It is reported from a meeting on awarding S&T activities that the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance have decided to raise the amount of prizes for S&T awards at the national level, in an attempt to encourage more innovations. As a result, starting from 2005, the special prize for the National S&T Advancement Award will be RMB 1 million in amount, and the bounties for first prizes of the National Natural Science Award, and the Technological Invention Awards will be raised to RMB 200,000 from the previous RMB 90,000, and second prizes to RMB 100,000 from RMB 60,000.

Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology indicate that the awarding activities will remain focusing on proprietary innovations, with policies and indicators for evaluation and selecting tilting in the direction. Original innovations, digestion based innovations, and systematic innovations will make promising candidates for these awards.

In addition, authorities concerned have made industrial proprietary innovations and competitiveness an important indicator to be weighted in the reviewing process, in a move to encourage industrial proprietary innovations.