In May 1995, the Government of China announced the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council on Accelerating Scientific and Technological Progress", held a national conference on science and technology, and decided to implement the strategy of revitalizing the country through science and education.

Revitalizing the country through science and education is meant to carry forward fully the thinking that science and technology are the foremost productive forces, to treat education as the foundation, to place science and technology and education in a prominent position in economic and social development, to enhance the nation's science and technology capability and its ability to convert such capability into real productivity, to improve the S & T and cultural quality of the whole nation, to shift economic construction onto the track of depending on scientific and technological progress and enhanced labor performance, so as to speed up the realization the nation's prosperity and strength.

The Guidelines for Science and Technology Work

"Science and technology constitute the foremost productive forces". Under this guiding principle, economic development must rely on science and technology while science and technology must be geared to economic development. Efforts are called for to bring economic development onto the track of relying on scientific and technological progress and enhanced labor performance, and to scale the heights of science and technology.

Basic Principles for Science and Technology Work

Economic and social development should be driven primarily by science and technology development and be assigned with primary tasks of overcoming stumbling blocks encountered in economic and social development. The organic integration of science and technology and the economy should find expressions in formulation of strategic targets, policies, system, and plans.

Science and technology development should be energized by the reform while the restructuring of the science and technology management system should be deepned in the course of development, Under the macroscopic control by the Government, market mechanism should be given full play in promoting scientific and technological progress.

Remain committed to combining independent research and development and the introduction of advanced foreign technologies and vigorously pursue the translation of scientific and technological results into real productivity.

Maintain support for the integration of both long term and near term objectives and formulate rational plans for technology development and diffusion and for applied research and basic research activities.

In the light of the world science and technology development trends and China's own situation, scientific and technological undertakings should adhere to the principle of limited objectives, well defined priorities, concentrating on attacking the key problems with concerted efforts, and daring to innovate.

Respect knowledge, respect talent, and create an environment favourable for people's exhaustive playing of their roles and cultivating and bringing up new talent. Academic democracy should be truly practised in science and technology development and the democratic and scientific spirit should be rooted in the decision-making process for addressing major issues.

Stick to the combination of professional research and development with popular scientific and technological activities, the combination of research and development with popularization of scientific and technical knowledge, and the integration of science and technology with education.

Main Science and Technology Policy

In order to exercise reinforced leadership over scientific and technological endeavors, the State must strive to put in place a scientific, democratic, and

institutionalized decision-making process so as to provide an environment that is conducive to the advancement of science and technology and the execution of major national S 8r T activities.

The State should encourage its citizens and entities to engage in scientific research, technology development, inventions, and other creative activities, advocate and support effective and timely application of S & T achievements to production, and provide legal protection for intellectual property rights so that inventors' lawful rights and interests are not infringed upon.

The State must have guaranteed funding earmarked for key research areas and projects while encouraging greater public input in science and technology by creating an S & T investment pool absorbing government appropriations, funds raised by enterprises and the public, loans from financial institutions, as well as foreign funds. Economic levers should be employed to set the direction for and promote S 8c T development.

Advocate the creation of a social climate of appreciating knowledge and respecting talent; develop a democratic style of work to ensure academic freedom; encourage exploratory and innovative activities; and give ample scope to the ability of scientific and technical personnel.

While developing scientific and technological capabilities primarily on our indigenous efforts, adequate attention should also be assigned to the acquisition and assimilation of foreign technology. On the basis of equality and mutual benefit, a significantly greater level of international S & T cooperation and exchange through official, non-governmental, bilateral and multilateral channels should be vigorously assumed.

Efforts are under way to put together a comprehensive S~T legal system by strengthening legislation and enhancing the public awareness of legal work with respect to science and technology and protecting intellectual property rights.

The objectives towards the year 2000

To basically put in place a S & T system that is in keeping with the socialist market economy and the inherent laws of science and technology development; to achieve major advances in industrial and agricultural scientific research and technological development, in basic research, and in high technology research and development; to markedly increase the contribution of scientific and technological progress to economic growth; and to basically bring economic and social development onto the track of relying on scientific and technological progress and improved labor performance.

The strategic objectives towards the year 2010 are

To solidify and perfect the newly established S & T system and realize an organic integration of science and technology with the economy; to train and turn out a highly qualified scientific and technological contingent and markedly improve the nation's S&T and cultural quality; to bring our S & T capacity in important disciplines and some high technology fields to or near the world advanced levels; to drastically increase the ability to engage in independent innovation and come to grips with critical technologies and systems design technology in major industries; to enable our production technologies in major areas to reach or approach the level of the developed countries in early next century; and to lay a solid foundation for building the country into a modern, power socialist state.