Nobel Prize winner Chen Ning  Yang predicted today that China will be recognized as a world  leader in science and technology in 30 to 40 years.

   Astonishing progress has been made in the development of China' s science and technology in the past century, said Yang, at a  forum on cooperation between east China's Anhui Province and  transnational companies held at the scenic Huangshan Mountain  Tuesday.

   "Less than 10 people in China knew calculus in 1900. By 2000,  China was able to retrieve a manned spaceship. Such a rapid  development is unprecedented in the world," he said.

   The spirit of self-reliance cultivated by the Chinese people is important in promoting scientific progress, he added.