HU MEIDONG 06/19/2003

FUZHOU: More than 40 projects worth a total of 2.6 billion yuan (US$313 million) have been traded at an on-going local trade fair dedicated to the selling of research and development (R&D) projects to industrial companies.

Su Zengtian, deputy director of the fair's organizing committee, said he is confident that more deals would be made at the fair, scheduled to end tomorrow.

The fair, in the capital city of East China's Fujian Province, which has been organized by the provincial government, serves as a bridge between 1,000 local enterprises and 107 domestic universities and research institutions, which brought 2,500 projects to the fair.

Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University brought more than 200 projects.

Part of Tsinghua's projects are related to the fight against SARS (severe acture respiratory syndrome), such as technology for waste disposal and air purification.

Tsinghua will also serve as an agent for more than 10 universities in Russia, Japan, the United States and Germany. The foreign institutions aim to sell 3,200 projects at the fair, according to Wan Rong, an official from Tsinghua's office of international co-operation.

(China Daily June 19, 2003)

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