China’s Natural Gas Industry Opens Up
Energy authorities under the State Development and Reform Commission recently told reporters that the Chinese government encourages foreign investors to be part of the nation’s natural gas development and operation, including prospecting and exploitation, infrastructures, natural gas burning power stations and gas utility service in large and medium cities. The new opening gesture of Chinese natural gas industry, defined in China’s natural gas development strategies and policies, has made all major parts of the industry available for foreign investment.
According to a briefing, China’s natural gas prospecting and exploitation efforts have found major gas producing sediments in the nation’s offshore and west areas. With a low proven gas reserve but large potentials for new reserves, prospecting has become increasing difficult with higher demand for technical capabilities. Acceleration of natural gas prospecting and exploitation will not only call for huge investment, but will also need an accelerated pace in introducing advanced foreign techniques and management experience.
According to experts’ estimation, China will need an investment as much as RMB 220 billion for its natural gas infrastructures’ construction during the period of 2002-2020. The money will mainly be consumed in laying 50,000 km long natural gas pipelines, and building up a liquidified natural gas capacity over 10 million tons and a shipping capacity at million ton level for the same fossil fuel.
Along with the vigorous construction of natural gas transmission pipelines, natural gas terminals will expect a new round of investment fever.
China’s electricity generation has taken 14% of the nation’s current natural gas consumption, though the proportion may further go up to 30% or above. Expansion and transformation of old power plants, or simply upgrading existing gas burning generators may create lucrative commercial opportunities.
Thanks to great perspectives for investing in China’s natural gas businesses with foreign funds and advanced technologies, the development and utilization of coal gas will eventually become one of most promising areas for China and foreign partnerships.
China Opens More Oil and Gas Fields
The Chinese government will further open up for foreign investment in joint prospecting and exploitation of China’s oil and gas fields, said ZHANG Guobao, Vice Minister of the State Development and Reform Commission at the Fifth China-US Forum on Oil and Gas Industry, opened on June 13, 2004 in Shanghai.
ZHAGN told the forum that China’s per capita GDP had hit a level of USD 1,090 in 2003, which marks an important acceleration phase for China’s economy, as shown by international experience. As a result, China’s energy industry will enjoy a new period gearing up to a fast development. The next two decades will characterize an important historical period for building up a well-to-do society. China has sustained an annual GDP growth around 7.2%, in an effort to achieve the goal doubling its GDP. China’s energy industry is facing new challenges as well as development opportunities. In this context, China’s energy industry has to open up more to embrace internationalized marketplaces and attract more funds and advanced technologies. The Chinese government will continue its opening policies, and further open up its oil and gas fields for foreign invested prospecting and joint exploitation.
China-US oil and gas forum, one of important collaboration efforts between China and the US in the field of energy, has been running sine 1997 where a proposal for China-US energy cooperation was signed by the heads of both nations. Jointly sponsored by the China State Development and Reform Commission and US Department of Energy and Department of Commerce, the meeting has attracted the participation of representatives from many renowned oil businesses, including China Petroleum and Natural Gas Corporation, China Petrochemical Corporation, China Marine Oil Corporation, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron Texaco.
A High Tech Priority: Industrial Automation
According to a circular issued by the State Development and Reform Commission, a special high tech industrialization project will be launched during 2004-2005 to demonstrate proprietary sophisticated automation systems and devices for industrial applications. The special project will stage on industrial automation demonstrations in four fields where China has the strength: large sophisticated automatic process system, large consecutive industrial automation system, intelligent control system for large utility engineering projects and intelligent transmitter and performer.
The circular says the special project shall lead to the creation of a platform for developing key components, instruments, devices, systems and integrated automatic system in the above mentioned 4 areas. Aiming at spurring the development of entire industrial automation chains, the project expects to forge a technology innovation and integrated automation product design capability within 5 years, collecting more credits for home made large automation systems.
The State Development and Reform Commission will, in pursuing more and better results from the special project, strive for the combination of technical strength and marketing, the combination of technology, equipment, system development and application demonstrations, the combination of government support and venture investment, the combination of industrialization, product design and integration capacity upgrading, and the combination of limited time and limited objectives with strengthened supervision.
According the circular, the Commission handles applications the special project once every year in 2004 and 2005, with the end of June as the deadline for application.
Industrial Outlines for Defense S&T Industry
Upon the approval of the State Council, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for State Defense and the State Development and Reform Commission have recently issued the Policy Outlines for Science, Technology and Industry in National Defense. Aiming at accelerating restructuring, reform and development, and an all-round reinvigoration of the nation’s defense S&T industry, the Outlines will become a basis and evidence for developing special defense industries’ policies, including nuclear industry, space industry, aeronautics, shipping, weaponry, war industry and electronics.
The Outlines, written in 52 articles, has 9 major parts dealing with industrial development, structures, organization, technology, layouts, opening to the outside world, human resources and security.
The Outlines states that the central government will make defense S&T industry a priority target for support, in an effort to accelerate and reinvigorate its development, with following major thrusts: establishing a steady incremental input mechanism for the industry; strengthening information process, and promoting modernization; enhancing the support for high tech development under the joint efforts of both defense and civic sectors, facilitating the development and technical advancement of applied nuclear technology, civic space industry, aircraft and ship making, explosives and special chemicals; changing the economic growth manner of the industry, and actively develop high tech oriented emerging industries, including information technology, new materials, energy efficiency and environmental protection, life science, mariner engineering; encouraging investment diversity, with government investment as the lead, supported by private funds. The Outlines adds that the government, at the same time, encourages the vigorous development and associated industrialization of converted technologies for both defense and civic applications, absorbing advanced civic technology to serve national defense, and promoting the dual-direction conversion of both defense and civic technologies.
Cosmic Ray Cross Studies
At a workshop recently held in Lhasa to limelight the Yangbajing platform based multi-disciplinary study, some 50 experts in astronomy, particle physics and space science from 26 institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University, discussed cosmic ray radiations and biological effects observed from the Yangbajing experimental platform. Experts also discussed at the meeting varieties of related topics, including particle physics of celestial bodies (dark matter and energy), space environment monitoring and prediction, global climate change and severe disasters, and links between some major diseases and cosmic rays. Experts also put forward numerous constructive suggestions on multi-disciplinary studies at the Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Observatory.
BAI Chunli, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) told reporters that, the multi-disciplinary studies conducted at the Observatory have produced meaningful findings involving human health and major diseases, severe disasters and atmosphere, and energy and space environment. CAS will, along with the strategic deployment of national basic and multi-disciplinary studies, support the smooth development of the Observatory through a cross disciplinary research team.
According to a briefing, equipped with a number of advanced observation equipment, including neutron telescope and neutron sounding device, the Observatory has harvested massive experimental data, and achieved important findings in spotting γ rays.
Auto Tail Gas Simulated
A Tianjin based automobile tail gas purification center has recently worked out a technique able to simulate auto exhaustion on computer. Based on a high performance computer cluster of 16 knots, with a peak calculation speed reaching 45.6 billion times a second, or 24 billion times a second under the Linpack testing, the new system constitutes a multi-disciplinary numerical model for simulating tail gas treatment.
The car testing has shown consistent findings between computed results and experimental ones, a strong indication of simulation model’s practical application nature. The new system is able to present a full display of catalyzing converter’s speed, pressure, concentration and temperature, making available an optimized technical support for developing efficient catalyzing converters and auto exhaustion systems.
Designer of the new system told reporters that the application of auto exhaustion simulation system could shorten the development cycle of new exhaustion systems, and hence save R&D costs for a system characterizing lower emission, noise, vibration, power loss and a lower cost. The development will help to raise the technical level of related industries, including auto manufacturing, catalyzing converter, catalyst and cellular carrier making. In addition, the new technique will facilitate the innovative development of other vehicles’ exhaustion system, including diesel engine and motorcycle, enhancing the technical development capacity and level for exhaustion systems, and contributing to environmental protection.
New Flu Vaccine Produced
Based on the flu strains published by WHO last March, the Shanghai Institute of Bioproducts, a part of China Biotech Corp, has recently produced a high quality new splitting flu vaccine. The first delivery that is able to vaccinate 30,000 people has been donated to the disease control and prevention centers at provincial and municipal levels, for free vaccination of medical people working at front lines.
Of the three popular flu vaccines, the splitting flu vaccine is not only able to produce a fine result, but also triggers few side effects, having a dominating market perspective for being a desirable vaccination for people in different age groups. The Institute successfully worked out the first domestic splitting flu vaccines in 2001, which brought down the flu vaccine price by 40%. The new home made splitting flu vaccines are not only applicable to young and middle aged and senior populations, but are also adequate for the children ranged from 6 months to 12 years old.
Gas Turbine Generator for Energy Efficiency
A furnace coal gas burning turbine generator, jointly developed by the China Nanjing Gas Turbine Co. Ltd. and US General Electric Co., is a low thermal value based gas turbine generator. The generator, using the steam generated by high temperature surplus heat exhausted by gas turbine as the driving force, realizes a gas-steam cogeneration based on the hierarchical energy utilization. The Chinese Association for Machinery Industry entitled it on July 15, 2004 the first home made furnace coal gas burning turbine generator, applauding for its noticeable environment friendly and energy efficient nature. The generator expects broad application perspectives in iron and steel making, coal, and chemical industries.
Comparing with conventional turbine generators, the new system produce a higher heat efficiency by 10% as well as a greatly reduced nitrogen emission, a serious environment pollutant, by 90%. According to a calculation, a furnace coal gas burning turbine generator is able to produce 920,000 kw electricity, or a utility bill of RMB 500,000 saved for the power plant. Calculated on 7,000 operational hours for a generator, the investment can be returned merely in two and a half years.
First Accelerator Spectrum Lab to be Built
The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education jointly inked on July 5, 2004 an agreement on the construction of the Xi’an Accelerator Mass Spectrograph Center. The new center, upon its completion, will become the first accelerator spectrograph lab engaged in earth study.
Under the joint investment of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education, the center will be built by the Institute of Earth Environment, a part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Xi’an Jiaotong University. Physically located in the compound of the Institute of Earth Environment and equipped with an accelerator mass spectrograph made in the Netherlands, the new lab will work on environment changes, a core earth study topic in recent years, and make itself a sharing base for large scientific instruments under joint construction. The new endeavor will greatly enhance China’s S&T innovation capacity in the fields of earth science, archaeology and life science. The center will strive to become a national research and application sharing platform within 3-5 years, in line with international standards, fully open and running under a completely new operational mechanism.
Shanghai’s Advanced Material Lab
With an eye catching investment as much as RMB 536 million, the Fudan University is constructing a national key lab for advanced materials, in an effort to meet upbeating economic demands for advanced materials. With an area space over 50 mu (1mu=0.0667ha.) and a total constructed area of 40,000 m2, the new lab will turn itself into a world class research base for advanced materials. The lab is currently working on new materials that are closely associated with high tech industrial development, including the materials characterizing excellent optic, electric and magnetic performance, so as to serve better the needs of information, energy, defense and life science.
XU Guanhua, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology visited the lab on July 14, 2004, and expressed his wish to see the completion of the lab in 2005. It is said that the Lab will open its staff recruitment for both domestic and overseas talents.
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