy breeding technology development and demonstration, a priority project under the National S&T Program for Key Technologies for the 10th Five-Year Plan period has recently passed the experts' verification check organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

The project team has, through nearly 2-year efforts, completed the contracted missions and reached all the technical and economic indicators defined in the contract. The project has turned out two new aquatic breeding facilities such as the industrial high density fish growing system under a full recycled water environment, and the wind and wave resistant, deep-water breeding cage. The project also landed breakthroughs in full artificial reproduction techniques for fine and popular aquatic species, bred out new aquatic varieties and developed high power mixture feeds for 5 major fishes. These results have produced huge economic, ecological and social benefits, which have in turn stimulated the S&T input of local government and industries, and have remarkably enhanced China's modernization level and sustainable development capacity in the field.

Two World Advanced Aluminum Results

Henan Branch of China Aluminum Industries has recently witnessed the smooth verification approval of its 12 S&T results, of which 'the new automatic control technique for raw material feeding' and 'the automatic control system for alumina gas suspension furnace' have reached the internationally advanced level.

It is briefed that the successful development of the new automatic control system for raw material feeding has changed the existing technique for raw material preparation in alumina production and has filled up a blank in automated alumina production. The new technique has not only raised the efficiency of the miller but also reduced the labor intensity of workers, with a simplified work process for an improved 'passed' rate of raw material by 90% or above. The new approach has created an annual earning of RMB 3.01 million. The application of the automatic control system for alumina gas suspension furnace has increased the S&T contents in the furnace automatic control and production management system with a directly annual accrued economic benefit reaching RMB 10 million or above. 


       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

http://www.most.gov.cn