The No.2 Research Institute of the China Aerospace Science, Technology and Industry Group, China's leading designer of conventional and strategic missiles, marked the 45th anniversary of its founding Thursday.
Senior officials including Li Lanqing, Wu Bangguo, Zeng Qinghong, Liu Qi, Cao Gangchuan, Chi Haotian, Liu Huaqing and Song Jian sent congratulatory messages to the institute.
Since its founding in November 1957, the institute, originally known as the No.2 Branch of the 5th Institute of the Ministry of Defense, has played a major role in the design of different generations of Chinese-made conventional and strategic missiles.
The institute is currently engaged in the early stages of research into the technology of a generation of air and space-defense missiles.
Six of its staff are members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2002)
