Speech at the News Conference
Zhang XiangIt
's my pleasure to meet so many friends from the press. On this occasion, I would like to brief you on the upcoming China Hi-tech Fair.To promote the development of China
's hi-tech industry as well as world trade in technology in general and facilitate the exchange of hi-tech achievements, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Information Industry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen Municipal People's Government will jointly organize a China Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen every autumn. The inaugural Fair will be held in Shenzhen during 5-10 October this year.As is well known, in the world today, science and technology is changing with each passing day; scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation are taking place with growing intensity; achievements in high and new technology are quickly being turned into productive forces; and science and technology, as the primary productive force, is playing an increasingly important role in social production and national economic development. The hi-tech industry as a whole is taking a growing share in the global economy, hi-tech products in particular, which are the crystallization of high technology and added value, are showing enormous market potentiality. As estimated by International Monetary Fund, by 2000, world trade may total US$ 7 trillion, while hi-tech products with high technology content and added value will be the focus of every major trading nation with a total export value of over US$ 400 billion.
Development of the information technology and the emergence of knowledge economy have accelerated industrial restructuring around the world and provided a good opportunity for China to develop its foreign economic and trade sector. According to statistics of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, China signed 8,754 technology import and export contracts in 1998, with a total value of US$ 23.062 billion. In a breakdown, 6,254 were technology import contracts, worth US$ 16.375 billion, while 2,500 were technology export contracts, worth US$ 6.687 billion. Despite of its short history, China
's technology trade has been off to a quick start, China's hi-tech industry made remarkable progress especially in the 1990s, which has not only created the material base for China to develop international technology trade, but also made it possible for the Chinese hi-tech industry to play in the global market and participate in world competition. However, till this day, there isn't a well-established venue to promote international technology trade in China. It is against this background that in conjunction with Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Information Industry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation will organize an international China Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen every autumn starting from this year. It will be another important fair following the institution of China Export Commodities Fair (in Guangzhou) and China Fair for International Investment and Trade (in Xiamen). We will try our best to make the Fair an important national event, during which domestic and international participants can realize hi-tech transfer and exchange of latest achievements, display hi-tech products, promote foreign participation in China's technology import and other hi-tech projects, and exchange information in general.Focusing on high and new technology and following international norms as well as multilateral and bilateral treaties China has entered into, China Hi-tech Fair is designed to maximize the advantages and convenient conditions of this special economic zone to attract wide participation of domestic and foreign hi-tech enterprises, universities, scientific and research institutes and multinational corporations, including those form Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan. While featuring its international orientation and wide national representation, the Fair will also become a grand gathering of participants from the Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan to exchange scientific and technological achievements and conduct cooperation in the hi-tech industry. So far as its content is concerned, the Fair will be a comprehensive one, integrating transactions of hi-tech achievements, technology import and export, scientific and technological explorations and information exchanges. With regard to the mode of transactions, the Fair will combine transaction of hi-tech achievements with venture investment mechanism, on-the-spot trade with on-line trade, and hi-tech transfer with hi-tech product exhibition.
I believe that this Fair will further accelerate the process of commercialization, industrialization and internationalization of scientific and technological achievements, which will help to promote China
's hi-tech industrial development, further optimize China's industrial structure, and enhance the overall quality of the national economy. In the meantime, it may open a new avenue for China to reinvigorate trade with science and technology and combine technology, industry with trade, thus making new contributions to the optimization of China's export mix and sustainable development of foreign trade.Before I conclude, I would like to thank the State Council Information Office for giving us this opportunity and thank you all for coming.
Thank you!