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N0.459

 

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

 

N0.459

December 10,2006

 

 

 

 

 
IN THIS ISSUE


 

*International S&T Cooperation in New Period

* S&T Ties with 152 countries

*EU-China Electronic Environment Standard

*China-Japan Talks on Levitated Train

* FY-2D Weather Satellite Launched

*Kylin Operating System


 

 

  SPECIAL ISSUES

International S&T Cooperation in New Period

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology published on December 3, 2006 an Outline for implementing international S&T cooperation activities in the 11th Five-year period (2006-2010).  According to the Outline, China’s international S&T cooperation will work hard to achieve the goal of building an innovation country, and implement missions and tasks defined by the National Outline for Medium and Long Term S&T Development Planning. Aiming at enhancing the proprietary innovation capacity, and providing service for the modernization campaign and the nation’s diplomatic activities, efforts will be made to seek new breakthroughs in three areas: expanding collaborative areas, creating innovative collaborating modalities, and achieving more collaborative results.

----- In expanding collaborating areas, efforts will be made to allow national S&T programs to open more widely to the outside world. Except for the one concerning national security and special needs, all the national S&T programs, including national special S&T projects, national high-tech R&D program, national S&T support program, national key basic research program, national special projects for S&T infrastructure construction, National Natural Science Foundation, knowledge innovation project initiated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the 211 and 985 projects sponsored by the Ministry of Education, shall see an enhanced international S&T cooperation and exchange. Efforts will also be made to strengthen international S&T cooperation and exchange activities at research institutes, universities, and national key labs. Industry is encouraged to be an active player of international S&T cooperation in different forms. International cooperation and exchanges shall be further strengthened at national high-tech industrial parks and incubators 

----- In creating innovative collaborating modalities, focus will be on enhancing collaborative R&D efforts in key technologies and priority areas. Major R&D projects will be made part of bilateral or multilateral intergovernmental agreements on S&T cooperation. Sharing intellectual property and research findings derived from collaborative R&D activities is encouraged. Chinese and foreign partners are also encouraged to establish joint R&D centers, including industrial R&D centers. Establish a number of international R&D cooperation centers. Enhance technology export and technology transfer, and facilitate technology and tech product export. Encourage research institutes and industry to “go overseas”, through collaborative research, joint survey, technical training, and technology assistance. China shall be an active part of international macro-science programs and projects, sponsoring and organizing the macro-science programs and projects with China as a key player. Encourage Chinese S&T personnel to work for international organizations, raising China’s visibility and influence in international S&T communities.

----- In achieving more collaborative results, efforts will be made to produce more innovative findings with proprietary or shared intellectual property, noticeably raising China’s visibility and influence in international academic and S&T communities. Strive to land substantive progresses in utilizing global S&T innovation resources, including human resources, funds, technologies, and equipment. Accelerate high tech findings’ spin-off to commercial applications, fostering and boosting China’s high tech industry. Achieve new breakthroughs in promoting technology and tech product export, and in facilitating S&T businesses “going overseas”.

S&T Ties with 152 countries

China has so far established partnerships in the field of science and technology with 152 countries and regions. 99 countries and regions have inked intergovernmental S&T accords with China. As a result, China has developed an international S&T cooperation pattern covering different levels, multiple channels, and diverse areas.

Statistics show that China has S&T divisions or working groups at 62 embassies, consulates, or permanent missions in 45 countries. Diplomats who take care of S&T activities have reached 131 in number. In addition, Chinese government agencies have become an active part of international S&T cooperation.

In recent years, China has kept an inflow of S&T personnel from other countries at 60,000 person/time a year, and an outflow of Chinese S&T personnel at 80,000 person/time a year. 

In the past five years, China has registered an R&D expenditure of RMB 8.44 billion for international S&T cooperation. China has also created an array of joint funds with other countries for S&T collaborations.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

EU-China Electronic Environment Standard

Representatives from Chinese and European industries and government agencies gathered together on December 4, 2006 in Beijing, discussing electrical and electronic equipment standards possibly applied to both China and Europe, in an attempt to foster a harmonized development of trade and environmental protection.

At the meeting, the economic and commercial counsellor of  the Delegation of the European Commission in Beijing said that both China and EU share a common goal for  protecting environment and health, while facilitating trade activities, though two sides have apparent discrepancies on limiting the use of certain hazardous substances. He added that formulating a unified standard is therefore important for keeping a sustainable and successful trade relationship between the two sides.

According to the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) enacted by the EU on July 1st, 2006, six hazardous substances, including lead, mercury, cadmium, CrVI, PBB, and PBDE, shall not be seen in the electrical and electronic equipment sold in the EU markets. As a response, seven Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Information Industry, State Development and Reform Commission, and Ministry of Commerce, issued a regulation for electronic products pollution control in February 2006. According to the Chinese “RoHS”, the Regulation shall come into effect on March 1st, 2007.

CHAI Xiaolin, Deputy Director of WTO Affairs, part of the Ministry of Commerce, told audiences that China and EU share a common goal for formulating RoHS, though deploring for a large difference in handling the matter, especially in the technical requirements for tail tag, renewable material, and mandatory accreditation. He wished that the meeting could play a role in enhancing communications, understanding, and collaboration between the EU and China, promoting a harmonized development of economy, trade, and environmental protection.

China-Japan Talks on Levitated Train

Office of Levitated Trains, part of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, sponsored on November 23, 2006 a talk between Chinese and Japanese officials and experts, discussing possible collaborations on levitated trains. At the meeting, both sides exchanged views on the development of levitation technologies, and agreed to explore the modality for further collaborations.

Three Chinese academicians made briefings on the development of China’s levitated and high-speed train technologies, stressing that collaborations between the two countries on levitated trains shall be built on the market perspectives and commercial applications. They added that the technical and economic feasibility of using the technology in China makes a key to such collaborations.

Japanese side expressed great interests in being part of the levitation development in China, and briefed the audience of the latest levitation development in Japan. Not long ago, a mechanism, led by Toyota, has been created in Japan, to promote cooperation and exchanges on levitated train technologies between industries, academic institutions, and governments of the two countries. Japanese side plans to sponsor a China-Japan seminar on levitation transport in February 2007, discussing further collaborations with its Chinese counterparts.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

FY-2D Weather Satellite Launched

At 0853 December 8, 2006 (local time), China blasted off a FY-2D weather satellite aboard the CZ3-A launch vehicle from the Xi’chang Satellite Launch Center. 24 minutes after the launch, Yuanwang, a measuring boat, reported from the Pacific Ocean that the satellite has successfully entered the geostationary transfer orbit. The newly launched satellite, in collaboration with its elder sister FY-2C, will make dual-satellite based synchronous observation possible. 

According to a briefing, the new satellite is designed to monitor weather events during the Beijing Olympic Game in 2008, especially for opening and closing ceremonies, and other major sport events, in an attempt to provide an accurate and timely weather forecast for the game.

With a 1.39-ton weight, the new satellite will work on consecutive weather watch, in an all-weather manner. It produces visible and infrared cloud images, and water vapor distribution charts. It also collects or relays meteorological, marine, and hydrological data, and solar X-ray and space particle radiation data.

At 0125, December 9, 2006, the Xi’an Satellite Control Center performed an apogee-motor firing, which transferred the satellite into a predetermined quasi-geosynchronous orbit. The effort has left a space operation desirable for the satellite further into a geosynchronous orbit, performing payload test, and subsequent delivery. In the following days, the Xi’an Satellite Control Center will repeat the capture-and-controls, and eventually position the satellite at 86.5 E.

Kylin Operating System

The Kylin Operating System, derived from a 4-year special project named “kernels for server operating system” under the National 863 Program, passed experts’ approval on December 4, 2006. The new operating system, accredited for a highest security level in the country, has landed a range of breakthroughs in needed core technologies.

Built on a proprietary kernel and FreeBSD based system service layer, the Kylin Operating System makes a Chinese made mainframe, featured with hierarchy kernel, and structure protection security, supporting diverse microprocessors and computer systems, and compatible with Linux binaries. Test results, provided by China Software Test Center, show that the Kylin Operating System has possessed all the functions needed for a typical server operating system, enjoying numerous merits, including high security, availability, scalability, and compatibility. The system presents an overall performance equivalent to the UNIX operating system, with some performance and real-time indicators better than the latter. Having passed the accreditation of Free Standards Group for Linux Standard Base, the system has also won the security accreditation granted by Chinese public security authorities, the first of its kind in the country.

The National University of Defense Technology, the developer of the system, has inked collaboration accords with a number of interesting parties for commercial applications, including Lenovo and China Standard Software. In the meantime, the developer has worked out some technical solutions for its industrial clients, and a string of successful applications in banking, government, education, and stock market. The operating system has also made useful applications in the defense sector.

Solar Energy Cuts Monocrystalline Silicon

Not long ago, Shanghai Rijing Machine Tool Co. Ltd. has rolled out a set of technologies and equipment for cutting and polishing 12-inch monocrystalline silicon using solar energy. Tests show that the effort has produced a range of indicators overtaking existing traditional criteria. Built on the multi-line cutting principle, the solar powered cutting equipment allows a loss of only 0.14mm, and a thickness at 0.24mm, using SiC abrasives driven by wires. The technology, enjoying an apparently reduced cut injury and etching depth, saves dollars for producing crystal silicon.

The 12-inch monocrystalline silicon polisher works on dual-surface chemical and mechanical polishing, using a polishing liquid made up of nano-abrasives and chemical solutions, which triggers chemical reactions over the surface of workpieces. Researchers achieved an enhanced dual-surface polishing effect, through a good match between chemical and mechanical workouts. Tests show that the silicon wafer polished using the technology has reached an internationally advanced level in both overall and partial smoothness.

Multi-Beam Echo Sounder

Not long ago, Harbin Engineering University rolled out a compact multi-beam echo sounder, the first of its kind in the country. The instrument, desirable for sea floor mapping, is an integration of water sonic, electronic, computer, and modern signal processing technologies. It is designed to read out several dozens or even a hundred vertical water depth parameters, or a water depth strip, in a single measuring session. It also can work out the size, shape, and height of underwater objects within a given range, which is critical for mapping the tiny features of sea floors, and for digital recording and automatic plotting. 

Thanks to its numerous merits, including compact size, high reliability, low consumption, strong handling capability, rich peripheral connectors, and powerful telecommunication control, the new system finds broad applications over shallow waters. In addition to its applications to shallow continental shelf, it can also be used to survey inland lakes, waterways, and reservoirs. 

Cesium Atomic Fountain Clock

China has successfully rolled out a cesium atomic fountain clock, in collaboration with other countries. The development, raising the time frequency reference from less than 1 second in 300,000 years to less than 1 second in 6 million years, marks China’s world advanced level in time frequency referencing.

According to a briefing, the cesium atomic fountain clock, working on the 1997 Nobel Prize winning principles and technologies of laser cooling and trapping atom, is a cutting-edge technology that requires high precision and sophisticated structure. Up to date, only a few countries in the world, including France, the United States, and Germany, have the capability to make the clock.

The Chinese made clock, raising the time frequency reference from less than 1 second in 300,000 years to less than 1 second in 6 million years, has made China fourth place in the world, following France, the United States, and Germany, in terms of the clock’s comprehensive performance. Experts believe that the event makes China one of few countries in the world possessing an independent and complete metrological system for time frequency reference.

 


       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

http://www.most.gov.cn