This month's edition of our newsletter covers the Chinese Premier's urge to scientists to help fight the global financial crisis. Earlier on, Premier Wen Jiabao also called for an education reform in China. The Ministry of Health is under pressure to produce the revised healthcare reform plan in January. Along with more news on S & T development in China, we have decided to inbuilt new contents to our newsletter and added S & T Policies, Institutions, and upcoming Events. We hope that you will continue to enjoy reading our S & T news from China and we wish you a bullish start of 2009!

As China celebrates its achievements on the 30th anniversary of the economic reform and opening up policy, the country is more and more aware of the challenges lying ahead for a sustainable future with resource restraints and the need to protect the environment. The 1st International Expo on Energy Conservation and Emissions Reduction is due to be held in 2009, organised by the most powerful Ministries in China, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Traditional Medicine (TM) is on the agenda of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be promoted in the primary healthcare sector around the globe. Boarding schools from “the 1st world” are taking Chinese kids into their cradles, rousing debates among education specialists.

China's Scientist Premier recently spoke with Science about China's efforts to ground its economic and social development in sound science. Prof. Lothar Reh, retired Prof. at ETHZ, won another prize in China as the co-winner of this year's “State Friendship Award” and the “State Award for International Science and Technology Cooperation” with Prof. Scott Douglas Rozelle of United States. Also, Swiss higher education was represented yet again at the China International Education Expo 2008.

The technological highlight of this month was certainly China's successful launch of its third manned spacecraft on Thursday September 25, 2008, with three astronauts on board to attempt the country's first-ever space walk. The spaceship Shenzhou-7 blasted off on a Long March II-F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the north western Gansu Province after a breathtaking countdown to another milestone on China's space journey. China became the third country after the United States and Russia to send a human into orbit in 2003, followed with a two-man mission in 2005. The successful spacewalk made China the third to master the extravehicular activity (EVA) technology. The Shenzhou-7 space module landed safely by parachute on Sunday, September 28, 2008 in China's northern grassland, after a landmark spacewalk mission that leads the country further in its space exploration.

As from the 8th day of the 8th month in 2008, the world witnessed excellent shows and events of the Beijing Olympics – many of them putting on display top-edge technologies. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the premier research institute in China, was highly involved in making it a “Green Olympiad”. Together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), CAS also started to map the whole of China with eco-friendly zones so as to stimulate sustainable development. It is also a time to break records, not only for the athletes, but also for the scientists, as we see the first transgenic cow being born to help fight cancer, and the first Chinese Lunar Probe Satellite to the Moon functioning well after a partial eclipse with the Sun.

With a few days to go before the opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the whole City of Beijing starts to “Think Olympic”: One of the most sensitive issues around the Olympics is air quality. Cooperation between ESA and MOST now allows for better prediction and control of the various measures that have been taken in order to improve air quality in the capital. On the dawn of the Beijing Olympics, China continues to fight an up hill struggle in an effort to reconstruct the earthquake-demolished areas in Sichuan province. "Architectural Knowledge on the Reestablishing of Livelihood”, is aiming to meet the needs of the popularization of S&T knowledge on quake-proof buildings during the reconstruction of damaged buildings in the quake-hit rural areas. Last by not least, the Swiss President will officially open the Swissnex Shanghai office on 7 August 2008.

June 2008 could be a turning point for China to become self-reliant on science and innovation, as President Hu Jingtao made a strong plea for Chinese creativity during a conference of scientists and academicians, organised by two of the major Chinese scientific and engineering research institutions in Beijing. The budget for science has increased by 25% in 2008, outperforming an average of 20% increases of previous years. The Chinese State Key Laboratories are making plans for the next five years and are encouraged to cooperate with international organisations. With the 863 and 973 programmes in full flung, China is ready to take on the world on science and technology developments, which will be witnessed when the first “Chinaman” steps on the Moon in October this year.

EU President Barroso and nine Commissioners, including Mr. Janzez Potocnik (Research) recently visited China. The EU and China agreed to develop a new strategic cooperation on science and research based on reciprocity and equal partnership. Areas of joint research already identified include energy, climate change, biotechnology and health. The same areas had been chosen as focus areas in the Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation programme, with a first call for proposal launched on May 14, 2008, by ETHZ. During the month of April 2008, Swiss education and science was promoted at several occasions, including the Beijing International Education Expo 2008, ETHZ's Big Band tour through China and the 2008 Shanghai Science and Art Exposition.

April 17, 2008, marked the day of the arrival of Louis Palmer's Solartaxi in China. During it's 39-day journey through China, the Solartaxi provides for an excellent opportunity to promote Switzerland as a highly innovative, unconventional and environmentally friendly country. A few days later, various Ministries and international Organizations hosted an international high-level Forum on Climate Change and S&T in Beijing. China is catching up in terms of human Resources in Sci-Tech – this is the message of a new report, compiled by the China Association for Science and Technology. Please also find the latest news on recent projects related to atmospheric surveys and data relay satellites, on official Governmental statements on shutting down coal-fired power plants and the future of bioenergy in China as well as on the visit of various important S&T delegations to China.

On the last day of March, Chinese President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron in Beijing's Tiananmen Square with the Olympic torch Monday morning, marking the official start of the round-the-world relay. The flame is scheduled to depart from Beijing on Tuesday, 1 April, 2008 for the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first stop in its global tour of 135 cities. The relay will cover 137,000 kilometers in 130 days before the flame finally arrives at the National Stadium in Beijing on 8 August, 2008 for the opening ceremony.

Congratulations to the Swiss Scientist, Lothar Reh, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), who won the Award for International Cooperation in Science & Technology presented by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The awards were given for the first time in China for the recognition of international scientists' contributions to China's science and technology development. American scientist, Scott Douglas Rozelle from Stanford University, was the co-winner of the award.

The 11th CPPCC National Committee will start its annual full session on Monday, in a year that will see the Olympic Games and the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening up policy. While advisors were urged to contribute more proposals for the country's sound development, the Scientific Outlook on Development, initiated by the CPC to guide the country's development, stresses harmony between man and nature, economic growth and environmental protection. China's economy has been growing rapidly in the past three decades and now ranks as the fourth largest in the world. The country faces problems of yawning wealth gap, high energy consumption and pollution to the environment.

Only two days away from the Spring Festival China still struggles to cope with the worst snow storms in over 50 years. 

The crisis has affected an estimated 100 million people, and caused some 54bn yuan of damage. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly migrant workers, who are returning home for family gatherings during the Spring Festival holiday that starts on Wednesday, are still stranded on icy expressways and at train stations. The emergency medical teams have treated over 200,000 sick and injured people over 60 people have died because of the cold.