Nobel Prize winner James Watson said in Beijing on Thursday that he hopes China to continue to contribute more to the development of biotechnology and genomics.

When meeting with Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili, Watson spoke highly of the efforts made by the Chinese scientists and laboratories in the human gene project, and hoped the research on human gene can go on in the future with more contribution from China.

Over 300 Chinese scientists participated in the human gene project, and has at least completed one percent of the whole, according to an official from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Chinese scientists and laboratories in Beijing have done very important work, and he was "impressed" with the achievements China has made in biotechnology, Watson said.

He also wooed the Chinese government to give more support to the country's scientific and technological research, and hopes the two countries can carry out more exchanges between scholars.

Chen said the Chinese government always attaches importance on science and technology development, and will continue to make hard efforts in this regard.

"I hope China can keep in tough with the world's tendency in biotechnology and genomics, and make contribution in this field," she said.

Watson, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for the discovery of DNA double helix model, is also an expert in genetics, genomics and molecular biology.

He will attend the International Conference of Genomics held in Hangzhou of East China's Zhejiang Province from October 23 to 25.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)