China is expected to master key biotechnologies before 2010 and become a world leader in the field, a top science official said yesterday.

It will also make breakthroughs in 20 bottleneck technologies relating to oil and gas prospecting and drilling while developing a digital database to help find more oil resources, Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Liu Yanhua said.

The ambitious goals were set in the nation's blueprint for science development in areas of social progress, such as the environment, health, resource and public safety, during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). The blueprint was released yesterday by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), at the opening ceremony of its two-day national science and social development convention.

More reserves of metal resources will be built before 2010 and the total amount of usable metal resources is expected to grow by between 1.5 and 2 billion tons, according to the blueprint.

"The focus is on the exploration of rare metals," Liu said.

Technologies for prospecting and developing oil and gas resources in the deep water in the South China Sea will be introduced, as well as those for monitoring the marine environment in China's exclusive economic zone, which extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles, 370 km, out from its coast, and other important sea areas.

"The current situation of low-level usage of marine resources will change," Liu said.

In the field of environmental protection, breakthroughs are expected to be made in 10 to 15 crucial technologies relating to ecological restoration for rivers and lakes, and in 30 technologies on urban air-condition monitoring and soil pollution control, the blueprint said.

Also yesterday, the ministry launched its third project for social progress, entitled the "Regional Sustainable Development Science Promotion Act." It follows the Spark Plan, which began in 1986 and the Torch Plan of 1988, which greatly promoted processes in the agricultural science and hi-tech industries.

During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05), more than 24,000 scientific discoveries were made and 3,000 of them have been patented, Liu said.

Among the most important achievements were the invention of 22 new medicines, including seven chemical, seven biochemical and eight traditional Chinese medicines.

There were also breakthroughs in seawater desalting and in developing the offshore oil reserve in Bohai Bay. Facilities each producing 10,000 tons of fresh water per day are being set up in East China's Shandong Province, while new technologies in offshore drilling are helping to make Bohai Bay the third largest oil production base in East China.

(China Daily April 27, 2007)