EURAXESS Links China Monthly Newsletter Feb 2010

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO CHINA
EURAXESS LINKS CHINA NEWSLETTER Issue 3 February 2010
This edition of EURAXESS Links China Newsletter provides you the now usual information on EU-China major S&T contacts, announcements and calls from the EU or from China and open to European researchers. You will hence learn about the launch of the FP863 project, an interesting support action under to boost EU-China collaboration in the ICT field through creating co-funding tools for future joint projects. In this edition, we also announce the coming conference promoting EU-China research collaboration as well as the EURAXESS Links China network to be held in Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, on March 15. This event will be part of the 25th anniversary of Sun Yat Sen University School of Business but is open to all researchers, European and Chinese, interested in EU-China cooperation and in learning more about how to benefit from the networking tool that is EURAXESS Links China. EURAXESS Links China will also be promoted in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Chinese University on March 16. You can find more details on these events on EURAXESS Links China website. Besides the kinds of information already enclosed in the previous editions of this newsletter, the present edition inaugurates a new section featuring articles written and sent to us by readers of the newsletters and members of the EURAXESS Links China network. This section, called Researchers Voices, offers the possibility for every one of you to share outcomes of your work, be it in research or in project management, and provides the opportunity for the readers to get a glimpse of the sheer diversity of EU-China research exchanges. We thank very much the authors of this editions articles and are calling again for articles to be published in the next March edition (send articles to Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net before 1st of April). This month In Focus article sheds some light on the new China-Africa Science and Technology Partnership Program, launched in November 2009, and its likely implications for the European Unions own S&T cooperation policy towards African countries. As for the previous editions, the S&T Highlights from the Media conclude the newsletter by listing the main scientific news covered by the Chinese media during the past month. Following a topic addressed in the January edition, i.e. mobility of researchers, China top leadership in the person of Premier Wen Jia Bao, expressed its wish to attract more foreign top researchers and expert in order to help with China's modernization drive. More
EURAXESS LINKS CHINA NEWSLETTER 3 February 2010 European Commission, Delegation of the European Union to China
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controversial, genetically-modified (GM) food and the debate on its safety has been given intense coverage by the Chinese media in February. Other S&T news featured include further expansion of Chinas high-speed railway, reports on the evolution of the gap between rich and poor in China and new measures taken on the environmental front. This is the third edition of the EURAXESS Links China Newsletter. The creation of the Researchers Voices section reflects our dedication to making this publication not only an instrument to spread information in one way only, but much more a platform for exchanging information as well as experiences among people who share common interests and, sometimes, common challenges. It is therefore our wish, for this year of the Tiger, to see each of you take advantage of this newsletter, and more generally of the EURAXESS network, to get the information you are looking for and to spread the information you want to promote. I hope you will find the content of this edition useful or, if not, that you will let us know in order to achieve what we all want: a better communication for as Shanghai World Expo is coming a better life. Best wishes,
Georges Papageorgiou Head of the S&T Section of the EU Delegation to China
About this newsletter EURAXESS LINKS CHINA NEWSLETTER is a monthly electronic newsletter that provides information of specific interest to European researchers in China. The information contained in this publication is intended for personal use only. It should not be taken in any way to reflect the views of the European Commission, nor is the Delegation of the European Union to China responsible for the authenticity of the selected content. Please email to jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net for any comments on this newsletter or if you think any other colleagues would be interested in receiving this newsletter, or if you wish to unsubscribe. Editor: Jacques de Soyres, Information Officer of EURAXESS Links China
CONTENTS
MAJOR EU-CHINA S&T CONTACTS AND RELATIONS ........................................................ 6

Launch of FP863 project (FP7 International Cooperation project) ............................6
IN FOCUS ..................................................................................................................... 7
China-Africa Science & Technology Partnership: Towards a reconfiguration of the international S&T cooperation world map? .................................................................7
RESEARCHERS VOICES ................................................................................................. 9

New strategy for insect pest control in China .............................................................9 Capacity Building on Sustainable Development: the Sino-Italian Case Study ......10 Academy of Finland promotes research with China.................................................12 Light and Love Tour : One Hundred Thousand Energy Efficient Lamps Donated to Dingxi City.....................................................................................................................15
CALLS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS...................................................................................... 16

EURAXESS Links China Announcements ..................................................................16 Forthcoming event : "EU-China S&T cooperation, opportunities for researchers" Information Conference in Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, 15 March ...........16 EURAXESS Links China presentation in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ...................................................................................................................16 Information session at Institute of Policy and Management (CAS).........................16 EU announcements.......................................................................................................16 Global Soils threatened: EU, USA and China join forces in research .....................16 New Publication: Aeronautics and Air Transport Research ....................................17 European Space Agency and MoST cooperation in Dragon Programme.............17 The first networking event of the STF Programme ...................................................17 China international announcements ...........................................................................17 MoST annual list of international scientific events in China released ....................17 Member states China Annoucements ......................................................................18 The Freiburg University, the Freiburg Alumni-Club in China and the Furtwangen school are holding an alumni-seminar on Environmental Management at the TongJi University in Shanghai, 20-23 May.................................................................18 Calls................................................................................................................................18 973 Programme and State Large-scale S&T Programme call for proposals published.......................................................................................................................18 Civil Law Initiative China 2010 Phd Awards............................................................19 UK-China Research Projects in Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies - Call for Proposals ................................................................................................................19 UK Energy Research Centre 2010 Summer School call for nominations ...............19 Call for Tenders: Monitoring human resources policies and practices in research and assessing the impact of the 'scientific visa' package .......................................20 Open calls under FP7 and Euratom.............................................................................21
COMING EVENTS ......................................................................................................... 22 S&T HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MEDIA ............................................................................... 24
Policies and Papers ......................................................................................................24 No timetable for green taxation: official.....................................................................24 Patent Information for Major Industries .....................................................................24 China issues rules on maritime wind energy projects with stress on environmental protection ............................................................................................24 China Fifth in PCT Applications..................................................................................25 People of the Month ......................................................................................................25 Premier Wen welcomes more foreign experts to work in China..............................25 Voices and Opinions.....................................................................................................25 Debate on GM food continues.....................................................................................25 Caution on GM crops ...................................................................................................27 Govt 'has an open mind' on GM food .........................................................................27 China faces food security challenges: legislator ......................................................28 Scientific Activities .......................................................................................................28 Health.............................................................................................................................28 Huge challenges for China in overseas TCM market ................................................ 28 Short Memory Not a Passive Decay ............................................................................ 28 Top Ten TCM Events in 2009......................................................................................... 29 New Psoriasis Susceptibility Loci Found ..................................................................... 29 Magnesium Enhances Learning and Memory ............................................................ 30 Scientists Use Light Beams to Prick Mystery of Acupuncture .................................. 30 Diseases Tracing Signal Molecules.............................................................................. 30 New Approach Betrays Cancer Metastasis ................................................................. 30 Food, agriculture and fisheries, biotechnology ........................................................31 No GM grain seeds for mass cultivation: ministry ...................................................... 31 Large Animal DNA to Sequence ................................................................................... 31 Bats Dark Vision Unveiled............................................................................................. 31 First Inbred Line Pig Cloned .......................................................................................... 32 Chinese experts: No evidence yet to show GM food unsafe.................................... 32 Tea Tree Genome Sequenced ...................................................................................... 32 Information and communication technologies..........................................................32 Shanghai launches China's first Internet of Things center........................................ 32 More Digital Cities ........................................................................................................... 33 Robot Lab Approved ....................................................................................................... 33 China Telecom joins GSM Association ........................................................................ 33 Strategic Alliances for Memory Industry....................................................................... 34 Huawei opens research, development center in Turkey ........................................... 34 Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies .34 Superconductivity Found in One-Atomic-Layer .......................................................... 34 Strong Crystal Size Effects on Deformation Twinning ............................................... 34 Finest Carbon Nanotube Synthesized ......................................................................... 35 Water Collection Fiber .................................................................................................... 35 Advanced Residue Removing Technique.................................................................... 35 Environment (including climate change) ...................................................................35 Demand rising for weather modification ...................................................................... 35 New Tide Station in Antarctic ......................................................................................... 36 ADB to fund study on climate change in NE Asia....................................................... 36 China issues first national census of pollution sources ............................................. 36 Water Cooling Unit Approved ........................................................................................ 37 Energy ...........................................................................................................................37 Solar Parabolic Trough Power System ........................................................................ 37 China plans to build national renewable energy center: report ................................ 37 Transport (including aeronautics) ..............................................................................37 China works on C919 jumbo jet design ....................................................................... 38
Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation ................................................... 38 China launches three modes LNG vessels ................................................................. 38 China's High-Speed Railways Hit 3,300 km................................................................ 38 Socioeconomic sciences and the Humanities...........................................................39 China's increasing Internet activity moves society forward ...................................... 39 Income gap not as big as earlier thought .................................................................... 39 China to draft new poverty reduction guidelines for next decade ............................ 39 Space .............................................................................................................................40 China to put Tiangong-1 into space next year ............................................................ 40 China plans to launch second lunar probe in October............................................... 40 Lunar Satellites Laser Eye ............................................................................................ 40 New Marine Satellite ....................................................................................................... 41 People............................................................................................................................41 Ceremony for the PhD Cotutelle Program between ICT/CAS and USYD.............. 41 Research infrastructures .............................................................................................41 Light Field Based Quantum State Study ...................................................................... 41 The CAS Key Laboratory of Photobiology Unveiled .................................................. 42 China sets up permanent tide-examination station in Antarctica ............................. 42
Major EU-China S&T contacts and relations
Launch of FP863 project (FP7 International Cooperation project) The FP863 project cofounded by the European Commission under FP7 and Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) had its kick-off event on March 1st in BeiHang University, Beijing. The main objective of the FP863 project is to contribute to a better articulation of funding instruments between EU and China to lay down the conditions for bilateral calls on common ICT research priorities. The FP863 project engages ICT policy dialogue by involving embassies of members' states (France, Germany, Spain, and Austria), the ISTAG and 863 MoSTs program representatives, as well as official representatives of Chinas Ministry of Science and Technology with the aim to: Harmonize research through identification of common ICT priorities Implement in China the concept and approach of an European technology Platform (ETP) Structure a process leading to bilateral calls and co-funded projects Investigate tangible joint project opportunities The main outcomes are: Collaboration roadmap on common ICT research priorities based on the shared vision of 863 and FP7
programs, ETP research agendas, Future Internet and bilateral cooperation agreement between China and EU members' states Guidelines and action plan to enable effective implementation of bilateral calls leading to co-funded projects. Increased synergies with Capacities (Inter,national Cooperation) and People Specific Programmes of FP7, and related activities in EU Member States as a way to foster more fluid exchange of ideas, people and resources Collaborative bilingual portal and two international conferences targeting EU and China research communities to improve mutual understanding and establish personal relationships A similar to FP863 project approach was adopted in the past within the field of aeronautics,between EU and China.: The support action called AeroChina and later AeroChina2, were launched within FP6 and FP7. AeroChina resulted in the setting up of a scheme for coordinated calls with jointly identified topics and joint evaluation of the proposals by the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The first coordinated call in the field of aeronautics was published in July 2009 and is expected to lead to a number of co-funded projects by FP7 and MIIT to start later this year.
In Focus
China-Africa Science & Technology Partnership: Towards a reconfiguration of the international S&T cooperation world map?
The need to take Chinas presence in Africa into account when defining the European Unions strategy towards this continent has been increasingly acknowledged by the European leadership, as testified by several official documents released in the past few years1. In this perspective, the launch of the China Africa Science and Technology Partnership Program in November last year, would be considered in the EUs thinking about its strategy towards Africa (as well as towards China itself) in the field of science and technology. The growing interactions between China and Africa have gotten the international communitys attention for some time already. Chinese investment on the African continent is rising and the Sino-African exchanges are being more and more institutionalized. As a new step in this institutionalization process as well as a new development in Sino-African cooperation, the launch of the China Africa Science and Technology Partnership Program (CASTEP) has been announced by Premier Wen JiaBao at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Sharm El-Sheikh on November 8, 2009. Effectively launched on 25 November 2009 in Beijing, this program is managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) for an initial duration of 3 years. While the presentation documents of the CASTEP program emphasize the importance of S&T in building bilateral partnerships of mutual benefits and reciprocity, the content and structure of the program appears to serve in priority the development of African S&T and research capacities. The development of African countries by giving full scope to the role of Science and Technology in this development is set as the ultimate goal of the program, which hence focuses on S&T capacity building and applicable technologies related to peoples livelihood. Under CASTEP, China intends to collaborate with African countries to carry out S&T policy and management studies in order to improve these countries own national S&T systems. China will also offer technical services and guidance by sending scientists and engineers, organize training courses and workshops targeted at the needs of African countries, support African researchers to study or work in China as well as the establishment of joint labs, and finally, implement full dimension demonstrations of applicable technologies in African countries in order to support Chinese technologies to be transferred. Regarding the funding of the program, it will come from the Chinese government for the most part while industries as well as international organizations might be secondary sources of funding. The fact that the CASTEP launch ceremony in Beijing also included a donation of equipment to African researchers and was hence entitled CASTEP launch ceremony and donation of equipment to African researchers seems to indicate that the structural emphasis of the program on support to Africas research system is explicitly assumed.
2771st Council Meeting, General Affairs and External Relations, External Relations, Brussels, 11-12 December, 2006 - Press Release 16291/06 (Presse 353); Communication of the Commission, EU China: Closer partners, growing responsibilities, COM (2006) 631 final
CASTEPs implementation is of strategic importance, as illustrated by the Sino-African events organized in Cairo in December 2009, less than a month after the official launch of the program. While Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology, was taking part in the Round Table on Sino-African Science and Technology Cooperation to discuss CASTEP with representatives of over 20 African countries, the Chinese S&T and Innovative Technological Products Exhibition was opening the same day, on December 3. The 3-days exhibition, for which Chinese companies had been invited by MoST to display demonstration material, attracted around 10 000 visitors and resulted in the signature of more than 100 contracts for a total amount of over 200 million US Dollars. Besides requiring companies participating in the exhibition to bring demonstration samples of their technological products, the notice published by MoST prior to the event also indicated very clearly its objectives: - Show and demonstrate Chinas level of technological innovation and scientific research power; - Provide an opportunity for Chinese innovative technology and products to enter Egypt and Africa; - In the context of the global financial crisis make some progress in the opening of the international market for Chinese companies and in particular the small and medium ones. (source: http://www.ctp.gov.cn/notice/notice1/200906/10413.html) These objectives can be seen as a good summary of the possible strategic importance of CASTEP. While the scientific interest in cooperating with Africa and its role as a motivation in the setting up of CASTEP should not be neglected, the creation of such a program is obviously an illustration of how S&T international cooperation can serve broader external policy purposes. Hence the launch of CASTEP could also be analyzed in terms of its possible impact on Europes own external policies (including S&T policies), both towards Africa and towards China itself. The scientific relations between the European Union and Africa have developed in the past 26 years since the first Science and Technology for Development Programme in 1983. During FP6 period (2002-2006), teams from 51 of the 53 African countries filed 3,888 applications for participation in collaborative research projects and 873 of these applications were successful and received about 93 million Euros in funding. The figures for the two first years of FP7 indicate a further progress in African participation. These scientific exchanges and collaborations are strategically oriented by the 8th Partnership within the Joint EU/Africa Strategys Action plan approved at the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon on 8-9 December 2007, which covers science, information society and space. According to this partnership, priority in EU-Africa S&T cooperation should go to reinforcing the African Science and Technology basis and its research systems both in terms of production and use of knowledge and in terms of institutional S&T policy capability2. The fact that China has made S&T capacity building, including in policy making, an important component of its own partnership with Africa, could hence prove to be influential in the implementation of the EUs strategy. But more than this apparent similarities in the strategies adopted, which could potentially result in competition situations, the fact that China, through a program such as CASTEP which emphasizes knowledge transfer from China to other countries mainly on Chinese funding, positions itself as a donor on the international scene, might ask the question of its perception as a developing country in the field of S&T.
Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Africa and the European Union: Past Achievements and Future Prospects, European Commission, Directorate General for Research, Directorate D International cooperation, General Information, 2009
Researchers voices
Articles featured in this section have been sent to us by members of the readers community for publication in the newsletter. We welcome your articles for the next edition, be it scientific articles or information on research and S&T programs in China. Please send the articles to Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net
New strategy for insect pest control in China

By Jean-Francois Picimbon, AvH Functional Genomics & Proteomics of Chemical Ecology Microbiology, Plant Transgenesis and Insect Control Ren cai Professor and Head, High Tech Research Center Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences 11, Sang Yuan Road, Jinan, 250100, P.R. China Tel: 0086-531-83179499 Fax: 0086-531-83178152 jfpicimbon@saas.ac.cn
Plans for more sustainable Agriculture have been proposed in China through increased national and international academic exchanges in the field of insect control and protein biotechnology for plant protection. The unified network of knowledge and expertise is ready to help solve the insect problem, e.g. find the remedy against diseases of plants and animals transmitted by insects and protect crops from aphids, beetles, flies, locusts, moths and all other devastator insect squads. This Europe-Asia network is also ready to help find a remedy against mosquito-transmitted human diseases such as epidemic dengue, malaria, shikungunya and yellow fever. The new laboratory at the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Jinan, "Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Chemical Ecology, together with North-Central-East European and Pacific Asian collaborators, aims to new generation of protein engineering and drug design for insect pest control and thereby not only plant but also human health protection. The proposed project uses the potential provided by odorant-binding proteins from the insect antennae as new target sites for species-specific insect management. The main goal is to identify the behavioral chemicals detected by insect pests and gain an understanding of the molecular basis of chemical reception at the periphery of sensory neurons. The project aims at synthesizing new chemical analogues (Odorant Receptor Suppressing Agents) through the high definite resolution of the functional structure of sensory binding proteins, and ultimately, the resolution of the supra-molecular receptor complex underlying olfaction (Picimbon, 2004; Picimbon and Regnault-Roger, 2008). Specific objectives address biotechnological applications of new ligand discovery and sensory proteins engineering with analysis of behavioral and physiological effects on insect pests from Europe, Asia and internationally. Small wan-like proteins with ability to bind pheromones and plant-odour volatiles, highly abundant in the antennal sensillum lymph cavity in which the dendrites of sensory receptors are bathed, have been discovered at the interface between the external environment and the
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neurobiological system of insects (Vogt and Riddiford, 1981). Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) have been extensively studied over the past thirty years. These proteins mediate reception and solubilisation of hydrophobic odorant molecules at the periphery of sensory receptor neurons. Therefore, they may represent new targets for insect pest management by interfering specifically with odorant reception. Pheromone analogues are currently employed in insect pest management with possible negative secondary effects. The new laboratory in SAAS proposes to study the molecular basis of olfaction and in particular the functional properties of specific OBPs not only for increasing fundamental knowledge in Neurosciences on molecular mechanisms of sensory systems but also for developing new odorant analogues with molecular properties compatible with olfaction inhibition. This may represent a new extremely efficient and safe environment strategy to control insect pests.
Picimbon, J.F. 2004. Synthesis of odorant reception-suppressing agents Odorant-Binding Proteins (OBPs) and Chemosensory Proteins (CSPs) : Molecular targets for pest management. In: Biopesticides of Plant Origin (Philogne B. , Regnault-Roger, C. and Vincent, C. , eds. ), Lavoisier Tech and Doc, Paris. Picimbon, J.F. and Regnault-Roger, C. 2008. Composs smiochimiques volatils, phytoprotection et olfaction : cibles molculaires de la lutte intgre. Chapter 20 In: Biopesticides dorigine vgtale, Eds: C. Regnault-Roger, B. Philogne, and C. Vincent , Lavoisier Tech and Doc, Paris, France. Vogt, R.G and Riddiford, L.M. 1981. Pheromone binding and inactivation by moth antennae. Nature 293, 161-163.
Capacity Building on Sustainable Development: the Sino-Italian Case Study

By Alessandra Fornetti Director, TEN Center, Venice International University Isola di San Servolo 30100 Venezia Tel. +39 041 2719525 Fax +39 041 27194510
www.univiu.org/research/ten www.etcprogram.org
and Ilda Mannino Research and Training Coordinator TEN Center, Venice International University
China is currently facing important challenges for its development. On one side this country represents today one of the worlds main manufacturing center and is becoming the main market as number of population. On the other side the rapid growth of industry, the increase of urban population and the upgrading of consumer demand has been bringing to natural resource depletion, pollution issues and other environmental pressures that can also affect the economic growth itself of the country. These issues can impact not only on China and its development, but also on the rest of the world, due to the global character of some of the environmental issues, i.e. the link between energy consumption and climate change, as well as the strict economic relationship among countries. This means that Chinas capacity to manage environmental issues will have impacts on the rest of the world as well. In particular, building the capacity of Chinese civil servants to develop and implement sound environmental policies, of the private companies and researchers to innovate in a sustainable
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way and spread the knowledge, of the media to inform the large community becomes one fundamental goal both for China and other countries. This need has been strongly perceived by the Chinese government as demonstrated, in the last decades, by its increasing attention to capacity building for environmental protection and sustainable development, primarily through the introduction of new legislation on the environment and development at different levels. As well as by the other countries that, also on the momentum of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, in the last years launched bilateral cooperation projects on capacity building for sustainable development. Among them the Sino-Italian Advanced Training Program has been offering Capacity Building activities since 2003 to promote and foster sustainable development among Chinese decision makers and experts involved in the process of policy making. The Program, developed within the broader Sino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, is managed by the Venice International University (VIU), an international consortium of higher education institutions located on the island of San Servolo in the Venice lagoon. The success and importance of the Training Program for both Chinese and Italian Governments is represented by the continuity of the Program which has been going on for the last 7 years, the 5000 Chinese participants who have been attending the courses among them is the current Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, Mr. Li Ganjie and the Chinese partners institutions, namely the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The Program aims at fostering the dialogue and the exchange of knowledge on Sustainable Development and Environmental Management among the two countries through the arrangement of different two-week training sessions in Italy and in China, conceived as study-tours with lecturing sessions by Italian and international experts selected from the academia and research centers, workshops and site visits to private and public companies. The presentation of case studies, discussion among participants and experts, the transfer of technology and the network building among Chinese and Italian civil servants, experts and the entrepreneurial community are at the basis of the Sino-Italian capacity building activity. The agendas of the training sessions are designed according to the topics and priorities indicated by the Chinese partners who are also in charge of selecting the participants of the delegations. The indications received by the Chinese partners highlight the priorities for the Chinese Government, with a particular emphasis to the need of developing policies and economic tools to handle and prevent environmental emergency. The Energy issue, including the promotion of renewables and efficiency, Pollution Monitoring, Water and Waste Management, Sustainable Urban Development and Eco-building are the topics on which the Chinese partners have been focusing in the 7 years of the Program. This year, Climate Change, Low Carbon Economy and Environmental Impact Assessment are emerging as the new hot topics for China. Recently, the VIU, CASS, the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Monserrate have developed a new tool for further promoting the capacity building experience of the Advanced Training Program, namely the distance-learning program which allows to simultaneously reaching a greater number of beneficiaries dislocated in remote areas of China, through Italian and Chinese lecturers broadcasting live from Beijing and Milan to classrooms in selected locations. The Program has created an international network of experts in Sustainable Development which has led to strengthen research and exchange activities at academic level and to develop the cooperation between the academia, the business sector of private companies,
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and policy makers involved in the promotion of technological innovation for sustainable development in the common effort of developing a green economy to face the issue of Globalization and Sustainability.
Academy of Finland promotes research with China

By Terhi Loukiainen Photos: Mika Tirronen and Nina Dodd Academy of Finland Vilhonvuorenkatu 6 P.O. Box 99 FI-00501 Helsinki, Finland http://www.aka.fi/eng Contact : Aino Laine (Ms), M.A., Science Adviser, aino.laine@aka.fi
At present, the Academy of Finlands most active cooperation with China focuses on the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The Academy and the NSFC open a joint call annually in a field that is separately agreed each year. Our most recent call was in the field of computational sciences and signal processing, and was arranged in 2009; within it, we funded four projects. At present, we have 12 ongoing jointly funded projects with China. The Academy provides funding to the Finnish researchers in these projects to a total of some 3.9 million euros, Programme Manager Mika Tirronen of the Academy of Finland explains. In addition to this, the Academy is also involved in agreement-based research funding collaboration with two other research funding organisations in China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The Academy has further arranged joint seminars with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS). The Academy has a programme for researcher mobility with the NSFC, CAS and CASS. A total of 64 Finnish researchers visited China in 20052009 with funding from these programmes, while 85 Chinese researchers visited Finland. There has been a steady level of interest in the mobility programme. Cooperation within comparative law Tirronen says that cooperation is underway in several different areas. For instance, in autumn 2009, the Academy and CASS held a joint seminar in Beijing on comparative law. Cooperation will continue in the form of a seminar to be held in Finland. Considerable legislative reforms are being prepared in China, and Finnish researchers now have an opportunity to work closely with the leading Chinese legislation experts who are actively involved in drafting the new legislation. The Academy has also actively participated in the cooperation networks between the European Union and China. Since 2005, the Academy has been a member of CO-Reach ERA-Net, a cooperation network between Europe and China, and a joint call in the field of social science research was opened through it in 2008. The call contributed to the networking of Chinese and European researchers within 14 projects. The CO-Reach secretariat is now drafting an application to the Commission for three more years of funding. If the network is given additional funding, it will be able to fund actual joint projects in the coming years."
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Joint projects with China are in progress in a number of fields, including neuroscience, ecology, energy research, communications and computational sciences. Research on climate change may be a future area for research collaboration. Cooperation brings up new research topics China is a rising power in terms of both economics and science and takes on increasing prominence in global competition every year. China has a clear aim of attaining a position among the worlds leading science nations within the next decades. Indications of this aim include the countrys considerable investments in science and active efforts to attract Chinese top scientists to return from working abroad. Its vital to give Finnish researchers opportunities to work with the best Chinese universities and research teams. The contacts that are built can give Finnish researchers access to research subjects and equipment that might otherwise be out of reach, says Tirronen. Tirronen also points to the importance of attracting talented Chinese researchers to Finnish universities. The resulting professional and social ties are important in view of research collaboration later on. A researcher who returns home to China can prove to be a valuable contact and even act as something of a goodwill ambassador for the Finnish research community. From the Academys point of view, the most important aspect is to create and maintain a good working relationship with Chinese research funding agencies. Good contacts will allow us to open various joint calls, through which Finnish and Chinese research teams can apply for funding for genuine joint projects in various disciplines, Tirronen says. Researchers stand to gain from research collaboration Recently, new opportunities have emerged for researchers from outside China: research in fields such as the history of China and its social and cultural traditions is opening up and offers a multitude of interesting research topics for researchers from the western world. Examples of subjects that are particularly interesting in connection with China include economics, law, political science, social welfare, world views, migration, communications, cultural heritage, labour market trends and regulation, climate change mitigation and related governance, and environmental research. According to Tirronen, the growing international engagement in science in China has perhaps been the most striking in the biosciences and in natural sciences. The best universities in China and the research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have rapidly risen towards the top in international comparisons. In areas such as nanoresearch and particle physics, China is already near the leading edge and ongoing investments in research infrastructure such as particle accelerators will continue to raise the standard of research even further in the coming years. Like many of their colleagues in other fields, Chinese researchers working abroad in biomedicine have been eager to return. If these trends continue, science in China has a bright future to look forward to. Good experiences so far The experiences weve had so far of working with China have been positive on the whole: the feedback from Finnish researchers is good and people feel that research collaboration with China is important. Researchers are eager to participate in joint seminars and joint calls with China. Many Finnish researchers have contacts with Chinese research teams, and weve had a good number of applications in the joint calls weve arranged. We also have positive experiences of Chinese students coming to Finland. Actually the worst bottleneck in recruiting
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students is how to identify the best candidates. There is a lot of interest, but when it comes to research work, its extremely important that people have good recommendations, previous experience and language skills. One of the challenges has been how to interest young Finnish researchers in working at universities and research institutions in China. Cultural and social studies are a natural focus of interest, but China also has excellent research environments to offer in natural sciences.
The management of the Academy of Finland visited the NSFC in Beijing. From left: Academy Vice President Riitta Mustonen, Professor Han Jianguo, Director-General of the NSFCs Bureau of International Cooperation, Academy President Markku Mattila, Professor Shen Wen-Qing, Vice President of the NSFC, and Science Advisor Suvipivikki Mikola of the Academy of Finland.
New millennium brings new forms of cooperation The first cooperation agreement between the Academy of Finland and China was signed with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1981 but in the 1980s, cooperation consisted exclusively of a researcher mobility programme. In a different political climate, the programme offered Finnish researchers an opportunity to go to China, while Chinese researchers had an opportunity to come to Finland. In the 1990s, the Academy started similar researcher mobility programmes with the NSFC and CASS. Cooperation entered a new phase at the start of the new millennium. In 2002, the Academy opened its first joint call with the NSFC. The call concerned the Academys Centres of Excellence in research and the State Key Laboratories funded by the NSFC, and a total of four joint projects were funded. The call was a success and received a great deal of positive feedback from Finnish researchers, and the Academy decided to continue with this form of cooperation. In 2005, a research programme on neuroscience (NEURO) was launched, as a joint funding effort with the NSFC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Since then, joint calls have been opened every year together with Chinese research funding agencies. The researcher mobility programmes are also still in operation, with active visits from Finland to China and vice versa. New joint calls In the coming years, the Academy plans to continue to open new joint calls with Chinese research funding agencies annually. The topics for the calls will be decided separately for each year, a process in which the Academys Research Councils play a crucial role. The researcher mobility programmes will continue in their present form and the aim is to arrange joint seminars, too, especially in fields where the Academy has an ongoing research programme. At present, the Academy is preparing a joint seminar with the NSFC and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) on mathematics, specifically research on inversion problems. If the funding negotiations proceed according to plan, a joint call on this topic may be opened in late 2010 or early 2011. According to Tirronen, the Academys good working relationship with research funding agencies in China has attracted some attention on European forums: The NEURO research programme, which is a joint funding effort between China, Finland and Canada, has been
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held up in a number of contexts as an example of a good multilateral research programme with China. Multilateral programmes like this are still nonexistent in Europe; the programmes that there have been have focused entirely on funding for researcher mobility and joint seminars. The Academy will continue to cultivate its ties with China, building on the shared successes we have had so far.
This article is also available on internet at : http://www.aka.fi/en-gb/A/Academy-of-Finland/The-Academy/Academy-news/Academy-of-Finland-promotes-rese arch-with-China-/
Light and Love Tour : One Hundred Thousand Energy Efficient Lamps Donated to Dingxi City
By Ms Liu ShiJun, Programme Manager, Energy & Environment Team, UNDP China
On December 18, 2009, the " Light and Love tour One Hundred Thousand Energy Efficient Lamps Donated to Dingxi City donation ceremony was held in Nei Guanying town Anding District of Dingxi City, Gansu Province. The donation of one hundred thousand of energy efficient lamps are jointly provided by the UNDP/GEF/NDRC Project Phasing-out of Incandescent Lamps & Energy Saving Lamps Promotion (PILESLAMP), a joint initiative of UNDP China, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Finance, Zhejiang Yankon Group Co.,Ltd and Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd. The lamps will be sent to 27520 households and 215 schools in rural areas of Anding district of Dingxi city. Dingxi City is one of the most poverty-stricken area in China and lighting conditions are relatively outdated. The utilization of the lamps will save 4.35 million kwh electricity annually. In 2008, the Chinese government launched a policy of promoting energy-saving lamps (ESLs) through financial subsidies. The financial subsidies are 50% for household users and 30% for bulker users. In recent two years, 180 million pcs of ESLs have been promoted nationwide. To further promote the utilization of energy saving lamps in China, UNDP China and NDRC, with support from GEF and Ministry of Finance, jointed developed the project PILESLAMP. It will promote the sustainable development of energy efficiency lamps in China through the transformation of the local lighting products market and the phasing-out of incandescent lamp production and sale, technology development and policy study. On July 24, 2009, the signing ceremony of the project document was held in Diaoyutai Hotel in Beijing, with more than 200 participants attended. Mr. Ban Ki-noon, Secretary General of UN, Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of NDRC and Mr. Li Yong, Vice Minister of MOF were present. In this cold winter season, the Light and Love Tour does not only pass the concept of energy saving to the Dingxi people, but also bring them more comfortable and brighter conditions. We feel very warm. Mr. Yang Zixing, Secretary General of Dingxi City said.
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Calls and announcements

EURAXESS LINKS CHINA ANNOUNCEMENTS Forthcoming event : "EU-China S&T cooperation, opportunities for researchers" Information Conference in Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, 15 March During this afternoon event hosted within the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Sun Yat Sen University School of Business, Mr Georges Papageorgiou, Minister Counselor for Science and Technology, EU delegation to China, will present the European Framework Programme for Research and Development (2007-2013) and the opportunities offered for international cooperation. His presentation will be followed by an introduction of the EURAXESS Links China researchers network by Mr Jacques de Soyres, information officer for this network. Researchers of the Guangdong area are cordially invited to attend this event which could be a good opportunity to meet fellow researchers interested in EU-China cooperation! Download the program of this event here (for Chinese version click here). EURAXESS Links China presentation in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology A presentation of EURAXESS Links China will be held on March 16 in HKUST by the networks information officer, Mr Jacques de Soyres. Information session at Institute of Policy and Management (CAS) On February 9, Ms Jessica Mitchell from the S&T section of the EU delegation in Beijing and Mr Jacques de Soyres, information officer for EURAXESS Links China, visited the CAS Institute of Policy and Management (Beijing) on the invitation of Mr MU RongPing, director of the institute, and Mrs Ulrike Tagscherer, associate professor and project manager for international cooperation. Ms Mitchell introduced FP7 and its international collaboration schemes while Mr Jacques de Soyres introduced EURAXESS Links China and the opportunities for greater interactions with European research and researchers this new network can provide to Chinese researchers and research institutions. Learn more about IPM institute by visiting its website at http://english.ipm.cas.cn/
EU ANNOUNCEMENTS Global Soils threatened: EU, USA and China join forces in research Scientists from Europe, USA and China have established a network of field research stations to study the valuable services that soils provide to humanity. The Soiltrec project will find out how to protect soil against the threats posed by climate change, and increasing food and energy demand from a growing human population. The project is coordinated by the University of Sheffield and brings together 15 partners including universities, research organisations and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The European Commission will invest 7 million over the next 5 years to support scientific research in the EU and China.
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Find more information about this project on the European Commissions webpage and on the Soiltrec webpage.
The first networking event of the STF Programme The 1st networking event of the EU-Science and Technology Fellowship Programme was held in Beijing on March 4 and 5 at Beijing University. This was the first opportunity for the Fellows of the 1st intake to get back together again, following the start of their practical research period. These two days gave them an opportunity to talk about the way their institution conducts research in China. It was interesting to see the differences in how the Fellows were accepted by their Chinese counterparts, and how teams were co-operating with varying degrees of intensity. The objective of the STF programme is to promote the mobility of young researchers, and in particular the mobility to China, and to increase the level of cooperation between European and Chinese research institutions. The Fellows of the current intake are the European ambassadors in the area of science and technology, and it is hoped that during this period of 18 months of research they will be able to lay solid foundations for relationships between them and their Chinese counterparts that will last throughout their working life. The next networking event which will be held in Nanjing on April 22 and 23
New Publication: Aeronautics and Air Transport Research 7th Framework Programme 2007-2013 Aeronautics and Air Transport Research Project Synopses: Volume 1 / Calls 2007 & 2008 In this book, the Aeronautics Unit of the Directorate-General for Research provides a description of more than 80 projects funded in the rst two Calls for Proposals of the Seventh Framework Programme in the eld of Aeronautics and Air Transport. You can download the book here. European Space Agency and MoST cooperation in Dragon Programme The Dragon Programme is a cooperation between ESA and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the P.R. China. The 1st Dragon Programme commenced in 2004 and was completed in April 2008. The 2nd Dragon Programme will last for four years and formally commenced at the 2008 Beijing Symposium. Dragon 2 focuses on exploitation of ESA, TPM and Chinese EO data for science and applications development in land, ocean and atmospheric applications. The Programme brings together joint Sino-European teams to investigate 25 thematic projects. The 2010 Mid Term Results Symposium will take place from 17 to 21 May in Guilin, P.R. China and will bring together the joint Sino-European teams after 2 years to report on their results. Details on the ESA website.
CHINA INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS MoST annual list of international scientific events in China released The department of international cooperation of MoST has released its annual list of international scientific events to be hold in China in 2010 You can access the list (information in Chinese and English for most events) by
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clicking on the two links (1st and 2nd semester) at the bottom of this webpage
MEMBER STATES CHINA ANNOUCEMENTS The Freiburg University, the Freiburg Alumni-Club in China and the Furtwangen school are holding an alumni-seminar on Environmental Management at the TongJi University in Shanghai, 20-23 May. The University of Freiburg, the Freiburg Alumni Club in China and the Furtwangen University are organising an Alumni Seminar on Environmental management from the 20th to the 23rd of May, 2010 at the Tongji University Shanghai, China. Freiburg alumni are invited to participate in this seminar in China. In conjunction with the seminar, an opening celebration for the alumni we be held the 20th of May, at 6 pm at the stand of the city of Freiburg, Expo Shanghai. More information at http://www.daad.org.cn/news9.htm.
Population and health Materials Interdisciplinary Major frontier fields Protein research (within this area, research related to Topic 4 - Proteomics research related to major physiological and pathological processes will be conducted "based on the EU-China S&T Cooperation Agreement for cooperation in FP7", which means that it should collaborate closely with the resulting project from the FP7-ERANET-2010-RTD HEALTH.2010.1.1-3 call for proposals (closed on 19 January 2010). It is indicated that the study will be entrusted to "Key Research Base". Quantum Control Nano research Growth and reproductive research Applications will be submitted online, period for submission from 8 March 08:00 to 22 March 17:00. Details on submission procedures will be published late February. It is indicated in Paragraph 4 (application for collaborative projects with the EU) of the Guidelines for Applications that applications of research institutes in the EU member states should be submitted through Chinese applicants, and they should join at least two Chinese partners not affiliated to the same entity. Abstract in English and joint application agreement signed by partners should also be submitted. Selected proposals will be launched in 2011. Fund allocated comprises three categories: A >30 million yuan; B 15-30 million yuan; C 10-15 million yuan. http://www.most.gov.cn/tztg/201001/t20100 119_75589.htm
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CALLS 973 Programme and State Large-scale S&T Programme call for proposals published On 19 January, 2010, MOST published at its website the call for proposals (guidelines for applications) for the priorities of the 973 Programme and the State Large-scale S&T Programme in 2010. The call covers the following areas: Agriculture Energy Information Resource and Environment
Civil Law Initiative China 2010 Phd Awards La Fondation pour le Droit Continental (Civil Law Initiative) promotes and supports high-quality research aiming at fostering cooperation between Chinas Legal System and Civil Lawsystems in theworld, especially French Law and the development of Civil Law in the current context of legal and economic globalization. From 2010 onwards, Civil Law Initiative will attribute PHD awards to 2 outstanding dissertations in the following categories: Comparative Law between Chinese and French Law or Chinese Law and other Civil Law systems Civil Law systems and globalization of Law The best prize will be rewarded 3500 (or the equivalent in RMB). The second prize will be rewarded 2000 (or the equivalent in RMB). Applicants from all nationalities are welcome provided that: -Chinese nationals must have conducted their research in a Civil Law country for a period of at least three months. -Other nationals must have conducted research in China for a period of at least three months. Deadline for applications is April 1st, 2010. More details on this award program, eligibility criteria and application procedure, click here.
collaboration. This activity follows on from two previous calls for collaborative research with China in Renewables and Cleaner Fossil Fuels. This call is issued in partnership with the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The Energy Programme is bringing together engineers and scientists from many areas to tackle the research challenges involved in creating new energy technologies and understanding their social, economic and environmental implications. EPSRC leads the Energy Programme, in which BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, NERC and STFC work together to develop and deliver energy research and training within a common strategic framework, using a whole systems approach. Carbon capture and storage is one of the priority areas of the Energy Programme. This call aims at encouraging new and innovative UK-China collaborative projects focusing on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Funds of up to 2 million from the Energy Programme/EPSRC and matching equivalent resources from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are available to support high quality projects in this call. Closing date: 4pm Thursday 15 April 2010. More details (in Chinese) on NSFC website : http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/Portal0/InfoModule_ 396/29409.htm UK Energy Research Centre 2010 Summer School call for nominations The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) is holding its sixth annual Energy Summer School from 20-25 June 2010 at the University of Warwick in the English
UK-China Research Projects in Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies - Call for Proposals The Research Councils UK Energy Programme, led by EPSRC has identified China as a priority country for international
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Midlands. There will be 100 places available for UK and international students. The School has been specifically designed to give first and second year PhD students an understanding of energy systems as a whole and of pathways to low-carbon and resilient energy systems. We welcome applications from those engaged in energy-related research including technical, physical, social, economic, environmental and business aspects of energy and energy systems. UKERC would now like you to nominate students to attend. There is no charge for registered research students to attend the School; UKERC will provide accommodation and all meals and materials for activities. The School is conducted in English, and as it is highly interactive a good standard of comprehension and spoken English is essential. The deadline for nominations is 17:00 London time on Wednesday 7th April 2010. For more information and access to nomination forms, visit
http://www.cmcgraphics.co.uk/ukenergy/su mmerschool10_hosted.htm. Call for Tenders: Monitoring human resources policies and practices in research and assessing the impact of the 'scientific visa' package The European Commission Directorate General for Research has extended the time-limit for submission of tenders to 5 March 2010. Information about this call and related documents can be found on the Research Directorate-General webpage.
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OPEN CALLS UNDER FP7 AND EURATOM (regularly updated list available on EURAXESS Links China website)
The following calls for proposals are currently open under the People program Call for proposals Marie Curie Reintegration Grants Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) Launched 9 October 2009 Deadline 7 September
2010 25 March 2010
25 November 2009
The following calls are currently open under the Ideas program European Research Councils Advanced Grant : Discipline Life Sciences Social Sciences and Humanities Proposal deadline 17 March 2010 07 April 2010
The following calls are open under the Cooperation program
Information and Communication Technologies / 2 Open calls Joint Technology Initiatives (Annex IV-SP1) / 3 Open calls
The following calls are open under the Capacities program
Science in Society / 1 Open call

The following calls are open under the Euratom program
Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection / 1 Open call
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Coming events
Field
Date
Location
Guangzhou
Title (click for more details)

EU-China S&T cooperation, opportunities for researchers Information Conference in Sun Yat Sen University (Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net) International cooperation under EU research
EURAXESS
15 March (Guangdong)
EURAXESS
16 March
Hong Kong
programs and EURAXESS Links China, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net)
Nuclear energy Computer sciences Photonics
23-26 March
Beijing Shenyang (Liaoning) Shanghai
11 China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Advanced Computer Control(ICACC 2010) Focus on Microscopy
th
27-29 March
28-31 March
Medicine Environmental S&T
8-12 April
Shanghai Taipei (Taiwan)
26th International Congress of Radiology (ICR 2010)

EPICOH-MEDICHEM 2010 BIT Life Sciences' 1st Annual World
20-25 April
Medicine
15-17 May
Beijing
Congress of Immunodiseases and Therapy 2010(WCIT-2010)
Space
17-21 May
Guilin (Guangxi)
2010 Dragon 2 Midterm Results Symposium

The 2nd International Workshop on Energy
Hydraulic Engineering
19-21 July
Lhasa (Tibet)
and Water Cycle over the Tibetan Plateau and High-elevations The Fourth International Workshop on
Hydraulic Engineering
21-23 July
Lhasa (Tibet)
Catchment-scale Hydrological Modeling and Data Assimilation
Management Science
23-25 July
Sanya (Hainan) Nanchang (Jiangxi) Jiuzhaigou (Sichuan)
IEEE The 2nd International Conference on Advanced Management Science (ICAMS 2010) Symposium for Chinese Neuroscientists Worldwide 2010 (SCNW 2010) The 9th International Symposium on Operations Research and Its Applications (ISORA 2010)
Medicine
4-10 August
Mathematics
20-24 August
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Chemical engineering Chemical engineering Medicine Biology, Computer science Hydraulic Engineering Medicine
23-25 August
Taiyuan (Shanxi) Dalian
The 8th International Symposium on Gas Cleaning at High Temperatures
7-10 Septembre
2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Ionic Liquids and Green Processes (2nd APCIL)
25th congress of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology 2010 International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation 9th International Conference on Hydrodynamics BITs 2nd Annual International Congress of Cardiology
16-20 September
Beijing
17-20 September
Wuxi (Jiangsu)
11-15 October
Shanghai
7-9 December
Shanghai
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S&T highlights from the media3
POLICIES AND PAPERS No timetable for green taxation: official The government still has no timetable to levy the environmental tax so far, Vice-Minister of Environmental Protection Pan Yue said at the annul session of the CPPCC. "The ministries of finance, taxation and environmental protection have worked closely to speed up the progress, but the new tax is not likely be imposed very soon and will not aggravate enterprises' burden," said Pan, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). An environmental tax plan jointly proposed by the three ministries has been submitted to the State Council for final review. If the plan is adopted, one or two provinces are expected to be named to pilot green taxation this year. The tax would join a series of other measures, including bank loans, securities and insurance, as part of a policy package to boost the green economy, experts said. (Source: China Daily) Patent Information for Major Industries A patent information platform, developed by State Intellectual Property Office, was inaugurated on February 25, 2010 to provide patent information search for major industries. The platform has the latest and most comprehensive patent information of public good industries, including steel, auto, ship, petrochemicals, textile, light industry, non-ferrous metals, electronics and information, and logistics. The new platform has collected patent information from the United States, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the World Intellectual Property Organization, European Patent Office, African Regional Intellectual Property Organization, in addition to the patent data on BRICs and emerging economies in Southeast Asia. The patent entries collected by the platform have reached 33.37 million in number, covering ten major industries. (Further details in source: MOST) China issues rules on maritime wind energy projects with stress on environmental protection China has issued regulations on the development and construction of offshore wind power projects in a bid to promote reasonable use of sea space and resources and better protect oceanic environment. The regulations were jointly issued by the National Energy Administration and the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The rules specify procedures and requirements for the planning of offshore wind energy developments, the authorization of
With the aim to feature information on China's S&T developments, the Delegation of the European Union to China cannot authorise the
reproduction of news items taken from other publications, nor is it responsible for the authenticity of the selected content. Anyone wishing to reproduce articles is advised to contact the originating source of the relevant news item.
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such projects, the application and approval of the use of sea space, and construction verification, among others. (Further details in source: Global Times) China Fifth in PCT Applications Statistics published on February 8, 2010 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) show that China filed 7,946 PCT applications in 2009, or 29.7% up compared with 2008, making China sit in 5th place in the world. In 2009, WIPO received 155,900 PCT applications, or 4.5% down compared with the preceding year. Affected by economic crisis, the United States, Germany, and the UK have seen noticeably declined PCT applications, though China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea have kept a sustained ascending trend. In 2009, the United States sat in first place for PCT applications, at 45,790, with an 11.4% decline compared with the preceding year, followed by Japan, Germany, the Republic of Korea, and China. (Source: MOST)
PEOPLE OF THE MONTH Premier Wen welcomes more foreign experts to work in China Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao invited more talented foreigners to work in China, saying the country will improve services for them. Wen made the remarks at a meeting with more than 20 representatives of foreign experts, who have helped in China's social progress. Wen said China pays equal attention to attracting both investment and talented personnel, while utilizing science and technology to achieve sustainable development. This calls for an active flow of talented foreigners to China to help with the nation's modernization drive, the premier said. He urged related organs to improve policy and service level for all the foreign experts coming to work in China. (Further details in source: Global Times)
VOICES AND OPINIONS Debate on GM food continues
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Debate over the safety of genetically-modified (GM) food continues in China, as the government steps up its efforts to develop GM crops to ensure grain security. Supporters and opponents are stoking the debate after the Ministry of Agriculture granted safety certificates for the domestic production of two types of GM paddy rice and one type of GM corn. With the country facing increasing pressure to feed its population of 1.3 billion, the government hopes disease-resistant crops will help address the growing problem of food shortages. Chinese scientists have said GM rice and maize are as safe as non-GM varieties and pledged to expand their production. GM maize and soybeans are already widely consumed in China, as well as in the United States. The commercialization of GM rice may be approved within the next three to four years, according to agricultural experts. Xue Dayuan, a specialist on biodiversity at the Nanjing Research Institute of Environmental Sciences, said he is worried about the safety hazards posed by the commercialization of GM rice to the health of consumers and the environment. "I don't object to the commercialization of GM rice, but I'm concerned about its risks," he was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency. He stressed that the country should be prudent over commercializing GM rice, since it would be the first country in the world to do so. "If the world has not reached a consensus on GM food safety, it would be too proactive and risky to commercialize GM crops on a large scale," Zheng Fengtian, vice-dean of the Rural and Agricultural Development Institute at Renmin University of China, was quoted by Xinhua as saying. A recent survey conducted by China Daily and sohu.com suggested that more than 85 percent of respondents were worried about the potential health hazards of GM food. However, supporters of GM crops have argued there is no evidence that GM crops pose safety risks to either people or the environment. Wu Yongning, a food safety specialist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said current studies have not proven GM food is harmful to consumers' health. According to Wu, genetically-modified food has to pass rigorous tests before it is allowed onto supermarket shelves, including laboratory and field studies, toxicity and allergy tests. Health administrators will also establish a system to monitor and report any adverse effects, he said. "I am not ruling out all possible risks, but the risks of GM food are no greater than those of traditional ones, given the heavy use of pesticide in growing traditional food," he added. The State Council, China's Cabinet, introduced a regulation in 2001 to ensure the safety of GM food, with strict provisions on its research, testing, production and marketing. Huang Dafang, director of the Biotechnology Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that since GM food is less vulnerable to insects and diseases, fewer pesticides are needed to grow them, which is safer for consumers and the environment. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application, the expansion of GM planting from 1996 to 2006 saved 224,000 tons of pesticides from being sprayed onto crops. In cutting down on the work required to spray crops, GM food has the potential to ease the labor shortage in China's countryside, which has resulted from an increasingly large population of migrant workers, Huang said. (Source: China Daily)
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Caution on GM crops The denial by sources from the Ministry of Agriculture of its approval of importing and planting genetically modified (GM) crop seeds should serve to dispel consumers' anxiety that they would be unaware if they were eating GM foods. But we get the message from what has been said about the future of GM technology. Advocates have said that GM crops will one day support sustainable agriculture development. If we have to face the prospect that GM foods will be included in what we eat in the future, enough work must be done to make sure that the GM seeds to be planted will pose no threat to our health. Despite the fact that 134 million hectares of GM crops were planted all over the world in 2009, the fact that only six countries in Europe chose to grow GM crops - most European countries do not accept GM crops and GM foods - should give us pause before growing them on a large scale and using them in our foods. True, GM crops are resilient to pests. Some are drought-proof, some may contain a particular kind of vitamin or other nutrients that people need. Yet, we still don't know whether GM crops and foods have any downsides to them. It is unscientific and unfair to claim that GM crops and food are unsafe, but it is equally unjustifiable to claim that they are 100 percent safe without any harm to men and women in the long run. It is more important to know about their possible negative side effects on humans in the long run than to just give publicity to their advantages over conventional crops. Caution and further research on growing and eating GM foods can never be too much. (Source: China Daily) Govt 'has an open mind' on GM food The government has an open attitude toward genetically modified (GM) food despite controversies swirling around the issue, experts have said. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has only made it clear that "there is no commercial planting of GM food crops in China now but it hasn't stated whether it will allow it later," Jiang Gaoming, professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Botany, told China Daily. In response to widespread media coverage on GM foods, the MOA said approval has not been given for import of GM crop seeds. An MOA official was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying on Tuesday that import certificates have been given only to cotton, soybean, maize and rapeseed to be used as processed materials or as animal fodder. In November, the ministry issued bio-safety certificates to two strains of pest-resistant GM rice and corn in what was considered a major development in promoting the research and planting of GM crops. The strains still need registration and production trials - which will take three to five years - before commercial planting can possibly begin. But, said Clive James, founder of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA) - a nonprofit group that deals with biotechnology applications - China has "already endorsed the use of GM technology" and will "lead other countries in Asia, even the whole world, in using it" Huang Dafang, a member of the Biosafety Committee affiliated to the MOA, said the two GM rice strains, developed by Huazhong Agricultural University, will help reduce the use of pesticide by 80 percent while raising yield by as much as 8 percent. "It will generate an additional income of $4 billion for some 440 million farmers," Huang said. Besides, using GM technology will help the country achieve the target of increasing grain output by 50 million tons, or about 10 percent of the total, between 2009 and 2020, he added.
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The safety of GM food has long been a public concern. "The safety of GM technology has not been approved in many countries yet. However, since early 2000, Unlabeled GM products, such as papaya, soybean oil, tomatoes and potatoes have been available in the domestic market," said Fang Lifeng, spokesman for Greenpeace China's GM program. Experts have urged the government to implement an open and transparent approval process for GM technology. "More details on GM crops getting safety certificates and the process of growing crops commercially should be publicized so that people can choose whether they buy GM food or not," Jiang said. (Source: China Daily) China faces food security challenges: legislator China faces potential challenges in maintaining food security despite years of good harvest, a legislator said. In some areas, farmland is often used illegally for non-agricultural purposes or abandoned by farmers who move to work in cities, posing the most serious threat to grain production, said Liu Hui, who is also deputy director of the administration of grain in the eastern Anhui Province. Other challenges include natural disasters, low scienctific and technical level in grain production, backward infrastructure, and low grain prices that dampen the enthusiasm of both farmers and local governments. Liu suggested that the government should clear the obstacles in the grain production and circulation and increase financial input in major grain producing areas to prevent possible decline in output. (Further details in source: Xinhua Net)
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES Health
Huge challenges for China in overseas TCM market The development of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry in China faces a huge challenge as 90 percept of the international herbal medicine market is dominated by Japan and South Korea. Wu Yiling, member of CPPCC, calls to enhance research and development of TCM and promote its industrialization in his proposal to the CPPCC. Wu is also an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of a pharmaceutical company. Japan and South Korea import herbal materials from China at low prices and process the materials with well-developed technologies. The international herbal medicine market is developing very fast, but China, the birth place of TCM, only accounts for three to five percent of the market. Wu lists the existing problems in China's TCM industry in his proposal, such as weak research power, inflexible system and lack of competitiveness. He suggests improving the status quo by innovation, cultivating able talents and strengthening R&D power. (Source: China Daily)
Short Memory Not a Passive Decay
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Prof. ZHONG Yi and coworkers, at Tsinghua University Dept. of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, reported their findings on short memory in February 19, 2010 issue of CELL. Initially acquired memory dissipates rapidly if not consolidated. ZHONG and coworkers believe that such memory decay is interference-induced forgetting in Drosophila, for the purpose of sparing room for new memory. Researchers found that a small G protein Rac-dependent forgetting mechanism contributes to both passive memory decay and interference-induced forgetting in Drosophila. Inhibition of Rac activity leads to slower decay of early memory. Conversely, elevated Rac activity accelerates memory decay. The finding, also reported in New York Times and Scientific American, makes a challenge to the traditional perception that short memory in Drosophila is a passive decay. (Source: MOST)
Top Ten TCM Events in 2009 State Administration of Chinese Traditional Medicine published top ten Chinese medical events for 2009 as follows: 1) Chinese State Council published a guidance document to support and promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). State treasury has invested RMB 4.7 billion to support the development in the area. TCM management system has been streamlined and strengthened. 2) TCM has become a part of medical reform, with a string of policies and measures favoring the development of TCM industry. 3) TCM has played a unique role in H1N1 prevention and treatment, with noticeable results. Some H1N1 patients with light symptoms have been treated using TCM drugs only, with the seriously affected one being treated under a combined western and TCM therapy. Some 2/3 H1N1 patients in the country were benefited from the combined therapy. 4) 30 TCM masters were selected by the government agencies concerned, the first selection ever made in the country. 5) TCM has for the first time become part of the military Medicare system, indicating that TCM has found applications in more areas. 6) Professional skill certification system was established for five TCM professionals, including scraper (a TCM doctor good at treating patients by scraping the patient's neck, chest or back), TCM pharmacist, TCM herb planter, TCM drug preparer, and TCM tester. 7) An outline for certified TCM doctor examination published in 2009 has an enhanced focus on TCM doctrines. It is also stipulated that the TCM doctors who are taught by TCM masters or good at certain therapeutic skills are exempt for western medicine tests. 8) TCM injection accidents, including Shuanghuanglian injection accident, have drawn public concerns. A re-evaluation project was initiated to assess the safety of TCM injections. 9) A TCM innovation system has been established, with 16 TCM hospitals being certified as national TCM clinical research centers. Ten TCM R&D findings, the most in the last decade, were honored with National S&T Awards in 2009. 10) A resolution on traditional medicines, initiated by China, was adopted at a WHO meeting. China and 10 ASEAN countries inked a Nanning Declaration on traditional medicines. The first international organization standard on TCM education, with Chinese TCM standard as the core, was published, hallmarking Chinas leading position in the world health system. (Source: MOST)
New Psoriasis Susceptibility Loci Found With the support of National 973 Program and National 863 Program, Prof. ZHANG Xuejun at Anhui Medical University, in collaboration with Chinese National Genome Center at Shanghai,
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has identified new psoriasis susceptibility loci (LCE) in Chinese Han population, in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 15,000 Chinese psoriasis patients, started from 2007. The newly found LCE, published in the recent issue of Nature Genetics, has been collected by NIH GWAS database. (Source: MOST)
Magnesium Enhances Learning and Memory A study team, led by Prof. LIU Guosong at School of Medicine Center for Learning and Memory, part of Tsinghua University, has recently rolled out a novel magnesium compound that was proved effective in enhancing both young and elder rats learning and memory capability, by elevating the magnesium level in the brain. The finding, published in the recent issue of journal Neuron, has for the first time unveiled a major regulating function possessed by magnesium ions in maintaining brains learning and memory capability, suggesting that magnesium ions supplement can be an effective approach to prevent brain decay. (Source: MOST)
Scientists Use Light Beams to Prick Mystery of Acupuncture Chinese scientists are using the country's most expensive ever science project, a light-emitting synchrotron, to solve the mystery of acupuncture points. The Shanghai-based synchrotron, which uses super-powerful X-rays to resolve the structure of matter down to the level of atoms, has detected evidence that acupuncture points differ from other parts of the body. (Further details in source: CAS)
Diseases Tracing Signal Molecules A study to develop new methods for preventing and treating cancer and cardiovascular diseases has recently passed an approval check at Daping Hospital under the No. 3 Military Medical School. The study has resulted in a range of laudable findings on the pathogenesis of cancers, including leukemia, liver cancer, and colorectal cancers, in addition to the new findings on the pathogenesis of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and arrhythmia, providing theoretical evidences for future clinical interference. The two-year study has identified the key signal molecules that trigger up the occurrence of cancers and cardiovascular diseases, making treating major diseases through manipulating the key signal molecules and target protein possible. (Further details in source: MOST)
New Approach Betrays Cancer Metastasis A team of scientists at Zhejiang University School of Medicine identified two proteins from the secretome of colorectal cancers cells, which may eventually be turned into a biomarker to predict the metastasis of colorectal cancers. According to a briefing on the findings that were published in the recent issue of journal Proteome Research, researchers applied a quantitative proteomics approach to compare the differential secretome of a primary cell line and its lymph node metastatic cell line from the same colorectal cancer patient. They found
30
that the protein registered a concentration that was significantly higher in the metastatic cell line than in the primary cell line. An analysis of 144 colorectal cancers patients and 156 controls shows that both biomarkers are highly sensitive and specific to predicting the metastasis of colorectal cancers. (Source: MOST) _______________________________________ Food, agriculture and fisheries, biotechnology
No GM grain seeds for mass cultivation: ministry The Ministry of Agriculture denied it approved genetically modified seeds to be imported for domestic cultivation and insisted that there's no domestic cultivation of genetically modified crops in China. In response to allegations that "the ministry had given green light to imports of genetically modified seeds and allowed massive-scale domestic cultivation," the ministry told the Xinhua News Agency that although it has already authorized the imports of four genetically modified crops of cotton, soybeans, corn and canola as raw materials for trial, the ministry has not yet ratified any genetically modified food crop seeds to be imported for cultivation. The ministry's support last August for two strains of genetically-modified rice and a type of corn for field trials was the first time for China to grant safety certificates to modified staple foods. It provoked criticism from domestic green groups who believe the decision poses food safety risks. (Further details in source: Global times)
Large Animal DNA to Sequence Chinese scientists kicked off on February 12, 2010 a project to sequence the DNAs of some large animals, including lions, tigers, and leopards. The project will produce the genome maps of those animals in about one year. The results derived from the efforts will be applied to study the animals behavior and associated protection. The sequence will be jointly conducted by an array of institutions, including Beijing Genomics Institute (Shenzhen), Peking University, Heilongjiang Tiger Garden, CAS Kunming Institute of Zoology, and the Animal Protection Institute in San Diego. (Further details in source: MOST)
Bats Dark Vision Unveiled ZHANG Yaping, a Chinese Academy of Sciences academician at CAS Kunming Institute of Zoology, and his doctoral student SHEN Yongyi, found that Old World fruit bat, without an echo-location capability, has to look for food mainly though its eyes and nose, and that it has well developed eyes. ZHANG and coworkers have recently cloned the rod cells that have a say to the formation of retina. The cloned cells regulate RH1, a dark vision receptor. They found that either the insect eating bats featured with a deteriorated vision capability, or Old World fruit bat with a well developed vision system, has RH1 expression in their rod cells, indicating that even insect eating bats with poor vision has kept a dark vision capability. (Further details in source: MOST)
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First Inbred Line Pig Cloned Researchers at Yunnan Agriculture University cut off a tiny piece of skin (0.5 cm2) from a newly born boars ear for further cell culture and division. They injected the 3rd generation of the cells into the denucleated egg cells collected from sows, and transplanted the divided cells (2nd-8th) into the sows Fallopian tubes for further development. The cloned piglet was born 116 days later. (Further details in source: MOST)
Chinese experts: No evidence yet to show GM food unsafe Chinese food and agricultural experts said no evidence has proved genetically-modified crops are unsafe for people and the environment. Huang Dafang, director of Biotechnology Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the genetically-modified crops are of great significance to the sustainable development of agriculture and China's competitiveness in global arena. Wu Yongning, a food safety specialist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said current studies have not proved genetically-modified food harmful to human health. Wu said that genetically-modified food have to pass scrupulous testing in order to get on shelves, including laboratory and field studies, toxicity and allergy tests. Besides, health administrations will establish a system to monitor and report adverse effects, said Wu. The State Council of China introduced a regulation in 2001 to ensure the safety of genetically-modified food, with strict provisions on its research, test, production and marketing. (Further details in source: Xinhua net)
Tea Tree Genome Sequenced An initiative to sequence the tea tree genome was recently kicked off at CAS Kunming Institute of Botany. The study, the first of its kind in the world, will map up the genome of a kind of popular tea trees grown in Yunnan, in an attempt to understand the genome that shapes up the techniques applied in growing the tea tree, and unveil the functional DNAs that may lead to series findings, including decrypting its genetic code. The efforts will work out the major functional genes that may shape up a proprietary tea making industry, creating a molecular breeding platform for the purpose, and laying a ground for the future scientific development of the industry. (Source: MOST) _______________________________________ Information and communication technologies
Shanghai launches China's first Internet of Things center China's first "Internet of Things" center opened in Shanghai on 2 March, as part of the country's effort to enhance competitiveness in what is regarded as a promising industry. The centre was designed to study technologies and industrial standards, said Liu Haitao, a leading information technology expert. The center was built by the district government and the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy
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of Sciences. The Internet of Things is a network of real-world objects linked by the Internet and interacting through web services. Technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification) and sensors were the basis of the Internet of Things, Liu said. In China, the network, integrating various technologies, has been applied to safety monitoring, public transportation and logistics. In Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu Province, China's first batch of "smart buses" using the network have been put into operation. Through a combination of GIS (geographic information system), GPS (global positioning system) and electronic controls, people can learn nearly everything about a bus, including its location, speed and road conditions. "But the application of the network is not at a high level of sophistication yet," Liu said, adding the State Council was working on supportive policies to boost the emerging industry. (Source: Xinhua Net)
More Digital Cities It was reported at a national meeting on mapping services that the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping will accelerate the construction of 100 digital cities. In 2009, a digital geographic information platform, the first of its kind in the country, was put into operation in Taiyuan. As a role model of digital city, Digital Taiyuan is made up of a basic geographic information database and a public search platform, with five application systems, including baseline land prices search, environmental protection information, air defense information, food and drug safety, and public geographic information service. It provides geographic information service to the public. (Source: MOST)
Robot Lab Approved Experts, organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, inked on January 29, 2010 their approval to the successful operation of a national robotics lab physically located at CAS Shenyang Institute of Automation. The lab has worked on more than 40 projects financed by National Natural Science Foundation, National 973 Program, and National 863 Program, and 27 projects initiated by local authorities, with a sum exceeding RMB 200 million. Researchers at the lab published 37 papers that have been collected by SCI, and 238 by EI. It has achieved laudable progresses in the areas of polar robot, flying robot, submarine robot, rescue robot, and mini robot. The lab has been conferred with 48 national invention grants, and 1 second-place prize under the National S&T Advancement Award. Meanwhile, it recruited renowned specialists from abroad to be its research fellows, with an enhanced team capacity building and international exchange. The lab has so far completed the procurement, installation, and fine tuning of the large scientific instruments and facilities needed for innovation activities. (Source: MOST)
China Telecom joins GSM Association The GSM Association (GSMA), an organization representing the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, announced that China Telecom, KDDI and Verizon
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Wireless have joined the organization after committing to deploy services based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE). (Further details in source: Global Times)
Strategic Alliances for Memory Industry Strategic alliance for memory industry was established on January 29, 2010 in Beijing made up of 26 members from industry, universities, and research institutes to develop key mass storage technologies under an information technology component of the National 863 Program. The Alliance is one of the 36 domestic organizations approved to work on internationally advanced PB applicable technologies and mass online storage technologies. It will join the strength of industry, universities, and research institutes to complete the needed demonstration applications at major government agencies, realizing a historical leap from technology dependent to proprietary innovation in the area. (Further details in source: MOST)
Huawei opens research, development center in Turkey Huawei, a leading Chinese company in new generation telecommunication solutions, opened its research and development center in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul. Huawei is one of the leaders in delivering new generation telecommunication products to operators worldwide with 15 research and development centers and 20 innovation centers across the world. (Further details in source: People Daily) _______________________________________ Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies
Superconductivity Found in One-Atomic-Layer A study, led by Tsinghua University Dept. of Physics, in collaboration with Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Physics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Pennsylvania State University Department of Physics and Material Research Institute, has found superconductivity in one-atomic-layer metal films grown on Si substrates. One-atomic-layer is the ultimate thickness a practical material can reach. The finding, published in the recent online issue of Nature Physics, renders a solution to the question concerning how thin a superconductor can be. (Further details in source: MOST)
Strong Crystal Size Effects on Deformation Twinning Under the guidance of her tutor, YU Qian, a post-graduate at Xian Jiaotong University State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, in collaboration with Prof. LI JU with University of Pennsylvania Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dr. HUANG Xiaoxu of Technical University of Denmark Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, made an in-depth study of the deformation twinning behavior of nano-sized metal crystals and its impact on the dynamic performance of the materials. YU and coworkers found that the size of monocrystals is of a strong effect on the dynamic performance. The finding, published in the
34
recent issue of journal Nature, provides a meaningful insight of materials performance evaluation and design, especially on material processing at the nano-scale utilizing the strong crystal size effect. (Source: MOST)
Finest Carbon Nanotube Synthesized Scientists from Zhejiang University and University of California have successfully synthesized the smallest carbon nanotubes, or C90, in the world. The finding was published in the first issue of German Applied Chemistry in the year. Chinese and American scientists have long worked together to synthesize novel and metal Fullerene. Researchers are currently working on the physical and chemical properties of C90, exploring its possible applications in the area of organic solar energy and nanoelectronic components. (Further details in source: MOST)
Water Collection Fiber Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics said that they have found a unique structure built in spider silk that is able collect morning dew, based on both optical and electronic microscope observations. Researchers said the water-collecting ability of spider capture silk is the result of a unique fiber structure that forms after wetting, with the wet-rebuilt fibers characterized by periodic spindle-knots made of random nanofibrils and separated by joints made of aligned nanofibrils. The finding was published in the recent issue of journal Nature. Researchers have rolled out the water-collecting fiber based on the unique structure discovered. Tests show that the novel material, when in a foggy environment, is able to turn water vapor in the air into dew on the surface of the material. It is believed that the restructured fibers will eventually become a promising material to collect water from the air, or to be applied in industrial filtering activities. (Source: MOST)
Advanced Residue Removing Technique A study team, led by Prof. YUE Tianli with Food Science and Engineering School, part of Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, developed an approach to remove organic pesticide residues in apples, using an ultrasound technique. (Further details in source: MOST) _______________________________________ Environment (including climate change)
Demand rising for weather modification China will step up weather modification in key regions to help relieve drought, the director of the China Meteorological Administration has said. As drought and hailstorms pose severe threats to rural income and food supply, there is a rising demand for technology to cushion the impact. Weather modification technology has also been used to ensure clear skies for
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important events, and will possibly be used for the upcoming Shanghai World Expo. Modifying weather involves seeding clouds with grains of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) or tiny particles of silver iodide to stimulate rainfall or dissipate the clouds. It is also used to help prevent or control forest fires and ease acute water shortages in some areas, he said. Zheng said he expects weather modification projects will contribute to the country's efforts to increase grain production capacity by 50 million tons annually. The meteorological agency has completed research and development of weather modification core technology and equipment, a State-funded project during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Research will continue to be beefed up in the years to come, he said, without elaborating. Weather manipulation is still a developing discipline that holds great potential, Zheng said. The country began modifying the weather on a local or regional scale in 1958. "It is still at a 'research-and-use' stage, and there are still a lot of problems to be resolved," Zheng said. Weather modification causes no pollution, as very few doses of dry ice or silver iodide are used, said officials from the administration's Weather Modification Center. (Further details in source: China.org)
New Tide Station in Antarctic In their 26th expedition to the Antarctic, Chinese scientists established a permanent real-time tide gauge station near the Antarctic Zhongshan Station, to watch sea level variation and provide dynamic evidences to climate change studies. (Further details in source: MOST)
ADB to fund study on climate change in NE Asia The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to carry out a comprehensive study on the economics of climate change in Northeast Asia, Manila-based ADB said. The study's aim is to help regional and country-level decision makers address the issue of climate change and to develop low- carbon growth strategies in their countries and the region. The study, Economics of Climate Change and Low Carbon Growth Strategies in Northeast Asia, is being financed by a technical assistance grant of 1 million U.S. dollars from ADB, and 800,000 U. S. dollars of grant from the Government of the Republic of Korea. It will cover four countries China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Mongolia. The study will provide the region's policymakers with the latest information on mitigation and adaptation strategies, and suggest policy responses to cope with and counter future climate change impacts. It will also complement parallel climate change studies being carried out by ADB in South Asia and Pacific developing member countries, as well as draw on findings from ongoing and planned climate change initiatives in participating countries. (Further details in source: Xinhua net)
China issues first national census of pollution sources On 9 February, China issued its first national census of pollution sources, with datas showing that the country's wastewater discharge totalled more than 209 billion tonnes while waste gas emissions topped 63.7 trillion cubic meters in 2007. The census was issued by the State Council Information Office. It took more than two years for over 570,000 staff to finish the
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census since the State Council made the decision in 2006 and the central government allocated 737 million (about 100 million US dollars) for the project in 2007. (Source: Global Times)
Water Cooling Unit Approved A water cooling unit, designed and developed by Dunan Artificial Environmental Equipment for nuclear power station application, the first of its kind in the country, recently passed an approval check. As a water cooling subsystem, it provides cooled water for major air-conditioning and ventilation systems at a nuclear power station. It helps to confine the temperature of the instruments and major components in the master control room to an allowed level, either under a normal or abnormal condition. Researchers reported the R&D, design, performance, shock resistance, and standardization of the system at the approval check meeting, showing that it has mastered the key technologies for manufacturing the system. (Source: MOST) _______________________________________ Energy
Solar Parabolic Trough Power System Beijing Zhonghang Airport General Equipment rolled out a proprietary solar parabolic trough power generation system, a breakthrough of its kind achieved from scratch, making massive application of the technology in the country possible. A parabolic trough power generation system uses a curved, mirrored trough which reflects the direct solar radiation onto a glass tube containing a fluid running the length of the trough, positioned at the focal point of the reflectors. To address the unstable and uneven solar energy intake, researchers developed a system to store the surplus solar energy to compensate the deficiency, and achieved a stable power generation and the maximum utilization of solar energy. (Source: MOST)
China plans to build national renewable energy center: report China plans to build a national renewable energy center to further shore up development of the industry, the China Daily reported. The establishment of the center is in the preliminary planning stages, the newspaper quoted Han Wenke, director general of Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission as saying. The center will be responsible for policy-making, key project and program management, market and industrial operations, database and information platform establishment as well as international exchanges, according to the newspaper. (Further details in source: Global Times) _______________________________________ Transport (including aeronautics)
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China works on C919 jumbo jet design Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC), in charge of the C919 passenger airplane program, announced that its major task this year would be the preliminary design of the jumbo jets, the China News Agency reported. The work would include a wind tunnel experiment with applied loads, draft design of the aircraft's cockpit model as well as the signing of a series of memorandums of understanding with systems suppliers. (Further details in source: China Daily)
Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation The high-speed railway linking Zhengzhou in Henan province and Xi'an in Shaanxi starts operation. This is the first high-speed passenger railway in western China. The train, with a speed of up to 352 km/h, finishes the 505km distance in one hour and 48 minutes instead of six hours, according to China Railway First Survey and Design Institute. The line, part of a major east-west railway artery between Xuzhou in Jiangsu province and Lanzhou in Gansu, cost about 35.3 billion yuan ($5.2 billion). (Source: China Daily)
China launches three modes LNG vessels China State Shipbuilding Co.(CSSC), the nation's biggest shipyard, launched three self-developed models of liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships. Following Japan, the Republic of Korea and several European countries, China is one of the few countries that manages LNG manufacturing technology. The CSSC had delivered 5 LNG vessels by December last year since it started the research of LNG designing and manufacturing technologies in 1997. The country's first LNG ship sailed off in December, 2005. The global market share of the CSSC's stood at 9.1 percent in 2009, making it the world's second largest shipbuilder in terms of million deadweight tonnages (DWT), after Hyundai Heavy Industries of the Republic of Korea, the company's general manager Tan Zuojun said in an interview with Xinhua in January. (Further details in source: Xinhua net)
China's High-Speed Railways Hit 3,300 km China's operational high-speed railways have exceeded 3,300 kilometers, leading the world in both length and technologies, the Ministry of Railways said. China's railway links had expanded to 86,000 kilometers by the end of 2009, the world's second longest only after the United States. (Further details in source: CAS) _______________________________________
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Socioeconomic sciences and the Humanities
China's increasing Internet activity moves society forward As the number of China's netizens swells and the time they spent online increases, Internet has become a platform for Chinese people to vent their social and political opinions. By the end of 2009, the number of Chinese Internet users reached 384 million, or 28.9 percent of the total population, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC). According to a recent survey conducted by the CINIC, 56.1 percent of the country's netizens often posted their opinions online, while 81.7 percent of them followed social news events more closely because of the Internet. The Internet expands channels for the public to supervise government work and voice their opinions, which forces the government to improve services and correct wrong decisions, said Yao Yuzhou, Party Chief of Tongling City in east China's Anhui Province. Even China's high-ranking officials went online to listen to public opinions and exchange ideas. Premier Wen Jiabao said he surfed on the Internet almost everyday to read netizens' comments. "Netizens represent a large social group and they are from all walks of life," he said in an online chat with Internet users last week. Wen said netizens helped him as people at the grassroots could judge government work and help the government improve policies. It was the second time for Wen to go online to communicate with the public. (Further details in source: Xinhua Net)
Income gap not as big as earlier thought The income gap between the rich and poor in China has been narrowing in recent years and may have been overstated in the past, according to a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report said that increased welfare spending in rural areas and growing migration to cities has helped mitigate the increase in inequality across the country. Richard Herd, a senior economist at the OECD, said at a press briefing in Beijing that the migration of rural people to urban areas for work allows them to increase their income dramatically. (Further details in source: People Daily)
China to draft new poverty reduction guidelines for next decade China has decided to draft new guidelines for poverty reduction through development for the next ten years, according to a statement of an executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao. The statement said that Chinese government has made great efforts to lift the rural poor out of poverty by development in the past decade and has met the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve the proportion of people living on less than one USdollar a day "ahead of schedule". Other strides achieved by China are: noticeable improvement in the economic strength and infrastructure in impoverished regions, ecological degradation being brought under control, according to the statement. The country is also said to have made good progress in construction of a social security network, which has been extended to cover the nation's rural areas with the establishment of a minimum living standard system, the new rural cooperative medical system and the pilot old-age
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insurance system. The statement said China had been charged with an uphill task in poverty alleviation due to factors such as a large impoverished population, frequent threats of natural disasters, deep-rooted conflicts restraining the development of the poor areas. The poverty reduction departments were told to intensify the relief work by integrating the development of urban and rural areas, and uphold the policy of supporting the poor through economic development. The statement also called for great efforts in the forthcoming decade to ensure the rural per capita net income enjoying a higher growth than the national average. Efforts should also be made to gradually improve the health, the living standard, and capabilities of steady progress for the poor, said the statement. (Source: Global Times) _______________________________________ Space
China to put Tiangong-1 into space next year China is to put an unmanned space module, Tiangong-1, into space in 2011, Qi Faren, former chief designer of China's Shenzhou spaceships said, and the country planned to launch Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft within two years to dock with Tiangong-1. Weighing about 8.5 tonnes, Tiangong-1 is able to perform long-term unattended operation, which will be an essential step toward building a space station. (Further details in source: Global Times)
China plans to launch second lunar probe in October China plans to launch the Chang'e-2, the country's second lunar probe, in October this year. The satellite would be launched on a Long March 3-C carrier rocket, said Liang Xiaohong, Party chief of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). (Further details in source: Xinhua Net)
Lunar Satellites Laser Eye It is reported from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (SITP), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, that the new lunar satellite, or Change II, to be launched late in the year, has been equipped with a proprietary laser altimeter. It means the new lunar satellite will be able to map out a detailed area where Change III will land, along with a possible sitting location for the Moon Rover. The laser altimeter is able to tell the direct distance between the satellite and the moon surface by vertically emitting laser beams to the targets on the moon surface from the above, and receiving the instant reflections. According to a briefing, the laser eye will screen several candidate areas on the moon surface , with an enhanced beaming frequency to 5 targets a second from the original one target a second, allowing a narrowed gap between the laser footprints. The powerful laser ranging system is able to reach a 5m precision even when the satellite is 100km above. (Source: MOST)
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New Marine Satellite China will launch a satellite to investigate marine dynamic environment at the end of the year. Researchers at the Center for Space Science and Applied Research, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have completed the calibration of satellites payloads. According to a briefing, the new satellite is a terrestrial remote sensing unit designed to collect data of marine dynamic environment, including sea surface wind, waves, currents, temperature, storms, and tides, for marine NWP models. The effort will eventually produce useful data for the nations economic development, and become an observed data source for marine studies. (Source: MOST) _______________________________________ People
Ceremony for the PhD Cotutelle Program between ICT/CAS and USYD Prof. LI Guojie, head of the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences(ICT/CAS) and Prof. Branka Vucetic, head of Electrical and Information Engineering School in University of Sydney (USYD) signed the agreement for the PhD Cotutelle Program between ICT/CAS and USYD on Jan. 25, 2010. Under the Cotutelle Program, the cotutelle student pursues doctoral studies both at ICT/CAS and USYD and receives degrees from both ICT/CAS and USYD, with a notation on the final transcript stating that the degree was obtained under a cotutelle agreement. As the first student enrolled in this project, the PhD student QIAN Manli who is now studying in ICT/CAS AWTRC will start her one years study in USYD from July this year. The Cotutelle agreement marks the enhancing cooperation between ICT/CAS and USYD. As a foreign expert enrolled in Distinguished Research Fellow Project in Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Branka Vucetic was awarded the visiting Professor certificate by Prof. LI Guojie in this signing ceremony. (Source: CAS) _______________________________________ Research infrastructures
Light Field Based Quantum State Study Light field based quantum state study, a major project under the National Major Research Program, was officially launched on January 15, 2009 in Taiyuan. Researchers will work on a range of missions, including the entangled state light sources that can be applied in daily life, consecutive entanglement purification, new approaches for quantum information storage and generic quantum information processing, and quantum information network. The new findings derived from the said fields will make Chinas quantum information related basic research and technological development hit an internationally advanced level, providing a major technical support for future quantum manipulation studies. (Source: MOST)
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The CAS Key Laboratory of Photobiology Unveiled The Key Laboratory of Photobiology, the Chinese Academy of Science was openned in Institute of Botany, CAS (IOB), to devote to the key issues of the solar energy bio-transformation and its application to agriculture and energy. (Further details in source: CAS)
China sets up permanent tide-examination station in Antarctica China's 26th Antarctic expedition team has set up a permanent, real time data transmission tide-examination station in waters close to China's Antarctic Zhongshan Station to monitor the change of the sea level. The new monitoring station will also provide frequently-updated data for the analysis of the global climate change, said Huang Jifeng, a team member in charge of the program. It will not only help China's research program on the change of the sea level, but also accumulate data which could be shared with other countries for the analysis of the change of the global sea levels and facilitate China's research of the global climate change, Huang said. The station is mainly made up of a set of automatic tide-examination instrument system on the seabed, including a seabed water level meter, terrestrial data recording and processing equipment, and data transmission cable connecting marine and terrestrial equipment. (Further details in source: Xinhua net)
About this newsletter EURAXESS LINKS CHINA NEWSLETTER is a monthly electronic newsletter that provides information of specific interest to European researchers in China. The information contained in this publication is intended for personal use only. It should not be taken in any way to reflect the views of the European Commission, nor is the Delegation of the European Union to China responsible for the authenticity of the selected content. Please email to jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net for any comments on this newsletter or if you think any other colleagues would be interested in receiving this newsletter, or if you wish to unsubscribe. Editor: Jacques de Soyres, Information Officer of EURAXESS Links China
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EURAXESS Links China Monthly Newsletter Feb 2010

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EURAXESS Links China Monthly Newsletter Feb 2010

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO CHINA

EURAXESS LINKS CHINA NEWSLETTER Issue 3 February 2010

Georges Papageorgiou Head of the S&T Section of the EU Delegation to China

MAJOR EU-CHINA S&T CONTACTS AND RELATIONS ........................................................ 6

RESEARCHERS VOICES ................................................................................................. 9

CALLS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS...................................................................................... 16

COMING EVENTS ......................................................................................................... 22 S&T HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MEDIA ............................................................................... 24

Major EU-China S&T contacts and relations

New strategy for insect pest control in China

Capacity Building on Sustainable Development: the Sino-Italian Case Study

Academy of Finland promotes research with China

Calls and announcements

2010 25 March 2010

The following calls are open under the Cooperation program

Science in Society / 1 Open call

Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection / 1 Open call

Title (click for more details)

Nuclear energy Computer sciences Photonics

Beijing Shenyang (Liaoning) Shanghai

Medicine Environmental S&T

Shanghai Taipei (Taiwan)

26th International Congress of Radiology (ICR 2010)

Congress of Immunodiseases and Therapy 2010(WCIT-2010)

2010 Dragon 2 Midterm Results Symposium

Catchment-scale Hydrological Modeling and Data Assimilation

Sanya (Hainan) Nanchang (Jiangxi) Jiuzhaigou (Sichuan)

Taiyuan (Shanxi) Dalian

The 8th International Symposium on Gas Cleaning at High Temperatures

S&T highlights from the media3

VOICES AND OPINIONS Debate on GM food continues

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES Health

Short Memory Not a Passive Decay

Socioeconomic sciences and the Humanities

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