China's scientific research and high-tech industries - Page 2

oneman28 · 10-10-2005, 14:22 PM

http://www.infosec.sdu.edu.cn/people/wangxiaoyun.htm

Introduction of prf. Xiaoyun Wang. This lady did great job to prove the unsafety of almost all encryption algorithms we are used today. Her research shocked many IT security institute in the world. Her reasearch also pushed US gov to develop better solutions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaoyun_Wang

Quote:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Xiaoyun Wang (Simplified Chinese: 王小云; Traditional Chinese: 王小雲) (born 1966) is a researcher and professor in the Department of Mathematics and System Science, Shandong University, Shandong, China. At the rump session of CRYPTO 2004, she and co-authors demonstrated collisions in MD5, SHA-0 and other related hash functions. (A collision occurs when two distinct messages result in the same hash function output). They received a standing ovation for their work. In February 2005 it was reported that Wang and co-authors have found collisions in the SHA-1 hash function, which is used in many of today's mainstream security products. Their attack used less than 269 operations, far fewer than the 280 operations previously thought needed to find a collision in SHA-1.

In August 2005, an improved attack on SHA-1, discovered by Xiaoyun Wang, Andrew Yao and Frances Yao, was announced at the CRYPTO conference rump session. The time complexity of the new attack is claimed to be 263.

Wang was born in Zhucheng, Shandong Province. She gained bachelors (1987), masters (1990) and doctorate (1993) degrees at Shandong University, and subsequently lectured in the mathematics department from 1993. Wang was appointed assistant professor in 1995, and full professor in 2001.

oneman28 · 10-10-2005, 16:02 PM

http://www.china.org.cn/english/BAT/142904.htm

Quote:

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has got more than 8,000 patents with one tenth of them registered in 20 countries and regions outside China, mainly in the United States and Europe, said sources with the company Tuesday.

Statistics with the State Intellectual Property Office show that in the first half this year, Huawei ranked the first among domestic companies in the number of patents registered, with a total of 1,231 patents.

Huawei predicted that the company would get over 3,000 patents this year with over 500 of them abroad.

Being China's largest telecom equipment manufacturer, the company has been ranking the first in the number of patents since 2002. With over 500 patents registered every year, Huawei has maintained the same level with multinationals in the industry.

To support development of its overseas market, Huawei has chosen developed countries and regions as key area of its patent application. Up to date, Huawei has made over 200 patent applications in the United States and Europe.

The company would make over 100 patent applications every year in those countries and regions in the future, said sources with Huawei.

Huawei invests over 4 billion yuan (around 493 million US dollars) every year into research and development. Apart from Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and Chengdu, Huawei also set up five research institutes abroad, respectively located in the Silicon Valley and Dallas of the US, Sweden, India and Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)

oneman28 · 10-18-2005, 16:45 PM

http://www.chinatechnews.com/index.p...e=news&id=3067

Quote:

October 18, 2005
Huawei says that the global application of Huawei's wireless products has reached a new high of 140 million users, 100 million of which are GSM-based users.

Huawei's wireless products (including UMTS/CDMA2000/GSM) have been deployed in more than 70 countries worldwide. Global sales of its wireless product line in 2005 contributed to more than 50% of the company's total revenue.

Presently, Huawei's GSM system serves more than 100 million mobile subscribers in around 60 countries globally, and has built 400,000 carriers on the GSM BTS platform. Huawei's mobile SoftSwitch application is a global market leader with over 40 million users worldwide.

Huawei's CDMA2000 system currently serves more than 30 million subscribers in over 60 countries, which has made Huawei become the top CDMA provider in the Asia Pacific region. Huawei started to research on TD-SCDMA in 1998. Huawei currently cooperates with Siemens in the TD-SCDMA wireless development.

As the world's leading 3G equipment supplier, Huawei has obtained 11 UMTS commercial contracts and 10 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO commercial contracts.

oneman28 · 10-18-2005, 16:46 PM

http://english.people.com.cn/200510/...18_214992.html

Quote:

A forum organization was kicked off here Monday in Shanghai to boost the development of technology beyond the third generation mobile communication (3G).

The organization, or namely Future Mobile Communication Forum, has 26 co-founders including nine multinationals, Siemens, Nokia, Ericsson, Philips, Shanghai Bell-Alcatel, Motorola, Sumsung, France Telecom and NTT Docomo from Japan.

Four Chinese telecom operators of China Telecom, China Mobile, China Netcom and China Unicom are also members of the forum, along with domestic equipment manufacturers of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, ZTE and Datang Telecom.

"The forum symbolizes that the future development of mobile communication technology following 3G has aroused the attention from the telecom operators and the manufacturers," said Wen Ku, official with the Ministry of Information Industry.

Future mobile communication would be even more complicated than 3G and the forum would set up a platform of communication for various companies and research institutes, Wen said.

Beyond 3G could provide high-quality image transmission at a price as low as fixed-line Internet, said Zhou Hong, vice president of Huawei. He said Huawei spent 15 percent of its annual sales on research and development of future technologies including Beyond 3G and the company is making great investment in the new technology.

China, which began to study beyond 3G technology in 2001, has made breakthroughs in key areas. According to the present research, new technologies could realize a transmission speed 5-10 times faster than under the 3G technology, said You Xiaohu, director of National Mobile Communication Research Laboratory.

At the end of this year or early next year, he noted, China will set up a test bed for Beyond 3G in Shanghai and will offer wireless transmission with a speed between 100 Mbps and 1G by 2010.

China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2012) on national economy and social development still under making would give priority to the technology, said You.

Headed by the International Telecom Union, the concerned countries have reached an agreement on the future development of "Beyond 3G". Its frequency spectrum will be set at the world wireless conference, to be held in 2007.

Experts said the next five years would be a crucial period for the formation of a Beyond 3G standard and the technology is expected to be commercialized in 2015.

Source: Xinhua

oneman28 · 10-18-2005, 16:49 PM

http://www.reed-electronics.com/sili...CA6269477.html

Quote:

- By Jeff Chappell, Electronic News

10/12/2005 —
BEIJING -- There is no end of conjecture in the semiconductor industry as to what the rise of China means to the industry as a global whole. It ranges from dire predictions of tremendous overcapacity that will take years to absorb, to ridiculously bullish forecasts of domestic chip demand.

The conjecture isn’t just limited to the chip industry, but involves all sorts of industries, such as agriculture to automobiles, not to mention the economic and political concerns of those in the U.S. and other western governments.

But Chinese officials say that China is not really concerned so much with dominating the semiconductor industry, or anything else, for that matter, as it is with addressing its own internal issues. And one of the ways it sees to address those issues is the continued development of the domestic chip industry.

“It’s a live or die industry,” said Yang Xue Ming, an analyst with the Institute of Chinese Electronic Industry Development, part of the central government’s Ministry of Information Industry. Information technology is a modern engine for China’s economy, just as it is elsewhere in Asia and in the West, he explained, and the IC is in turn the foundation of IT – “without the chips, information technology is just a slogan.”

One of the key ways Yang suggests China will continue to build its domestic chip industry is cooperation, as opposed to domination.

“Cooperation is based on mutual understanding,” said Yang. “The deeper the understanding,” he added, “the more successful the cooperation will be.” And he sees many opportunities for Sino-U.S. cooperation.

Yang, who spent some 20 years as an engineer in China’s chip industry before getting involved in management and government, is quick to point out this is his own opinion, and not necessarily a reflection of the official position of the Chinese government. And yet, he notes that the Chinese government has paid special attention to the chip industry, and how it is connected to China’s macroeconomic environment.

Domestic Demand Outstripping Growth

Yang doesn’t see China alone being able to build so many fabs in the next few years that it causes a global capacity glut. Currently China’s fab lines produce approximately $2.2 billion (18 billion yuan), but it wants to triple that capacity by 2008. Factoring in die size shrinks, the transition from smaller wafer sizes to 200mm and 300mm wafers and the process capabilities of domestic chipmakers, this translates into 10 to 15 additional fabs to be built in China over the next three years, according to Yang.

Even with this aggressive expansion, China will still need to import an estimated 70 percent of the chips it will consume. According to Chinese government estimates, the domestic market demand for semiconductors will reach $61.8 billion (500 billion yuan) in 2008, but only $21 billion (170 billion yuan) of those will be produced in domestic fabs; the remainder will come from outside China.

Against that backdrop, he observed that the rise of Japan’s chip industry in the 1980s is completely different from China’s ascension in the semiconductor world. China recognizes that it can’t come close to fulfilling its domestic demand; even so, it recognizes the need to foster a domestic industry, said Yang. Thus, China doesn’t have the ambition to be a leading chip producer in the world, rather it just wants to put a dent in that trade imbalance and fulfill its own needs, or at least part of it.

This has been one of the major drivers behind China’s opening up to foreign investment and privatizing state owned businesses, and its joining the World Trade Organization, he said – the country realizes that if it is going to make strides toward self reliance in the chip industry, it is going to need foreign investment to do so. The chip industry is a global one; no one country can realistically go it alone, and China recognizes that the benefits of global cooperation and participation in the WTO outweigh the deterrents, according to Yang.

In China, prior to 2000, the domestic chip industry was totally supported by the state. But then, the government shifted its stance, determining that it would continue to support domestic R&D efforts, but would encourage private industry, recognizing that it was only through outside investment that China would gain the ability to participate in the global chip industry in a significant way, said Yang.

In short, China recognized that it needed to create an environment via federal policy that attracted both local and foreign capital that would fund China’s development and growing economy, creating local jobs in the process. And it learned this from a nearby neighbor.

“This lesson has been taught by the Taiwanese,” Yang said. “The Taiwanese are very good at this strategy.”

There’s a Reason Its the Capitol

China also realizes that to support its own domestic need for technology, it not only has to take further steps to protect the intellectual property (IP) of foreign companies investing in China, but that it has to begin to develop its own IP as well. And while it looks outside of China to investors and companies to help it foster that IP, those looking in might not be seeing the whole picture, suggested Liang Sheng. In fact, some executives may be downright shortsighted.

Liang is the section chief of the Department of Information Industry of the Beijing Municipal Government. When most people in the West think of the chip industry in China, the first word to come to mind is Shanghai. And if cheap labor costs and manufacturing are all that a company is looking for in China, then Shanghai is the place to be, Liang acknowledged.

But if companies want to get in on the ground floor, they need to be plugged into China’s traditional capital: Beijing.

“Here in Beijing, we have the IP,” said Liang, observing that China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), while having its principal production fabs in Shanghai, has its headquarters and is building its 300mm fab in Beijing.

Of the 400 design houses in China, 85 are in Beijing; out of the 16 design houses that achieve more than $100 million in annual revenue, nine are in Beijing, Liang noted. And China’s only EDA company, CEC Huada, also resides in Beijing. The bulk of China’s technical universities are also here.

“The Chinese market is so big, it grows so quickly, it is impossible to depend on imports – we need our own technology, our own standards,” he said. Which is why he wants foreign investors and foreign chipmakers to be aware of Beijing, and what it has to offer in terms of local IP opportunity, as opposed to just cheap manufacturing.

“If you want to do something in this area, you have to cooperate with Beijing,” Liang said.

oneman28 · 10-19-2005, 01:48 AM

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...hou6_day4.html

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Even before the two astronauts land, Xinhua reported that Chinese space officials may choose the southern province of its tropical island Hainan as a new spaceport to launch its next generation rockets.

The location, however, comes as no surprise to China space experts, who said discussions of a Hainan space launch site have been going for at least five years.

“The island’s huge, and the [People’s Liberation Army] owns several bases on Hainan,” China space specialist Dean Cheng told SPACE.com in an earlier interview. “It gives them immediate access to the land.”

Located in the South China Sea, Hainan is closer to the equator and could provide some advantages over China’s three other launch sites – including the northwestern-located Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center used to loft Shenzhou 6 – including heavier payloads and launching over water, China space experts said. Equatorial or near-equatorial launch sites are also used by Sea Launch and Europe’s Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

Liu Zhusheng, chief designer of China’s carrier rocket system, told Xinhua that the new booster will be designed to loft payloads of between 1.2 and 25 tons into low Earth orbit, and 1.8 to 14 tons into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

China’s current Long March rocket family – Shenzou 6 rode a Long March 2F into orbit – boasts four series and 12 separate models with payload capacities of up to 12 tons for low Earth orbit space shots and about 5.2 tons into geosynchronous transfer orbits, according to state media reports.

China’s next generation rocket family, the Long March 5, is reportedly undergoing ground tests, said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on China’s space efforts chair of National Security Studies at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, in an earlier interview.

Johnson-Freese said China will likely have to build a new launch facility to suit the new rocket.

China has announced ambitions to build a manned space station for science research, as well as an unmanned Moon probe to launch by 2010.

The country is the third nation to independently build and launch manned spacecraft into orbit. Shenzhou 5, China’s first piloted spaceflight, launched astronaut Yang Liwei on a 14-orbit, 21 ½ hour mission on Oct. 15, 2003.

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 00:58 AM

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/855/2005.../262@25921.htm

Quote:

2005-10-20 12:32:56 China Daily

BEIJING- Sun Jiarong, director of the sci-tech development & technology trading bureau of Shanghai Foreign Economic Relation & Trade Commission, revealed today that Shanghai's software industry recorded 30.2 billion yuan (US$3.72 billion) revenue last year, and its software export amounted to US$476 million, up 50% and 80% respectively over that of 2003. At present Shanghai is obviously taking the lead in China's software industry.
Sun said that with increasingly apparent trend of international division of labor in the software industry, China has witnessed rapid growth in its software outsourcing business in recent years. Its software export totaled US$2.6 billion last year, up 30% over a year earlier. In spite of speedy growth, China's software industry has merely gained a small proportion of 3% in the international market. Sun quoted the comment of the Ministry of Commerce that "software outsourcing has not fully played its role in boosting China's national economy."

According to Sun, the software industry plays an indispensable role in upgrading Shanghai's information industry. It is the core of the city's information industry and has a bearing on local economy and the process of social informatization. In an effort to build an international software outsourcing value center and enhance the international fame of its software industry, Shanghai will hold 2005 Shanghai Global IT Outsourcing Summit on Nov 10. The summit will probe deeply into some hotspot issues concerning the current situation and trend of international IT outsourcing, measures to promote development of software industry and application, and international IT exchange and cooperation.

(Source: China Daily)

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 01:02 AM

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/10/prweb298161.htm

I don' agree with all of this article. But some data are interesting. As search engine, Baidu is more popular than google in Chinese market.

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The English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007.

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 19, 2005 -- The US online market is about to take a major beating, as it loses its position as the world’s leader in e-commerce to the conglomeration of Asian and European countries booting up and building online, a recent study released by Universal Engine, a leader in multilingual online marketing, shows.

With the expansion of broadband in foreign markets and with the UN’s persistent push to bring the world Internet access, the English market is about to take a major hit and lose its ranking as the world’s Internet leader to the breadth of language markets surfing online by the year 2007, the report states.

In the year 2001, 43 percent of the Internet was made up of English speakers. But, as the Internet continues to become more global, English speaking surfers are being dominated by the Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German online populations.

In 2004, English surfers dropped to 35.2 percent, and by 2007 it is predicted to make up only 26 percent or 1/3 of the total Internet population down from about 2/3, in 5 years the study revealed. Currently, 1 billion people are online.

Bill Hunt, co-author of the forthcoming book “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.” to be published by the IBM Press, wrote, “Search Engine Optimization has become one of the most popular and effective forms of marketing available to a global company. According to a recent report, nearly 60 percent of all searches are done in languages other than English.”

The UN’s efforts to expand the Internet are bringing in astounding results and threatening US e-business’ grasp on the Internet. With 1 million new Internet subscribers a month in China (soon to be about 200 million Internet surfers or only 9 percent of the total Chinese population, with an annual growth rate of 18.6 percent), it’s no wonder search companies believe it will soon become their main source of income over the English US market.

E-businesses have turned to translation and multilingual search engine optimization companies to help them adapt to this shift in the online market. Trying to tap into the Asian market, Yahoo! recently bought Alibaba, a Chinese website similar to eBay with its own PayPal-like system called “Alipay” for $1 billion, or roughly 40 percent of the company, Google bought a $70 Million stake in Baidu.com, a Chinese search engine, and eBay launched a Chinese version of their English-based mega-site.

But, the Chinese market is not the only threat to US Ecommerce, so shows Universal Engine’s study. The Japanese market is surging at an annual growth rate of 12 percent or 100 Million surfers, and the Spanish online population will rack up roughly 100 Million users by the year 2007. The Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and German online markets outweigh the English market by 3 times.

“The development of these language-specific markets is major news that will have a rippling affect across US e-businesses, as the US loses its position as the world’s online leader,” said Dr. Eli Goldstein, co-founder of Universal Engine. “From this study, it is evident that the US is slipping from being the world’s leader. If American-based e-businesses want to survive during this shift, they are going to have to adapt with the ever-changing, multifaceted internet or be stomped out by their multilingual competitors.”

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 01:06 AM

http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/i...55;fp;2;fpid;1

Shanda is a game software development company and gaming service provider in Chinese market. Its games are popular.

Quote:

Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service

19/10/2005 09:31:54

China's largest online games provider, Shanda Interactive Entertainment, is gearing up to launch a handheld game console equipped with Wi-Fi and the ability to play digital music and video files.

Working prototypes of the console, called EZ Mini, are on display at this week's PT/Wireless & Networks Comm China 2005 exhibition (PT Expo), which opened Tuesday in Beijing.

At first glance, the EZ Mini resembles Sony Computer Entertainment's successful PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console. Like the PSP, the EZ Mini has a central LCD (liquid crystal display) flanked by groups of buttons that control movement and other functions.

The console will be available by the end of this year or early next year, said Eden Lee, a product manager at the mobile communication product division of Mitac Research (Shanghai), the subsidiary of Taiwanese hardware maker Mitac International Corp. which developed the device for Shanda.

The EZ Mini will be sold only in China, where it will be available exclusively from Shanda through a cobranding agreement with Mitac, Lee said. The EZ Mini will carry Shanda's name as well as Mitac's Mio DigiWalker brand on its case.

Pricing for the EZ Mini has yet to be finalized. However, a Shanda spokeswoman said the company expects to offer the device at a price lower than Sony's PSP. The PSP, which is not currently available in China, retails for US$200 or more elsewhere.

Shanda and Mitac offered few details in terms of the EZ Mini's hardware specifications. The first version of the device will be available in white and will ship with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking and a USB 2.0 connection. A second version, due in mid-2006, will add support for an unspecified 3G (third-generation) cellular technology, Lee said.

The device can be used with either SD (Secure Digital) or MMC (Multimedia Card) removable memory card formats, she said.

The EZ Mini will offer more than just the ability to play games. The device is also capable of surfing the Internet, playing MP3 and Microsoft. Windows Media Audio files, displaying electronic books, and playing videos in DivX, MPEG 4, and Microsoft's Windows Media Video format.

PT Expo runs through Saturday, Oct. 22.

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 01:10 AM

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/sil...y/12753585.htm

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By K. Oanh Ha

Mercury News

Silicon Valley companies must have a three-pronged strategy regarding China, 300 executives and investors were told at a conference of Chinese software professionals.

Companies cannot just tap China to save labor costs but also need to offer their products and services to the Chinese market and compete with Chinese firms in the American market.

``Even companies not headquartered in China have to have a Chinese strategy,'' said Dixon Doll, co-founder of the venture firm Doll Capital. ``The size and dynamics of the Chinese market is too important. No one can ignore China from day one of their business,'' he said.

The annual conference of the Chinese Software Professionals Association in Santa Clara Saturday brought together high-profile venture capitalists such as Lip-Bu Tan of Walden International and executives from Google, Microsoft and Yahoo as well as leaders of firms in China.

``China isn't just a cheap supplier of labor anymore,'' said Scott Tse, co-president of CSPA. ``Now it's more about how to recognize China as a strong opportunity and what to do with Chinese companies going into your own market.''

Many painted a picture of China radically different than just a few years ago. Only a handful of Silicon Valley venture firms were in China four years ago. Now, more than a dozen have invested there, with more on the way. Venture financing in China rose to $1.3 billion in 2004, nearly a 30 percent jump from 2003, according to Walden Ventures. In addition, more than 250,000 Chinese from abroad have returned to China, including many from Silicon Valley, to work and start new businesses.

China's market is among the fastest-growing in many sectors. Opportunities abound in semiconductors, software and telecommunications, particularly mobile services, speakers said. Though China has long been tapped to manufacture older generations of technology, there are growing numbers of firms working on cutting-edge products, particularly in the semiconductor sector, said Tan, founder and chairman of Walden. He and others predict that over the next decade, Chinese companies will be technology innovators.

Tencent, a popular interactive Internet messaging service based in Shenzhen, China, has been approached to bring its services, which include allowing users to design and customize their personal avatars, to the European market, said David Wallerstein, the firm's senior executive vice president of international business.. Chinese firms are expected to merge and acquire firms in markets they want to enter, he added.

They will increasingly look to Silicon Valley and the United States for technology, know-how and brand reach, such as Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's personal computer business or the attempted bid (eventually withdrawn) by Haier for Maytag. Such activity will result in increased competition from Chinese firms in the American market.

Though many are rushing into China, a host of challenges remain. Adding to obvious obstacles -- intellectual property, legal structure and corruption -- are a void of much-needed middle-managers, lack of transparency, fast-changing government policies and cultural barriers.

``There are lots of opportunities, but there's also a lot of problems. You have to be there for the long-term,'' advised Walden's Tan, one of the earliest Silicon Valley venture capitalists in China.

Speaking of the rapid market and government policy changes in China, Tan added: ``Just like flying a plane, you have to know where the emergency landing is. It's never a dull moment in China.''

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 01:19 AM

http://chinastockblog.com/article/2466

Tencent is a instant messanging service provider in China. Its software QQ is more popular than MSN messanger and Yahoo Messanger in China. Almost every Chinese internet user has a QQ ID number. QQ numbers are used more often than phone numbers when cyber friends play on Internet.

Tercent has about 200 million registered users and 150million are active users. This user base is a great fortune for this company.

Quote:

Tencent Holdings (ticker: TCEHF.pk), which provides a successful instant-messaging (IM) product in China is gearing up to challenge Alibaba/Yahoo and eBay Eachnet in China’s online auction space. Tencent’s Chief Strategic and Investment Officer Martin Lau is empowered by Yahoo’s (ticker: YHOO) Alibaba investment. Key quotes from management’s Q2 2005 earnings results conference call:

On Plans for an Online Auction Business

….in terms of the CVC (Editor: C2C or consumer-to-consumer) initiative….

….recent events in the market are actually very exciting, because it does validate our view that the market is going to grow very significantly over the long run and people are willing to put in a lot of dollars to basically cultivate and evolve the market. Now, we think that the trend (ph) market is actually large enough, and that consumer tastes are diverse enough such that it can actually support a number of different CVC (Editor: C2C) platforms within China. So we’re not particularly concerned about the increased - the investment in the market, and frankly we felt that with more and more investment put into cultivating this market, actually, you can in fact grow in the market which will benefit us.

….there are different segments in the market, and I don’t think there
is a problem for different operators to coexist in the market.

On Marketing Tencent’s Auction Business

….we are….not going to be putting a lot of money for advertising and marketing, but really develop the functionality so that we can actually very easily cater to the needs of our users and attract our users to use our CVC (Editor: CVC) services.

(Quotes are from the CCBN StreetEvents transcript.)

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 01:26 AM

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english...ent_422480.htm

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Chinese flash disk drive maker Netac Technology Co Ltd, which is suing Japan's Sony over alleged patent infringements, may broaden an IPR (intellectual property right) battle to take on some big US names.

The move represents a major shift in China's technology sector which is being besieged by foreign vendors' well-honed patent protection systems.

"We are pondering lots of options for our IPR strategy, including lawsuits in the United States, against some US firms which allegedly infringed upon our IPRs," said Frank Deng, president of Shenzhen-based Netac.

The targeted firms may include US flash-data storage card maker Sandisk and one of Dell or Hewlett-Packard.

"One of these US computer giants is selling computers to its customers in the United States bundled with flash disk drives, to which we own the IPRs," Deng told China Daily.

But he would not reveal which firm he was referring.

Netac has signed deals with Samsung Electronics, IBM, BenQ and Siemens under which Netac either co-operates with these foreign firms or allows them access to its patents.

Deng alleged that Apple Computer Inc had also infringed upon his firm's IPRs.

Apple, which sells Mac computers and the popular MP3 players iPods, in January launched iPod Shuffle, its first flash-based digital audio player.

These players infringe upon Netac's patents, Deng said.

The president announced on Wednesday that Netac had won the rights to a major patent for flash-disk drives from US authorities after filing the application approximately four years ago.

This marked a major victory for Netac which is currently embroiled in lawsuits with Sony and its Chinese rival Beijing Huaqi Information Digital Technology Co Ltd.

A preliminary ruling last June by a Shenzhen court ordered Huaqi to stop selling flash-disk drives that infringed upon Netac's patents and compensate Netac.

Huaqi appealed to a higher court to overturn the ruling and joined with NASDAQ-listed M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd in asking Chinese patent authorities to rule Netac's patent ineffective, claiming the patent is a "publicly known technology."

Netac last August also filed a lawsuit in Shenzhen against Sony which is still pending. Deng said Sony is trying to delay any litigation, but the publicity has already taken effect, with Sony's flash-disk drive business shrinking since the filing of the suit.

Netac's overseas market share, on the other hand, has been gaining ground.

Gaining the patent in the United States would help consolidate Netac's position, and make it easier to launch broadsides against those US firms allegedly guilty of infringing on the Chinese firm's IPRs, he said.

In 2003, Netac sent a letter to Sandisk warning the latter of its alleged patent infringement but received no response.

Deng said going through the courts was not the only solution, adding that Netac may consider charging patent fees from US firms or even seek alliances.

The president would not disclose the state of the privately-held firm's finances.

But he expects more than 40 per cent of the company's annual revenues to come from overseas markets by the end of the year.

Other Chinese manufacturers can learn to take advantage of the patent protection system to deter foreign rivals, Deng said.

Chinese makers, especially those in the consumer electronics sector, are being increasingly burdened with IPR lawsuits filed by foreign rivals in US courts.

The past three years have seen China's technology icon Huawei Technologies sued by Cisco Systems, Chinese battery maker BYD Co Ltd sued by Sanyo Electric Co Ltd and mainland chip maker SMIC sued by Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest maker of made-to-order chips.

Recent cases also include Hitachi Global Storage's lawsuit against a Chinese mini hard-disk drive maker based in Southwest China's Guizhou Province.

But Chinese firms are starting to fight back, Deng noted.

"We have put together a tight patent network related to flash-disk drives and other technologies," Deng said.

"We have also applied for patents in digital entertainment, wireless networks and chip technologies."

Netac's application for a patent on its flash disk drive technology in Europe is under review by local authorities, he added.

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 16:21 PM

http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=6547&slug=3G

Quote:

China, Japan, South Korea, EU to jointly develop future mobile communications technology

By Vivian He

Shanghai. October 18. INTERFAX-CHINA - China will work closely with Japan, South Korea, and the European Union in developing beyond-3G mobile communications technologies, with the goal of preventing the development of monopolies in the mobile market, a Chinese government official said Monday.

"In order to avoid monopolies in the future communications market, it is important to develop beyond-3G technologies with an international effort," Feng Jichun, Director of the Department of High and New Technology and Industrialization under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said at a conference in Shanghai.

In 1998, China began work on the Chinese-developed TD-SCDMA 3G mobile standard to create more opportunities for domestic companies on the Chinese mobile communications market, which is the world's largest by subscriber number. In China's 2G mobile market, the European-developed GSM and the American-developed CDMA standards are the only standards being used. As a result, Chinese equipment vendors must pay royalties to foreign patent holders for the use of these technologies. The Chinese government supported development of TD-SCDMA as a way to break this monopoly hold foreign patent holders had over the Chinese mobile market.

Similar situations exist in Japan and South Korea. The European-developed WCDMA 3G standard has begun to dominate the Japanese mobile market, while the American-developed CDMA2000 standard has also established a similarly strong position on the South Korean market.

Cooperation between China, Japan, South Korea and the EU to develop beyond-3G technologies would allow companies from all of these regions to participate in the mobile technology patent pool. China, Japan, South Korea, and the EU have been in talks about cooperation for development of beyond-3G technologies since 2002.

"We expect beyond-3G technologies in China to be synchronized with other countries," Feng said.

According to a timetable issued by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an international body that oversees adoption of telecom technology standards, the commercial launch of beyond-3G technologies are expected to take place worldwide by 2012. However, China and Japan are expected to launch beyond-3G technologies in advance of that schedule. The two East Asian neighbors signed an agreement in August of 2005 to jointly work towards the launch of beyond-3G technologies by 2010.

"China is expected to launch beyond-3G ahead of the world schedule," You Xiaohu, Director of National Mobile Communication Research Laboratory, told Interfax Monday.

You said he expects China to launch beyond-3G communications between 2010 and 2012. "Under normal circumstances, we would need five years after the layout of a spectrum to launch beyond-3G communications," he said.

International cooperation between China, Japan, South Korea, and the EU is expected to speed up the process. For one, international cooperation will help settle intellectual property issues relating to beyond-3G technologies, Feng said. Furthermore, international cooperation will also spread the cost of developing beyond 3G technologies amongst the partners, thereby lowering financial risks.

"Developing beyond-3G mobile communications technology will need much more money than what has been invested to develop 3G technologies, that's another reason why we must start international cooperation," You said.

In addition to governments, enterprises are also expected to play an important part in developing beyond-3G technologies in China and the East Asia region. Chinese government institutions and companies from China, Japan, South Korea, and the EU have set up the China Future Communication Forum, which will act as a think-tank helping to guide Chinese development and adoption of beyond-3G technologies. The China Future Communication Forum was founded by a total of 26 Chinese and foreign institutions and companies, including telecom operators and equipment vendors.

Moreover, eight foreign equipment vendors, including Motorola and Siemens, are now aiding the Chinese government in the development of beyond-3G technologies. China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and MOST began development of beyond-3G technologies in 2005.

"Ideally, government intervention should be minimized in the future communication market," Xie Feibo, Deputy Director-General of the Radio Regulatory Department under the MII, said.

oneman28 · 10-20-2005, 16:23 PM

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3563538.htm

Quote:

www.chinaview.cn 2005-09-29 20:10:11

BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- As the 3G (third generation) mobile communication technology matures, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will host a "Beyond 3G" international conference on October 18 in Shanghai.

Officials, research staff and companies in the industry will come from the three nations to discuss future mobile communication technology, including technology standards, frequency spectrum and market demand.

"The next five years will be a crucial period for the formation of a Beyond 3G standard and the technology is expected to be commercialized in 2015," said Cao Shumin, vice-president of the Telecom Research Academy under the Ministry of Information Industry.

Headed by the International Telecom Union, the concerned countries have reached an agreement on the future development of "Beyond 3G". Its frequency spectrum will be set at the world wireless conference, to be held in 2007.

China, which began to study beyond 3G technology in 2001, has made breakthroughs in key areas.

According to the present research, new technologies could realize a transmission speed 5-10 times faster than under the 3G technology, said You Xiaohu, director of National Mobile Communication Research Laboratory.

At the end of this year or early next year, he noted, China will set up a test bed for Beyond 3G in Shanghai and will offer wireless transmission with a speed between 100 Mbps and 1G by 2010.

When talking of the relationship between Beyond 3G and 3G, Cao said the research and implementation of B3G will not affect 3G's application.

3G is maturing in China and will play a dominant role in the mobile communication market for a long time, Cao said.

She said that beyond 3G has just been proposed and remains at the stage of research.

A forum organization on future mobile communication will be setup in October in China. "The forum will do away with misunderstanding between Beyond 3G and 3G while creating a good environment for joint research from concerned parties," Cao said.

The International Conference on Beyond 3G, launched in 2002, has been held for three years, respectively in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. Enditem

oneman28 · 10-21-2005, 08:47 AM

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20051021A1008.html

Quote:

China to set up 3b yuan IC industry development fund

Staff reporter, Suzhou; Rodney Chan, DigiTimes.com [Friday 21 October 2005]

China will set up a three billion-yuan fund to help develop its IC industry in line with the country’s latest five-year economic plan, according to China industry sources.

The fund, to