China will select a batch of new national key laboratories for the research of livestock diseases, immunity, energy and water resources and space while upgrading and readjusting the existing ones, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday.
The selection of new national key labs will focus on subjects which are of great importance to China's development, such as population and health, agriculture, energy, the ecological environment and high-tech manufacturing, a ministry official said Monday.
Candidates for the national key labs should be creative in frontier sciences, have outstanding achievements in key technological innovation or system integration, and be capable of providing scientific advice to support the country's effort to maintain state rights and benefits.
The new key labs, to be equipped with advanced facilities, will conduct cooperation with academic circles both at home and abroad, take part in international joint scientific projects and attract international expertise for research, said the official.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2005)
