(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-11 17:10

SINGAPORE  -- Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong praised on Friday the development of the knowledge-based economy in China, saying the growing scientific and technological prowess of China is an important factor in its economic takeoff.

"China is not just growing low-end industries, but making rapid in-roads into high-tech sectors," Lee said, adding that, "Multi-national Companies (MNCs) are setting up not just manufacturing plants in China, but also research and development (R&D) centers to take advantage of the abundant supply of talented Chinese engineers."

He also noted that home-grown Chinese high-tech firms like Huawei and Lenovo, which design new products using indigenous technology, are not only having established themselves in the domestic market, but also now expanding abroad, and competing in the global league.

He made the remarks at a one-day forum organized by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

The forum, themed "the Politics of Knowledge", aimed to address the challenging issues facing Asia in developing knowledge-based economies.  

Addressing about five hundred policymakers, scholars, businessmen and students, the prime minister said that knowledge creation is not a new phenomenon in Asia, especial in ancient China that "was arguably the most technologically advanced society in the world."

However, today Asia continues to lag behind the West in the level of science, engineering, technology, all key fields of knowledge for economic development and human progress, Lee noted, but this is changing with schools, colleges, universities and research institutes sprouting across China.

He pointed that China has deep talent pools, with huge numbers of extremely able and bright people. He cited Beijing University as top Chinese universities which have "student bodies which are collectively at least as bright as the top universities in the West."

However, Lee said, what the universities in China have not yet succeeded in doing is to create the environment of open inquiry and experimentation.

He also praised the development of knowledge economies in other Asian countries, like India, Vietnam and Singapore, and then pointed out challenges ahead.

He highlighted three broad challenges facing Asian countries, including to ensure that everyone in a society benefits from the knowledge economy, and the complete and instant exposure to an over-whelming torrent of information through the internet and online channels.  

Finally, he said, fostering a sense of national identity will be a major challenge, especially for small and open societies like Singapore.