National Outline for Medium and Long Term S&t development Planning (2006-2020)

Priority topics:

(52) Urban planning and dynamic monitoring

Priorities will be set up to develop technologies for urban layout design and system design, and urban infrastructures and public service facilities planning and design. Developing technologies for integrated configuration and associated sharing, and interactive simulating prediction and dynamic monitoring of a range of urban elements, including urban planning, population, resources, environment, and economic development.

(53) Uplifting urban functions and space efficiency

Priorities will be to develop a range of technologies involving urban traffic system, intelligent urban public transit management, urban utility infrastructures, and disaster prevention and mitigation, studying the formation mechanism of urban hot-island effect and artificial control technology,. Developing technologies for land mapping and resource saving, simulation prediction of urban spatial changes, and urban underground development and utilization.

(54) Architecture energy efficiency and green buildings

Priorities will be to develop green architecture design technologies, architecture energy-saving technology and equipment, renewable energy devices, and integrated application technology, precision construction technologies and equipment, energy efficiency and green construction materials, and energy efficiency architecture standards.

(55) Urban ecological residential environment and quality control

Priorities shall be given to developing technologies for indoor pollutants monitoring and cleanup, ecological control of urban environment, and recycling of urban garbage, cyclic utilization of water, urban pollution control, minimal emission in residential areas, and intelligent management of ecological residential areas.

(56) Urban information platforms

Priorities will be to develop technologies for sharing urban online information, urban basic data acquisition and updating, urban data consolidation and mining, multi-dimensional urban construction modeling and simulation, urban dynamic monitoring systems and associated application, standards for urban online information sharing, and urban emergency response services.

10. Public Security

Public security constitutes a footstone for national security and social stability. The country’s public security is facing severe challenges, which in turn raises major strategic demands for scientific and technological support.

Development paths: 1) Strengthen technical support for quick response to and handling of emergency events. With application of information and intelligent technologies at the core, efforts will be made to develop a national public security system featured with multifunction and integrated emergency response support. Establish a public security technical system consisting of scientific prediction, effective prevention and control, and quick response mechanism. 2) Improve the capability of early detection and prevention. Priorities will be given to studies on technologies for monitoring, warning, and preventing coalmine and other production-related accidents, social emergency events, natural disasters, nuclear safety, and biosecurity. 3) Enhance comprehensive response and rescue capability. Focus shall rest on developing rescue technologies for coalmine disasters, major fires, major natural disasters, leakage of hazardous chemicals, and mass poisoning. 4) Accelerate the modernization of public security equipment and facilities. Develop major equipment for production safety, food safety, biosecurity and public safety, and associated protection products and the relevant industries.
Priority topics:
(57) National public security emergency information platforms

Priorities will be to develop technologies for all-round and obstacle-free risk source detection and monitoring, precision positioning, and information acquisition. Develop technologies for multi-scale dynamic information analysis and handling, and decision making. Develop integration technology for a national public security emergency command platform and establish an integrated emergency decision-making platform featured with early monitoring, quick advance warning, and efficient handling.

(58) Major workplace accidents warning and rescue

Priorities will be to develop pre-warning and control technologies and associated equipment for mine gas, water bursting, power failures, and major industrial accidents, including open burning, explosion, and hazardous leakage.

(59) Food safety and border entry-exit inspection and quarantine

Priorities shall be to work on a range of key technologies concerning food safety and entry-exit quarantine related risk assessment, pollutants tracking, safety standard formulation, and quarantine monitoring and testing, and develop intelligent technologies for food contamination prevention and control and high flux quarantine monitoring.

(60) Major public emergency prevention and quick response

Priorities will be set to work on technologies involving individual biological characteristic identification, evidence gathering, quick screening, ratification, and simulation prediction, technologies and equipment for distance positioning and tracking, real-time monitoring, evidence identification, and quick handling, fire-fighting in high-rise buildings and underground structures, distance probe of explosives, illegal drugs, and nuclear and biological sources of terrorism, and on-site handling and protection.

(61) Biosafety measure

Priorities will be to produce a range of technologies involving fast, sensitive, and specific monitoring and detecting, including technologies capable of detecting in-body toxic chemicals, advanced disinfectors and fast disinfection, hazardous medium identification and control, biological invasion prevention and control, and vaccines, immunoadjuvant , antitoxin, and other drugs.

(62) Major natural disasters prevention and preparedness

Priorities will be to develop key technologies for monitoring, warning, and emergency handling of earthquakes, typhoons, torrential rains, floods, and geological disasters; develop monitoring and warning technologies for forest fire, dam breakage and leakage, and risk assessment techniques for major natural disasters.

11. 
    National defense
    

IV. Major Special Projects
Historically, the implementation of major special projects represented by A-bomb, H-bomb, satellites, manned space flights, and hybrid rice has played a crucial role in enhancing China’s comprehensive strength. The United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, and others have all made the implementation of major special projects to meet national goals an important measure in raising their national competitiveness.

In the course of defining priority topics in the main areas, a number of major special projects involving strategically important products, critical common technologies, and major engineering projects, are identified in line with national objectives. These major special projects are designed to strive for breakthroughs, taking full advantage of the socialist system in pooling up resources to do big things and the role of the market economy system as well. These major special projects are expected to spring from scientific and technological progress in limited areas to a leapfrogging development in overall productivity while helping fill up the country’s strategic blanks. The basic principles under which major special projects are screened out are as follows:

1) strategic industries that are closely linked to the major demands of the nation’s economic and social development, capable of coming up with core proprietary intellectual property rights, and having a major impact on indigenous innovative capacity at the enterprise level; 2) key enabling technologies that have an overarching bearing on raising the overall industrial competitiveness; 3) efforts that are aimed at overcoming major bottlenecks to economic and social development; 4) activities that combine both civilian and defense efforts or make defense part of the civilian industry and have a major strategic importance to maintaining national security and strengthening comprehensive national strength; 5) efforts that are in line with the nation’s development status and within the reach of its strength. It is according to the above-mentioned principles that a number of major special projects are selected to address a range of issues involving high tech industry development, traditional industry transformation, bottlenecks to the nation’s economic development, raising people’s health level, and safeguarding national security. These major special projects will be implemented upon a further review and approval case by case in light of ranking priority of the nation’s development requirement and necessary conditions for implementation.
In addition, dynamic readjustment will be made to pace the implementation of these major special projects as determined by the nation’s strategic needs and changing situation. For the major special projects aiming at strategic products, enterprises are expected to be the principal player in terms of research and development and investment. They will start from research on and development of major equipment so as to take advantage of allocating S&T resources through market mechanism while the starting fund appropriated by the state will be mainly used to address key and core technological snags.
Major special projects are major strategic products, critical common technologies, and major engineering projects which are selected for realizing national objectives and must be completed by massing resources and making breakthroughs in core technologies within a set period of time, thus being the top priority in the nation’s science and technology development. The Outline has defined 16 major special projects, including core electronic devices, high-end generic chips and basic software, super large-scale integrated circuit manufacturing technology and associated techniques, the next generation broadband mobile telecommunication, high-end numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing technology, the development of large oil-gas fields and coal-bed methane, large advanced pressurized water reactors and high temperature gas-coolant reactor nuclear power stations, water body contamination control and treatment, new genetically modified varieties, major new drugs, prevention and treatment of major infectious diseases such as HIV/ADIS and viral hepatitis, large passenger aircrafts, high resolution earth observation systems, manned space flights, and the moon probe. The major special projects cover a range of strategic sectors including information and biotechnology, major pressing issues concerning energy, resources, the environment, and public health, dual-use technologies, and defense technologies.
V. Frontier Technologies
Frontier technologies refer to major visionary, pioneering, and exploratory technologies in the realm of high technology. Frontier technologies constitute an important basis on which future high technologies stem out and emerging industries grow. They represent a nation’s comprehensive high-tech innovation capability. Frontier technologies are selected in accordance with the following principles: 1) representing the development direction of world high-tech frontiers; 2) having a pioneering role in shaping and developing new industries in the future; 3) being conducive to industrial technology upgrading and for realizing the leapfrogging development; and 4) possessing a strong team of talented personnel and a sound R&D basis. Under the above-mentioned principles, a number of frontier technologies will be pre-deployed in an attempt to lead the future S&T development and raise the nation’s high-tech R&D capability and international competitiveness.

1. 
   Biotechnology
   

Biotechnology and life science will become an important force triggering a new round of S&T revolution in the 21st century. Genomics and proteomics studies are leading advances in biotechnology in the direction of systemized research. Genome sequencing and genetic structure analysis have turned in the direction of functional genomic studies and the discovery and application of functional genes. Drugs and animal-plant based directional molecular design and construction have become an important direction for species and drug-related studies. Development and application of frontier technologies, including biochips, stem cells, and tissue engineering, breeds major breakthroughs in diagnosis, therapeutic treatment, and regenerative medicine. Critical breakthroughs are required in the fields of functional genome, proteomics, stem cells, and therapeutic cloning, tissue engineering, biocatalysis, and conversion technologies.

Frontier technologies:
(1) Target identification technology

Target identification is important for developing new drugs, biodiagnostics, and biotreatment. Efforts shall be focused on studying scale identification of key genetic functions and their regulatory networks in the physiological and pathological process, making breakthroughs in techniques for identification of functions of disease-causing genes, expression manipulation, target screening, and verification, and innovative new drug manufacturing from “gene to drug”.

(2) Plant-animal varieties and drug molecular design technology

Plant-animal species and drug molecular design technology is made up of molecul docking, molecule simulation, and molecule design based on biomacromolecules’ 3-D structures. Priorities shall be given to studying protein and dynamic cellular process and associated bioinformatic analysis, consolidation, and simulation. Develop virtual plant-animal species and drug design technology, simulation technology for plant-animal species growth and pharmaceutical metabolism engineering, computer aided composite bank design, synthesizing, and screening.

(3)Gene manipulation and protein engineering technology

Gene manipulation technology is a key link to the utilization of genetic resources. Protein engineering constitutes an important approach to efficient utilization of genetic products. Efforts will be focused on developing technologies for highly effective expression and regulation, chromosome structuring and positioning, coded protein gene design and transformation technology, protein peptide chain decoration and restructuring technology, protein structure analyzing technology, and scale protein isolation and purification technology.

(4) Stem cell based human tissue engineering technology

Stem cell technology is a process that can be used to develop in-vitro stem cells, or harvest different tissues or cells clinically needed through directional induced differentiation or isolation. It also can construct in-vitro human organs for replacement and repairing treatment. Priorities shall be to develop therapeutic cloning technology, in-vitro stem cells construction and directional induction technology, in-vitro human tissue construction and associated scale production technology, multiple human cell-based sophisticated tissue construction and dysfunction repairing technology, and biomanufacturing technology.

(5) New-generation Industrial biotechnology

Biocatalysis and biotransformation constitute the mainstream of the new generation industrial biotechnology. Priorities will be to develop scale screening technology for functional strains, directional biocatalyst upgrading technology, biocatalysis technology system for scale industrial production, clean transformation media manufacturing technology, and associated industrialized transformation process.

2. 
   Information Technology
   

As information technology will continue to develop in the direction of high performance, low-cost, pervasive computation, and intelligent process, seeking new and innovative computing and processing approaches and associated physical realization represents a major for the future development of information technology. The crossing and integration of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and cognitive science will induce advances in information technology that are human-centered, image and natural language comprehension-based, and featuring biological characteristics, thus promoting innovation in numerous fields. Priorities will be to develop low-cost ad hoc networks, individualized intelligent robots and human-machine interactive systems, high-flexibility attack free data networks, and advanced information security systems.

Frontier technologies:
(6) Intelligent sensing technology

Research will be focused on intelligent information processing and control technologies based on biological characteristics and image and natural language comprehension and centered on humans, while developing processing systems for Chinese language information, systematic technologies involving biological characteristics identification, and intelligent traffic systems.

(7) Ad hoc network technology

Priorities will be to develop technologies for ad hoc mobile networks, ad hoc computing networks, ad hoc storage networks, and ad hoc sensor networks, low-cost real-time information processing systems, multi-sensor information integration, individualized interactive interface, high-flexibility attack free data networks, advanced information security systems, and ad hoc intelligent system and intelligent personal system.

(8) Virtual reality technology

Research will be focused on technologies for integrating different disciplines, including electronics, psychology, cybernetics, computer graphics, database design, real-time distribution system, and multimedia technology in addition to studying virtual reality technologies and associated systems for related fields, including medicine, entertainment, arts, education, military affairs, and industrial manufacturing management.

3. 
   Advanced Materials Technology
   

Advanced material technology will go for composite structural functions, intelligent functional materials, integration of materials and components, and environment- friendly manufacturing and applications. Efforts will be made in seeking breakthroughs in material design, assessing, and characterizing, and in advanced manufacturing and processing technologies. Based on studies in nano-science, develop nanomaterials and nanocomponents, special functional materials such as superconductor materials, intelligent materials, energy materials, super structural materials, and new generation optoelectronic information materials.

Frontier technologies:
(9) Intelligent materials and structural technology

Intelligent materials and intelligent structures constitute a smart or intelligent structural systems that integrate sensors, control, and drive (execution) and other functions. Priorities will be to develop technologies for intelligent material manufacturing and processing, intelligent structure design and manufacturing, key equipment monitoring, and failure control.

(10) High-temperature superconducting technology  

Research will be focused on novel high-temperature superconducting materials and associated manufacturing technology, superconducting cables, superconducting motors, and high performance superconducting electric devices while studying a range of sensitive detecting devices such as superconducting biomedical elements, high-temperature superconducting filters, high-temperature superconducting injury-free detectors, and scanning magnetic microscopes.

(11) Efficient energy material technology

Research will be focused on critical technologies for solar cell related materials and associated key technologies, critical technologies for fuel cell materials, high volume hydrogen storage material technology, efficient rechargeable cell materials and associated key technologies, key super capacitor materials and associated manufacturing technology, and efficient energy conversion and storage material systems.

4. 
   Advanced Manufacturing Technology
   

Advanced manufacturing technology will be increasingly based on information, extremism, and environmental friendliness. Such a tendency will create a foundation on which future manufacturing industry will survive, and a key link to its sustainable development. Efforts will be focused on overcoming difficulties in extreme manufacturing technology, system integration, coordination technology, intelligent manufacturing and application technology, set equipment and system design and verification technology, high reliability-based large sophisticated systems and equipment design technology.

Frontier technologies:
(12) Extreme manufacturing technology

Extreme manufacturing refers to the manufacturing components or functional systems at an extreme scale (extremely large or extremely small) or with extremely powerful functions under extreme conditions or environment. Research will be focused on design, manufacturing, and test technologies for micro and nanometer electro-mechanic systems, and technologies for micro and nanometer manufacturing, super precision manufacturing, giant system manufacturing, and intense field manufacturing.

(13) Intelligent service robots

An intelligent service robot is an intelligent equipment integrated with a number of high-tech elements, able to provide diverse services needed by humans, in a non-structural environment. The focus will be on service robots and dangerous operation robots in order to study common basic technologies, including design approaches, manufacturing techniques, intelligent control, and application system integration.

(14) Service life prediction technology for major products and facilities

Service life prediction technology for major products and facilities represents a key technology for improving operational reliability, safety, and maintainability. Efforts will be made to study prediction control and optimization technology for elements design for components and prototyping process, knowledge-based prototyping and simulation technology, onsite manufacturing process test and evaluation technology, component service life prediction technology, and reliability, safety, and service life prediction technology for major products, complex systems, and large facilities.

5. 
   Advanced Energy Technology
   

Advances in energy technology in the future will mainly be characterized with cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and clean utilization in addition to novel energy sources. Technology development with respect to the fourth generation nuclear energy system, advanced nuclear fuel cycle, and fusion energy has drawn increasing attention. Hydrogen, an ideal energy carrier that can be obtained through diverse approaches, will bring about new changes tor clean energy utilization. Fuel cell and distributive energy supply technology, featured with cleanness and flexibility, will eventually become an important form of terminal energy application. Research efforts will be focused on hydrogen utilization and distributive energy systems, advanced nuclear energy, and fuel cycle technology in addition to developing technologies for fossil fuel energy utilization, featured with efficiency, cleanness, and near-zero emissions, and low-cost and efficient new renewable energy applications.

Frontier technologies:
(15) Hydrogen and fuel cell technology

Research efforts will focus on technologies for making hydrogen through the use efficient low-cost fossil fuel energy and renewable energy, cost-effective hydrogen storage and transport, technologies for manufacturing basic key fuel cell components, thermopile integration, fuel cell applications to power generation and automobile propulsion systems. Efforts will also be made to develop technical standards for hydrogen energy and fuel cell technology.