China's Minister of Science and Technology announced Tuesday that the national key scientific and technological projects earned the country 430 billion (US$51.8 billion) yuan worth of economic returns in the past five years.
Xu Guanhua made the remarks at a press conference here sponsored by the State Council Information Office.
Undercount shows that nationwide scientists and technologists achieved more than 20,000 scientific goals between 1996 and 2000, the minister said.
They established about 4,500 agricultural bases and industrial production lines for the tryout purpose, Xu said.
(Xinhua 04/24/2001)
