The government will invest 3 billion yuan (US$361 million) per year over the next five years, to further implement the country's flagship high-technology plan, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced Thursday.

China welcomes foreign scientists, including those from the European Union (EU), to participate in plans for joint research in information technology, biology, the environment and other fields.

The plan, so called the "863 Program'' initiated in March 1986 will reinforce China's overall competitiveness in the economy and national defense. It has now been opened to foreign scientists, said ministry official Yu Ying, at a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council.

The ministry's secretary-general Shi Dinghuan said they will provide 100 million yuan (US$12 million) each year to support cooperation in science and technology between China and other countries.

The Euro-China Cooperation Forum on the Information Society will take place next Tuesday to Saturday (April 16-20) in Beijing.

Xu Guanhua, minister of science and technology, and Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner in charge of enterprise and information society, will sign a joint statement outlining future cooperative programs in information technology (IT) between China and the EU.

The forum will attract nearly 700 participants from big European IT firms, to discuss co-operation with Chinese IT companies.

Following the forum, China and the EU both hope to cooperate more in areas such as integrated circuitry, high-performance computers, mobile communications and digital-technology for the 2008 Olympic Games, said Shi.

He added that China will also explore the possibility of joining Europe's plan for the Galileo Satellite Navigation System, and further links with the EU's Joint Research Center, Eureka Program, European Science Foundation and European Space Agency.

(China Daily April 12, 2002)