Welcome to the 2nd Workshop on Modern Biology and its

Social Impact

Han Jianguo

National Natural Science Foundation of China

The Importance of the workshop

• Life science provided opportunities to reveal an

d understand basic principles governing life, an

d great contributions made to socio-economic d

evelopment and the improvement of welfare and

health of human being.

• Yet, more concerns on the social impacts, issue

s such GMO, biodiversity and bio-ethics etc.

Researchers’ responsibilities

• Social responsibilities:– Help society solve problems: health, environment,

technology…– Use public funds efficiently and responsibly– Provide useful advice: global warming, energy,

pollution…

• Ethical responsibilities:– Proper use of human & animal subjects in research– Honest & accurate in publications & reports– Disclose & manage or avoid negative impacts of

research

• 1st one was held in the spring of 2006

• Thorough exchange of ideas on some sensitive

issues has deepened the mutual understanding

of research in the field in both countries

• Hope the 2nd one may also achieve similar

effects, provide further instructions for life

science research in the future, and if possible,

lead to concrete cooperation

• Since then, noticeable progress has been made in China-UK S&T cooperation

• Prof. David King has reassured the key position of China as one of UK’s major strategic partners in science

• UK-US collaborative pattern will be introduced to China

• A 2-year special fund of 5 m pounds for collaboration with China

• The establishment of RCUK Beijing Office

UK is an important partner of China

• Long history, good tradition and high level in basic research

• 1% of investment, 6% of output and 10% of citation

• A big number of Chinese scientists trained in UK

• Both wishes to promote China-UK scientific cooperation into a new stage of development

I do not believe that in the next stage

of the global economy, success for o

ne country need mean failure on the

part of the other. Globalization is not

a zero sum game where one country

or continent will only succeed at the e

xpense of another　

-- Gordon Brown MP, 21 Feb 2005

China, an important partner of UK

• China considers UK the priority

• Sino-UK cooperation started early and

extensively

• NSFC signed MoU with 7 UK organizations

• A number of cooperative projects mutually

supported, ranking the 2nd in European

countries

• Good results obtained

1. Innovation becomes a national strategy.

2. Reforms on S&T structures, funding and

performance.

3. Marked improvement research and

education.

4. Internationalization of research system.

Chinese science and technology is taking off

China, a future more important partner

China’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D & Its GDP Ratio & the Share of S&T Appropriation in Total

Government Expenditure: 2000~2005

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

GERD 895.7 1042.5 1287.6 1539.6 1966.3 2450

GERD/GDP（%） 0.90 0.95 1.07 1.13 1.23 1.34

Government S&T appropriation

575.6 703.3 816.2 944.6 1095.3 1334.9

Share of S&T in total government expenditure（%）

3.6 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.9

Source: MOST: China S&T Statistical Data Book (2006).

Unit: 100 million RMB

Investment• Basic research investment increased from 1.806 billion

yuan in 1995 to 14.8 billion yuan in 2006, (more than 8.2 times or an annual increase of over 20%), higher than the total R&D investment (16.1%/year).

我国自然科学基金与基础研究经费的增长情况

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国家财政对自然科学基金的投入（亿元）基础研究经费支出（亿元）

Ranking of Chinese Science: 1999-2006

• Since 1997, Chinese SCI papers have increased at an annual rate of 19%, reaching 70,805 in 2006, ranking the 4th in the world.

Percentage of world share of scientific publications

China France Germ. Japan Korea UK US EU-15

1995 2.05 6.09 7.62 8.65 0.79 8.88 33.54 34.36

1998 2.90 6.48 8.82 9.42 1.41 9.08 31.63 36.85

2001 4.30 6.33 8.68 9.52 2.01 8.90 31.01 36.55

2004 6.52 5.84 8.14 8.84 2.70 8.33 30.48 35.18

Jointly Published PapersWith 1978-2005

2005

1 USA 39,947 6,553

2 Japan 16,895 2,581

3 Germany 10,170 1,522

4 UK 8,824 1,530

5 Canada 7,093 1,233

6 Australia 5,992 1,091

7 France 5,797 948

8 Singapore 3,652 861

9 Korea 3,523 747

10 Italy 3,480 414

11 Russia 2,187 406

12 India 1,565 324

13 Brazil 918 151

14 Israel 816 156

15 S. Africa 297 67

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2005年

Human Resources• Human resources in basic research has reached

115,000 person/year in 2005 from 77,000 person/year in 2000, which is an increase of 50.3%, ranking 2nd in the world.

S&T Workforce 2.25 m scientists and engineers 1.15 m person/year spent on R&D

C. Enrollment 15 m Postgraduates 0.82 mUndergraduates

in S, E, M 6.508 mPostgraduates

in S, E, M 5.02 mPhD awarded 0.235 m (70% science-related)

• NSFC: 60,000-70,000 scientists undertaking NSFC projects annually

Young Scientists Fund: >10,000 since 1987

Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars: 1,500 since 1994

Creative Research Groups: 118 since 2000

• CAS: Hundred Talent Program 595

• MOE: Yangtze Scholarship (…)

• Ministry of Labor: Bai Qian Wan Program (…)

---Chinese President Hu JintaoJanuary 9, 2006

• ‘By the end of 2020… China will achieve more science a

nd technological breakthroughs of great world influence,

qualifying it to join the ranks of the world’s most innovativ

e countries.’

Aiming High

• R&D/GDP reach 2.0% by 2010 and 2.5% by 2020 from

current 1.31%;

• Increase R&D output significantly. S&T contributions to

GDP growth over 60%;

• Indigenous innovation becomes the main supply of

advanced technology;

• A number of world-class universities and research

institutes, high-tech corporations for innovation;

• ...

Main figures

Chief Measures

• Increasing the input to S&T, especially to basic research;

• Strengthening the government’s role on macroscopical decision making and adjusting and controlling;

• Paying great attention on exerting the role of research groups and research bases;

• Carrying out extensively international cooperation;• Taking scientific ethics as a high concern.

R&D spending targets in the Medium to Long-Term Plan

Year R&D spending(US$ billions)

% of GDP Central government

(US$ billions)

2004 24.6 1.23 8.7

2010 45.0 2.00 18.0

2020 113.0 2.50 not known

Source: Adapted from ‘China bets big on big science’, Science 311, 17 Mar 2006.

Chinese GDP increases at an annual rate of over 9%.

Taking NSFC as an Example

• Established in 1986

• China’s main funding agency for basic research and talent training

• Using peer review and panel evaluation system to fund the best proposals.

Autonomy, excellence,

competition and fairness

National Innovative System

Strategic Position： Support basic research, adhere to free Exploration and play a guiding role

Boost basic research in China and upgrade the S&T self-innovation capability of the nation

Talents

Talent ProjectsTalent Funding Sys.

Research ProjectsProject Funding Sys.

Collaborative ProjectsStrategic Partners

Innovation Partnership Management

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Annual budget

Unit: 100 million yuan

NSFC budget has been increased at an annual

rate of over 20% since 1986, reaching 4.3 b

yuan in 2007. The budget for 2006-2010 will be

doubled compared with that from 2001-2005,

reaching 25-30 b yuan.

Some Illustrative Figures

Over 80% of the projects included in the National Major Basic Research Plan;

Over 80% of the papers published in world top journals by Chinese scientists;

100% of the projects awarded National Natural Science Award in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006.

Project and funding of NSFC for international cooperation（ 1987－ 2007）

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From 1986 to 2006

Projects funded:

26,172

Total Funding:

801 m yuan

In 2007

Total Funding:

135 m yuan

Plant Functional Germone Study by 14 research groups from China and US.

Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (NSFC and DFG)

German Federal President at NSFC

CMS collaboration in CERN

NSFC

• Played an extremely important role;

• Strongly supported;

• Conducted extensively international

cooperation;

• Enjoys high prestige;

• A successful story and more rapid

development in the future.

As China’s investment in science grows

and its innovation system matures, the

question for China and UK is whether we

need to do more, to scale up the level and

ambition of our collaborative efforts in

ways that can benefit both sides.

What China can offer

• More resources

• Large research manpower

• Competent students

• Improved research quality

• Better infrastructure

• Unique research environment

• Shared expertise

• Open policy

Finally

• Wish the workshop a complete success

• Enjoy the friendliness of Chinese participants

• Enjoy the diversity and beauty of Xishuangbanna

Thank you for

your attention!