China Science & Technology Digest:
December 15-31, 2003

ATIP

This digest summarizes S&T-related articles that appeared in the media ATIP monitored in the second half of December 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.

China Successfully Launches "Probe No.1"
China launched a high-altitude orbiting satellite on December 30, 2003. It is part of a space probe program carried out jointly by China and the European Space Agency (ESA). The satellite entered an orbit with a perigee of 555 kilometers and an apogee of 78,051 kilometers, and at a gradient of 28.5 degrees. Probe No.1, the first satellite of the Double Star Project, is the highest orbiting satellite China has ever launched. The apogee of its orbit is more than twice as high as the geosynchronous orbit. Weighing 350 kilograms, the satellite is expected to work in space for 18 months.

Proposed by Chinese scientists in 1997, the Double Star Project is the first China-Europe joint satellite probe program. Probe No. 1 will be followed by Probe No. 2, a "polar orbiting" satellite that is scheduled to go up next year. They will probe important areas of two magnetic fields of Earth space, which have never been covered by any satellites, comprising the Earth's magnetic field, ionosphere, and middle to high layers of atmosphere.
Source: China Daily 12/30/2003

Internet Protocol Progress Generated
The Institute of Computing Technology (ICT), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, has developed some core Internet protocol (IP) v6 technologies, including testing software, network monitor and control, switch gateways between IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, mobile IPv6 gateways, and switch machines for IPv6 networks. The current IPv4 protocol has 4.3 billion IP addresses and the United States owns more than 70 percent of the address resources. China only had 32 million addresses by the end of June. The IPv6 is a core part of the next generation internet network, which will provide about 160 billion times of the current address resources. ICT is also expected to release the second generation of its central processing unit -- God's Son 2 -- in the middle of next year, which has a clock speed of 500 megahertz and a performance equivalent to US chip giant Intel's 1-gigahertz Pentium 4.
Source: People's Daily 12/22/2003

China Develops Chips for 3G Multimedia Mobile Phones
Scientists from the Institute of Super-large-scale Integrated Circuits at Shanghai-based Tongji University have developed two models of chips for third generation multimedia mobile phone sets. It is said that the two types of microchips, named Shenxin I and Shenxin II, will enable a variety of value-added services and applications as well as voice services, including digital video recording and transmission, and video broadcasting.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 12/19/2003

Asia's Top Solar Base Begins Operations
Asia's largest production base for photovoltaics, a type of solar energy, has begun production at Yingli in Baoding, in Hebei Province. Taking eight years to complete, Yingli has a projected annual production capacity of 50 megawatts and could rank among the world's top 10 photovoltaic producers.
Source: People's Daily 12/22/2003

China Develops First Laser Cooled Atomic Fountain Clock
The first laser cooled cesium atomic fountain clock has been initiated by China National Institute of Metrology with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and China National Natural Science Foundation. The accuracy of its time frequency is 8.5 x 10-15, which means that there will be an error of less that a second in 3.5m years. The China National Institute of Metrology is the only institution in China to develop and maintain a cesium atomic primary clock. Only France, the US, and Germany have independently developed their own atomic primary clocks before China.
Source: Guangming Daily 12/26/2003

Sino-Brazilian Turbofan Regional Jet Passes Flight Trial
The first Sino-Brazilian ERJ145 regional aircraft passed its trial flight in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 50-seat turbofan aircraft was assembled by the Harbin-based Embraer Aircraft Industry Co., Ltd, a joint venture established in January 2003 between China's Hafei Aviation Industry Co., Ltd and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A (Embraer) of Brazil, the world's fourth largest aircraft manufacturer that entered China in 2000. The joint venture is capable of producing up to 24 aircraft annually, and will produce eight jets in 2004, said Cui Xuewen, President of the joint venture and the Harbin-based Hafei Group.
Source: China Daily 12/17/2003

China's 'Mountain Eagle' Set to Fly
The backer of China's fighter-pilot trainer, the "Mountain Eagle", has made its maiden flight in the Southwestern province of Guizhou and mass production of the plane will begin in 2005. The "Mountain Eagle" is to be used to train pilots before they take to both second and third-generation fighters. The plane was manufactured by the Guizhou Aviation Industry Group under the China Aviation Industry Corp I.
Source: China Daily 12/16/2003

SARS Specimen Bank Planned
The provincial disease prevention and control center of Guangdong is planning to create a bank to store materials related to SARS. The center is one of the four institutions authorized by Chinese Health Ministry to store specimens taken from SARS patients, suspected patients, and those who had close contact with infected patients. The other three are the national and Beijing disease prevention and control centers and the country’s military medical academy.
Source: People’s Daily 12/26/2003

World's Largest Ecology Fair Launches in China
Shanghai is to hold IFAT, the world's largest trade fair for environmental products and technologies next year. IFAT China, which will take place from June 29 to July 2, 2004, is a comprehensive trade exhibition of practical applications for water supply and sewage, waste disposal and recycling, as well as gas filtering and exhaust decontamination. The fair will be held every two years from then on. IFAT is a brand of the Munich International Trade Fairs of Germany. Started in 1966, the event attracted 2,042 exhibitors from 39 countries in 2002.
Website: http://www.ifat-china.com/
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 12/17/2003

Trilateral Forum on High Technologies and Commerce Begins
More than 300 investors, entrepreneurs, and officials from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) attended a trilateral forum to discuss technological and commercial cooperation in the information industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, energy, and the environment. The 2003 China-Japan-ROC Forum on High Technology and Commerce was organized by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) from the 17th to 19th of December.
Source: Xinhuanews Agency 12/18/2003

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