June 3, 2002 — Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing encouraged his nation’s leading scientists and engineers to speed the growth of genomics, nanotechnology and other cutting-edge fields, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

Li, who recently spoke to the Chinese academies of science and engineering at separate conferences, urged the two research bodies to boost the rate of transferring technology from the lab to the marketplace. He said such efforts could be aided by support from capital markets, high-level international exchanges and protection of intellectual property rights.

He said priority should be given to areas that will lead to economic and social progress.