Zhu Rongji, Premier of the State Council and Director of the State Leading Group for Science, Technology and Education, presided over the Group’s Eighth Meeting at Zhongnanhai on 21 December 2000. The meeting reviewed the report submitted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the implementation of the Pilot Project for the Knowledge Innovation Program. It also reviewed reports by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). Great importance has been attached to the Knowledge Innovation Program initiated by CAS, and the objectives of the initial phase which commenced in 1998 have been fulfilled. Within the next five years, CAS will continue to adapt itself to the strategic needs of the state and the frontiers of world science and technology through the enhancement of original scientific innovation and strategic high-tech development, and through the furthering of system reform and mechanism innovation in the whole Academy.

Premier Zhu Rongji spoke highly of the major advances achieved by CAS in conducting the Knowledge Innovation Program, declaring the CAS Pilot Project for the Knowledge Innovation Program would enter a new phase in 2001. It is important that objectives for the next phase should be clearly defined, and efforts be focused on enhancing basic research, S & T innovation and industrialization, on talent cultivation and team building, and on accelerating system reform and mechanism innovation. Meanwhile, continued efforts should be made to readjust the discipline layout and organizational structure of science and technology as well as to perfect the modern management system.

Ten top S & T advances in China in 2000 selected by 485 CAS/CAE Members were announced in Beijing on 4 January 2001 and listed below according to their vote counts. Among the top ten are three accomplishments made respectively by the CAS Shenyang Institute of Metal Research, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.

1. Important results were obtained in the research on super hybrid rice.

2. Genetic codes of prawn virus deciphered by China for the first time in the world.

3. Ultra plastic ductility of nano-scale metal materials under of room temperature conditions was observed for the first time in the world by the Institute of Metals Research. High-density, and high-purity nanometer copper was synthesized using a new process by a research team led by Dr. Lu Ke, a young scientist. The copper can be metamorphosed for over 50 times under room temperature conditions without any cracking. Scientists believe this is a breakthrough in the field of nanometer materials.

4. A highly active anticancer substance was developed for the first time by the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, indicating that China is now leading the world in the artificial synthesis of anticancer substances.

5. A major breakthrough was achieved in the development and application of high-performance computers, making China the third country (after USA and Japan) that has the capability of developing high-performance computers.

6. The interference of matter waves was discovered for the first time by China. When two molecules collide with one another, interference appears as with light waves. This phenomenon was observed in an experiment by scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. It has not only proved the theoretical prediction made by foreign scientists more than ten years ago, but also enriched the quantum theory.

7. China NetCom opened its wide-band, high-speed network. The overall transmission bandwidth of the network reached 40 Gbits, and its total length was 8,490 km. On the whole, it is at the international leading level.

8. A pilot test on biological hydrogen-making process was conducted in China for the first time.

9. An electromagnetic biochip was invented by China for the first time in the world. The single-point gating electromagnetic array technology and electro-circumgyrate detection technology are new.

10. The University of S & T for National Defense developed the first subhuman robot in China.

The state key S & T project under the nation’s Ninth Five-Year Year Plan titled Research on the Environmental Changes, Ecological Rehabilitation and Sustainable Development of the Yangtze River Upper Reaches, which was carried out by the Chengdu Institute of Biology as the primary host institution, has passed specialists appraisal organized by the state.

     The ecological environment of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has been deteriorating due to human factors. Frequent disasters have occurred in the middle and lower reaches. Decrease of forest vegetation and weakening of its water conservation capacity have caused dramatic changes to the volume of water flow in the Yangtze River basin. The S & T Action Program for Eco-Environment Rehabilitation of the Western Regions (the Yangtze River upper reaches) under the framework of the above Project is of great importance. It defines nine key areas of the Yangtze River upper reaches for eco-environment rehabilitation and related countermeasures against disasters. The Project has brought about good social benefits through the establishment of an ecological economy. It has provided technical support and an example for the eco-barrier construction in the region, increased the income of the local farmers, facilitated the pace of poverty eradication, contributed to the increase of forest-land and promoted coordinated, sustainable development of both ecological rehabilitation and the economy.

A pollution-free high-tech energy-saving combustion furnace for pyrogenation of medical wastes has been developed by Dr. Chen Yong, chief scientist, and his colleagues of the Laboratory of Solid Wastes, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Resources under the Academy. Proving effective in trial use, the unit has recently passed the appraisal of authorities concerned and has been commercialized. The invention is novel in “pyrolysis combustion”. It comprises a pyrolysis aerification box and a firebox, adopting the hollow fire grate technology, which enables pyrolysis aerification and sufficient combustion. The flammable substances in the medical wastes are decomposed through pyrolysis into flammable gases, which are then burned in a rotational flow in a gas-phase firebox where the temperature is over 1000 ⁰C. The amount and indexes of smoke or fume produced in the process are much less than the national standards for environment protection. As the fume is processed through an absorbent chimney before exhaust, the content of ashes in the fume is close to zero. The unit features a simple structure, a small size, energy conservation, low cost and a long service life. It involves several patented technologies. Its performance is superior to similar foreign products, but the price is only one-fourth of the latter.

Chinese-Character Processing & Application Platform in Open Systems, a state key S & T project undertaken by the Institute of Software, passed the appraisal and acceptance inspection of the Ministry of Information Industry recently. This indicates that China has developed Chinese-platform software with self-owned copyrights, which is parallel to similar foreign products in terms of technology, and internationally advanced in terms of Chinese-character processing techniques.

The technical appraisal meeting on the Secure Operating System developed by the CAS Information Safety Technology & Engineering Research Center was recently held in Beijing. The Secure Operating System is based on Linux sources. It has adopted an “improve/enhance” approach to construct a security kernel with independent copyrights. The system is the first such that conforms to China’s national standards. Its successful development has laid a foundation in the research, development and application of secure operating systems in China.

The world’s first finite element software available on the Internet has been developed jointly by the Institute of Mathematics and System Science, CAS and Beijing Feijian Software Corporation Limited and is ready for market operation. It is available on the Internet and accessible to users around the world. So long as the user gives a finite element problem, he or she can obtain all the finite element programs which are compiled and run automatically by the computer as well as the computing results.

A  state key S & T project, “Petroleum-Chemical Industry Application Software Demonstration Project and Product Development”, undertaken jointly by the Institute of Software, CAS and the China Petroleum-Chemical Industry Group, has recently passed the acceptance inspection of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The products have self-owned copyrights. The general technological level of the products is internationally advanced and there are good application perspectives

At the Second China International High and New Technology Commodities Fair, CAS and Shenzhen signed a new agreement, under which the Academy, as the national S & T team, will conduct high-level, all-round scientific and  technological  cooperation  with  the  Shenzhen Special  Economic  Zone.  The  united  efforts between China’s largest high-tech development center and the country’s best city in high-tech industrialization will further promote the industrialization of high technologies to make unique contributions to the development of the national economy. Complementing each other’s advantages, the duel will not only set up a “CAS-Shenzhen Cooperation Committee” in Shenzhen, but also establish an Expert Consultatant Committee for Shenzhen’s S & T Development Strategy, which will provide decision-making consultation on the development of Shenzhen’s S & T programs, major projects and industrial investment directions. Meanwhile, Shenzhen will establish a seed fund for scientific innovation that aims at promoting technical and personnel cooperation and facilitating the transfer of scientific achievements. The two sides will also establish an industrial incubator group. More efforts will be made to promote the development of the Shenzhen Science Park, which was initiated in 1985 according to an agreement between the two sides. In the past 15 years, a number of high-tech enterprises such as Legend, Dawning, Anke and China NetCom have successively “settled down” in the Park. In 1999, the industrial revenue of the Park amounted to more than 25 billion Chinese yuan.

A project proposal titled Chemistry of Molecular Congeries, to be included in the National Key Program of Basic Research (the 973 Program), which was jointly submitted by Chinese scientists (including CAS Members Tong Zhenhe from the Institute of Physics and Chemistry Technology, Jiang Xikui from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, and Shen Jiacong  from Jilin University) and foreign experts from the European Union (two German scientists and one Dutch scientist), has recently been approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). This is the first time when foreign experts participate in China’s major science programs. In 1999 China began to conduct full collaborative research in the fields of high technologies and key basic research with EU. The signing of the China-EU Agreement on S & T Cooperation has made the Fifth Framework Research Program of EU open to China. On the other hand, China will open its programs on basic research and high-tech development to EU. Prior to that, three Chinese projects regarding energy and information technologies had participated in the Fifth Framework Program of EU. The participation of EU member countries in the research project of “Chemistry of Molecular Congeries” marked a new stage in China’s large science programs.

A Sino-German partnership team on catalytic nano technology was established in the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics by the Fritz-Haber Institute, Max-Planck Society, according to an agreement between CAS and MPS. Prof. G. Ertl, Director of the Fritz-Haber Institute, a well-known expert in catalysts, granted the appointment letter issued by Prof. H. Markl, Chairman of MPS, to Prof. Xinhe Bao, Director of the Dalian Institute and leader of the team. The two leading scientists discussed the working plans of the partnership team in great detail. 

In recent years, world-known journals such as Nature and Science have paid special attention to the Chinese community of paleontology, particularly the CAS Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP). In the year of 1999 alone, the Institute published 8 articles on Nature and Science. Besides, at the 2000 International Symposium on Archaeornithes and Evolution and the Workshop on the Biome in Rehe, Liaoning Province, which IVPP recently sponsored, correspondents from Nature and Science interviewed the research staff of the Institute, and showed admiration and appreciation for their work. After the meeting, Nature carried three reports about the Symposium. Science also published relevant articles.