Proprietary Technology Publication Platform
A proprietary technology publication platform, created by the China Technology Market Management and Promotion Center, a part of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, recently kicked off its trial operation to provide proprietary technology information to public.
The non-profit platform , according to a press release, will share its proprietary technology information with proprietary technology trading agencies and the public on a free-of-charge basis. The platform will mainly provide the following information: intellectual properties, all or partial proprietary technologies of non public listing companies or enterprises, and limited liability companies’, non public listing shareholding limited companies’ and shareholding companies’ stock options. The platform will also publish information on proprietary technology talks or fairs sponsored by qualified organizations. Some special proprietary technology trading programs will be introduced, through the website, on a regular basis.
The platform makes membership its main management structure. Its members shall be qualified proprietary technology trading agencies, or proprietary technology related agencies. All the members shall be responsible for the legality, authenticity and standards of the trading information they provide to the platform, though under the supervision of the sponsoring organization.
To safeguard the legitimate rights of proprietary technology trading parties, regulate proprietary technology information disclosures, and create a healthy trading environment, the Center has published detailed rules on proprietary technology information disclosure, including principles, contents, procedures, supervision, and penalties.
China’s Proprietary Technology Trading Booms
Since the establishment of China’s first proprietary technology trading firm in Shanghai in 1999, the number of proprietary technology exchange agencies has reached more than 40 in the nation. These agencies have boosted proprietary technology exchange activities, becoming a platform for technology transfer.
For example, the Beijing Proprietary Technology Exchange created the Zhongguancun Investment and Fund Raising Promotion Center, an agency providing individualized package services, including direct or indirect fund raising, and taking advantage of preferential policies. In collaboration with domestic and overseas stock exchanges, the Center has helped a number of high tech enterprises being listed in domestic or overseas stock markets.
Another example is the Industrialization Promotion Center for National 863 Program, a subsidiary created by the Shanghai United Proprietary Technology Exchange, in an effort to make recommendations of research findings derived from the National 863 Program. The Center publishes the Shanghai Proprietary Technology Trade Index, and recommend high tech findings to interesting parties through seminars and S&T fairs. The Center also, through combined proprietary technology trading and national assets’ strategic restructuring, improve the technological contents of state owned enterprises. In addition, it has become a project source for investment, and a channel into domestic or overseas venture capital. In 2003, the Shanghai United Proprietary Technology Exchange helped 7,601 industrial property deals changing hands, with a transaction amounting to RMB 324.4 billion, of which technology transfer deals reached 1,348 in number, with a RMB 54.2 billion transaction volume. Meanwhile, China’s proprietary technology trade transaction has jumped from RMB 26.8 billion in 1995 to RMB 88.4 billion in 2002.
China’s ‘Hubble’ Telescope
According to a briefing made by Mr. AI Guoxiang, Director of the China National Observatory and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China will send a space telescope into orbit during the 11th Five-year Period(2006-2010). Mr. AI said China would use the CZ4-B rocket to deploy its first space based astronomic telescope in an orbit 750 km above the earth.
China’s first space telescope will be aboard with internationally advanced astronomic instruments, including 1-m caliber master optic lens with a spatial resolution as high as 0.1 second of arc, and a magnetism analyzer having a 10-4 polarization accuracy. Working together with other payloads, including a super ultraviolet telescope of 0.5 second of arc resolution, a white light telescope, a broadband spectrometer, and a radio spectrometer, the space telescope will be able to conduct full-band and round-the-clock observation of sunglow spots, solar surface magnetic fields, sunglows and celestial activities. In addition to studying accurate structures and physical evolutions of solar magnetic and velocity fields, the space telescope will also work on numerous other instant physical phenomena, including energy storage and release process of solar flares, sunglow matter projecting, and solar winds genesis. These observations will provide most valuable measuring data for advanced solar physics study and space weather forecasting.
As China’s first large space based astronomic project, the technologies developed for the purpose, including large caliber space optic technology, 2-D solar spectrum measuring technology, tracking and target positioning technique, and high speed large volume space data processing technology, will cumulate rich experience as well as lay a solid ground for the future development of China’s space based remote sensing technologies.
Progresses in Bone Protein Study
Thanks to their 5-year systematic study, researchers of the Shenzhen Hongxin Biotech Co. Ltd., have achieved, based on the bone inducing theory, breakthroughs in purifying and multiplying BMP-2, a protein key to human bone formation.
At a seminar on clinic application perspectives of rhBMP-2 recently held in Beijing, participants from the Ministry of Health, the State Food and Drug Administration, the Chinese Institute of Drug and Bioproducts Testing, together with bone experts from major Beijing based hospitals, thought highly of the findings on human bone forming protein.
The expert panel of the Proteome Engineering Institute, a part of the Shenzhen Hongxin Biotech Co. Ltd., inked last April a contract with the Beijing New Drug Testing Center for prephase clinic study of human bone forming proteins. The study officially entered prephase clinic study last September, and has currently reached the point screening desired protein types. Once the proteins are selected out, researchers will launch a full fledged study of effects, pharmacology, substitutes and safety of genetically engineered bone forming proteins. These efforts will lay a solid ground for future clinic applications of genetically engineered bone forming proteins.
Chinese Scientists Rewrite Immunology
Under the funding of the National Natural Science Foundation, a research team, made up of scientists from Peking University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhejiang University, and Zhongnan University, has made a finding that non immune cells may also produce immune proteins. The new finding, running counter against the classic immunology, were partially published in the recent issue of an internationally renowned journal.
Chinese scientists have obtained, through repeated experiments, the following breakthrough findings: 1) it is confirmed that, in addition to lymphocytes and plasma cells, some non immune cells, such as cancer cells and some normal epithelia, also have functional rearrangements in Ig genes, and may produce some amount of Ig molecules. 2) When a cancer cell’s Ig molecule expression is suppressed, or its activities is closed at gene and protein level, the cancer cell’s multiplying capacity will notably be weakened , with a remarkable increase of dead cells. When anti-IgG antibody is injected into animals’ tumors, the growth of cancer cells will be greatly hampered, and further led to death. 3) Further studies show that , the structures and gene expression mechanism of cancer cells’ Ig molecules are different from that of B- lymphocytes.
According to researchers, the new findings have redefined the source of Ig molecules, and unveiled unknown Ig’s important roles both physiologically and pathologically. The findings will be of important significance to biological study of cancer genesis and development, and to the associated bio-therapeutic cancer treatment.
Seedless Grape Rescue Breeding Technique
The Study of Embryo Rescue Technical System and Diseases Resistant Seedless Grapes Breeding, a project contracted to the Northwest S&T University for Agriculture and Forestry, has recently passed the verification and approval checks. The university’s researchers have, starting from 1999, worked on 11 embryo rescue hybrids, including “seedless plus seedless”, “seedless pmus seed bearing varieties”, and “seedless self breeding”. They have obtained 515 rescue seedlings, with a 42.1% success rate. Researchers married China’s wild grapes with European seedless grapes, and produced 468 seedless seedlings in 25 diseases resistant hybrid combinations, with a successful seedling rate of 48.3%, or 3.25% higher than the international record for similar efforts.
Researchers also transformed the breeding culture of US seedless grape embryo, making it in line with China northwest section’s climate features and grape ovule’s development environment there. They produced the proprietary culture liquid able to breed hybrids mixing seedless grapes with China’s wild grapes. The development creates a new area for breeding diseases resistant varieties with China’s wild grapes. In screening seedless female parents for embryo rescue, researchers also invented seedless grape molecule probes and diseases resistant gene molecular markers. They also reduced seedling verification time by at least three years, through assisted field screening of “seedless-China’s wild grape” hybrids. The new technique has greatly improved diseases resistant seedless grapes’ breeding efficiency and process. In addition, researchers have worked out China’s own seedless and large fruit bearing grapes in pink color and with strong diseases resistance.
Theory Improved for Finding Hidden Oil Reserve
To tackle the problem that it is difficult to uncover a hidden oil or gas reserve with conventional technical means, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology has consecutively listed the study of hidden oil and gas reserves formation and associated prospecting a major content in the national key technology program for both the 9th and 10th Five-year Periods. More than a thousand researchers’ many-year concerted efforts have finally led to theoretical breakthroughs in hidden oil and gas reserves formation in continental fault basin. The new theory and associated technical system has effectively improved researchers’ understanding and prediction of continental fault basins’ hidden closures. The new theory has not only pinpointed advantageous oil and gas channels in different formation levels of continental fault basins, but also secured a theoretical guidance for selecting drilling targets under complicated geological conditions.
Under the guidance of the new theory, the Shenli Oil Field produced 882 wells in the hidden reserves during the period of 1996-2003, or 75.1% of the total wells drilled out in the same period, with a prospecting rate of 75%, or 20% higher than that achieved before the 9th Five-year Period. The new theory has resulted in an increase of proven oil and gas reserves by 646 million tons, or 65.5% of the total proven reserves in the same period.
High Tech Fair in Shenzhen
The 6th China International High Tech Findings Fair, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Information Industry, Ministry of Education, State Development and Reform Commission, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Shenzhen Municipal Government, will be held October 12-17, 2004 at the Shenzhen International Conference and Exhibition Center.
Focusing on four major components, namely technologies, products, talents and capital, the high tech fair will mainly stage for technology trading and fund raising activities, in an effort to create an international S&T findings exchange system in line with China’s own needs. The Shenzhen International Conference and Exhibition Center will make a 130,000m2 floor space available for the Fair, or 3.5 times the space occupied by the last high tech fair. The organizing personnel told reporters that the number of participating businesses and visitors and transaction volume of this Fair will top the last Fair.
Beijing S&T Industry Fair in May
The 7th China Beijing International S&T Industry Fair, co-sponsored by big government names, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Education, China Trade Promotion Association, State Intellectual Property Office, and the Beijing Municipal Government, will greet its guests and visitors May 21- 26, 2004. The Fair is scheduled with more than a hundred events under 40 and odd topics, including high tech and associated industrialization exhibition, S&T trade talks, forums and exchanges. The Fair will focus its attention to latest hot topics, including the coordination economic and social development, regional economic cooperation and coordination, and the Olympic Games commercial opportunities among many others.
According a briefing, the Fairs’ Organizing Committee has so far received the confirmed participation of more than 20 executive heads of 500 top overseas businesses. Approaching 20 of the 29 provinces or cities, who have registered their participation in the Fair, will have their own show floor at the Fair. 43 S&T, industrial or commercial delegations from more than 20 countries, Hong Kong and Macao has registered for the event. Numerous international big high tech vendors, including Ericsson, Panasonic, LG, Fuji Xerox, Nortel Networks, Hai’er, Legend and Stone, have secured spacious floor area.
National Stem Cell Industrial Base
China’s first national stem cell industrial base was put into formal operation in Tianjinon April 10, 2004. Consisting of three major components, including the stem cell bank, stem cell engineering research center, and transplanting hospital, the base will speed up the spin-off of stem cell findings into feasible applications and genetically engineered drugs. Up to date, the 20,000m2 stem cell building and stem cell engineering center building, the main structures in phase I project, have been put into operation. Other structures, including a 30,000m2 transplanting center and an 8,000m2 multi-functional center, are under construction. It is believed that the stem cell industrial base, once completed, will raise China’s basic and clinic medical studies to a new height.
Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:Mr. Mao Zhongying, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China Tel: (8610)58881360 Fax: (8610) 58881364
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