On the morning of May 3, Premier Wen Jiabao, accompanied by State Councilor Liu Yandong, made a visit to Tsinghua University to celebrate the upcoming May 4 Youth Day with faculty members and students. During his visit, Premier Wen met Turing award laureate Prof. Andrew Yao. 

(Photography By Haijun Guo)

Prof. Yao said what he saw during his recent visit to universities and companies in the USA, as happened in past visits, had impressed him deeply.  He has a great sense of urgency for the development of science and technology in China. Prof. Yao believes that the coming decade will be a window of opportunity to catch up on the advancements made by foreign research centers. However, he stressed that, should China's research effort be insufficient over this period, the country would experience too large a gap to ever be internationally competitive.

Prof. Yao's research area is theoretical computer science. While this discipline kept developing in China over the past five years, the gap between China and the leading countries in this discipline was continuously widening, said the Turing award winner. Premier Wen agreed with Prof. Yao's viewpoint and said: 'We should have a long-term vision. Countries which cannot excel in science and technology are doomed to lose the momentum of development.'

Prof. Yao told the Premier that he designed a program called 'China Computer Science 2020' in order to establish a world-class research base for computer science. Emphasizing the applications in information industry, this program is to help building a stronger Chinese industry for global competition. This program will also contribute to modernizing the information industry and optimizing the national economic structure. Premier Wen was glad to hear about this scheme and the positive influence it may exert on China's information industry. He encouraged Prof. Yao's efforts: 'Work out your plan. The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Tsinghua University will all give you full support.