He told the current fourth session of the Ninth National People's Congress that this is an important component of the Tenth Five-Year-Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2001-2005) and a sure guarantee for accomplishing the various tasks in the next five years.

In his report on the outline of the tenth Five-Year-Plan to the annual NPC session that opened Monday, the premier called for greater efforts toward high-tech research that is of great strategic importance and strive to make breakthroughs in some key areas that have a direct bearing on the economic lifelines and national security and that will help enhance the independent creative power and promote industrialization of achievements in high and new technologies.

Meanwhile, Zhu said, it is necessary to provide technical support to the efforts to upgrade traditional industries, with emphasis put on processing and conversion of agricultural produce, manufacturing of equipment, conservation of water and energy, and after-treatment of textiles.

The premier called for greater efforts to strengthen basic and applied research, especially frontline interdisciplinary research, strengthen applied basic research in selective areas where China enjoys advantages and which are important to development. He called for new progress in genomics, information technology, nanoscience, ecology and geoscience. He also called attention to the fusion of natural and social sciences to promote the development of management science and to the development of philosophy and other branches of social sciences.

On accelerating reform of the structure of science and technology development system and the integration of science and technology with the economy, the premier stressed the necessity to strengthen the state creative system and make enterprises the main body of technical progress and creation.

"We need to continue to encourage research institutes engaging in technology development to become part of enterprises or to be converted into enterprises, push forward the reform of non-profit making research institutes, and establish a number of internationally influential research institutions," he noted.

He also stressed the importance of developing intermediary service organizations in the areas of science and technology, improving the mechanism of risk investment, and establishing a growth enterprise market to support small and medium-sized enterprises in their technical innovation.

Zhu urged persistence in advanced development of education, saying that education should be geared up to modernization, the world and the future, with emphasis on quality education so as to enable students to develop in an all-round manner, morally, intellectually, physically and aesthetically.

(People's Daily 03/05/2001)