Jeffrey Mervis
The Chinese government has approved funding for four big-science projects: a 4-meter wide-field telescope for sky surveys at an observatory northeast of Beijing, a new synchrotron x-ray source on the outskirts of Shanghai, the upgrading of an existing synchrotron in Hefei, and a national seismographic network to monitor crustal movements at major faults. The $55 million investment is part of a government promise to triple spending on science and technology by 2000.