Experts from China and Germany will exchange views on nanotechnology development on the three-day Sino-German international conference on nano and biological technology starting Tuesday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

The conference is cosponsored by the Ministries of Science and Technology of the both countries, said Jiang Xiaowei, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

Appearing in the late 1980s, nanotechnology will greatly influence the social and economic development after information technology and biological technology.

Jiang said companies from the two countries will negotiate on cooperative projects. Germany will invest in nanofertilizer technology, a field in which China takes the lead, he said.

"The gap in the nanoscience between China and western countries is not very big. China is even in a leading position in some fields of the technology," said the official.

He Jishan, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, said nanoscience enables people to produce materials and tools the size of molecules and atoms, which will bring about technological reform in information technology, material, energy, environment, medicine and health, biology and agriculture.

Huang Boyun, president of Changsha-based Central South University, spoke highly of the application of nanoscience in cancer research, saying that some tumors may be curable in 15 years with the help of the technology.

Jiang said he hoped Chinese medical workers will become aware of the importance of nanotechnology through this conference.

Experts say the economic value of the world's nanotechnology output will exceed 300 billion US dollars by 2010.

Source: Xinhua