China is creating an attractive climate for investment in its growing high-tech industry sector, Science and Technology Minister Xu Guanhua said yesterday in Beijing.

The ministry expects a second board or stock exchange for smaller, start-up ventures to develop as part of this process.

Xu made the comments at a press conference organized by the State Council's Information Office to mark the 15th anniversary of China's Torch Plan. The plan was initiated in 1988 to nurture high-tech industries and upgrade traditional industries.

Xu said China has set up high-tech parks in Britain and the United States. They have played an active role in giving Chinese enterprises experience of developed countries to promote their high-tech products in world markets.

More needs to be done to improve the competitiveness of domestic high-tech firms in global markets since the sector is still in its infancy in China he said.

Xu also said that planning for the launch of China's first manned space mission, known as Shenzhou V, is going smoothly.

The minister, who declined to say when the spacecraft would be launched, said it would promote the development of high-tech industries in China.

Zhao Yuhai, director of the Torch High-Tech Industry Development Centre, said high-tech industries in Taiwan and on the mainland complement each other.

Information technology enterprises from Taiwan have set up branches in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta areas.

The Torch Plan has spurred on the country's high-tech industry and fuelled economic growth, said Xu.

More than 24,000 high-tech programmes have been carried out over the past 15 years. Some of these programmes have resulted in patents for products such as high performance computers, large-scale digital switches, mobile container inspection systems and high definition televisions.

Some 53 major high-tech development zones have been set up under the Torch Plan since 1991.

Business income from the 53 zones grew to more than 1.53 trillion yuan (US$184 billion) last year from 8.73 billion yuan (about US$1 billion) in 1991, ministry statistics indicate.

The number of jobs in the 53 zones has increased from 140,000 to 3.49 million.

The Torch Plan has also stimulated regional economic development.

The Tongfeng Company in East China's Anhui Province, for example, has become a leading electronic enterprise. It is the biggest producer of electric membranes in the world and has a 45 per cent share of the world market.

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