China Science & Technology Digest:
November 15-30, 2003

ATIP

This digest summarizes S&T-related articles that appeared in the media ATIP monitored in the second half of November 2003. Some articles reference a relevant website to assist readers in obtaining further information. For questions or to request additional information, please send email to ChinaST@atip.or.jp. The exchange rate used for this issue is RMB8.287 against the U.S. dollar.

DeepComp 6800 Ranks World's 14th Fastest Supercomputer
On November 16, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy released the latest list of top 500 supercomputers in the world. The DeepComp 6800, developed by the Legend Group Corp. with a sustained performance of 4.183 trillion floating point operations per second (TFlops) for the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) ranked 14th, the highest ever for a Chinese-made supercomputer. Among the top 500 supercomputers, there are two other Legend-made computers, both of which are DeepComp 1800 serial products, which ranked 82nd and 188th respectively. In the top 500 list released in November last year, a DeepComp 1800 that achieved 1.046 TFlops ranked 43rd.
Source: People's Daily 11/20/2003

China Sets New Monthly Record in Space Launches
China launched the Shenzhou-5 manned spacecraft and four satellites from October 15 to November 15. China's first manned spacecraft was rocketed into space on October 15 and returned to the Earth the next day. China's Long March IV B carried the second Earth resources satellite developed jointly by China and Brazil and another China-made small satellite into different preset orbits on October 21 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. China launched a recoverable science experimental satellite into a preset orbit on November 3 from Jiuquan Launch Center. On November 15, China launched a communication satellite into a preset orbit from Xichang Launch Center.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 11/18/2003

Space Probe Satellite to Be Launched
This year, China will launch a satellite, Probe No.1, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). With its orbit ranging from 550 km to 66,970 km, Probe No.1 and another satellite scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year will form an independent Earth space probe system. The two satellites will probe important areas of two magnetic fields of Earth space, comprising the Earth's magnetic field, ionosphere, and middle to high layers of the atmosphere. It is said the two satellites and the four ESA satellites would constitute a probe system capable of exploring Earth space from six points for the first time.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 11/20/2003

China Launches Communication Satellite
On November 15, China launched a communication satellite into a preset orbit, atop a Long March 3 A carrier rocket. The China-made Zhongxing-20 satellite was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, Southwest China. Zhongxing-20, weighing 2.3 tons, is a geostationary communication satellite designed by China Academy of Space Technology with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
Source: People's Daily 11/15/2003

China Developing New Generation Communications Satellite
In the first half of 2005, China expects to launch a new generation communications satellite that has a larger capacity and is capable of longer service duration. The satellite under development will feature nearly 10,000 kilowatts of output power, 5,100 kilograms of takeoff weight, and a designed service life of 15 years. The development of the preliminary model is nearing its end, and the development of the flight model will begin by the end of this year.
Source: China Daily 11/25/2003

SARS Vaccine to Begin Clinical Tests
A vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) developed by Beijing Kexing Bio-product Co. is to be put to clinical experiments by the end of December. It is said that tests of the vaccine on monkeys demonstrated the vaccine was effective and has no serious side effects.
Source: China Daily 11/22/2003

Mobile Phone Users Exceed Fixed Telephone Users
By the end of October, the number of fixed telephone users and mobile phone users in China reached 255.139 million and 259.638 million, respectively, as China's mobile phone users exceeded fixed telephone users for the first time. The increase in the number of fixed telephone users and mobile phone users was 40.917 million and 50.933 million respectively. In the meantime, post and telecommunication business turned over 425.71 billion Yuan (approx. 51.48 billion US dollars), of which telecommunication business revenue amounted to 381.44 billion Yuan (approx. 46.12 billion US dollars), up 14.5 percent over the same period of last year. Fixed assets in the telecommunication and information industries was 142.04 billion Yuan (about 17.18 billion US dollars), up 24.2 percent over the corresponding period last year.
Source: China Daily 11/21/2003

China to Promote EVD
In the coming season, the China digital disk technologies community will promote EVD or enhanced versatile disk in place of DVD. Funded by the government, major Chinese manufacturers initiated research to develop EVD in 1999. The community applied for 25 patents on EVD technologies, with seven granted patents. Forty additional patent applications are also in the pipeline. China has submitted an application for EVD technical standards to the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Organization for Standardization.
Source: China Daily 11/19/2003

Digital Cable TV Service to Be Boosted in China
China has developed a three-step strategy for the digitization of China's TV and radio service. In the first step, China will develop digital cable TV in 2003. The second step will begin in 2005 when live digital TV transmission service through satellites and the experiment of land-based digital TV will be carried out. It is estimated that by then China's digital cable TV users will be up to 30 million. In 2008, the third step, China will transmit the 2008 Olympic Games to spread land-based digital TVs and high definition televisions. All analog transmissions will end in China in 2015.
Source: People's Daily 11/19/2003

China, France, and Singapore Build Helicopter Assembly Line
The Hafei Aviation Industry Co., ltd., Euro Copter, China Aviation Technology Import and Export Corporation, and the Singapore Technology Airspace Industry Corporation are to jointly build an assembly line, which can produce 20 complete EC120 helicopters annually in Harbin, the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. It is the second assembly line for the EC120 helicopters in the world. The construction of the assembly line is expected to be completed in a year and the helicopters made in China will be known as the HC120. The EC120 is a five-seat light helicopter, jointly designed in 1990 by the above companies. It is said that China will need 1,000 helicopters for civilian use by 2010 and 7,000 to 10,000 by 2020.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 11/20/2003

Sino-US Research Center for Sustainable Development of Animal Husbandry Inaugurated
A China-US research center for sustainable development of animal husbandry was inaugurated at the Gansu Agricultural University, based in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province in Northwest China. The research center will serve as a platform for long-term cooperation between China and the United States in developing animal husbandry in the future. Chinese and American scientists have been together conducting research on the deterioration of grassland, shortage of pasture resources, reduction in bio-diversity, invasion of weeds, and declining productivity of grassland for more than two years.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 11/23/2003

Foreign Firms Found to Contribute Little to Technology Diffusion
A survey by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has found that foreign-funded enterprises in China contribute little to introducing advanced technologies to China. Among the surveyed companies, about 60 percent have established independent research and development (R&D) branches, but with a comparatively small group of employees. Most have less than 50 employees specializing in technology research. Nearly 75 percent restrain their annual R&D expenditure to less than 5 million Yuan (approx. 604,595 US dollars).
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 11/19/2003

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