Shenzhen and Hong Kong are expected to witness booming technological cooperation after a joint think tank is established in Shenzhen and five new research and development centers set up in Hong Kong today.

The PKU-HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institution (PHSHI) announced Tuesday that a Shenzhen and Hong Kong development institution will be jointly set up today by the Shenzhen Municipal government, Beijing University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The new entity will aim to improve the technological cooperation system and promote free flow of people, capital and technology between the two cities.

The three parties involved established the PHSHI as a technology research base and high-tech start-up incubator in Shenzhen High-tech Industrial Park in 1999. The new institution will focus on researching and advising on public and industrial policies relating to development of high-tech industries, regional sustainable development and social development, said PHSHI deputy director Zhang Keke.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will spend HK$2 billion (US$257,732) to build five new R&D centers to undertake industry-oriented research in technologies increasingly necessary in the Pearl River Delta region.

The five centers will focus on automotive parts and accessory systems, information and communications technologies, logistics and supply chain management technologies, nano-technology and advanced materials.

Meanwhile, water pollution remains serious in the city, according to the report. All the 10 major rivers in Shenzhen are severely polluted, with the water quality languishing at class V of the national water quality system, which means that the water is not suitable for agricultural, industrial or domestic use.

Water in the Shenzhen River, the Xinzhou River and the Futian River improved slightly compared with the same period last year, but the water quality in the Maozhou River deteriorated sharply.

The environment protection bureau made public the names of 12 companies guilty of environmental pollution. Eleven of the 12 companies were fined between 50,000 (US$6,165) and 100,000 yuan for water pollution, while the other one was fined 100,000 yuan for discharging waste gas.

The bureau said it would make public the environment quality for every quarter along with the names of companies that are fined 50,000 yuan or above for environmental pollution.

(Shenzhen Daily April 20, 2006)