Nobel Prize winner Chen Ning Yang predicted Tuesday that China will be recognized as a world leader in science and technology in 30 to 40 years.

Astonishing progress has been made in the development of China' s science and technology in the past century, said Yang, at a forum on cooperation between east China's Anhui Province and transnational companies held at the scenic Huangshan Mountain Tuesday.

"Less than 10 people in China knew calculus in 1900. By 2000, China was able to retrieve a manned spaceship. Such a rapid development is unprecedented in the world," he said.

The spirit of self-reliance cultivated by the Chinese people is important in promoting scientific progress, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2001)