China has forged scientific cooperation with 152 countries and
regions, and will further boost exchanges in the field in next five
years, Xu Guanhua, minister of Science and Technology, said in
Beijing on Thursday at the Ministry's national conference on
foreign affairs.
"China's international science cooperation has reached an
unprecedented development period," said Xu. "So far, the country
has signed governmental science cooperation agreements with 99
countries, and a basic cooperation platform has been set up."
China has trail-blazed scientifically through close partnership
with many countries, including the US, Russia, France, Germany and
Italy, especially in the past five years, Xu said.
In 1995, China and Russia developed a remote controlled
submarine robot and since then both sides have joined again in
upgrading the deep sea robot to operate at a depth of 7,000
meters.
Since 2005, the country has signed a number of technological
development and service contracts with the EU relating to the
3.5-billion-Euro Galileo system, a 30-strong satellite network
intended for civilian use.
Over the next five years, Xu said, the Ministry of Science and
Technology will launch international cooperation in the fields of
energy, water resources and environmental protection, aiming to
improve food safety, the structure of agriculture products and
biological technology.
Meanwhile, Xu said China should further increase the range of
cooperation projects and encourage talent exchanges with other
countries. All these efforts should serve the purpose of increasing
China's own competitiveness, he added.
The meeting, with the theme of "promoting innovation and
utilizing global resources," is to set a new agenda for the next
five years of international scientific cooperation.
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)
