To achieve this goal, scientific departments will join hands with industrial sectors to accelerate nationwide technological innovation projects, Zhu Lilan, minister of science and technology, said during an interview.

A major step this year will be the guidance given to some technology research institutes that will allow them to become technological leaders acting within the market economy as companies, said Zhu.

Nurturing small and medium-sized firms using State-allocated funds and preferential policies is another top programme, said Zhu.

In another move, China will speed up the development of information technology, biological programmes, new materials, energy and environmental protection technologies. The effort is expected to provide long-term technological support for industrial restructuring and economic growth and China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Zhu.

"Increasing our technological contribution to economic growth is a goal of the ministry as it helps draft the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05)," she said.

The ministry has sent specialists to Tibet, the Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, Chongqing Municipality, and Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. The move was made to survey and study these areas' technological needs.

Based on the survey, the ministry will coordinate efforts to help these areas to apply advanced technologies, said Zhu.

(China Daily 01/03/2000)