China sees soaring development in nanotechnology

According to the meeting, China has poured about 1.5 billion yuan (about $197 million) into the research and development of nanoscience and nanotechnology over the past 15 years, achieving encouraging advances in this regard. For instance, the number of research papers published by Chinese scientists at the international journals in 2006 were on a par with those contributed by their US or Japanese colleagues. The number of patents they have filed for has increased from less than 1,000 in 2001 to more than 4,600 in March 2005. Under the guidance of the national framework for nanoscience and technology development during the 10th five-year planning period (2001-2005), China made an overall deployment in the fields concerning nanoscience and nanotechnology, such as materials, information, energy sources, medicine and manufacturing. A flagship nanoscience research program has also been launched.