China's top scientific development in 2006 has been the breakthrough in next generation Internet which can significantly reduce the nation's dependence on foreign hi-tech companies, according to Chinese academicians.

The annual list of the "Top Ten Scientific Events" for 2006 was unveiled in Beijing on Sunday. Voting is by 565 scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Last September China announced its CERNET2 (China Education and Research Network 2) had linked 25 universities in 20 cities through the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

It can replace the widely-used Ipv4 network and offers unlimited Internet addresses, more advanced security and simpler administration, the experts said. They called it progress with strategic significance by ending reliance on foreign technologies in Internet development.

The other events listed in the top-ten include the discovery of a large natural gas field in southwestern Sichuan, the development of a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion system, the observation of Feshbach Resonace in the F+H2->HF+H Reaction, the creation of forests in the Taklimakan desert, the return of the oceanic science exploration vessel "Dayang Yihao (Ocean No. 1)", the research into a Hepatitis B vaccine, a breakthrough in the electron-positron accelerator, the realization of quantum teleportation of a two-particle composite system and the launch of a remote sensing satellite.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)