Five new research institutes will be established by the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS) along with the governments of five cities
by 2010 to reinforce the country's scientific creativity especially
in new and high-tech sectors, the organization said Sunday.
The five new institutes will be located in the coastal or
economically booming cities of Yantai, Qingdao, Suzhou, Shenzhen
and Xiamen. They'll mainly cover coastal sustainable development,
bioenergy, nanoscience, urban environment and a range of other
advanced technologies.
The CAS boasts a scientific research presence in Beijing and
Shanghai and the country's western areas. Now it's improving
regional scientific deployment by setting up the research
institutes in the eastern and southern regions.?
The establishment of the new centers will push forward the
country's reform of scientific systems and boost the nation's
overall capability for innovation, said Lu Yongxiang, CAS
president.?
The Outline of the National Program for Long and Medium Term
Scientific and Technological Development, issued by the State
Council earlier this year, demands that by 2020 spending on
research and development reaches 2.5 percent of the country's gross
domestic product.
The Outline calls for additional spending in 16 key areas
including software and semiconductors, telecommunications, nuclear
power, genetically modified crops and space exploration. In 2005
China devoted approximately 1.23 percent of its GDP to research and
development.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2006)