Nobel Prize laureates and leading overseas Chinese scientists who visited China recently talk to Cui Ning and Fu Jing about ways to improve China's basic research programmes and technological development.

Nobel laureates Torsten N. Wiesel and Hartmut Michel won the prestigious prize in 1981 and 1988, respectively.

They believe that in basic research, Chinese scientists can hold their own alongside their peers in other countries.

Overseas Chinese scientists, for example, those in the United States, are playing leading roles in some sectors of science and technology.

The government's strategy to encourage these established researchers to return home is an ideal way to strengthen China's position in international scientific research.

China has already set up many research centres in big cities, and now the government should increase its input into basic scientific research. A healthy increase in research investment, along with better-educated human resources and policies that encourage research will bring fruitful achievements.

Basic research must always lay the foundation for technological and engineering development. That's the golden rule to invigorate a country's competitiveness in science and technology.

China has already moved in this direction. But the Chinese Government has been far behind many developed countries in its commitment to research and development. China spent only US$12.5 billion or 1.1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D in 2001. In contrast, the percentage of GDP allocated to R&D in Japan, the United States and South Korea is 3.0, 2.8 and 2.7, respectively. Sufficient and sustained investment is the fundamental reason why the United States leads the world in science and technology. In this area, China is decidedly still a developing country.

Norman E. Borlaug, the well-known American agricultural scientist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, said genetic engineering technology can improve a country's agricultural potential, but has to be put into appropriate crops if it is to effectively improve a country's agriculture production. The technology must also be such that farmers can understand and, thus, implement it.

For example, Borlaug said, Chinese scientists have made some achievements in developing the Bt variety of cotton. Commercialization of Bt cotton can reduce the use of pesticides and thus minimize contamination of the environment.

Cotton and other monocultured crops require intensive use of pesticides, as various types of pests attack these crops causing extensive damage. Over the past 40 years, many pests have developed resistance to pesticides.

So far, the only successful approach to engineering crops for insect tolerance has been the addition of Bt toxin, a family of toxins originally derived from soil bacteria. The Bt toxin contained in the Bt crops is no different from other chemical pesticides, but causes much less damage to the environment. These toxins are effective against a variety of economically important crop pests but pose no hazard to non-target organisms like mammals and fish.