China's Nanotechnology Gains Have U.S. Looking Over Its Shoulder
BEIJING -- China is rapidly catching up to the U.S. in nanotechnology, the field of working with extremely small objects, a visiting U.S. official said. That success could hold lessons for U.S. policy makers seeking to maintain a competitive edge in scientific research.
"China is one of the players that is gaining on us," said Robert Cresanti, undersecretary for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce, in an interview yesterday. "We are wise to take a look at what they are doing that's been successful, and see how it might apply to improve our system."
Mr. Cresanti, who is in Beijing to meet with Chinese policy makers, said China's progress was apparent during his visit. "We saw labs today full to the rafters with scientists and machinery," he said. There has also been a dramatic increase in the quality and quantity of papers on nanotechnology published by Chinese scientists, he added.
Nanotechnology gets its name from the nanometer, which is one-billionth of a meter, or about 1/100,000th the width of a human hair. The term refers to the manipulation of materials at very small scales, where they start to take on unusual physical properties. Many governments have focused on the technology because it could lead to breakthroughs in areas such as enabling tiny medical devices that could enter human cells and building superstrong materials from novel combinations of molecules.
This year, the Chinese government released a national plan for scientific development that calls for raising spending on research and development to equal 2% of economic output by 2010, from just above 1% in recent years. The plan names nanotechnology as a major priority, calling it an area where China may be able to "leapfrog" wealthier nations.
In a report on nanotechnology released this week, the U.S. National Research Council, a private advisory group, echoed Mr. Cresanti's worries, writing that "the U.S. lead is facing significant and increasing international competition." The group said Japan and the European Union are each spending in the order of $1 billion annually on nanotechnology research, which is comparable to the outlay in the U.S.
By comparison, Lux Research Inc. has estimated China's funding for nanotechnology at $250 million in 2005.
Mr. Cresanti characterized Chinese nanotechnology research as shorter-term and more narrowly focused than the foundational research going on in U.S. labs, but said: "We can learn from each other." He said Chinese researchers work more closely with industry and tend to be more focused on developing technologies to solve specific commercial problems.
While the direction of research in the U.S. is determined largely by private institutions, China's rapid development in the field has been tightly orchestrated by its government.
Policy makers are trying to shift China's economy away from its historic reliance on low-cost manufacturing and toward technology and higher-end industries.
中国纳米技术发展直追美国
一位正在访华的美国官员表示，中国的纳米技术(nanotechnology)发展正在快速赶上美国。中国取得的成功值得美国决策者学习，他们一直在寻求使美国在科学研究方面保持竞争优势的途径。
美国商务部(Department of Commerce)负责技术的副部长罗伯特?克雷桑蒂(Robert Cresanti)周二接受采访时说：“中国是正在赶超美国的众多国家之一。我们一直在关注这些国家在其取得成功的领域所作的努力，以及他们的成就如何能为我们用来提高美国现有的体制，我们认为这样做才是明智的。”
正在北京与中国官员会面的克雷桑蒂说，这次行程让他清楚地看到了中国的进步。他还说，现在中国的实验室内设施齐备，科研人员充足。中国科学家发表的关于纳米技术的论文在数量及质量上都有了明显的提高。
纳米技术得名于纳米，后者只有十亿分之一米（约为人类头发宽度的十万分之一）。纳米技术是指在极小的尺度空间内对某种物质进行操作，而这些物质在这个尺度空间内会具有非同寻常的物理特性。很多政府都在集中精力攻克这一技术，因为它能够带来其他科学技术领域的突破，比如能够使微小的医疗器械进入人体细胞，以及将分子用新的方式进行组合制成超强的材料等。
中国政府今年推出了一项国家科学技术发展计划，打算将研究开发支出在2010年前提高至相当于经济产出的2%，最近几年这个比例仅为1%多一点。这个计划还将纳米技术列为重大优先发展项目，并称中国可能会在这个领域中与其他更加富裕的国家交替领跑。
在本周发布的一份关于纳米技术的报告中，私人顾问团体美国国家研究委员会(U.S. National Research Council)也表达了和克雷桑蒂一样的担忧，报告中写道“美国在纳米技术方面的领先地位正面临着来自全球各国日益强大的竞争压力。”这个团体称，日本和欧盟每年为纳米技术研究分别支出约10亿美元，这个数字可与美国的经费支出相媲美。Lux Research Inc.估计，中国2005年的纳米技术经费为2.5亿美元。
克雷桑蒂表示中国纳米技术研究的特点是短期性以及研究领域较为集中，这与美国实验室正在进行的基础性研究有所不同。不过，他说：“我们可以相互学习。”他还说，中国的科研人员与行业内部的合作更为紧密，他们集中精力发展能够解决具体商业问题的技术。
纳米技术在美国的研究方向基本由私人机构来决定，但中国在这个领域的快速发展却是由政府严格调控的。
中国决策者正在努力将中国经济从长久以来对低成本制造业的依赖转向技术及高端产业。
Andrew Batson
