The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) vowed on Wednesday to use public funds more effectively to boost the country's innovative capability.

    Xu Jianguo, a senior official responsible for allocating state research funds, said in an interview with Xinhua, "We're going to reform the state research planning in order to stimulate more innovative frontier research."

    According to the Five-Year economic and social development plan from 2006 to 2010, China is expected to spend two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010 in research and development, which will be the largest ever sum of investment in scientific research.

    In 2005, China spent 1.23 percent of GDP on research and development, national statistics showed. The government's R&D budget this year is 71.6 billion yuan (8.95 billion U.S. dollars), an annual increase of 19.2 percent. The MOST has discretionary powers over spreading more than 12 billion yuan worth of funds among national programs.

    But the scientific community is seriously concerned about how to allocate such large public funds. As the top agency overseeing the research fund allocation, the MOST disseminates about 30 percent of China's total R&D funds via conduits of national R&D programs.

    A former hi-tech hero, the U.S.-educated Chen Jin was sacked from his post of dean at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

    A inter-agency discipline team confirmed that Chen faked his research on system-on-chip development, allegedly squandering tensof millions yuan of public funds under the state hi-tech R&D program which is called the 863 Program.

    Xu said his ministry will post information on inviting applications for state R&D projects online. Meanwhile, they will build databases of candidate researchers and expert panels, with their credit history.

    Having started the online application, the MOST plans to put an end to all paper applications for national R&D programs by 2010.

    Research institutes, companies and individuals are encouraged to click on the ministry's official website, www.most.gov.cn, to compose and file applications.

    "On-line applications will save applicants much time and expense," Xu said. "It will also increase transparency of management of national research and development programs."

    Xu said in the long term, the ministry plans to ask judging experts to make their decisions over the Internet.

    "Non-disclosure of judges' names and distance appraisal on the Internet might help us prevent cheating and other misconduct during the decision-making procedure," Xu said.

    Lu Yongxiang, who chairs the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) which is another powerful engine for China's science advancement, said recently that a better mechanism should be designed to fight research fraud.

    "Dishonesty and fickleness among a few scientists as well as inappropriate distribution of public funding for research should be blamed for deteriorating ethical standards of the scientific community," said Lu.

    In 1996, the CAS and the Chinese Academy of Engineering each established ethics committees. In 2001, the CAS issued the CAS member codes for self-discipline. In early 2005, the CAS also specified how to deal with scientific misconduct of CAS members.

    "Proven scientific misconduct and corruption among CAS members will be earnestly punished," Lu said.

    The Ministry of Education also joined the nationwide witch-hunt drive two weeks ago by establishing a special commission to monitor academic fraud and plagiarism in universities and colleges around the country.

    Education Minister Zhou Ji has warned researchers working at schools to strictly observe academic ethics or they will be "disciplined."

    Zhou asked all universities and colleges to handle reports on academic fraud or plagiarism seriously.

    "Scientific misconduct cannot be totally avoided, and what is important is we must have transparency in competition and the rules which scientists are aware of," Dr. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, president of the German Research Foundation, told Xinhua at a science meeting weeks ago in Beijing.

    "The fact that everybody in the scientific community knows that there is somebody who can deal with scientific misconduct already helps to prevent many cases," Dr. Winnacker said. Enditem