Скачать или смотреть CHINA: HIGH TECH FAIR

(15 May 2000) Mandarin/Eng/Nat

Eager to boost its commitment to high tech development, China is hosting an international high-tech industrial fair in Beijing.

The China International High-Tech Week 2000 is designed to enhance the country's efforts in developing advanced technology, a field of science Chinese leaders say is vital to the nation's economic growth.

Two words are defining the future of the China's economy- 'high technology' is the mantra being recited by Chinese leaders who envision a scientific revolution lifting the country out of poverty and into a prosperous 21st century.

Though still largely a nation of farmers where average incomes hover at around six hundred dollars per year, China wants to move as quickly as possible away from the image and economics of a cheap producer of low-tech, low-quality goods.

It's no surprise, then, that China's annual high tech industrial fair - branded the China International High Tech Week - is bigger and fancier this year than ever before.

With more than twenty-thousand square metres of exhibition space and with more than 900 companies represented, the fair displays a wide range of modern technology, including mobile phones with the latest WAP technology,low orbit communication satellites and even down to earth state-of-the-art brewing technology.

Visitors to the expo know there is a yawning gap between the innovative developed world marketplace and China's backward domestic technology.

SOUNDBITE (Mandarin):
"It's time for China to pay more attention to the high tech industry. In the past, someone selling eggs could earn more than a professor. This situation has to change now."
SUPERCAPTION: Vox Pop, female visitor of the exposition

There is plenty to marvel at for the thousands of visitors who pour into the exhibition halls each day.

But most visitors are not here just to gaze at the latest innovations from abroad- they also want to check out how their nation's own know-how is doing by comparison.

Last year, China moved a small step in the direction of U-S and Russian space programs by launching into orbit its first unmanned spacecraft.

The space shuttle Shenzhou - or 'magic vessel' - safely touched down on land in north China's Inner Mongolia after 21 hours of circling earth.

China hopes to carry out a manned flight later this year.

Foreign business people - attracted by the centuries old promise of China's huge market - don't want to miss the opportunity to position themselves in the early stages of China's technical takeoff.

While generally optimistic about China's future, foreign investors are also realistic about the challenges China faces as it attempts to enter the international high tech arena.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Probably economic. Having sufficient money for research and development because it's very, very capital-intensive, you know, it requires a lot of money to do that and you have to be willing to
invest."
SUPERCAPTION: Charles Fay, Vice President of Global Simulation Systems, G-S-S)

But high tech is not just about super-powerful computer chips and peaceful technology transfer, it's also about military strength and sales of advanced weaponry.

One of the most popular displays sponsored by the Moscow municipal government shows a series of Russia modern fighter planes.

Appearing more as an innocent child's toy than a deadly war plane, the exhibit draws crowds eager to have a look at the fighter models behind the glass.



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