The president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lu Yongxiang, made the announcement on Saturday, saying that preparations are in full swing.

Lu told Xinhua that hundreds of academicians from third world countries are expected to attend the convention, which will play an active role in promoting third world technological development and in improving the understanding between China and other third world countries.

Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua said, "we should take the advantage of the convention to go on enhancing scientific cooperation among the developing countries."

The Academy of Science for the Third World was founded by Prof. Saglam, the late prestigious physicist and Nobel Prize laureate from Pakistan in November 1983.

To date, a total of 626 academicians from 77 countries and regions have worked for the academy. Among them, 86 are from the Chinese mainland.

In nearly past two decades, 17 noted Chinese scientists and two Chinese institutes have received awards from the academy.

(People's Daily December 23, 2002)