Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju met with some overseas participants Friday in the Sixth China Beijing International High-technology Expo.

Huang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to scientific and technological advancement in line with economic development.

Science and technology play ever greater roles in stimulating economic and social progress in modern China, he said.

China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games provide new opportunities for further development in Beijing, which is one of China's vital scientific research bases, Huang said.

The expo will help fuel Beijing's ambitious plan to promote science and technology, he added.

Robert Mundell, Nobel laureate in economics in 1999, Francois Roussely, chairman and chief executive officer of Electricite de France, were among those who attended the meeting.

(People's Daily September 13, 2003)