China is fast tracking development of its technology markets to ensure they meet international standards. The process will involve State authorization of additional research institutes, technological firms and higher education institutions-with independent rights to conduct foreign trade.

More than 200 Chinese research institutes have been opened to overseas
businesses in the past few years, with State-granted approval to trade in
technological products.

These firms have played a vital role in linking domestic and overseas
technology markets, Song Jian, State councilor and minister of State
Science and Technology Commission, said during a conference in Beijing
yesterday. The even marked the 10-year anniversary of the Law of
Technology Contracts.

Technology markets should open further to urban and rural areas,
especially medium-and small-sized firms, township enterprises and
agricultural sectors, which are important parts of China's economic
sectors, but requiring updated technology, said Song.

Protection of intellectual property rights, he added, should be enhanced
during the trading of technological products.

More than 150 individuals and 200 enterprises and institutions were
honoured by the State, during the conference, for their contributions to
the development of China's technology markets.

The State began enforcing the Law of Technology Contracts in 1987, to
regulate domestic markets and provide a legislative basis for
co-operation among domestic and overseas enterprises, research institutes
and post-secondary institutions.

In accordance with the law, more than 30 provinces, municipalities and
autonomous regions implemented regional regulations and established
administrations to supervise technology markets, said Song.



NEWS BRIEF

The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) has selected 166 new members,
and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) has chosen 58.

The two academies select new members every two years, and the process
lasted 11 months from the beginning of this year.

Of 418 candidates for the CAS, 137 went into the second round of
appraisal.

"The 58 new members of the CAS come from 14 provinces and municipalities,
18 higher-learning institutions and one military institutions and one
military institution, and they will go to departments of mathematics and
physics, chemistry, biology, geoscience, and science and technology," CAS
president Lu Yongxiang said yesterday at a press conference in Beijing.

CAS now has 610 members whose average age fell from 70.9 to 69.9, Lu Said.

Also at the conference, CAE President Zhu Guangya admitted that since the
academy has been in existence for only three years and many scientists
who had accomplished great achievements had no chance to enter it, the
average age of the 116 new members is 64.5, which is older than expected.

Zhu said that among the 116 new academicians, six are women. "They are
chosen from eight provinces and municipalities, including the Hong Kong
SAR," Zhu said.

The CAE now has 439 members, Zhu said.

A Chinese Long March rocket successfully carried two US-made satellites
into orbit yesterday.

The launch took place at 3:16:49 pm (Beijing time) from the Taiyuan
Satellite Launch Centre in North China's Shanxi Province.

This means that Chinese launch vehicles have fulfilled all the launch
tasks set for the year.

This is the sixth successful launch in a row and the 49th launch of a
Long March series rocket, according to corporate sources.

Initial information from the Xi'an Satellite Monitoring and Control
Centre indicated that the satellites from Motorola Crop of the United
States separated from the rocket 50 minutes after launch.

The two satellites were positioned in a low-earth orbit with a perigee of
629 kilometers, and apogee of 632 kilometers and a bank angle of 86.3
degrees, thus signifying the success of the commercial launch undertaken
by China Great Wall Industry Corp.

Motorola has occluded contracts with the Great Wall group to launch
another 10 iridium satellites in the next few years, company sources said.

The launch used an improved version of the Long March 2C, with an initial
propelling capacity of 213 tons.

According to Motorola officials, the iridium satellite system is a global
wireless communications network that will combine its worldwide reach of
66 low-earth-orbit satellites with land-based wireless systems.
Subscribers to the network will have a variety of telecommunications
services-such as telephones and paging services-virtually anywhere in the
world.

Five scientists who have made superb contributions to China's high-tech
field were awarded 100,000 yuan ($12,049) apiece yesterday at China's
Science and Technology Hall in Beijing.

The prizes were given at the sixth awards ceremony of Wang Danping
Science and Technology Fund, famous for being the heftiest amount for
scientists in China.

The fund, named after a compatriot, is to honour significant
breakthroughs in science and technology.

The five award winners are contributors in the research of oil refining,
erasable CD-ROM, corn breeding, optical precision instrument and plant
cross-breeding.

So far, their scientific achievements have been converted into practical
use and have resulted in considerable economic benefits.

"Invention is difficult, but to some degree, it is even more difficult to
extend it into practical use," Lu Jiaxi, vice-chairman of the Standing
Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), said during the
ceremony. "But they make it in both aspects."

He encouraged the winners to make greater contributions to China's
high-tech industry.

The fund has made awards to 42 scientists since it was established in
1992.

Wang, the sponsor of the fund, was born in 1924 in Southeast China's
Fujian Province. After succeeding in his business abroad, he came back to
China and put $5 million into the fund to encourage scientists to develop
China's high technology.

Chinese scientists have found improved technology to deal with a problem
which has caused pollution and degradation of the environment.

The technology, approved by the State Science and Technology Commission
(SSTC) last August, is designed to convert discharged waste into useful
and recyclable resources.

It was experimented in Guanghan, Sichuan Province, last august and its
use will expand to other urban areas in China, the Department for Social
Development under the SSTC told China Daily in an interview.

Programmes related to industries concerned with environmental protection
are strongly supported by governments in China. Schemes to utilize
discharged waste better have been listed as key State projects for the
next few years, according to the SSTC.

The use of the technology has yielded remarkable economic, social and
ecological results in Guanghan, said Chen Congshun. Chen is an official
of the city's science and technology committee.

In the past, litter deposited by local residents lay all over the
streets. The traditional method of dealing with this litter was to burn
it in the open or bury it underground. This led to serious air and ground
water pollution, Chen said.

Some Chinese cities also separate organic matter from garbage to
fertilize farmland and burn the waste left over.

But this method is not suitable for all areas due to differences in
soils, Chen said.

In the non-State-owned Guanghan Garbage Treatment Plant, automatic
separation is used to enable discharged waste to be converted into
organic compound fertilizers and plastic products. The waste is used for
heating and drying while producing the fertilizer.

This technique means garbage can be made environmentally friendly within
9-12 days, as opposed to the 40 days required for burning garbage, said
Wang Yingbin, the plant's manager.

The plant can treat 120 tons of garbage each day, converting 98 per cent
of it into useful resources.

The garbage recycling plant can earn 2.1 million yuan ($253,000) in
profits each year from manufacturing organic compound fertilizers and
400,000 yuan ($48,000) from plastic products.

According to Wang, after separating the garbage, the manufacture and
drying of organic compound fertilizers consumes only 1 ton of coal each
day, compared with 5 tons per day without waste separation.

The garbage separation equipment was designed independently by the plant.

The plant, which has been operating since last August, has been given a
high evaluation by the SSTC, the Ministry of Construction and more than
10 provinces in China.

South and Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, India, Singapore
and Viet Nam, have also shown interest in the technique.



INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Procter & Gamble China Ltd will open a new research and development
centre in Beijing with Tsinghua University early next year to increase
competitiveness of its products in China, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer John Pepper said recently.

"Scientific research is the guarantee of the superiority of our
products," he said.

The centre will research products specifically for Chinese market.
Research results will be applied in P&G's plants in China and other parts
of the world, Pepper said.

P&G spends $1.5 billion a year for 17 R&D centres worldwide. It intends
to release products for special needs in different areas, Pepper said.

After P&G formed its first joint venture in 1988, Procter & Gamble
(Guangzhou) Co Ltd, its products have gained popularity among Chinese
consumers. Its partners are Guangzhou Soap Plant, Hong Kong Hutchison
Whampoa (China) Co Ltd, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development
Area.

Pepper said P&G would increase its investment and form more joint
ventures in China.

P&G has 11 joint ventures and solely funded enterprises in China, with a
combined investment of $300 million.

"The global scientific integration strategy of P&G has ensured China can
keep in pace with world development in its technology," Pepper said.

He said the company strived to localize technology. Four years ago, it
announced 80 per cent of its raw materials used in production came from
China.

The localization programme has boosted the development of related
industries.

Pepper said the company would increase that percentage by 2000.

"We do not feel we are alone here in China," Pepper said, "We also bring
our foreign partners to China."

The company signed a long-term co-operation contract with the
Rhone-Poulenc Co of France and Beijing Eastern Chemical Group joint
venture a week ago.

Under the contract, the joint venture will supply chemicals for P&G to
manufacture daily necessities in China.

With the continuous increase in local content, P&G expects to create more
job opportunities and bring new technology, he said.

P&G spends 2.1 billion yuan ($253 million) a year in China on raw
materials. It expects to spend $500 million for local raw materials by
2000.

To make exchange opportunity available for Chinese and American experts
on marine remote sensing, the first China-US Symposium on Marine Remote
Sensing was opened in Beijing on August 11, 1997.

50 and more experts from both countries were present at the meeting. In
addition to scientific lectures presented, the participants also visited
relevant research institutions in Beijing. Some of the American
participants are invited to visit or lecture at marine research
institutions in other places of the country.

China is drawing up a classification list that will define what is and
what is not considered high-tech. It is also drawing up a draft of
favorable terms to be offered to foreign investment.

Both are planned for release soon, an official of the Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Co-operation (Moftec) said yesterday.

Wu Zhenquan, deputy director general of the ministry's department of
science and technology said:“The list will make it clear what the
so-called high-tech sectors in China are.”

The favourable policies for such projects, which are being drafted by
related government branches, will include tariff exemptions for importing
capital goods by foreign companies in high-tech projects, he said.

Wu was in Hong Kong to attend 97 China Science and Technology Trade Fair,
which opens on November 18 and ends Thursday. It is organized by Moftec
and co-organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

“The exhibition is intended to promote co-operation between Hong Kong
business circles and mainland technology communities and to propel
China's technology export,”he said.

On display will be 414 selected products from the mainland representing
various sectors ranging from machinery, electronics, micro-electronics,
environmental protection, telecommunications, meteorological equipment,
and medical equipment for chemicals.

Wu said prospects are good for Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to
broaden co-operation in developing and exporting high value-added
products.

He said: “The combination of Hong Kong's advantages in information and
finance and the mainland's technological know-how can benefit both
sides.”

In 1991-96, the Chinese mainland signed 1,813 contracts, introducing
technology from Hong Kong with a contracted value totaling $1.78 billion.
It clinched $677 million worth of technology exports for Hong Kong.

Wu said China's total technology trade during the first three quarters of
this year was valued at $6.2 billion, which includes imports of $4.5
billion and exports of $1.7 billion. The figures are almost equal to that
of the same period last year.

He said China is trying to expand imports of advanced technology and
equipment and raw materials. Technological imports are particularly
welcome to encourage the development of agriculture, infrastructure,
basic industries, and pillar industries.