Transparency and a tolerance for failure will provide an environment of academic integrity and creativity for Chinese scientists, said Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang yesterday at the NPC session.
The government has been increasing funding for research and development over the past few years, especially since 2006, when President Hu Jintao outlined the major strategic tasks to create an innovation-oriented country. According to the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product will go toward research and development by 2010, which will be a record for investment in scientific research.
China spent 366 billion yuan ($51.6 billion) last year, on research and development.
That was up from 89.6 billion yuan in 2000. Those figures are expected to grow this year.
Both the scientific community and the general public have expressed concern over how best to ensure the money is used to support scientific innovation and not squandered on fraud.
Wan said the Ministry of Science and Technology, the top authority in charge of overseeing the allocation of research funds, has adopted a transparent assessment and management process to ensure academic integrity.
The minister said his ministry had created an online application system for State R&D projects to save time and money and, more importantly, to ensure open competition. Meanwhile, the ministry is also building databases of candidate researchers and expert panels and their credit histories.
"Keeping judges' names secret until the last minute prevents cheating and other misconduct during the decision-making process," Wan said. "We believe that sunshine certainly prevents bacteria from taking root."
He said that in addition to cracking down on fraudsters, creating an environment that is tolerant of scientific failure will help reduce the temptation to lie and cheat.
"Scientific and technological innovation is a high-risk business. There is always a mixture of success and failure, and it may take many failures to produce one success," Wan said.
Questions:
1. The Science and Technology Minister said which two things are important to foster innovation and creativity in China?
2. How much money did the country spend on R&D last year?
3. Why has the ministry set up an online application system?
Answers:
1.Transparency and a tolerance for failure.
2.366 billion yuan.
3.To save money, time and make it more open for competition.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
