Prof. XU Guanhua
Minister of Science and Technology, P.R. China
April 19, 2001, Beijing

Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all I would like to express my gratitude to World Economic Forum for the warm invitation to me. I feel honored to address this Summit. On behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technology, I wish to extend my sincerest congratulations to the successful conclusion of China Business Summit.

Having witnessed incessant S&T miracles, the past 20th century is labeled as a century with sufficient development of scientific rationale. The theories of Relativity and Quantum laid a solid foundation for modern S&T revolution. The particle physics extended our understanding of material world to quark level. Self-organizing theories and nonlinear sciences, such as information theory, cybernetics, systematology and the study of chaos, have been leading our cognition of nature to be more complicated and
comprehensive. The remarkable progress in information technology, biotechnology and new materials greatly enhanced our capacity of utilizing, reconstructing and controlling the nature. Today we still have a strong feeling that the rainstorm of major breakthroughs and innovations are brewing in almost all scientific frontiers. The momentum of information and knowledge explosion is anything but exhausted. We are now benefiting from modern S&T development and civilization. Meanwhile, we face a variety of constraints, including resource depletion, ecological imbalance, scientific ethical problems and knowledge divide. However, we still have every reason to have confidence in a brilliant prospect of S&T in the 21st century.

The Chinese civilization goes back to ancient times. The oriental civilization represented by Chinese culture once took a very important position in the world. A good many major findings and inventions in ancient China not only influenced the human civilization course, but also profoundly changed the world. It was not until the 15th century that feudal dynasties cut off China from the outside world. We then lost the precious opportunity to proceed into the industrial revolution, which resulted in a poor and weak nation hard to change her own fate. The foundation of New China started a new chapter in history. Guided by the theory of "S&T constitute the primary productive force" put forward by late Chinese leader Mr. DENG Xiaoping, the Chinese government has been giving sufficient supports for S&T cause in the past 2 decades. Under a circumstance that respects knowledge and talents, Chinese scientists have achieved many positive results with their wisdom and through their industrious efforts. Their achievements shortened the distance between China and the world advanced level and offered strong supports to our socio-economic advancement. More and more people accepted the viewpoint that our sustained and speedy economic growth shall rely on the rapid development of S&T and its deep influence.

We always believe that an energetic national economy will be one with S&T and economic impetus unceasingly pouring into newly emerged industries. Like in many other countries in the world, high and new-tech industries become the most vigorous parts in our economic growth today. And these industries directly depend on S&T advancement ad world-leading achievements in the research of hybrid rice. The farming area of hybrid rice reaches 3.33 million hectares with an accumulated yield increase of 3.5 billion kilograms. This has made prominent contribution to our food security. The application and diffusion of computerized agricultural expert system has facilitated the agricultural information and modernization process. This approach will probably alter the traditional production and operation methods used by peasants for several thousand years. In the manufacturing domain, the exploitation and application of CIMS have significantly promoted the development of new products and their market competitiveness. It will lead to a new approach of boosting industrialization through information technology.

As a large developing nation, China has taken effective efforts to feed and clothe her people in poverty-stricken areas through the
application of science and technology. Earlier in 1986, our scientific community creatively initiated an action entitled Poverty Alleviation through S&T. Targeting at poverty-stricken population in rural areas, the action consists of science popularization, advanced and applicable technology diffusion, pilot technology experiment and technical training for peasants. The Chinese scientific community spares no effort to alleviate poverty in mountain areas of Dabieshan, Jingangshan and Northern Shannxi. As a result, local poverty-stricken population has been reduced from 48% to 2.5% in the past 15 years. Today even people in the remote countryside could feel the benefits brought forth by S&T.

Moreover, we are proud that our population quality and living standard have been unprecedentedly promoted by S&T progress in medicine, healthcare and other fields. In 2000 the natural rate of population in China was as large as 9.7%. The population reproduction mode has undergone a historical change from high birth rate, low mortality, and high increase to low birth rate, low mortality and low increase. The average life span in China reaches that of middle developed nations. The structure of consumption expenditure dramatically changed while the Engel coefficient fell below 50%. In the meantime, the illiterate rate decreased drastically while the population receiving high education increased markedly.

Since the industrial revolution, deep contradiction among population, resource and environment has been shadowing the planet on which our lives and welfare depend. China pays persistent attention to and attaches great emphasis on facilitating a harmonious co-existence between human and nature while pursuing S&T advancement. China is the first nation in the world which promulgated Agenda 21, a document with guidelines of sustainable development. The adoption of Action Plan for Bio-diversity Protection and achievements in environment legislation indicate that Chinese government made unremitting efforts to coordinate the relationship between human and nature. In the past 5 years we gained concrete progress in promoting clean and effective usage of coal through S&T, facilitating comprehensive administration of national resources through information technology, lowering auto emission and purifying atmosphere by consuming clean energy. Development in new and renewable energy and breakthroughs of key technologies such as proton membrane fuel cell and restructure of carbinol to produce hydrogen have been achieved. All these will furnish environmentally sound automobiles with new power Aiming at the features of current consumption of disposable energies and the increasing trend of auto consumption, we expect that new progress in clean coal technology and Electric Vehicles will technically safeguard the sustainable development of our society.

One salient feature of S&T in contemporary social development has been the integration of S&T and culture and the combination of scientific spirit and scientific rationale. A people lacking scientific culture accumulation is bound to be constrained in terms of livelihood and aspiration. The competition among nations has been largely embodied by the possession of, or extent of the possession of the power of S&T and culture. The Chinese society is experiencing a drastic transition period. On the basis of Chinese civilization
heritages we shall accept the guidance by scientific rationale, inherit the true spirit of science, facilitate the integration of scientific and humanistic spirits, and loyally safeguard the border of science. We firmly believe that the history of science development is also a history of combating against superstition and blindness. It is of great importance to the revitalization of Chinese people that we encourage people to insist on truth, explore innovation and voluntarily resist the erosion of bogus science. Therefore a fashion of advocating, studying, promoting and employing science through the development of scientific spirit and scientific culture will be shaped.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The human being has stepped into a new era, an era filled with opportunities and challenges. As a great people who made significant contribution to the human civilization, we are willing to take up our due responsibilities for the new century and the human kind on the whole. We are never hideous in saying that there exists a large gap on the comprehensive level between China and the advanced nations due to our short history of modern S&T development. However, the S&T development history in the past centuries has been basically a history of underdeveloped nations catching up or even surpassing the advanced ones. The constant shift of world S&T and economic centers has sufficiently proved this irrefutable theory. Today S&T are developing with each passing day. It is possible that China makes full use of her 'competitive edge of late start" to achieve a leapfrog development in S&T and social productivity. S & T progress, reform and opening have been unprecedentedly identified as key and dynamic factors in China's 10th Five-Year Plan of Economic and Social Development. It will contribute to the conception of development in China, as well as the world. I am confident that China will embrace the arrival of a new spring of science.

Thank you for your kind attention.