The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of fundamental science and to international cooperation in science and technology, Premier Wen Jiabao said in Beijing Wednesday.

Wen made the remarks at a meeting with Dr. Robert Aymar, director-general of the European Laboratory for Particle Science (CERN), and Dr. Samuel Chao Chung Ting, a Chinese-American physicist and Nobel laureate.

The premier spoke highly of the cooperation made by the Chinese scientists and CERN, noting this cooperation was conducive for joint participation in large-scale scientific experiments, for sharing research outcome and for personnel training.

Wen also voiced the hope that Chinese scientists would "make concerted efforts" to work with foreign scientists to "contribute more to the development of science."

Aymar and Ting briefed the Chinese premier respectively on the CERN and experiments to detect antimatter and missing matter in space conducted by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2004)