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cents; the cost for economics journalswas 10.60 and that for neurosciencejournals 13.83.

But in terms of cost-effectiveness, asmeasured by the ratio of cost to impact,neuroscience, at 7.7, emerged better thanphysics journals (11.5) and much betterthan economics publications (29.8); alower ratio denotes better cost-effectiveness.

Ten years after the Barschall study,not-for-profit publishers again emergedin general as a better bargain in terms ofcost/impact than commercial publishers.Commercial journals scored worse thannot-for-profit journals in all threedisciplines: 14.61 versus 8.23 in physics,42.62 versus 11.55 in economics and 8.69versus 0.64 in neuroscience.

Nature was not included in the study.But data also gathered by Wisconsinlibrary on the use of thousands of itsjournals show Nature to be one of themost cost-effective journals in terms of‘cost per use’ (http://www.wisc.edu/wendt/journals/costben/stee8.pdf).

Nature’s average cost-per-use was 62cents last year, and as low as 18 cents atone library. In contrast, over 600 journalshad cost-per-uses of more than $45, withsome as high as $700. Declan Butler

BeijingThe efforts of China’s research communityto argue for policies that favour technologi-cal innovation have received a boost froman unexpected quarter — NATO’s bombingof the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugo-slavia, last May.

The bombing appears to have led to agreater recognition of the importance of sci-ence and technology by the Chinese people,including top government officials. Thedevelopment of cutting-edge technologies isregarded as crucial to national security. Pri-vately, scientists are saying that the bombinghas stimulated the government into increas-ing its attention to science and technology.

Last week, 23 scientists were awardedgold medals — some posthumously — fortheir contributions to the development ofChina’s first nuclear weapons, missiles andfirst satellite. The medals were presented bypresident Jiang Zemin at a ceremony in theGreat Hall of the People in Beijing.

The ceremony was presided over by LiPeng, chairman of the National People’s

Congress. Jiang and prime minister ZhuRongji addressed the meeting, speakinghighly of the achievements of the scientists.All Politburo members and top governmentofficials were present.

“Without national defence, there will beno nation; without a national defence indus-try, there will be no national defence,” saidZhu recently. A statement issued by the gov-ernment says: “Without grasping state-of-the-art technologies, we will be bullied.”

In the weeks after the bombing, discus-sions in the science community emphasizedthe achievements of Chinese scientists indeveloping the nation’s first atomic andhydrogen bombs, and missiles, in the 1960s.Participants stressed the need for China todevelop its own high technologies so that theUnited States could no longer bully it.

The bombing appears to have increasedthe respect given to scientists. Leading scien-tists from military research organizationshave been invited to talk on television aboutthe technologies used by NATO in its bomb-ing of the embassy. Tian Xuewen

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312 NATURE | VOL 401 | 23 SEPTEMBER 1999 | www.nature.com

Bombing of embassy bolsterssupport for science in China...

... as government sets sights on an ‘innovation economy’BeijingChina has confirmed its commitment toencouraging closer links between researchinstitutions and industry, and has instructedall government departments to draw upplans for helping to create an innovation-based economy.

Political bodies have called for greaterrewards for scientists and engineers respon-sible for successful innovations. They willnow be allowed to hold shares in companiesthat exploit their inventions commercially.

The endorsement of the importance ofhigh technology to economic prosperitycame during a four-day meeting at the end oflast month in Beijing, chaired by prime min-ister Zhu Rongji and attended by presidentJiang Zemin and members of the Politburo,the top authority in China’s power hierarchy.

The conference was held to increaseawareness among party and governmentofficials of the need to boost technologicalinnovation. A statement issued by the partycentral committee and the state councilbefore the meeting lists various steps toachieve this. These include accelerating thetechnological upgrading of traditionalindustries and increasing the knowledgecontent of the service sector.

Following the meeting, all major govern-

ment agencies are discussing how to putthese principles into practice. “We will comeout with an action plan very soon,” says aspokesman for the science ministry.

Science minister Zhu Lilan said the gov-ernment wanted industries to become themain force in promoting innovation, andthat mechanisms should be set up for usingventure capital to help achieve this.

Xu Guanhua, vice-minister of the scienceministry, said in a television interview thatthere was inadequate interaction betweenresearch institutions and industry in China.As a result, scientific findings were often leftunexploited for years. This situation willimprove in the future, said Xu, as technologi-

cal brokers will be given a greater role in bring-ing research institutions and industry closer.

Xu, an expert on remote sensing and for-mer vice-president of the Chinese Academyof Sciences, also expressed concern about thelow level of state support for research anddevelopment. In 1997, China’s spending onresearch and development was only 0.64 percent of its gross domestic product. In 1998,the total spending in China was less than theincrease in spending alone in the UnitedStates over the previous year.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences,China’s major research organization, wasalso due to produce an action plan, to bedecided by a top-level meeting on 9 Septem-ber. But no details have been released yet.

The academy was traditionally focusedon basic science, but has been dedicatingincreasing efforts to applied science andindustrial research in recent years. It wasselected by the government a year ago to be atarget for reform under the National Knowl-edge Innovation Campaign. More radicalreforms of the academy are expected to fol-low from the conference.

Science parks and high-technology indus-trial development zones will attract moreattention as a result of the conference, accord-ing to a paper from the science ministry. T. X.

Great leap forward: the Chinese public is beingencouraged to embrace high technology.

AP