Yongxiang Lu: A New Concept for Development
-Taking Strides in Innovation for Sustainable Development

Yongxiang Lu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), made an important speech on full-scale implementation of the National Knowledge Innovation Pilot Project (KIP) at the closing ceremony of CAS' 2004 Annual Conference. He pointed out that CAS is shouldering the historic duty of building the nation's knowledge innovation system, and is to push the KIP project to a new stage in 2004 by "taking strides in innovation for sustainable development" in line with a new concept of science and technology development, so that China could take a forefront position in the world's science and technology development, thus laying a solid foundation of science that could provide powerful technical support for harmonious development between Man and Nature, and full-scale coordinated and sustainable socioeconomic development in China.

He emphasized that in an effort to "upgrade the policy making standards and the operational competence" CAS must "energetically encourage widespread research and investigation activities" in its future work; that "all efforts in learning and studying the history of science should be encouraged" for better understanding of the laws of development of science and innovation of science and technology, so that the historical lessons may provide guidance to the world, to the future and to China's modernization; and that in decision making we must stick to democracy and science.

He added that the leading groups at the academy and institute levels should work out well designed plans for the future and draw a blueprint for the development of science and technology that is ambitious, practical, workable and meeting the requirements for building a full-fledged well-off society . The institutional system and operational mechanism shall be reformed and the appraisal system of the institutes shall be adjusted by keeping to take talents as the basis, to make increasingly more contributions to building the national innovation system, implementing the strategy for reinvigorating the country through science, technology and education, and realizing the strategic objectives of China and CAS for the new century and the new historic period.

Institute Pasteur China in Shanghai to be Built Jointly by China and France

During his visiting in French, Chinese President Jintao Hu attended a ceremony held by the Chinese and French Governments and signed a Bilateral Agreement for Cooperation with French Premier Raffarin on 28 Jan. At the ceremony, Zhu Chen, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Pilippe Kourilsky, President of Institute Pasteur of France signed a Letter of Intent for a Cooperation Framework to build Institute Pasteur China in Shanghai jointly by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Institute Pasteur French in Paris.

Institute Pasteur France, established in 1887, keeps a long-term cooperative relation with China. This time the two sides will join efforts in building an entirely new research institute on the principle of equality, mutual benefit, cooperation and innovation. It will maintain relations with China's existing research institutes, and will share China's large facilities for public health research. Among its planned 250- member staff, there will be more than 10 French experts stationed at the Institute on a long-term basis to be responsible for all types of research subjects. Over the years Institute Pasteur has trained hundreds of researchers for various Chinese research institutes. The cooperation between Mr. Pierre Tiollais, the renowned molecular biologist and Prof. Li Zaiping of CAS Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology has attained major achievements in the research on hepatitis B virus and in developing the hepatitis virus vaccine.

During last year's outbreak of SARS in China, Institute Pasteur was the first European research institute to dispatch an expert team to China. The molecular biologists and virologists from Institute Pasteur explored countermeasures together with the Chinese scientists, and through joint efforts of the two sides they were given research projects sponsored by European Union and the French Government.

Yongxiang Lu Meets Takeo Kawamura, Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture

Yongxiang Lu, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences received a visit on 3 Feb. by Mr. Takeo Kawamura, the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, and his accompanying officials. CAS is keeping a more than 20-year long friendly cooperative relation with Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research and some state-run universities and institutes under the auspices of the Ministry, and over 2000 person times of scholars have been exchanged between the two sides up to now. Major cooperation projects supported by the two sides include: exchange between eight key universities in China and Japan including the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Tokyo; cooperation in the field of research on nuclear fusion, cooperation in the field of research on high-energy physics accelerator, and cooperation in the field of research on the ecological environment of dry land and etc. Presently the two sides are conducting cosmic ray observation jointly in Yangbajing, Tibet, China.

Yongxiang Lu Meets M. Jarraud, Secretary General of WMO

Yongxiang Lu, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences received a visit by Mr. M. Jarraud, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the CAS Headquarters on 23 February. Yongxiang Lu briefed the visitors on the development situation and achievements of CAS in recent years. The host and the guests looked back on the history of long-term cooperation between CAS and WMO, and both sides were satisfied at the achievements. Yongxiang Lu specially mentioned the effective cooperation between the three parties of CAS, TWAS and WMO in running the Forum Series on International Climate (CTWF). Yongxiang Lu cordially invited Mr. Jarraud to be the co-Chairman of this session of CTWF. Since its establishment in 2000, the Forum has successfully convened two large scale international symposia in 2001 and 2002 respectively, and an international training course on short-term climatic prediction in 2003. These activities strongly promoted the advancement in the study of climatology, and provided the young scientists, especially the young scholars from the developing countries with valuable chances for study and exchanges. Mr. Jarraud held quite the same opinion and was happy about the achievements made by the Forum.

Erwei Shi Meets Vice Minister Yuki Akio of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture

Erwei Shi, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences meets Vice Minister Yuki Akio of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and his accompanying officials in Beijing on 5 February.

Erwei Shi said during the meeting that China and Japan were faced with many similar problems in promoting the development of science and technology; that CAS had drawn much on Japan's experiences and setbacks in reforms, and the methods and measures taken by Japan in the reforms had also been inspiring for China. Shi hoped that the two sides would establish long-term relations for exchange and cooperation, and that there should be frequent exchanges in opinions and ideas with regard to science and technology strategies and policies, in a joint effort to contribute continuously to the development of the two countries' science and technology.

The two sides agreed at the end of the meeting to jointly hold a Sino-Japan Symposium on Science and Technology Strategies and Policies this year in China.

The WMO Prize Goes to Chinese Scientist for the First Time

At the WMO "International Meteorological Organization Prize" awarding ceremony held on 24 February at the Great Hall of the People, Prof. Duzheng Ye, senior CAS member and Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Meteorology Society received the 48th International Meteorological Organization Prize awarded by WMO.

Dr. Bedritsky, the WMO Chairman spoke highly of the 88-year-old Chinese scientist. He said that Prof. Ye is a scientist who is held in the greatest esteem and enjoys great popularity worldwide. He awarded Prof. Duzheng Ye the supreme honor for the world's meteorologist, the International Meteorology Organization Prize, in honor of the outstanding contributions he made to the meteorological research, education and international cooperation.

Prof. Duzheng Ye said, "the International Meteorological Organization Prize winners in the past were all world famous scholars who made important contributions to the atmospheric science. I am extremely honored today to be among the ranks of these scientists".

CAS Member Dongsheng Liu Awarded Top National Science and Technology Prize

Dongsheng Liu, CAS member and researcher of Institute Geology and Geophysics of CAS was awarded the top national science and technology prize for the year 2003. A grand prize-awarding ceremony was held on the morning of 20 February at the Great Hall of People, attended by State leaders including President Jintao Hu, who personally awarded the prizes to the winners.

CAS member Dongsheng Liu graduated in 1942 from the Geology Department of the Southwest Joint University. He has set foot in all parts of China in his more than 60- year career as a researcher. He has been to the "three poles" of the Earth (the Antarctic, the Arctic and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau), participated in and presided over many major scientific exploratory activities, important research projects and international cooperation projects, published about 300 theses and written about 10 monographs. He is the Director and Honorary Director of China Quaternary Research Commission, Chairman of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), Director of the Environment Commission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Head of the Environment Consultant Group of the State Council, and is now Editor-in-Chief of a number of magazines including Quaternary Study, Polar Regions Study and Environment Journal etc. He has won a worldwide fame in many research fields, the study of loess in particular. He is the winner of a number of other prizes including the First Class Prize of National Natural Sciences, the First Class CAS Natural Sciences Prize, the Tan Kah Kee Prize, and has trained dozens of graduate students.

In 2002, CAS Dongsheng Liu shared the honor of winning the Taylor Environment Science Achievement Award-the top prize of environmental science in the world together with Professor W. Broecker, an internationally known expert on ancient ocean climatology from the U.S. Columbia University.

Jinghai Li Appointed Vice President of CAS

According to a decision by the State Council, Jinghai Li was appointed Vice President of CAS.

Jinghai Li, a chemical engineering expert and CAS member; born in Oct 1956 in Jingle of Shanxi Province; graduated in 1982 from the Faculty of Thermo Energy Engineering, Harbin Polytechnic University, where he took the course for master's degree; after getting a Ph. D degree from Institute of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy (today's Institute of Process Engineering) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1987 he went to the University of New York City, USA and Federal Physics Institute in Switzerland to conduct post-doc research.

Having returned to China in 1990 he held the positions of assistant professor, deputy associate professor, professor and Deputy Director of the Institute of Process Engineering successively, and was appointed Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in February 2004.