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N0.417

 

 

CHINA  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
The Ministry of Science and Technology
People's Republic of China

N0.417

October 10,2005

 

 

 

 

 
IN THIS ISSUE


 

* China’s S&T Community Takes New Challenges

* China Leads 3G Core Technology

* World First Digital Pig

* Heavymedia Cyclone Separator

* Smallest Optical Accelerant Materials


 

SPECIAL ISSUE

China’s S&T Community Takes New Challenges

“New century, new S&T, and new accomplishments” is a theme slogan raised at an S&T show recently staged in Beijing for the accomplishments achieved during the 10th fFve-year period. The show displays the splendid fruits China has harvested in S&T area in the first 5 years of the new century. Exploring the unknown, and paving for the future embodies Chinese people’s confidence in a bright S&T future that is built upon 5-year rich accumulation.

1)    Gasping strategic opportunities with a clearly defined thinking line. During the 10th Five-year period, the Chinese government made a readjustment of the general line guiding the S&T development in the country. Proprietary innovation becomes an underlined priority, with a weighted deployment on advancing industrial technology upgrading, and enhancing the sustainable S&T innovation capacity. These constitute a new line threading the overall S&T development pattern for the 10th Five-year period.

Under the new initiative, China’s S&T authorities develops a talent strategy, in an attempt to be part of the international competition for talented people, and to absorb, discover, and bring up more talented people. In the meantime, China works on a patent strategy to intensify the management of intellectual property, in an effort to encourage and facilitate innovations, and turn new findings into core competitiveness. Technical standard strategy is also defined to establish China’s own technology standard system, in a move to be part of the regulated competition, and strive for a leading position in S&T development.

Effort has also been made to readjust the planning management modality, and introduce a classified management modality under the national S&T planning system. In the area of planning restructuring, strengthening strategic technology development, and stressing the state will and proprietary innovations have resulted in a line of S&T programs, including the National 863 Program, the National 973 Program, and the National Key Technology Program. Plus two infrastructure initiatives, namely building up a desirable industrial environment for S&T activities, and R&D infrastructure construction, a planning framework of three plus two is formed to optimize the distributions of S&T resources. To highlight the priorities, and integrate innovation efforts, the Ministry of Science and Technology, in collaboration with other government agencies, initiated 12 major special projects.

2)    Enhancing the comprehensive strength through a deepened reform. During the 10th Five-year period, China has witnessed a large increase of investment in R&D activities, from RMB 89.6 billion in 2000 to RMB 184.3 billion in 2004, raising the weight in GDP from 1% to 1.35%.

During the same period, China kicked off a full-fledged construction of  S&T infrastructure platforms, which facilitates the sharing of instruments, literatures, and data. As of the end of 2004, 19 large national science projects, including Beijing Positron and Electron Collider, have been staged, with the number of national key labs reaching 183. 149 national engineering technology research centers were established in major industrial sectors and 26 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions.

China also achieved noticeable results in building up a desirable industrial environment for S&T activities. Up to date, China has established over 500 high tech pioneering service centers, second only next to the United States, in terms of the number of such centers. As of 2004, 1,218 productivity promoting centers have provided services for 92,133 enterprises, which brought up additional sale revenues of RMB 64.2 billion, and taxes and profits of RMB 8.81 billion to the latter. The nationwide technology contracts signed during the 10th five-year period amounted to RMB 408.5 billion, 2.5 times that of the 9th Five-year period. During the same period, China’s high tech industry enjoyed a fast expanded scale, with the total volume of high tech import and export rising from 18.3% in the nation’s total package for import and export in 2000 to 28.3% in 2004.

China has witnessed a remarkably enhanced comprehensive S&T strength since the 10th Five-year period, with a greatly lifted proprietary innovations capacity. China’s competitiveness in the world also advanced from 30th in 2000 to 24th in 2004, with its overall S&T strength topping the developing countries. 

3)    Developing key technologies and serving for S&T activities. During the 10th Five-year period, China has seen a steadily lifted basic research capacity, harvested with a range of major scientific findings and inventions. Chinese scientists have made outstanding contributions to sequence of human genome, plant genome, microbes genome, and domestic silk worm genome. Chinese scientists’ findings in mathematics mechanization, and origin of Chengjiang vertebrates colony have won the recognition of the world science community.

In the high tech area, Chinese scientists landed breakthroughs in a range of key technologies for super integrated circuit, high performance computer, high speed broadband network, electric automobiles, clean energy among many others. China has rolled out proprietary high tech products, established precursor industries of international competitiveness, and nurtured out new economic growth points.

While making the innovative capacity of the manufacturing industry a cutting point, China has achieved numerous major S&T accomplishments in the areas of information engineering, programmed machine tools, intelligent engineering equipment, and automatic production line. Chinese engineers also rolled out a line of major proprietary facilities and equipment of market competitiveness, which accelerates the stride of transforming traditional industries with high technology.

During the 10th Five-year period, China’s S&T development had a weighted focus on raising the quality of people’s life, and promoting a harmonized development between man and nature. China has made noticeable progresses in implementing the sustainable development strategy, major diseases prevention and control, development of new drug and medical facilities and materials, improvement of ecological environment, efficient resources development and utilization, food safety, and production safety. 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

China Leads 3G Core Technology

Chongqing Chongyou Information Technology Co., Ltd. (CYIT) has recently rolled out the world’s first TD-SCDMA mobile phone chip using the 0.13 um process. Named the Tongxin I (General Chip I), the new product is a proprietary chip up to 3GPPTD-SCDMA standards with nicely designed structures and algorithms. Simulations and trial operations confirmed an extremely good performance and stability, capable for all applications needed at the physical level, or by protocols and TD-SCDMA mobile phone software. The chip is a multi-core single crystal wafer, made of the company’s proprietary circuits, ARM926 processor and ISI’s ZSP500 digital signal processor. Researchers also used SYNOPSYS chip making tools and technologies to improve the chip’s performance. The chip is manufactured by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, and packed by GAPT.

The new chip presents the following features and strength: 1) the world first TD-SCDMA handset chip using the 0.13 um process, with low power consumption, small internal cores, and a reduced cost; 2) a multi-core structure, containing 1 ARM and 2 DSPs, capable for high speed processing; 3) built-in testing, Viterbi, and Turbo for an enhanced speed to support all operations under 384 kilobit/s; and 4) IP core for steady and reliable performance, and for massive production as well.

World First Digital Pig

A digital database for pig, jointly constructed by the Chongqing Institute of Animal Husbandry, No. 3 Military Medical School, and Chongqing Institute of Technology, recently made its debut. The proprietary database, using a world-renowned local breed Rongchang Pig as the specimen, is the world first digital album for pigs. The selected female pig is 5 months old, weighing 45 kg, with a height of 44cm and a length 94 cm. It is healthy and found no organ damages. Researchers prepared slices in a low temperature lab, using a high accuracy programmed milling machine. A high accuracy digital camera is used to collect high quality and definition pictures. The database is made up of 2,315 images with consecutive sections, with a total data volume of 145.6 GB.

The database is the first step to produce a digital pig. The next phase will see the separation of slice data according to organs or tissues, and reconstructing a digital pig through computers and 3-D process. The digital version can help people understand pig in a more comprehensive and deeper manner, especially for those who develop teaching and training assistance software. On the one hand, the database can noticeably raise the quality of teaching and learning, and reduce experiment budget. On the other hand, it can help pig farmers to improve pig-raising skills and make more money.

In phase III, scientists will process the past, current and future data on pig raising and associated findings through digital means, and establish physical and physiological models compatible with the digital data. The effort will lead to a “virtual pig” platform, on which diverse virtual experiments can be performed to understand pig’s growth, development, genetic breeding, nutritional needs, raising, medicines, and metabolism. The digital platform reduces both the size and budget of experiments, through optimizing experiment plans.

Heavymedia Cyclone Separator

Key technologies for developing a heavymedia cyclone coal separator, a project under the National Key Technology Program, has achieved phased progresses.

Chinese engineers have successfully developed a new heavymedia cyclone process to separate coal, which realizes a full utilization of coal resources at the grade based raw coal separation, using a heavymedia collecting and purifying system. The heavymedia cyclone separator, with a serial number of 3SNWX1300/920, works on the flow field of the separator, using fluid dynamic data. It realized a separated feed of suspension fluid and raw materials into the cyclone separator, avoiding over-grinding and reducing power consumption. Under the process, the lining erosion rate only accounts for 12.92mm3/cm2, a far better performance compared with its domestic or overseas counterparts made of alumina ceramic, and doubles the friction and erosion resistance, compared with the alumina ceramic lining previously made. The new process has found applications in over 50 coal separation plants. WZY1400 horizontal oscillation centrifuge, another product derived from the project, meets the dehydration requirements of large coal separation plants. Desirable for agent diffusion and mineralization of coal dust, XJM-KS20 coal floater, with a 20m3-single trough, simplifies the process, and improves the selectivity of flotation. The system also has other merits, including high handling volume, limited space required, and desirable for designing a single-unit system. A full automatic fast filtering prototype facility, also developed by the project, provides reliable technical parameters for developing the large dehydration equipment.  

The cyclone separator has won a national invention patent grant. Based on the study of friction mechanism, engineers are currently working on an improved process to add zirconium in the recipe of alumina ceramic that is used to make a separator lining, in an attempt to double the work life of the separator. They also completed the drawing design of a 1.4m horizontal centrifuge feed dehydration machine, and the design, manufacturing, and installation of a 20m3 coal mixer floater. The Jinyang Coal Separation Plant, where the project is physically located, has been put into operation with a reduced media consumption by 0.20.8kg/t, after wrapping up its technical transformation.

Smallest Optical Accelerant Materials

Thanks to 5-year painstaking efforts, researchers of Guangzhou Mende Nanotechnology Co. Ltd. has rolled out titanium oxide sol materials with an average size less than 3 nm across. Using a line of advanced techniques, including low temperature crystallizing, super critical reaction, and spray drying, researchers produced the world’s smallest accelerant materials mainly made of Titanium tetrachloride .

The testing results, produced by the test centers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Huazhong S&T University, and Guangdong Microbes Analyzing and Testing Center, show that the quantum accelerant materials have an average size between 2 to 3 nanometers across. They can produce negative oxygen ions and free radicals in an indoor environment, without calling for direct sunshine. The materials have a noticeable optical decomposing effect on bacteria and viruses. Under a fluorescent illumination source, it can produce a decomposing rate of 93%, 91.9%, and 93.4% respectively for formaldehyde, benzene, and ammonia, demonstrating a strong play in cleaning indoor pollutants.

Improved Asthma Drug

A new drug to treat asthma, jointly developed by Shenyang Pharmacy University and Jinzhou Jiutai Pharmaceuticals, was granted on August 18 an approval for Phase I clinical trials issued by the State Food and Drug Administration. The new drug presents a strong suppressing effect on asthma, with long duration. Compared with similar drugs, it produces less but claims a higher safety.

The new drug had applied for a national invention patent in 2001, and entered a PCT process in 2002. So far it has completed patent registrations in the United States, Europe, Japan, Russia, India, and Hong Kong, and obtained a patent grant in Russia. The drug, once hit the market, expects a promising annual output worth RMB 200 million, with a profit and tax payment at RMB 62 million.

High Performance Bioinformatics Computer

Not long ago, Beijing Genomics Institute and Institute of Computing Technology, both affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have successfully developed a special computer for bioinformatics. Shuguang 4000H, the innovative computer, calculates at a top speed of 504 billion times per second.  

In an effort to satisfy computing needs of bioinformatics that are featured with high data volume, dense parallels, monotonous computing mode, and endless repetition, it took two years for Chinese scientists to work out a special computer for bioinformatic application. Made up of 90 common processors, and 10 special hardware accelerators, the dedicated computer has an internal memory of 137GB.

The development of the special computer and the associated algorithms resulted in 3 national invention patent applications, 1 national invention patent grant, 3 software registration certificates, and 32 papers collected by SCI and EI. The computer has been used to assemble the refined charts of rice and domestic silkworm genomes.

Improved Sand Fixation

Not long ago, an innovative sand fixation process using ion beam improved vegetations and novel materials, developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed a verification check. In an effort to develop a micro environment based growing system for liquorices, and a heat proof radiation and humid preservation growing process for Salix matsudana (corkscrew willow) and Salix longiolia (sand bar willow), the project has established an advanced technical system that protects and facilitates the growth of these desert plants. Two-year experiments in the Kubuqi Desert in China proves that the new process can improve the survival rate of liquorices, corkscrew willow and sand bar willow, and is a reliable and practical application for vegetation reconstruction in deserts and sand lands.

Started from 2000, Chinese researchers developed a novel material from the ion beam improved Hippophae rhamnoides . They mixed the ion beam process, microbes, and novel material together, using ion beams to make plant roots produce more organic acid for microbes, which in turn give out more nitrogen fixing and phosphor and potassium dissolving bacteria for the plants. Plus the moisture preserving function of the novel material, a sound microbiologic root growing cycle is developed. Lab tests confirmed that a small-scale trial in 2003 at the edge of the Ke’erqin Desert was a success. In 2004, researchers applied the new process over 60 mu (1 mu= 0.0667 hectare) of sandy land at the edge of the rougher Kubuqi Desert. The process has stood up two-year wind sweeping, sand erosion, drought, and sever cold spell, and also proved a success. 


       Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:

Mr. Mao Zhongying, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China  Tel: (8610)58881360 Fax: (8610) 58881364

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