| CHINESE scientists have chalked up a string of remarkable successes in a
number of scientific fields during the past 50 years, starting practically from zero in
1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded. China only had 30 research
institutions in 1949 employing 50,000 scientific workers. Today it has 21,663 scientific
and technological institutions with more than 2.8 million researchers, according to a
report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
China's scientific development has gone through several phases over the past 50 years,
sources from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) said.
In 1956, the first generation of leaders called on the whole country to "march
towards science," drafting China's first scientific development plan. The country
made considerable progress in atomic energy, electronics, semiconductors, automation,
computing and rocket-launching technology.
In 1978, the then Chinese leaders sponsored a national science conference and mapped
out scientific development strategies for a new period of reform and opening-up policies.
The conference was considered by scientists as "the renaissance of science"
after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), according to MST.
China has accomplished more than 460,000 major scientific and technological
achievements since then, 20 per cent of them reaching world advanced levels, the NBS
report indicates.
In 1985, the central government issued a "Decision on the Reform of Scientific and
Technological Systems," with the aim of accelerating the application of technological
discoveries to promote productivity.
Since then, China has implemented a series of projects to spur the take-off of the
rural economy through technological innovation as well as developing high-tech industries,
upgrading traditional industries, enhancing basic research, commercializing applied
technologies and advancing technological innovation.
In 1995, at a national conference on science and technology, the Chinese leaders now
put forward the strategy of "revitalizing the country through science, technology and
education."
The central government listed this strategy along with the policy of sustainable
development as the basic principles for China's long-term economic and social development.
Last year Premier Zhu Rongji said that a key task of his government was to implement
the science and technology-based revitalization strategy. The government set up the
National Group for Science, Technology and Education.
Today, more than 200 Chinese scientists hold important posts in international
scientific organizations.
Chinese scientists published 35,000 theses in world-renowned academic journals in 1997,
bringing China's rank in global thesis publication to ninth from 15th in 1989, according
to the latest NBS statistics. |
